WISO100405 Fundamentals of business economics

Type
Lecture
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Biewald, Andreas Robert , Hirsch, Patrick
Organisation
Production and Logistics
Offered in
Wintersemester 2026/27
Languages of instruction
Deutsch
Content

Subject of Business Administration:
Needs, goods and production factors
Economic units
Stakeholders of a company
Value creation, value chain and operational revenue process
Accounting
Concept of management
Organization & personnel

Sustainability in Companies:
Three-pillar model & multidimensionality
Sustainable business models
Costs of non-sustainability
Rebound effect
Standards & certifications

Legal Forms of Companies:
UGB (Austrian Commercial Code)
Shares
Corporate alliances

Planning:
Basics of planning
Controlling
Models and model building
Deterministic optimization model (basic models)

Decision Theory:
Decisions under certainty, risk and uncertainty
Multi-object problems

Logistics:
Basics
Supply chain management
Material requirements planning
Forecasting methods
Classical order quantity/lot size model

Financing:
Basic concepts
Equity & debt financing
Liquidity & cash flow
Financial planning & leverage effect

Investment:
Basic concepts
Evaluation of individual investments: static and dynamic

Project Planning:
Network analysis

Applied Quantitative Methods – Computational Solution of Problems (Excerpt):

Performance indicator analysis (DuPont model), economic efficiency and productivity, LP modelling and graphical solution methods, knapsack problem, transportation problem, multi-period production planning, decision-making methods under risk (e.g. semi-variance method, standard deviation), decision-making methods under uncertainty (e.g. regret method, Hurwicz criterion), multi-criteria utility analysis, ABC analysis, EOQ model, forecasting methods, static investment appraisal (e.g. payback period), dynamic investment appraisal (e.g. annuity method), break-even analysis, network planning techniques, etc.
Previous knowledge expected

Mathematical and statistical knowledge at high school graduation level (Matura/A-levels)
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Upon completion of the course, students are able to:

- identify and describe the main legal forms of business, the fundamental functions of firms, and their systems of objectives;
- assess these in relation to the requirements of ecological and social sustainability;
- understand fundamental business decision-making situations and planning problems;
- develop basic concepts for sustainable corporate management and value creation;
- independently formulate and quantitatively solve simple business planning models.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.