International Business - anotace předmětů

1ST SEMESTER 

This list comprises abstracts of compulsory courses taught at MUP in accordance with the study plan effective for the 2014/2015 academic year.

STUDY SKILLS

The course is devised to introduce students in the first year of study of the specialisation of International Business to the general guidelines and convention applying to university studies, and provide information about the structure and administration of MUP, the specialisation of International Business and, last but not least, the multiple opportunities for study abroad. Hands-on seminars aim to inform students on various study methods as well as team work, research, and presentation skills.

MATHEMATICS FOR ECONOMISTS 1

The objective of the course is to introduce students to basic mathematical concepts and methods that can be applied in economics, especially in the sphere of international business. In addition to lectures, practical seminars will be held. The seminars will help students practice and master mathematical methods. Students will learn to apply basic mathematical concepts in economics and solve basic problems in the area of linear algebra, differential calculus for functions of one or more variables, integral calculus, linear equations, and difference equations.

INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

This course is an introductory course in the specialisation of International Business. The aim of this course is to introduce students to keys terms in the field of international business and basic arithmetic operations that apply to the relevant terms. Upon conclusion of the course, students will achieve basic knowledge necessary for subsequent specialised and general courses. Students will be able to understand graphs and statistical data published in expert publications.

MICROECONOMICS 1

This course, which is a prerequisite for the study of further economic disciplines, is designed to introduce students to fundamental economic categories and their mutual relations. The focus of the course lies primarily in economic thinking and the ability to apply basic microeconomic models to real-life situations.

WORLD POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

The course introduces students to the fundamental political and economic realities in territorial contexts. It provides evidence that territory is an integral part of socio-economic reality, which can be stimulated by it in both positive and negative ways. Students will build a groundwork for understanding macro-economic and political facts in both global and regional projection. The course aims to clarify territorial organisation of socio-economic systems and provide information on changes in political maps of various regions arising from the impacts of geography, demographics, and political concepts.

2ND SEMESTER

MATHEMATICS FOR ECONOMISTS 2

The course is devised to relate mathematical concepts verbally, not in terms of formal mathematics. In contrast to exact mathematically defined terms, the validity of thusly introduced terms will be limited to instances of usage that are most likely to be encountered by the students and future economists. Functions, derivatives, and integrals are among the covered topics.

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT

The course provides information on fundamental concepts in the field of management. It introduces students to managerial decision making, communication, communication tools, management of human resources, and strategic management.

MACROECONOMICS 1

The course introduces the most important topics in the field of macroeconomics. Among other topics, the course will focus on GDP, inflation, unemployment, economic growth, exchange rates, balance of payments, international trade as well as possible role of governments and central banks in economics. Whenever possible, lectures will be supplemented by current statistical data in order to clarify and liven up the theoretical discussion.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR ECONOMISTS

The course focuses on acquisition of practical PC user skills. The course emphasises the role personal computers play in communications and networking with the use of email and web browsers. Students will acquire skills relating to three basic types of user applications, i.e. text editors (MS Word), spreadsheet applications (MS Excel), and presentation software (MS Power Point).

BUSINESS ECONOMICS

As a follow-up to the course of Microeconomics, the Business Economics course introduces students to fundamental categories of business economics while providing specific examples relating to business practice in the Czech Republic. The topics comprise individual types of business in the Czech Republic, including classification of business, requirements for establishment of companies as well as the next stages in the business cycle (growth, stagnation, rescue, etc.) Students will learn about property and capital structures of companies and their optimization, individual company activities, and features unique to selected areas of Czech economy.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING

The course will teach students how to create a business market strategy and tools for active impacts on the market. To complement the overall focus of the study programme and specialisation, the course will include a brief introduction into international cooperation that has the potential to bring success in business activities. Students will study the B2B and B2C concepts, basic marketing analyses, and fundamentals of marketing planning.

3RD SEMESTER

INTRODUCTION TO LAW

The course is designed to explain key legal terminology and provide an overview of basic legal disciplines. Throughout the course, the focus will be on terminology related to theory of law and political science as well as selected branches of both public and private law, i.e. constitutional law, international public law, criminal law, and civil law. Special attention will be paid to human rights and their judicial protection. In addition to lectures on theory, the instruction will also include information on basic constitutional rules and regulations as well as rules and regulations in individual legal branches; detailed understanding of such rules and regulations is a means to solving practical instances in the sphere of constitutional, criminal, and civil law.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 1

The objective of the course is to offer a broad introduction to the topic of international trade. The principal aim of the course is to provide students with basic insight into key notions and theoretical approaches relating to international trade and international macroeconomics, and thus provide them with a foundation for the follow-up courses focusing on applied analyses and work with real data. The focus and level of the course corresponds to introductory courses of "International Economics" taught in most similar programmes (with the exception of the topics of business policy and economic integration, which are the subject of a special course); it comprises three basic blocks - introduction to issues of international economy, overview of the theory of international trade, and introduction to international macroeconomics.

PROBABILITY CALCULUS

The aim of the course is to impart probability-focused thinking that falls within general education and is a requisite for success in quantitative courses. The course focuses on the following topics: conditional and total probability, Bayes' theorem and its use, discrete and connective random variables etc.

MONEY, BANKS, AND FINANCIAL MARKETS

The course introduces students to the functions of the financial and banking market in the Czech Republic. It explores issues of bank regulation and supervision, effectiveness of the Czech banking system, financial markets and instruments, and monetary policy of the Czech National Bank.

ACCOUNTING

The course provides an introduction to the basics of accounting. Students will study basic accounting documentation, learn to understand accounting terminology, e.g. fixed assets, financial assets, balance sheet, and closure of accounts or final accounts.

