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2021/2022

Company Organisation and Management

Code: 103813 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500897 Chemical Engineering FB 2 1
2500897 Chemical Engineering FB 2 2
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
José Luis González Núñez
Email:
JoseLuis.Gonzalez.Nunez@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
Yes

Teachers

Francesc Xavier Ortin Angel

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of calculus, algebra and functions.

Objectives and Contextualisation

Acquisition of a series of knowledge in relation to the conceptual framework of the company and the economic system in which it operates, as well as the mastery of the main economic and management techniques. That is, we want to cover the two aspects of knowledge of the subject, on the one hand the explanatory and clarifying aspect of the business phenomenon and on the other the normative and prescription aspect. In short, meet the two major objectives of the subject, one of a formative and general and another specific and applied.

Competences

    Chemical Engineering
  • Analyse and apply the basic principles of organisation and planning to companies and other organisations or institutions
  • Analyse the economic feasibility of an industrial chemical engineering project.
  • Communication
  • Develop personal work habits.
  • Develop thinking habits.
  • Observe ethics and professionalism.
  • Participate in the organisation and planning of companies.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Work in a team.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply the basic principles of company organisation and management.
  2. Communicate efficiently, orally and in writing, knowledge, results and skills, both professionally and to non-expert audiences.
  3. Contribute to society’s welfare and to sustainable development.
  4. Describe and analyse the economic environment of a company in its institutional and legal framework.
  5. Develop independent learning strategies.
  6. Develop scientific thinking.
  7. Identify the monetary flows involved in the process industry.
  8. Identify, manage and resolve conflicts.
  9. Manage available time and resources. Work in an organised manner.
  10. Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  11. Work cooperatively.

Content

Chapter 1: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE COMPANY

1. Nature of the company and business function

2. Economic principles and business forms according to legal and socioeconomic criteria

3. The relationship between efficiency and size

4. The company and the economic system

 

Chapter 2: FUNCTIONAL PRODUCTION AREA: CLASSIC APPROACH AND MANAGEMENT APPROACH

1. Production function and cost function: relevant correspondences and parameters

2. Partial productivity, technical minimum and technical optimum

3. The maximization of benefits in perfect competition

4. The maximization of profits in monopoly of supply

5. Extensions of the maximization model

6. The management approach in production: the break-even point and the restrictions on production

7. Linear programming in the company: resolution by the graphic method

8. Linear programming in the company: resolution by the Simplex method

 

Chapter 3: FUNCTIONAL INVESTMENT AND FINANCING AREA

1. Concept of investment, basic financial instruments and investment selection criteria NPV and IRR

2. Development of the NPV and IRR criteria according to the different cash flows

3. Amortization of the investment and hypothesis of reinvestment of the cash flows

4. Decisions of acceptance-rejection and hierarchy between investments

5. Sources of financing in the company and its cost of capital

6. Effect of taxes on the capital cost of financing and the NPV

7. Other sources of financing

8. The weighted average cost of capital WACC

 

Chapter 4: FUNCTIONAL AREA OF COMMERCIALIZATION

1. Commercial function in the company

2. Tools of the commercial function

3. The product as a commercial policy instrument

4. Prices and publicity as instruments of commercial policy

Methodology

Although the teacher will use the master class to transmit knowledge of the core aspects of each topic, the student must be an active part of the learning process (interactive master class). In this sense, initiatives on inquiry, motivation and the process of knowledge of things will be promoted, with the student having to create them and adapt them to their own learning process. The teacher will perform tasks of guidance, guidance and reinforcement of those aspects that present greater difficulty. Students will be provided with abundant bibliographic material, including theoretical content and exercises. To encourage critical thinking, discussion and reflection on the part of the student, work groups will be set up in problem classes and seminars in order to complete the learning process through group discussion.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master Class: Master class in a large group in which the teacher assumes the active role involving the student in the learning process of the contents exposed 30 1.2 1, 4, 7
Presencial Seminars: Workspace in small groups in which through various activities (review of contents, work, search for information, resolution of questions and problems), it delves into the content of the subject 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 8, 11
Presential problems: space dedicated to the application of contents through the approach and resolution of problems 15 0.6 1, 4, 5, 9, 11
Type: Supervised      
Preparation of problems and seminars 20 0.8 1, 5, 9, 11
Tutorials and consultations 10 0.4 1, 5, 9
Type: Autonomous      
Exam preparation 20 0.8 1, 4, 5, 9
Personal work 50 2 1, 4, 5, 9, 11

Assessment

Continuous evaluation system

Individual written tests: at the end of the second chapter there will be an individual written test on chapters 1 and 2; this test will have a weight of 30% in the final grade. Also, at the end of the fourth chapter there will be an individual written test on chapters 3 and 4; also this test will have a weight of 30% in the final grade.

Delivery of blocks of exercises: Throughout the course, the student must submit a series of blocks of exercises proposed on homogeneous parts of the subject. The blocks of exercises will be carried out by groups of between 3 and 4 students. The weight of these blocks of exercises is 20% of the final grade.

Participation: the participation of the student will be assessed through a series of classroom controls and the completion of the corresponding seminars. Attendance to class and tutorials will also be taken into account. The weight of the participation is 20% of the final grade.

