Print Syllabus

Syllabus

FÖ0506 Business management with specialization in Forest and Landscape, 15.0 Credits

Företagsledning med inriktning Skog och Landskap

Subjects

Business Administration

Education cycle

Bachelor’s level

Advanced study in the main field

First cycle, has only upper-secondary level entry requirements
Bachelor’s level (G1N)

Grading scale

Language

English

Prior knowledge

- Mathematics 2a or Mathematics 2b or Mathematics 2c
- Social Studies 1b alternatively Social Studies 1a1
- Science 2
- English 6

As the language of instruction is English, the Swedish language general entry requirement may not apply.

Objectives

The course aims to provide an understanding of basic issues in business administration and business management, with focus on forest and landscape-oriented companies.

After completing the course, the student is expected to be able to independently understand, apply and analyse the fundamentals within the following:

• Business administration: being able to perform calculations in budgeting, product calculation and analyse the company's financial performance (performance measurement).
• Forest economics: being able to perform investment analysis in the perspective of the rotations used in forestry, to understand the industrial processing and use of the wood product.
• Organisational theory: assess the use of different organizational goals, the impact on results and business performance.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain fundamental concepts in business administration in general and in budgeting, product costing and financial performance measurement in particular.
• Establish calculations as a basis for business decision-making.
• Explain the basics of investment assessment and analyse investments from different decision situations.
• Forest as capital, including understanding of the value of time, discounting, compounding, calculating present and future values, discount rate and its choice.
• Inflation in forest investment analysis, including understanding of its impacts, calculating cash flows in nominal and real terms, etc.
• Identify and analyse organisational goals, outcomes, and assess its impact on company performance.
• Explain how the results from business intelligence can affect the current business strategy.
• Assess what measures a company can implement to become more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable and how this affects the business strategy

Content

The course covers overall business management and is divided into modules with theoretical and practical elements. A business manager can manage a small or large company where you work according to goals and guidelines. In a larger company it is the business manager's task to follow these set goals and guidelines, in a smaller company you may plan and follow up the entire operation yourself. The different parts comprise financial management, forest management, and organisational management.

• Financial management: the theoretical part focuses on basic concepts and functions and an understanding of the rules that govern financial statements and the annual report. The practical part is carried out in laboratories where the student prepares a financial statement to analyse the business financial performance (performance measurement).
• Forest economics: the theoretical part focuses on how to influence growth and the financial outcomes with different measures, and recognize additional values of the forest in the landscape – where different measures are weighed against each other. The practical part is carried out in laboratories where the student prepares an investment analysis that for example includes, calculating Net Present Value, internal rate of return, forest as capital, calculating optimal densities in forest regeneration, economics of even-aged forestry, and inflation in forest investment analysis ranking of projects.
• Organizational theory: describes how activities are organized in companies, and outlines how these activities are directed to achieve the goals of an organization, but also various forms of goals (e.g. financial/non-financial goals). Within all organizational structure, the business manager works towards the company's specific goals, this work can be structured in different ways and thus influences decision-making in both financial management and forest economics.

*Teaching formats:*
The course uses different teaching methods to promote students' learning through lectures, discussions, exercises, seminars and group work.

The course focuses on the following generic competencies:

• Oral communication
• Written communication
• Independent work
• Work in groups
• Scientific methods

The following sections are mandatory:
Guest lectures, study visits, and seminars.

Collaboration with the surrounding community:
Cooperation with the surrounding society takes place through several study visits, external lecturers, seminars and study visits. In addition, the teaching is linked to both national and international research through lectures.

Grading form

The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.

Formats and requirements for examination

In order to pass the course, the student must pass written and oral examinations, as well as pass participation in mandatory elements.

• If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.

• The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.

• If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.

• For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

Other information

• The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.

• If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

Responsible department

Department of People and Society

Cooperating departments: