Integrated Business Approach

The uniqueness of the integrated approach to studying business economics is that all relevant aspects of running a business and making timely and optimal decisions, just like in the real business world, are complex, with different priorities, with simultaneous causation. This approach to the study of economic science allows us to simulate the segments of the market economy in which students make decisions about their own virtual real-business. Consequently, students are assessed depending on the profitability of the Student Company, active involvement and individual contributions to team work. Specific content in the so- called Integrated Enterprise Program (IBC-1 and IBC-2) consist of legal, organizational, marketing, financial, behavioral, etc. Aspects are presented below.

Modules 1, 2 and 3 (comprised in IBC 1) are taught and applied in the second year of the studies

Modules 4, 5 and 6 (comprised in IBC 2) are taught and applied in the third year of the studies

Module 1: Team Work
This module represents an integral approach in creating implementation teams for certain goals. The curriculum is conducted in teams. Groups consist of 10-30 students. Each team consists of 5-6 persons. The duty of each team is to create its own website. The duration of module 1 is 5 weeks.

Goals to be achieved:

• To improve the ability to adapt to the team concept in a specific situation
• To improve the relationships among the team members. This actually means joint creation of the plan, its execution and use of the experience of the team members in developing certain goals and tasks. The teams are expected to offer mutual interaction in performing the tasks planned, which leads to higher cohesiveness in the group, and consequently, to a productive team, which is a prerequisite for starting the project and achieving its team goals and tasks.
• Raising the awareness about the need of planning. Planning of the future should increase chances for implementing productivity, which is definitely possessed by each of the teams. By planning within the team, a larger possibility for mutual control is ensured.
• Gives students an introduction to the use of tools and processes needed to create their website.

The website of each team (regardless of whether they are existing or newly formed) must be composed of the following three basic components:

Description of the team: Description of the current structure (background) – defining the project, which is target of the team implementation, its goals and tasks, sponsors, customers and their demands. All personal information and other team members’ relevant information are contained here.
Description of the team structure: Includes the number (size) of the team, subgroups, etc.
Description of the organization of the team: which activities are covered by which team member, who cooperates with whom, and how they inform each other.
Agreement for team work contains the name and logo of the group. Advantages and disadvantages, and limiting factors for the work of the team. Structuring the team, roles of the members and internal work processes. The students, based on the knowledge acquired, are asked to create an efficient organizational structure and undisturbed flows of information. The Agreement should contain specific time periods when the team would meet, and a timetable (gantogram) should therefore be prepared, to cover the activities of the team during the semester.
The conceptual approach in this module is based on three components. Each of the components incorporates the influence of some internal and external factors, such as: the organizational structure, organizational culture, economic surrounding and the macroeconomic surrounding. Creating the team: organization, structure and culture; Team work: goals, management, development, communications, project management, decision making, conflict and evaluation; Evaluation of the efficiency in executing the planned team goals: introducing a criterion for measuring efficiency by the team itself. The mentor grades the team structure and functioning for each project assignment.

Module 2: Business Systems
The module Business Systems is introducing students in the integrated analysis of environment and its impact on the goals and strategies of the corporation. The environment as a subject of this analysis is: macroeconomic environment analyzed in terms of natural resources and labor and business; or commercial environment composed of the 5 main components-competition, consumers, suppliers, market structures and other driving forces of such a structured business environment. This module lasts 6 weeks.
Goals to be achieved:

• More thorough use of economic information from the macro economic point of view. This analysis will be focused on natural resources and technologies in terms of their utilization as well as analysis of: financial, economic, global, socio-cultural and demographic characteristics of population and labor policies, regulations and laws.
• More thorough use of economic information relating to the economic environment such as market structures, suppliers, consumers, competition and other forces driving the economy.
• Practical evaluation of external influences on the business of the corporation. In order to accomplish this goal a knowledge of all components that determine the operational working and strategy of corporations such as the marketing, finance and accounting, internal organization, human resources management and engineering is necessary.

Module 3: Planning the Production Process
This module is designed to integrate the knowledge which the students have acquired in the field of marketing, finance and management in creating a corporate business strategy. The course lasts for 6 weeks.
Goals to be achieved:

• Larger knowledge in the process of planning, implementation and control in the integral management cycle. Strategic development plans are prepared in a way that it would point to the required steps in this complex process. This involves defining a vision and mission, and afterwards analyzing company’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the exogenous variables, such as opportunities and threats, which are always factors of external influence, and upon which the company can act.
• Larger knowledge in operation of plans, defined on strategic, tactical and operational level that would cover the components of marketing goals and plans, production plan, fork force plans and financial plans.
• Possibility to identify critical issues and problems, as well as using information from the previous implementation phase, as a feedback of the company’s strategic plan.

Module 4: Planning and Deciding
Planning and Deciding is a module which represents a logical continuation of the knowledge acquired for planning in the given business surrounding. The accent in this module is placed on the procedures and instruments used to foresee sales, as well as preparation of pro-forma reports, from which plans derive for all individual company functions. The duration of this module is 6 weeks.
Goals to be achieved:

• Knowledge about the ways and methods for conducting quantitative and qualitative prediction of sales.
• Preparing operational plans for all company functions.
• Knowledge about subliming results from the operational planning in the company’s financial report, i.e. preparing a pro-forma cash flow report for one fiscal year, and a pro-forma balance sheet and income statement.

Module 5. Management of corporate resources
The management of corporate resources is intended for future managers and entrepreneurs who will make decisions about handling and using of all available resources. This integrated course provides a complementary knowledge and sublimation of the knowledge gained from courses in business and economics. The duration of the module is 6 weeks.
Goals to be achieved:

• Business decisions about acquisition and making available all the resources of the company, their management and the effects of the managing and decision making on the financial position of the company, and consequently on the value of the capital owned by shareholders.
• Integrated knowledge about procedures and methods of business decisions such as investment decisions, operational decisions, decisions regarding human resources, information system decisions and financial decisions.
• Integrated knowledge about managing with money and securities, inventory, working capital, investments in personnel, fixed assets and consumer demands.
• Expanded knowledge about the choice, selection, training and a new approach for assessing the productivity of labor.
• Expanded knowledge about the managing of with the informational database of the company, processing and modeling of the data.
• Expanded knowledge about the relationship between liabilities and capital financing, determination of financial leverage and dividend policy.
• Analysis of external environment: competition, international events, financial markets and capital costs, risk assessment and their impact on cash flows and on determining the value of the shares in the company.

Module 6. Operational decisions in business
This module focuses on the methods and conditions under which operational decisions are made for business. This is module is based on integrating the knowledge in the field of marketing management, production management and finance. It is organized for a period of 6 weeks.
Goals to be achieved:

• Deepening the knowledge in terms of decision making related to marketing mix. Decisions about production, promotion and price forming are emphasized.
• Deepening the knowledge concerning the buyers behavior, , the analysis of orders, the offered products and the ways they are offered, the elasticity of demand in terms of price of products;
• Deepening the knowledge in terms of distribution models from which information about product , demand of products and other relevant data are received, and their impact on the global planning of enterprise resources. Simulation of electronic trading.
  

The activities of our students as part of the integrated business approach are realized through the creation and management of virtual companies. The products created as a part of these companies can be viewed on the following link.