Fundamentals of Business

Administration

Conf.univ.dr. Simona Goia (Agoston)

Motto:
“It is always good to ask yourself questions whose
answers cannot be found in books."
Mihai Patrascu, 1982-2012
Learning objectives
• Understand the external environment of a company and how it might influence its
activity

• Define and understand what a business is and how a company works in order to
reach sustainable development and generate profit

• Identify the steps that you need to follow/ the options that you have in order to set
up your own company

• Explain which is the role of each department in a company

Main topics
• The external environment of a company and its stakeholders
• Types of companies
• Steps for setting up a company/ Options available when starting
up a business
• Evolution of a company (creation, development, end of life)
• Management functions
• Description of various departments of a company:
Human Resources
Marketing and Sales
Production, acquisition and logistics
Accounting, finance and investments
Other departments
 Textbooks
 Nickels, W., McHugh, J., McHugh, S.(2016) Understanding Business,
11th edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Education, USA.
http://opac.biblioteca.ase.ro/opac/bibliographic_view/205240?pn=opac
%2FSearch&q=Nickels#level=all&location=0&ob=asc&q=Nickels&sb=r
elevance&start=0&view=CONTENT
 Bovee, C., Thill, J., Mescon, M. (2007) Excellence in Business, 3rd
edition, Upper Saddle River: Pearson/Prentice Hall, USA.
http://opac.biblioteca.ase.ro/opac/bibliographic_view/211138?pn=opac
%2FSearch&q=bovee#level=all&location=0&ob=asc&q=bovee&sb=re
levance&start=0&view=CONTENT

Excerpts/ sections/ chapters from the textbooks will be available online

on the website of the library http://www.biblioteca.ase.ro/ upon
registration (with username and password) just for reading.
 Textbooks

Additional materials will be distributed/ posted on the

platform https://online.ase.ro/ during the semester

Optional reading
 Madura, J.(2016) Introduction to business, 5th edition, New
Delhi : MedTech, India.
http://opac.biblioteca.ase.ro/opac/bibliographic_view/2118
34?pn=opac%2FSearch&q=madura#level=all&location=0&ob
=asc&q=madura&sb=relevance&start=0&view=CONTENT
Concept
 Guest speakers

 At the end of some lectures you might receive a short test- only
good answers will be counted as extra points for the final grade

 Active participation at lectures- strongly encouraged- extra

points can be granted

 Business Today- in the last 15-20 minutes of the lecture

students will present the “business headlines” from the last week
on national and international business scene (2-3 articles/topics) –
extra points can be granted
Resources (short selection)
Romanian and international journals and magazines, specialized
websites, studies and publications of well-known companies, websites of
international and national institutions etc.

Journals and magazines International and national institutions

Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/
Business Week https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek
The Economist http://www.economist.com/
The Economist Intelligence Unit http://www.eiu.com/public/
Financial Times http://www.ft.com/home/uk
Forbes Magazine http://www.forbes.com/forbes/
The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/uk
The Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com/europe
Quartz www.QZ.com
Banca Nationala a Romaniei https://www.bnr.ro/Home.aspx
European Central Bank https://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html
European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/info/index_en
Eurostat https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/home?
Institutul National de Statistica https://insse.ro/cms/
Publications of prestigious universities
Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/
MIT Sloan Management Review https://sloanreview.mit.edu/
Stanford Business Magazine https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/magazine

https://adevarul.ro/economie/stiri-economice/
www.businessmagazin.ro
www.capital.ro
www.dailybusiness.ro
www.economistul.ro
www.money.ro
www.revistabiz.ro
www.startupcafe.ro
www.wall-street.ro
www.zf.ro
Resources (short selection)
Romanian and international journals and magazines, specialized Internet
pages, websites of well-known companies, websites of international and
national institutions etc.

Websites of consulting companies

https://www.bcg.com/en-hu/
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en.html
https://www.ey.com/en_ro
https://home.kpmg/ro/en/home.html
https://www.mckinsey.com/ , https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/overview (McKinsey
Global Institute)
https://www.pwc.com/

Ted Talks https://www.ted.com/

On many websites you can find also podcasts (e.g. BBC Business Daily-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsxs/episodes/downloads) and free webinars

In order to stay informed you can also subscribe to the Newsletter of certain publications,
websites etc.
Resources (short selection)
TV and Radio programs

TV: BBC, Bloomberg, CNN

Radio France International - https://www.rfi.ro/economie

Dragons' Den- BBC/ Imperiul Leilor- https://imperiulleilor.protv.ro/

There are many other resources that you are encouraged to discover

I encourage you, as business students, to go beyond the readings recommended

for lectures and seminars and read on a regular basis the economic/ business
press/ latest news in order to be connected to the business reality and events and
have a better understanding of the business environment.
Assessment methods
 Test 1 (lecture) -20 Points
 Test 2 (lecture) – 30 Points