WORLD ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

The course provides students with information on real socio-economic system - the world economic system. It explains the causes of origination of this system, defines its elements and briefly discusses the relations between them. By the same token, the course informs students on developments of so-called centres of world economic system - USA, Japan, and Europe - and concludes by covering economies of developing countries, particularly the new so-called "Asian Centre" and transforming economies. The final part of the course outlines the outlook for the development of world economics in the future.

4TH SEMESTER

INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS

The objective of the course is to introduce students to basic statistical concepts and methods that can be applied in economics, especially in the sphere of international business. In addition to lectures, practice seminars will be held. The seminars will help students practice and master statistical methods. Upon completion of the course, students should be well versed in fundamental statistical terminology and efficiently work with common statistical data. The course will introduce students to basic notions of descriptive statistics, e.g. correlation and regression analysis, time-series and their basic features, and methods of statistical comparison - volume indexes and level indexes both summary and individual, simple indexes and composite indexes, indexes in international trade, and methods of measuring inflation.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

The objective of the course is to provide students with information on basic issues in the area of international finance. The first part of the course is dedicated to the process of establishing a balance in closed and opened economics with the use of basic balancing models used in monetary theory. The following subsection dedicated to monetary policy in open economics addresses the issue of balance of payments and exchange rate. The second part of the course is dedicated to an analysis of the exchange market and exchange operations along with related international investments and importance of markets with EU currencies and EU capital.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 2

International Trade 2 is a follow-up course to International Trade 1. It emphasises the application of knowledge acquired in the course of International Trade 1 and its use while studying individual instruments and impacts of national trade policies.

COMMERCIAL LAW

During the course, students will have an opportunity to compare commercial law with the provisions of civil law, they will gain expertise in solving practical problems related to the procedural norm - the Civil Procedure Code - substantive claims before court. With respect to the importance of the subject of commercial law - one of the pillars of effective law - the instruction will emphasise practical problem-solving and the instructor will answer questions in follow-up discussions.

INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

The course introduces students to the fundamental notions of development economics. It defines a specific segment of world economy - developing countries - from the geographic, demographic, social, and economic perspective. It defines selected issues relating to the development of individual countries and introduces students with the basic features of individual development regions, including definition of their main problems in the area of economic development.

5TH SEMESTER

BACHELOR'S DISSERTATION SEMINAR 1

The course provides students with information on formal aspects of Bachelor's Dissertations and basic research methods.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LAW

The course focuses on introduction of fundamental notions of international business law. Students will be invited to acquaint themselves with a system of norms valid in international economic and business relations as well as a practical view of their application in international business.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 3

The objective of the course is to use the knowledge acquired in the course of International Trade 1, International Trade 2, Macroeconomics, and Statistics to analyse specific territories or product markets. Students shall demonstrate the ability to work with original statistical sources, combine various sources and analyse the resulting data. Students will select influencing factors for a specific territory or product market, create a set of relevant indexes, complete an analysis of the activities of the territory or product market in a favourable cycle, and attempt to predict the future development.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

The course aims to introduce students to the basics of international marketing. Students will learn about the importance of international marketing in relation to decision making on correct business strategy. They will become well versed in marketing research in international business and learn the significance and possibilities of the use of individual elements of the marketing mix. The course builds on the knowledge acquired by students in the course of Introduction to Marketing.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TECHNIQUES

The objective of the course is to offer information on standard as well as selected special business techniques. The course emphasises material assets business, especially selection of the business technique, drafting of the purchase agreement in accordance with effective legislation, determining the purchase price, and choosing delivery and payment options. Students will also learn about the role of operations relating to logistics, storage, transportation, customs, supervision and insurance in international business. Specific features of business techniques relating to intangible assets will also be discussed; same as business operations used in less developed countries.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS

The course is devised to introduce students to the principles of international business negotiations and socio-cultural differences and their impact on strategies and tactics used in negotiating with international partners.

INSTITUTIONS AND DECISION MAKING IN THE EU

The main objective of the course is to deepen students' knowledge on the decision making process and institutional structure in the European Union. Students will be introduced to the historical development of key EU institutions (e.g. the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the EU Court of Justice), their structure, objectives, and position within the EU hierarchy. The course will also discuss other EU institutions (the European Court of Auditors, the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, etc.). Special attention will be paid to explanation of mutual cooperation between individual key EU institutions and their decision making in due legislative process. Selected cases of application of special legislative process will also be highlighted. Overall, the course will focus on representation of the Czech Republic as an EU Member State in individual EU institutions.

6TH SEMESTER

BACHELOR'S DISSERTATION SEMINAR 2

The course consists of a series of consultations between students and their dissertation supervisors. Credits shall be granted on the grounds of due and timely submission of the Bachelor's dissertation

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

The objective of the course is to offer students information on growing globalisation and its impacts on the business sphere, and introduce them to the principles of management in multinational companies. Students will become well-versed in the following areas of expertise: establishment of corporations, their organisational structure, and individual management activities in multicultural environment. They will study management of international human resources and the importance of corporate culture in international environment.

EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

The first part of the course aims to introduce students to the phases of integration, history of European integration, and the EU institutional framework including the basic decision making processes. The second part of the course focuses on European budget and the most financially demanding shared EU policies - the agricultural and regional policy. In conclusion, the course will highlight the issue of shared EU policies - development of the internal market and the European monetary union and the Lisbon Strategy.

PAYMENT METHODS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The course is devised to introduce students to basic payment methods used in international business. Students will learn about international payment methods and its possible risks, about letter of credit, and the possibilities of financing international trade.