Syllabus Information

1.1. Introduction

Brief presentation of the course

The course "Essences of Management" belongs to the Department of Management and Organization. The course is of an introductory nature, aimed at establishing the fundamentals of management. It is an eminently descriptive and comprehensive course that is intended to give an overview of what a company is, its problems, and its relationship with the environment. Specifically, it deals with basic concepts, instruments and decisions related to the management field.

1.2. Recommendations to take this course

The course is of an introductory nature directed at establishing the fundamentals of management; therefore, there are no prerequisites for taking this course.

Students are strongly recommended to attend the lectures, to carry out the continuous work and to study on a regular basis.

1.3. Context and importance of this course in the degree

“Essences of Management” aims at providing the students with the fundamental knowledge and concepts of the management discipline, which subsequently will be developed in depth in the specific subjects within this area.

1.4. Activities and key dates

The starting date is established by the Universidad de Zaragoza in its official calendar. The specific dates regarding the course’s key activities will also be arranged according to the official calendar.

Course presentation: The first session will provide detailed information about some practical questions. We will clarify the evaluation criteria to be applied as well as the teaching methodology used in the theoretical and practical classes. We will briefly introduce the contents treated in the various topics covered by the course syllabus.

Practical classes: The practical sessions will consist of teamwork, troubleshooting, practice with real cases, and commenting on and discussing readings and/or news. These activities will be announced beforehand, giving the students enough time to work on them.

Two tests: The student will be evaluated through two individual tests. These tests will take place in November and January and will contain theoretical and practical issues related to the topics that have been covered in the course so far.

Delivery of individual exercises: The MultiEval application generates ad-hoc exercises for each student and they will be delivered through the Universidad de Zaragoza e-learning platform (ADD).

Final exam: In accordance with the timetable for each center, the student will have the opportunity to attend the exam. The exam will include the theoretical and practical blocks of the subject, in each of the two sittings.

2.1. Learning goals

The student, in order to pass the course, will have to show her/his competence in the following skills:

Understand and explain the concept of a company, its scope, functions and importance within organisations.

Describe and integrate the basic concepts pertaining to a company’s general administration and management and its functional areas, especially, related to the management of a company, its environmental analysis as well as the management of physical, technical, financial and human resources.

Apply simple models and techniques for solving problems in the areas of production, finance and human resources, identifying relevant variables.

Identify and describe the basic features and scope of the various leadership roles in the business: planning, organization, management and control.

Know and integrate the key elements of decision making.

2.2. Importance of learning goals

The content of this course is an introduction for the student as it offers a vision of the company from a global perspective. It is the foundation for other subjects that explain this material in more depth and apply it to the functional areas. This is the only subject in the degree that offers a general overview of a company. For this reason, it is important to understand the basic ideas and analyses covered in this course.

3.1. Aims of the course

The expected results of the course respond to the following general aims

The goal of this course is to introduce and familiarize the students to the basic concepts, instruments and decisions related to management. To do this, the functional activities of a company will be analyzed, stressing the management tools that favor the company’s efficacy and efficiency.

 In this context, the first units are dedicated to clarifying some general concepts about the company; its environment and its scope. In fact, the first unit is devoted to a theoretical review of management thinking. Thus, the student has his/her first contact with the concept of business, and the environment in which it is located.

 Once the student understands the concept of a company as an economic agent, the student is introduced to the functional areas of the organization, specifically, technical, financial and human resources areas. It is intended that the student learn the most important decisions to be taken in each of these areas. Additionally, it is important that the student learn to identify the variables that are most relevant in each case and apply some simple techniques to solve different problems.

 Finally, the student should understand the managerial process as the process in which logistics is a core process that is designed and guided to reach proposed objectives.  In this context, the importance of managing human resources to achieve maximum organizational efficiency is highlighted.

3.2. Competences

After completing the course, the student will be competent in the following skills:

Specific skills:

• Knowing the operations of all the functional areas of any company or organization and having the skills to perform any task within these areas.
•  Understanding and applying professional standards and scientific rigour to solving economic, business and organizational situations.

Transversal skills:

• Problem-solving. 
• Ability to analyse and synthesise.
• Decision-making.
•  Reasoning and autonomous learning.
• Putting theoretical concepts into practice.

4.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

The student will prove that he/she has achieved the expected learning results by means of the following assessment tasks:

In the first sitting, there are two main evaluation systems:

Continuousassessment: Students are offered the possibility of a continuous assessment through the following activities during the class period:

- Two individual tests will be scheduled in the months of November and January. These tests will be related to the topics taught in theoretical classes, practical classes and numerical problems up to the date of each of the test exercises. Each test will be worth 3.5points (2points theory and 1.5 practice).