 Seminar -40 Points

Active participation- 20 points

Project- written part 10 Points
- presentation 10 Points
Dead line forth the submission of the written part of the
project 29 of November
Granted – 10 Points
 Active participation at lectures and seminars is strongly
encouraged: extra points
 Seminar assignments: case studies, exercises, project, homework
etc.
 Schedule of activities
Week Lecture Seminar
28.09-04.10.2020 Introduction Introduction
External environment of a company and its
05-11.10.2020 Case study/ exercises
stakeholders I
External environment of a company and its
12-18.10.2020 Case study/ exercises
stakeholders II
Types of companies and steps for setting up a
19- 25.10.2020 Case study/ exercises
company
Case study/ exercises
26.10-01.11.2020 Guest speaker Library tour / presentation
(online)- to be confirmed
02- 08.11.2020 Evolution of a company Case study/ exercises
Management function
09- 15.11.2020 Case study/ exercises
Human Resources
16- 22.11.2020 Guest speaker Case study/ exercises * The schedule and
the content is
subject to
Marketing and Sales
23- 29.11.2020 Case study/exercises amendment by the
Test instructor during the
semester. It is the
National holiday/ Project student’s
30.11- 06.12.2020 National holiday
presentations responsibility to
remain informed
07- 13.12.2020 Guest speaker Project presentations about changes and
adjustments
Production, acquisition and logistics announced during
14- 20.12.2020 Project presentations/ Recap the semester.
Accounting, finance and investments
11- 17.01.2021 Test 2 Case study/exercises/ Recap

Recap
18-22.01.2021 Recap/ Final discussions
Final discussions
Project
The presentation (monograph) of a company- each department of the company

Small and middle companies (SMEs)/ easy overview of the business

A company where you have direct access (preferable)

Teams of 3-5 persons- randomly selected and communicated within the seminar

Written part- by 29th of November, 11pm- has to be uploaded on the platform

https://online.ase.ro/
Title of the file:
Groupnumber_Teamnumber_LastnameFirstLetteroftheFirstName1_LastnameFirstLetteroftheFir
stName2……
E.g. 104_Team1_PopescuI_IonescuM_StanC
107_Team4_MarinescuA_KovacsR_IonascuV

Max 10-12 pages, font TNR 12, line spacing 1.2

Oral presentation- 15-20 minutes/ team followed by Q&A session according to the scheduling
from the seminar
Project
Structure
Title page (Name of the project, Faculty, Group/students’ names,
Professor’s name, Subject, Calendar date)
Table of contents
Body text
Annex
References
Project
1. Introduction
2. Short history of the company
3. Description of each department of the company (e.g. Marketing, HR,
Financial Department, Accounting etc.)
4. Key performance indicators (KPIs)
5. Challenges- recommendations and solutions
6. Conclusions

More details about the project at the seminar!!!

Project
 Uniform rules (same format, font, etc.)
 Text numbering:
1. AAA
1.1. aaa
1.1.1. aaa
1.1.2. aaa
1.2. aaa
2. BBB
2.1. bbb
3. CCC

Tables and figures- numbered, with name and source

Underlying principles
• Educational process- a both-sided process
https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/online-teaching-survival-guide-a-7-part-audio-series
Episode 3- Students- Are They Ready?
Your input is needed/ indispensable in order to have an interactive, fruitful lecture
• Good questions are highly appreciated and show interest in the topic
• There are no bad answers as long as you have good, well documented arguments
• Diversity of opinions is encouraged and leads to innovative solutions
• Express your opinion using logical arguments, possibly based on facts, figures etc.
Not talking just for the sake of talking
• Be proactive, come up with proposals and suggestions
Your opinion is very important for me
• Be creative, try to solve old problems in a new way
• Do not learn by heart the information from the recommended readings – process the information and
develop your skills, be able to apply it in different contexts

Make the best of your student life/ accumulate diverse experience

Technicalities
The official online platform of the university is: https://online.ase.ro/

You have to login for the lectures and seminars on the platform!!!
Please watch/ read the tutorials available on the platform.

On the platform you will find materials/readings for the lectures and seminars.
On the platform you will find also the link to other audio/video platforms (e.g. Zoom) where the
presentations/ discussions of/within the lecture/ seminar will take place.

You have to upload your project on https://online.ase.ro/ (seminar section). Please consider the
deadline and name of the project file.
Other files (if applicable) have to be also uploaded on the platform.

In order to avoid background noise please remain muted on the audio/video platform. When you
want to speak, you have to unmute yourself. When you want to show something you have to share
your screen. When you access the online audio/video platform join with your First Name and Last
Name (e.g. Maria Ionescu, not Mary 99, MI etc.).

It is recommended to have a profile photo on the online platforms and when possible, to have also
your video turned on (at least when you are speaking/ presenting).

Always have something to take notes next to you.

Time for sharing ideas/ thoughts
• What are your expectations from FABIZ/ this
lecture?

• What are your concerns?

• What are your suggestions?

Other things that you would like to share…

Contact
For issues regarding the lecture:

Conf.univ.dr. Simona Goia (Agoston)

Email: simona.goia@ase.ro
Questions & comments?