The individual written tests, the delivery of exercises and participation make up the system of continuous evaluation. For the calculation of the final grade of continuous assessment, a minimum grade of 3 will be required for the individual tests.

In the case that a student, through this system of continuous assessment, obtain a grade equal to or greater than 5, but without reaching the minimum grade of 3 in any of the partial, and not present to the recovery, the final grade will be of 4,5.

Remedial exam

Those students who have not passed the subject through continuous assessment will have one final test consisting of a test of recovery of the whole subject and in some specific cases of one of the two parties (those who have a grade equal toor greater than 5 in some of the tests).

In these cases the evaluation system of the continuous assessment will no longer be taken into account (the notes of the exercise blocks or the participation note will not be taken into account). When the exam is of the whole subject the student must take a 5 to pass. When the exam is a part, the final grade will be the average grade between the grade obtained in the recovery exam and the individual test score already passed.

In order to participate in the recovery, the student must have previously evaluated activities that involve a minimum 2/3 of the final grade of the subject.

To obtain an honors degree, in addition to obtaining a minimum grade of 9, the student must have successfully participated in the continuous assessment system.

A student will be considered as non-evaluable if he / she does not appear in any of the individual tests.

Each student must go compulsorily to the evaluation test programmed by his group. In the case of not being able to attend, for whatever reason, to any of the partial tests, their recovery will be made only on the day of the recovery test. No extraordinary tests will be scheduled.

Once the final grades are exposed in the Virtual Campus, a period of review of grades will open.

Second enrollment students must complete the same assessment process as the first enrollment students

Without prejudice to other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, irregularities committed by a student that may lead to a variation of the grade will be scored with a zero (0). For example, plagiarizing, copying, letting copy, ..., an evaluation activity, will imply suspending this evaluation activity with a zero (0). The evaluation activities qualified in this way and by this procedure will not be recoverable. If it is necessary to pass any of these evaluation activities to pass the subject, this subject will be suspended directly, without the opportunity to recover it in the same course.

The dates ofcontinuous evaluation and delivery of works will be published on the virtual campus and may be subject to programming changes for reasons of adaptation to possible incidents. Always be informed in the virtual campus about these changes as it is understood that this is the usual platform for exchange of information between teachers and students.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Completion of two individual partial tests and, where appropriate, another final test, also individual, on the theoretical and practical contents of the subject 60% 0 0 1, 2, 4, 6, 5, 9, 10, 11
Realization and delivery of the blocks of exercises by groups of students. You can also request a course work 20% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5, 9, 7, 8, 10, 11
Realization of controls and seminars 20% 0 0 1, 2, 4, 6, 5, 9, 10

Bibliography

Basic bibliography

González, J.L. (2010). “Empresa: marco conceptual y técnicas de gestión por áreas funcionales”. Materials 218. UAB.

Departament d’Empresa (2021): “Bloques de ejercicios”. Campus Virtual.

Departament d’Empresa (2020): Materiales de clase en PDF, 1a,1b,1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i, 3j, 4a. Campus Virtual.

 

Additional bibliography

Alegre, L.; Berné, C. y Galve, C. (2000). “Fundamentos de economía de la empresa: perspectiva funcional” (2a edición). Ariel economía. Barcelona

Blair, R.D. y Kenny, L.W. (1983). "Microeconomía con aplicaciones a la empresa". McGraw-Hill: Madrid.

Brealey, R.A.; Myers, S.C. y Marcus, A. J.  (1996). "Principios de dirección financiera".   McGraw-Hill/Interamericana de España: Madrid.

Bueno, E.; Cruz, I. y Durán, J.J. (2002). “Economía de la Empresa: Análisis de las Decisiones Empresariales”. Pirámide: Madrid.

Bueno, E. (2004). "Curso básico de economía de la empresa. Un enfoque de organización" (4a edición). Pirámide: Madrid.

Cruz, I. (1991). “Fundamentos de Marketing”. Ariel:  Barcelona.

Martín, M. (1998). “Métodos operativos de gestión empresarial” (4a Edición).  Pirámide: Madrid

Serra, A. (1986). "Sistema Económico y Empresa”.  Ariel Economía: Barcelona.

Suárez, A. S. (2014). "Decisiones óptimas de inversión y financiación en la empresa".  Pirámide: Madrid.

Suárez, A.S.  (2006). "Curso de economía de la empresa" (7a edición).  Pirámide: Madrid.

Thompson, A. A. (1989). “Economics of thefirm”.  Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs. New Jersey.

 

Digital books. UAB Libraries (Additional bibliography)

Brealey, R.A.; Myers, S.C. y Franklin, A (2015) “Principios de finanzas corporativas”. McGraw-Hill/Interamericana de España: Madrid. Parte 1.

Maroto, C. y Alcáraz, J. (2008) “Introducción a la investigación operativa en administración y dirección de empresas”. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València.

Russek, A.L. (2006) “Microeconomía: enfoque de negocios” Pearson Education. Caps.9,10,11,12 y 14.

 

 

 

 

 

Software

The programs used in the subject are Offices (Word for word processing and Excel for solving exercises: Solver Add-on for Optimizations and Financial Formulas for solving equations in this area). Programs such as: Wolfram Alpha are also used, QSB, Derive, PHPS-Simplex, Symbolab and other online programs.