- A minimum of 0.75 points out of 2 points will be required in the theoretical part of each of the two intermediate tests to pass the continuous assessment part of the course.

- Individual exercises are due at the end of units 2, 3 and 4, to be submitted through the MultiEval application. The maximum total value of these exercises is 3 points.

All these activities will take place as established in the regular course timetable. The specific dates for each activity will be announced on the Anillo Digital Docente of the Universidad de Zaragoza, ADD, https://moodle2.unizar.es/add/.

Global assessment test: Students, who do not choose the continuous assessment system, do not pass the subject through this system or would like to improve their mark, will be able to participate in the global assessment. The global assessment test will be scheduled in accordance with the official calendar of the faculty.  This global test will consist of a multiple-choice test with 20 questions and numerical problems.

The students who pass the course through the continuous assessment are not required to participate in the global assessment test. However, if the students want to improve their mark, they may take it. The final mark will be the higher of the two qualifications.

In the second sitting , the assessment will consist of a global written exam worth 10 points including all the theoretical and practical questions addressed in the subject.

Assessment criteria

The various activities will be assessed by using the following criteria. For students who choose the global assessment, the final grade will be calculated as follows:

- A test consisting of several practical exercises (maximum 6 points)

- A multiple-choice exam with 20 questions (maximum 4 points).

For students who choose the system of continuous assessment, the final mark will be calculated by adding up the marks obtained in each of the following activities:

 -Two individual tests consisting of

• Practical exercises  (Maximum 3 points, 1.5 points for each test)
• Theory with 10 multiple-choice questions in each test (Maximum 4 points, 2 points for each test). A minimum of 0.75 points out of 2 will be required so that the marks of the rest of the assessment activities can be considered

 -Individual exercises through MultiEval application (Maximum 3 points)

5.1. Methodological overview

The learning process that has been designed for this course is based on the following activities:

The learning process designed for this course is based on a combination of theoretical lectures, teamwork, problem-solving activities and case studies, as well as the discussion of texts and papers.

5.2. Learning tasks

The programme offered to the students to help them achieve the learning results includes the following activities :

The syllabus of the course, which is intended to help the student to achieve the expected learning outcomes, is composed of the following activities…

• ­Theoretical lectures: introduce the theoretical concepts together with real examples which facilitate the comprehension and application of these concepts.

• Troubleshooting and presentation of real problems and cases, elaboration and presentation of projects, discussion of current and emerging topics, essays and interactive activities. All these activities will be carried out both inside and outside the classroom, individually or in groups.

• Tutorials and/or seminars: the professors will supervise the projects carried out by the students, clarify their questions about the theoretical and/or practical contents of the subject, and propose specific tasks in which the theoretical concepts will be put into practice.

• Independent work: this includes the study of the theoretical and practical contents, the resolution of practical exercises, the development of individual and/or in-group activities, the search for and analysis of information, among others.

• Evaluation activities.

SYLLABUS

UNIT 1.-THE COMPANY. CONCEPT AND THEORY

1.1 -.The company as an economic agent
1.2 -.Management theories
1.3 -. Company models. A company’s internal resources
1.4 -. Types of companies

 UNIT 2.-THE COMPANY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
2.1 -. Introduction
2.2 -. Analysis of the general environment
2.3 -. Analysis of the specific environment
2.4 -. Market Study

UNIT 3  PHYSICAL, TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES. MANAGEMENT,

3.1 -. Introduction
3.2 -. Types of production processes
3.3 -. Revenue and cost structure
3.4 -. Localization and distribution of plants
3.5 -. Planning, scheduling and project control
3.6 -. Supply Management

UNIT 4 -. FINANCIAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

4.1 -. Introduction
4.2 -. Financial markets and the company
4.3 -. Management of investment resources
4.4 -. Management of funding resources

 UNIT 5 -. MANAGEMENT PROCESS
5.1 - The employer. Approaches and concept
5.2 -. The management process
5.3 -. Decision making in the managerial process
5.4 -. Human Resources Management
5.5 -. Practices and policies of Human Resources

5.3. Syllabus

Grado (EQF/MECU 6)

5.4. Course planning and calendar

Calendar of actual sessions and presentation of works

The timetable of the lectures and practical classes will be announced at the beginning of the academic year. The timetable of the assessment activities and the project due dates will be communicated via the Universidad de Zaragoza e-learning platform (ADD).