General Business Administration Overview

General Business Administration - Bachelor Course

• Offered by Wiesbaden Business School
• Taught by Professor Dr. Markus Faber

Agenda

• Introduction
• Basics of Business Administration
• Material
• Production
• Marketing
• Objectives
• Management
• Organization
• Human Resources
• Financing and Investment
• Accounting/Controlling
• Mega Trends and Perspectives

Introduction - Why?

• Relevance to students
• Reason for choosing Business Administration

Introduction - What?

• Course objectives: Understanding business administration/management as a science
• Identifying fundamental components of business administration
• Analyzing companies as complex systems
• Preparing students for subsequent courses
• Shifting perspective from customer to producer

Introduction - What? - "Systems"

• This section likely delves into the interconnected nature of businesses and their various operational parts.

Introduction - What? - Top 50 Valuable Companies

• Data visualizations showing the world's most valuable companies by market capitalization in 2023
• Primarily US-based companies
• Representation of different sectors (e.g., technology, energy)
• Data source: Companiesmarketcap.com (as of August 16, 2023)

Introduction - What? - Operating Institution (1/2)

• Diagram illustrating the internal components and external interactions of an operating institution (likely a company)
• Shows the flow of materials, financial resources, and human resources
• Highlights relationships between sourcing, production, and distribution
• Includes accounting/controlling, finance, and government
• Data Source:Based on Wöhe, 2002 (likely a textbook)

Introduction - What? - Operating Institution (2/2)

• A model illustrating a company's operational structure
• Shows links between financial markets, procurement markets, material, production, corporate management, and sales markets
• Focuses upon flows between these core elements

Introduction - How/When?

• Relevant information available via StudIP
• List of literature recommendations
• Primary literature likely includes "Wöhe-Einführung in die Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre" 27th Edition

Basics of Business Administration

• Science of business administration
• History of business administration
• Relationship between business administration and science

Science

• Parameters of science:
  • Identifying and increasing knowledge (research)
  • Qualitative and quantitative research
  • Education/training from universities and in-company training
• Business administration as a science:
  • Object of knowledge:Economic aspects of business transactions
  • Knowledge target:Practical applications
  • Methods:Interdisciplinary techniques to achieve objectives
  • System structure:Relationships and context (cause-and-effect)

Science - Context

• Categories of sciences: Ideal versus Real, Social versus Natural, and Economic versus Business Administration

History of BA Science

• Evolution of business administration concepts across different historical periods
• Antiquity, Middle Ages, Modern Times, 19th and 20th centuries

Science and BA

• Maslow's hierarchy of needs, including physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.

• Kinds of individual economies: Producers (private/governmental), Consumers (private/governmental)

• Characteristics of a company: Open, dynamic, complex, autonomous, market-oriented, and social.

Material Basics

• Decision- and function-oriented overall model diagram
• Company constitutive decisions (e.g., location, legal form, cooperation)
• Management (controlling, organization, human resources)
• Performance: Research and development, logistics, procurement, production, marketing
• Real and Nominal Goods
• Suppliers and Customers
• Role of accounting and finance
• Flow from economy
• Focus on materials: Procurement, storage processes

Material - Basics - Materials Management

• Purpose of materials management: Supply and disposal of goods according to requirements
• Procurement management as a synonym for materials management
• Objects of materials management: raw materials, auxiliary materials, operating materials/consumables.
• Objectives: Costs, time, quality

Material - Procurement

• Objectives of Procurement: Ensuring timely and appropriate supply of goods for services
• Strategic procurement decisions: Outsourcing choices (make-or-buy), determination of quantities of suppliers and locations.

Material - Types of Procurement Planning and Requirements

• Procurement planning (e.g., raw materials, auxiliary materials, other goods/services)
• Production planning (intermediate and finished goods)
• Relationship to Sales Planning

Material - Parts List

• Determination of requirements using example of automotive parts list - Hierarchical breakdown of parts from primary need (product) to secondary needs

Material - Deployment Principles

• Single Procurement (short storage, low capital lockup, low cost), Stock Procurement (cheaper per product, potential risk of ageing or poor-quality goods), Just in Time (lower storage, but higher planning needed)

Material - Cost Trends and Storage

• Cost trends as a function of order volumes (graph showing total costs, order costs, and storage costs)
• Manual and automatic warehousing comparison
• Barcode shapes (linear, stacked, 2D QR, 3D)
• RFID system structure diagram

Material - Palletes and Storage Cycle Diagram

Production Basics

• Production management definition: Transformation of production factors into products/services
• Input factors: Raw materials, auxiliary materials, consumables, human resources
• Output factors: Products/services

