General English II
This course develops listening, speaking, pronunciation and vocabulary acquisition for use in daily life and the classroom. The course is intended for high beginner students with basic communication abilities.
Learner outcomes include improved ability to understand basic spoken utterances and vocabulary and to communicate in common situations by using basic language functions and the appropriate vocabulary with standard pronunciation.
Materials include listening and speaking and pronunciation textbooks.
Activities include both in-class and out-of-class listening and speaking tasks which develop the students’ communication ability. This course develops reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar skills. The course is intended for high beginner students in English and for students with basic abilities in reading and writing.
Learner outcomes include improved ability to read and understand high frequency vocabulary and simple and more complex sentences, to write at the paragraph and short composition level with accurate spelling and punctuation and to understand and use accurately verb tenses, nouns/pronouns, and articles.
Materials include a reading and vocabulary text and a grammar text.
Financial Statistics
This course teaches concepts such as Probability theory, probability distributions, inference with decision theory, regression models, index theory, models for time series and forecasting, volatility, options and management of data. Throughout the course you will learn and use statistical software packages.
The course forms part of the degree programme in business economics and is only open for program students. The concepts discussed in more detail are: probability theory/distributions, inference, (log)-regression
analysis, estimation of time series models and their use for forecasting, volatility, basics of options and data management using statistical software.
The course consists of one unit that is examined in two parts:
Exam 1: Financial statistics theory and applications, examination, written test; 6.0 ECTS
Exam 2: Financial statistics applications, home assignment in working groups; 1.5 ECTS
Note that each exam/test is graded separately and independently. This means that you, if you pass on one test, are not required to re-take the test should you fail the other. E.g. if you have passed the home assignment but fail to pass the final exam, you will retain the corresponding credits and will not be
required to do them again; you are only required to do those exams you have not passed.For a passing grade the student must demonstrate ability to:
- identify, solve and interpret problems in financial statistics
- carry out statistical analysis of financial data using statistical software
Computer Skills II
Basic concepts of Information Technology, File management and personal computer. The main objective of this course is to qualify the student to pass the ICDL exam in the second two modules covering Word processing and electronic spreadsheets using Microsoft Office 2007. The ICDL program has a well-defined set of objectives which include
- Promoting and encouraging computer literacy between students independent of their specialization
- Raise the level of knowledge about Information Technology and the level of competence in using personal computers and common computer applications for all students
- Ensure that all computer users understand best practices and the advantages of using a personal computer
- To increase the productivity of students and graduates who need to use computers in their specialization and work
- To enable better returns from investments in Information Technology (IT)
- To provide a basic qualification degree which will allow all students, regardless of their specialization to be part of the Information Society
Microeconomics
The course provides an introduction to a core area of economics known as microeconomics. It considers the operation of a market economy and the problem of how best to allocate society's scarce resources. The course considers the way in which various decision making units in the economy (individuals and firms) make their consumption and production decisions and how these decisions are coordinated. It considers the laws of supply and demand, and introduces the theory of the firm, and its components, production and cost theories and models of market structure. The various causes of market failure are assessed, and consideration is given to public policies designed to correct this market failure.
Microeconomics is the study of how decisions are made by consumers and suppliers, how these decisions determine the allocation of scarce resources in the marketplace, and how public policy can influence market outcomes for better or worse. A basic understanding of microeconomics is essential to the study of macroeconomics because “micro” provides the foundations upon which “macro” is built. It is pointless to try to explain, for example, the demand for money and how it affects interest rates in the economy without a grasp of how suppliers and buyers interact in a market. The objective of this supplement to MACROECONOMICS: An Introduction, Third Edition is to provide a relatively compact overview of microeconomics for use in a course where micro is not a prerequisite for macro, and for students who want to brush up on their micro.
Economists think of there being two sides to a market, the demand side and the supply side. The demand side consists of economic agents, households and sometimes firms, who come to the market to buy a specific good or service. The supply side consists of the suppliers of the good or service, generally firms that produce the item. In markets for final goods, which are ready for consumption, the demanders are usually the consumers in the household sector; for example, someone buying a croissant. However, in the case of capital goods, it is a firm that is the buyer of the final good; for example, a bakery buying a new automated oven. There are also markets for intermediate goods where the buyers are firms purchasing a good or service used in the production of another good or service, for example bakeries purchasing flour from millers, or millers purchasing wheat from farmers.
