Course detail

Business Development Assessment

FP-BBDAEAcad. year: 2024/2025

Business development presents ideas, initiatives, and activities to drive business forward and improve existing performance and effectiveness of small company. This includes increasing revenue, expanding business growth, increasing profitability by building strategic partnerships and taking strategic business decisions such as selling a business or selling franchise rights. Business appraisal can help identify business growth and development opportunities or, on the contrary, lead to the finding that some parts of the business do not work or that there is a lack of alignment between the company's internal environment and the outside environment.
One of the biggest challenges in running a small business is when it comes to objectively assessing how a business is going. Business assessment provides a fair and impartial view that is needed to make strategic decisions about the direction of future business.
Business development activities cover a variety of functions and areas, including sales, marketing, project management, product management, and supplier management. Networks, negotiations, partnerships and cost-saving efforts are also involved. All these different areas and activities are managed and aligned with business development goals.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

6

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Ing. Veronika Bumberová, Ph.D.

Department

Institute of Management (ÚM)

Entry knowledge

This course is directly connected to the module of Competitiness and Communication of Small company in analyses used and assessing the development potential of the company.
An important part of the process of business assesment is collecting and analyzing data both inside and outside the company, so it is essential that students have the knowledge and skills of Applied Analytical Statistics and Market Research.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

COMPLETITION OF THE COURSE:

The student must pass and fulfill three criteria, which are interconnected and form individual scored outputs within the overall evaluation, while the score ratio for the overall evaluation looks like this:
1) Training activities (20%) - will take place in the form of discussion and processing of tasks and assigned solutions from the case study assignment.
2) Processing and presentation of a solution to the problem of an external supplier from practice (60%) - will take place in the form of consulting and advisory activities to strengthen the abilities and skills of students in direct confrontation with business entities. The teams analyze the client's problem and situation according to the assignment and information from the initial meeting and present their measures or results to the external supplier.
3) Test of knowledge prerequisites (20%) - will take place in the form of an assessment of the individual level of knowledge and overview of the student in the given issue.

Within the framework of individual activities (except for the solution for an external contractor from practice), a minimum number of points that the student must achieve is set. The minimum number of points for training activities is 11 points (˃50%) out of 20. If the student does not reach the minimum required number of points, he will be informed by the teacher to prepare additional tasks, which will be re-evaluated.
The overview test will be compiled from a range of topics based on the content of the lectures. The student must obtain a minimum of 11 points (˃50%) out of 20 from the test. If the minimum number of points is not reached on the first term, it is possible to use a make-up test.
Additional or reverse processing of the problem for an external company is not possible! There is no minimum number of points.

COMPLETION OF THE COURSE FOR STUDENTS WITH ISP/ERASMUS?
After submitting the approved plan to the teacher in the form of an e-mail (with an attachment of the ISP scan in pdf) at the beginning of the semester, the student must complete activities in the form of developing and submitting solutions to training activities and pass an overview test in the subject. The condition is that the student submits the developed solution as part of the training activities no later than a week before the last date of the test. Both activities are compulsory upon completion of the course.

Overall assessment of activities from the subject:
A – 100 – 90 points
B - 89 - 80 points
C - 79 – 70 points
D - 69 – 60 points
E – 59 – 50 points
F - 49 - 0 points

Reasons for non-classification:
- lower than the required score of compulsory outputs;
- non-participation in the processing and presentation of a team solution for an external contractor;
- obtaining 49 or less points from the overall assessment.

Attendance at lectures is optional and not controlled. Attendance at seminars is compulsory and controlled. The lecture is controlled by the student's personal presence through enrollment directly. The monitoring of individual activities is carried out in the form of evaluation of participation in processing individual and team tasks and discussions.

Aims

The learning outcomes of the course is to connect and practical use the students' knowledge and skills gathering during their studies from managerial-economic areas with a comprehensive evaluation of the functioning of a small company. Through tool of Business Development Assessment, students will be able to identify issues and challenges related to the further direction of their activities and the consequent need for changes made both inside and outside the enterprise. Students diagnose the current functioning of the company and propose appropriate interventions with a view to further direction or improvement of current performance and efficiency.
The subject does not address the start-up phase or the preparation of a business plan for starting a business. Students can apply knowledge and skills in the area of multi-functional project teams responsible for organizational development related to the preparation and implementation of changes in larger enterprises, or as external consultants.
Knowledge - the student knows the issues of life cycles of organizations that define the position of enterprises at a certain stage, knows and defines the various stages of the diagnostic process and their application, defines and critically selects appropriate intervention methods and techniques that can be used and applied in selected situations, knows the principles of development business entity relations with interested interest groups.
Skills - the student acquires and processes relevant information from the organization environment, evaluates the potential of the company development in relation to possible cooperation with partners and investors in the environment, elaborates potential directions of development of the company and elaborates them into concrete interventions and links them to the company's goals. to solve problems, to contribute constructively to problem-solving and decision-making, to conduct a discussion to solve the problem and to find solutions, effectively use teamwork and apply management and leadership principles.
Competence - the student is able to comprehensively evaluate the current functioning of the company, decides on the selection of the most suitable analyzes, methods and approaches for data collection, is able to identify problems and challenges related to the management of the company, decides and chooses appropriate interventions based on feedback of information diagnosis, selects and implements the best Interventions for change with regard to the goals of a small company, proposes steps, actions and activities, including their transfer into practice, interprets the results of analyzes and information, evaluates the impacts of development interventions, creates and develops a team for complex business development project solutions.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Cummings Thomas and Worley Christopher. Organization Development and Change. 10th edition. Cengage Learning. 2014. 832 p. ISBN 1305143035. (EN)
Flamholtz, E. G., Randle, Y. Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations. 5th edition. John Wiley & Sons. 2016. 400 p. ISBN 1118916425. (EN)
Flamholtz, E. Randle, Y. Leading Strategic Change: Bridging Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press. 2008. ISBN 1139471775. (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BAK-E Bachelor's

    branch BAK-ESBD , 3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

  • Programme BAK-ESBD Bachelor's 3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

20 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Veronika Bumberová, Ph.D.

Syllabus

The teaching at lectures has the character of basic principles and theory of the discipline. However, a group discussion on selected topics given by the lecturers aims to critically evaluate management approaches and principles of business development to evaluate the broader context of business environment development and their impact on business.

Exercise

10 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Veronika Bumberová, Ph.D.

Syllabus

The teaching at seminars takes the form of individual and team solutions, including team discussions representing group interaction. Teaching at the exercises requires teamwork and team discussions with the teacher and other members, which will be held at the seminars every week. Students train the ability to solve problems and challenges, critically analyze and evaluate specific approaches and apply them in the context of their own business, formulate and present their ideas clearly. The seminar is focused on practical mastery of the subject matter discussed at lectures.