Production Objectives

• Main objectives: Costs effectiveness (production costs and manufacturing costs), time efficiency (deadlines, throughput time)
• Output quantity and quality

Production Organization

• Types of production processes: Individual, serial, mass
• Organization Structure: Shop floor manufacturing and assembly layout featuring stationary and moveable machinery in workshops
• Production sequence; transport
• Floor production and assembly - fixed equipment layout tailored to a specific product
• Mixed production combining specific elements of workshop and flow production

Production Operationalization and Planning

• Differences between inventory management and production planning
• Independent and dependent demand
• Process of Production Planning (Business Planning, Aggregated planning, Master production scheduling, MRP, Process Planning)

Production - Aggregation Dimensions, Push/Pull

• Dimensions of Aggregation (Time, Spatial - Company/Machine/Process, and Factual - Financials)
• Production control systems: Push (centralized control), Pull (decentralized control)

Marketing Basics

• Problem-solving process: Analyzing situation, defining objectives, defining strategy, defining instruments, creating mix, implementing concept, evaluation
• Marketing functions: Monitoring/Controlling, Planning (activities), Assignment, Management, Decision Making
• Sales market: Consumers to whom the company targets products.

Marketing - Market Segmentation

• Criteria for market segmentation: Geographical (region, population density, climate, language), Demographic (age, gender, household size, income), Socio-psychological (personality, social class), and Behavioral (general, with regard to products/service categories)

Marketing - Product Ideas for Selection

• Factors for product idea selection: Economic rationale, product portfolio compatibility, technical feasibility, company's capacity

Marketing - Product Development

• Stages of product development: Idea search, concentration, selection, development, constructing development, prototyping, tests, optimization, market research, launch, marketing tools/correction

Marketing - Product Design

• Product design considerations: Functionality, safety (safety), operational quality, product durability, susceptibility to failure, sustainability
• Relationship to company presentation/value proposition as consumer-centric concept

Marketing - Product Policy

• Types of product policy: Retention, diversification, changes, innovation, elimination; horizontal and vertical diversification, lateral expansion

Marketing - Place/Distribution

• Overview structure: Distribution, Logistics, Sales Channels, Sales Paths/Methods/Channels, Direct/Indirect/Mixed paths, Own bodies/Other bodies

• Types of distribution: Direct (producer to consumer), Indirect (producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer.)

• Franchising structure

• Logistical distribution objectives: Delivering right products at the right time, the right location, with the correct quantity and quality at minimal costs

Marketing - Price

• Conditions policy: Terms, conditions and pricing structure including rebates, discounts and credit terms relating to products/service offered
• Pricing policy decisions: Decisions to shape price/performance ratio in customer/market-centric manner
• Practice oriented price determination: Factors including competitors' actions, behaviors, and market forces
• Causes for price changes: Introduction of new products/services, modifications to existing offerings, shifts in perceived product value, price adjustments, market pressures
• Different perspectives of pricing: Cost, profit and demand-oriented orientations.
• Different/Special competitive pricing orientations (including price leadership and pricing cartel).

Marketing - Promotion

• Communication policy: Aims to convey company and product information to interested parties
• Public relations: Establishing relationships of trust through disseminating company information and performance data to relevant stakeholders
• Advertising functions: To inform about products and services, match customer needs, draw attention, compare across offerings
• Advertising main objectives: Announcement, information, image building, action/trigger
• AIDA Concept (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action)
• Advertising concepts: Defining communication between advertisers and recipients. Including elements of advertising budget, location, period, media and materials

Objectives - Types of Objectives

• Factual objectives vs. Formal objectives; factual operational functions.
• Factual objectives examples: Performance targets, Financial targets, Social and ecological targets.
• Formal objectives examples: Productivity, economic efficiency, profit-oriented concepts.
• Objectives in the context of management - and organizational targets, also, division of tasks, problem-solving, operational processes including management style

Objectives - Target setting process

• Stages of Target Setting Process including Target Search, Target operationalization, Target Ordering, and Target Review.

Objectives - Target Setting Process Details

• Elements of target setting process: Objectives, feasibility check, target setting, target decision, implementation, monitoring, and review. Critical considerations like resources, time horizons, and conflicts must be accounted for

Explore key concepts and objectives of the General Business Administration course through this quiz. Test your understanding of pricing strategies, competitive analysis, and corporate management, among other essential topics. Ideal for students looking to solidify their knowledge in business administration.