The latvian academy of culture

The Name of the Course: The Fundamentals of Business

The Scope of the Course: 64 academic hours.

4 credit points. The form of assessment: a test and an examination.

The Author of the Course: Lecturer Gatis Ķepītis, Mg.MSc.

Preconditions for the Acquisition of the Course: There are no preconditions for the acquisition of the course.

The Contents of the Course: The objective of the course is to develop an understanding about the activities of an enterprise in the market by examining its most important functions and interaction with the business environment in order to choose the optimal strategy. In the second part of the course students are given a possibility of practical application of their knowledge when writing a simplified business plan for an imaginary enterprise.

Thematic Planning:

Theme	XXXIV.Week	Type of classes and hours
An enterprise and its functions. Introduction: what is business? An enterprise.		L2
The types of enterprises and their characteristic features.		L2
The functions of an enterprise, their coordination and management.		L2
The function of production.		L2
The function of selling or marketing.		L2
Marketing: market research.		L2
Marketing: advertising, its types and methods.		L2
Marketing: a practical task.		L2
Personnel management.		L2
Personnel management: the main theories.		L2
Personnel management: the choice of the personnel.		L2
The function of accounting.		L2
Financial management, reports, money flow, budget.		L2
Finances: project evaluation.		L2
Summary, questions.		L2
A test.		P2
Business environment and the strategy of the activities of an enterprise.		L2
Business strategy.		L2
The analysis of the branches of production. The model of the portrait.		L2
Practical work in groups.		L2
Business environment: economic factors.		L2
Business environment: political, legislation and other factors.		L2
The risk theory.		L2
The use of models in business analysis.		L2
A business plan, its objective and construction.		L2
A business plan: the analysis of the main parts.		L2
A business plan: the sources of ideas (a home task).		L2
A business plan: the presentation of ideas.		L2
Tutorial: writing a business plan.		L2
A business plan: the presentation of projects.		L2
A business plan: the presentation of projects.		L2
Summary, questions. An examination.		L2

Requirements for the Acquisition of Credit Points: A successfully passed test and an examination.

Literature:

Mazā biznesa kurss, rec. Janīna Romancēviča, Rīga: Jumava, 1999

Komercdarbības (biznesa) plāns, Marga Živitere, Rīga: KIF “Biznesa komplekss”, 2000

Mācies plānot! Biznesa plāna pamati, Rasma Alsiņa, Rīga: Kamene, 2000

Stratēģija. Kvalitāte. (Analīze. Plānošana. Vadība.), Ilgvars Forands, Rīga: Latvijas Izglītības Fonds, 2000

Tirgzinības pamati, rec. Ineta Geipele, Rīga: Jumava, 1998

Personāla vadība, Aiga Vīksna, Rīga: Jumava, 1999

Business for Non-Business Students, David Campbell, DP Publications Ltd., 1994

Analysis for Financial Management, Robert C. Higgins, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 1998