BUD1 Introduction to Business Administration

• Topics

  BUD1 Introduction to Business Administration is taught in the first semester, providing a broad understanding of firms and managerial decision-making. The course introduces key business and management accounting concepts focusing on topics such as cost analysis, budgeting and financial performance measures, investment analysis, and strategic performance management. The course also introduces sustainability and the triple bottom line (People, Planet, Profit) as well as the impact of digital technology on management accounting, as critical factors in modern business strategy.

  Some of the questions we ask in BUD1, are:

  How does the firm earn money? Which products or services drives the profitability of the firm?

  What are the relevant costs and incomes that needs to be considered, when making decisions regarding production and pricing? How can new technologies influence the firms’ costs and revenues?

  To investigate such questions, we introduce basic concepts from cost-theory and accounting, using a combination of lectures, flipped classroom and workshops.

• Learning outcome

  After completing the course, the student will be able to:

  Knowledge

  • Explain different cost concepts.
  • Discuss the importance of cost variability.
  • Explain reasons for allocation of costs from cost category to cost centre.
  • Describe and discuss various decision-making problems in business including sustainability considerations related to the triple bottom line concept.
  • Explain the value of data and information for making decisions.
  • Explain how digital tools and technologies are transforming management accounting and decision-making.

  Skills

  • Identify costs and revenues that are relevant to decisions and solve different decision-making problems.
  • Prepare cost calculations based on full cost, contribution.
  • Prepare profit & loss budgets, cash flow budgets and balance sheet budgets.
  • Use financial performance measures to evaluate business success.
  • Apply strategic performance measurement techniques, including non-financial metrics, to assess business performance.
  • Apply basic investment analysis techniques to evaluate investment decisions.

  General competence

  • Communicate about how management accounting techniques and methods may support problem-solving in business. 
  • Apply management accounting insight to solve practical problems in business (cases).

• Teaching

  • Plenary lectures
  • Workshops (Solving problems/tasks)
  • Guest lectures, solving cases

• Required prerequisites

  None.

• Compulsory Activity

  None.

• Assessment

  • Group project (3-4 students): based on slides and an oral presentation of approximately 15-20 minutes (30%).
  • Three-hour final digital school exam (70%) with access to Excel

  The exam and group project must be answered in English.

• Grading Scale

  A-F

• Literature

  Drury, Colin; Tayles, Mike, 2021. Management Accounting for Business, 8th edition. Cengage learning

  Supplementary material may be provided via leganto/canvas.

• Permitted Support Material

  Calculator 

  One bilingual dictionary (Category I) 

  All in accordance with Supplementary provisions to the Regulations for Full-time Study Programmes at the Norwegian School of Economics Ch.4 Permitted support material https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/regulations/ (copy url) and https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/examinations/examination-support-materials/(copy url)

• Retake

  Retake is offered early in the non-teaching semester for students who were registered for the exam at the time of the assessment in the teaching semester, and did not achieve a passing grade. Other students may retake the exam the next time the course is offered.

  The group project cannot be retaken in the non-teaching semester, and may be retaken the next time the course is offered.

  For detailed information regarding the retake policy, please visit our website: https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/examinations/retake-of-exams/https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/examinations/retake-of-exams/ (copy url).