We study the demand and supply sides of markets separately, because each involves different groups of agents. Within each group there is a common goal but the two groups have very distinct goals. Buyers all come to the market with the same goal of getting as much satisfaction, or what economists call utility, as they can from their limited budget. Suppliers are maximizing profit by using the factors of production - land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship, - as effectively as possible, given the costs of those factors and the price at which they can sell their product.
Principles of Accounting I
Introduces financial accounting theory, including the accounting cycle, analysis and recording of transactions, and reporting financial information in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This is the first term of the traditional accounting principles sequence. The course emphasizes the theoretical foundations of accounting and analytical skills needed by business and accounting students. Those with financial record-keeping responsibilities in their current employment will find it essential. An understanding of accounting is necessary to examine the performance and financial health of business. For this reason, accounting is often referred to as the ‘language of business’. This course is the ideal way for students to acquire a valuable skill as well as begin to develop an appreciation of the role of accounting in the evaluation and management of a business. Accordingly, it is recommended as a course both for students interested in business generally, and for those planning a career in accounting. Upon completion of the course students will be able to:
- Use debit and credit accounting to record and adjust basic business transactions.
- Prepare multi-step income statements, classified balance sheets, and statements of retained earnings.
- Use basic financial statement ratio analysis to evaluate financial performance.
- Demonstrate knowledge of each step in the accounting cycle.
- Know and apply organizational internal control components.
- Use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to record common business transactions involving merchandise inventory, cash, and accounts receivable transactions.
Intro. to Financial systems
An important component of modern economies is the financial system. Particularly since the 1980s, the “fictionalization” of the economies across the globe, with the unprecedented influence of capital markets and their intermediaries that this process has involved, has had increasingly visible effects on households and firms. Modern financial development, including innovations of financial instruments and institutions, has drastically increased the borrowing and savings opportunities of households and firms. However, there is also an increasing awareness that economies are now deeply interlinked and their performance is subject to greater volatility than in the past.
The course enhances students' understanding of how financial markets operate, with an emphasis on their impact upon the economy. With the guidance of the instructor, students will explore the functioning of financial markets and how they shape behaviors, constraints and opportunities in key economic areas that households, firms, financial intermediaries and policy makers operate in. We attempt to provide a key contribution to students’ understanding of the role of finance and financial institutions and how they deliver positive economic outcomes in significant ways. The Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are what you should be able to demonstrate by the end of this course, if you participate fully in learning activities and successfully complete the assessment items. On successful completion of the course, you should be able to: 1. Demonstrate understanding of interconnections between finance and the economy. 2. Identify problems arising in the functioning of financial markets and intermediaries.3. Demonstrate understanding of how firms, households, financial intermediaries and policy makers interact to shape the interconnection between finance and the economy. 4. Provide arguments for a sound policy intervention that alleviates some of the problems arising from volatility of real and financial markets. 5. Evaluate the evolution of financial markets within mature economies. 6. Evaluate the costs of unregulated financial markets. 7. Construct economic arguments and written work which are logically and professionally presented. 8. Communicate ideas in a succinct and clear manner. 9. Evaluate the costs and benefits of working in teams. 10. Appreciate the real (economic and social) effects of financial markets and inter mediation in unregulated environments and participate in discussion on how best to achieve socially desirable outcomes from the interaction between finance and the economy. 11. Understand the cultural aspect of value creation in financial markets and how cultural factors may impact upon financial markets' volatility and vulnerability.
Principles of Management II
In this course, you will learn to recognize the characteristics of proper management by identifying what successful managers do and how they do it. Understanding how managers work is just as beneficial for the subordinate employee as it is for the manager. This course is designed to teach you the fundamentals of management as they are practiced today.
This course will illustrate how management evolves as firms grow in size. It is based upon the idea that the essential purpose of a business is to produce products and services in order to meet the needs and wants of the marketplace. A manager marshals an organization's resources (its people, finances, facilities, and equipment) toward this fundamental goal. In this course, you will explore the tasks that today's managers perform and delve into the key knowledge areas that managers need to master in order to run successful and profitable businesses.