Degree Programme in Business Administration, Ikaalinen: B12LIKO-1078

Description

Degree Programme in Business Administration (Ikaalinen)

Head of Degree Programme Hanna Saraketo

The title of the graduating students of Degree Programme in Business Administration is Bachelor of Business Administration. The degree is comparable with equivalent degrees in other EU countries. The extent of the Degree Programme in Business Administration is 210 credits (cr) and the education lasts for 3.5 years. The degree programme has two options which are:

* Option of Marketing and International Business
* Option of Accountancy and Business Administration

Eligibility

Common core studies 10 cr
Professional studies of degree programme 85 cr
Professional studies of option 55 cr
Elective studies 15 cr
Practical training 30 cr
Bachelor´s thesis 15 cr
In total 210 cr

Option of Marketing and International Business

Competences developed
The degree programme aims at educating Bachelors of Business Administration who have strong professional skills in their own special field. They know the basics of business administration and master the necessary special issues of their own option. In addition to Finnish, they communicate fluently at least in two other languages. They also have the information technology and information acquisition skills needed for lifelong learning in working life.

The aim is to educate hard-working and unprompted Bachelors of Business Administration who have team spirit, learning ability and investigative approach to work. In working life, they fast develop into experts in their organisation and can develop their own field innovatively.

Professional status
Bachelors of Business Administration graduated from the option of Marketing and International Business work in diverse expert tasks of business life, such as sales, marketing, purchasing, foreign trade e.g. export and dispatching or in diverse coordinator and manager tasks in the service of commerce and industry.

The education also provides the students with good abilities for working as independent entrepreneurs.

Structure of degree programme and key contents
The Degree Programme in Business Administration consists of core studies, professional studies, which include practical training to enhance professional skills, bachelor´s thesis and elective studies. The practical training is usually completed in two parts: practical training 1 in the summer after the second study year and practical training 2 at the end of the studies.

Practical training possibilities are offered by e.g. companies in the neighbouring areas, municipalities and towns. Marketing and international business students can complete the second practical training abroad.
The bachelor´s thesis is made at the final stage of the studies. The bachelor´s thesis aims at developing and demonstrating the students´ abilities in applying their knowledge and skills in practical expert tasks related to the professional studies. It is the students´ demonstration of their own know-how. The bachelor´s thesis is working life –oriented and it is often made for the needs of the practical training place.

At first, key contents of the education are fields of entrepreneurship and companies´ relations to their environment. Communication, information acquisition and information technology skills are important skills to be developed. Teamwork skills, initiative and responsibility are emphasised in the education. In the option of Marketing and International Business, students go deeply into marketing communications and other competitive weapons of marketing as well as special fields of marketing and international trade.

Teaching methods
The studies mainly progress so that one stage is attained during each period (e.g. e1 in the figure below). A period includes approximately 15 credits of studies and so about 60 credits of studies are completed during an academic year. Students also receive credits from the elective studies, practical trainings and bachelor´s thesis. The total extent of the degree is 210 credits. The studies have been divided to years of study as can be seen in the following stage figure.

The professional studies of the degree programme (stages 1-5 and 7) are completed during the first and second years of study. During the 2nd study year the students already start to deepen the special knowledge and skills of their own field in the options of Marketing and International Business and Accountancy and Business Administration.

The learning environment created for the business studies in Ikaalinen is called eXpertia. Pedagogically, it is based on problem-based learning. Students work part of the study time in small groups under the supervision of a tutor teacher learning working life –oriented phenomena and related theories. They are also discussed in workshops, assignments made for companies, expert lectures and company visits. During the second study year the students familiarise themselves with the practical business activities in practice enterprise environment.

Structure of degree programme | Curriculum

Learning outcomes and aims of programme / academic year

1st year
During the first study year, students develop their own professional skills, e.g. IT and communication skills. They are familiarised with the internal basic functions of companies and learn to know the elements of profitable business activity. After that, the viewpoint is expanded to the external operational environment of companies and they are familiarised with planning and development of customer and societal relations.

During the first year, annual themes are
Bachelors of Business Administration in labour market
Internal operations of companies
Successful customership
Societal operational environment of companies

2nd year
During the second-year studies, students deepen their knowledge in the basic business processes from the viewpoints of new companies, human resource management and internationalisation. Cultural knowledge and active language skills are key professional know-how fields to be developed during the semester. From the second-year autumn semester onwards, the students´ know-how is developed in the professional studies of the option.

During the second-year autumn semester, annual themes are
Establishment of new enterprises
Internationalisation of enterprises

Students deepen their knowledge in marketing communications and other competitive weapons of marketing as well as special fields of marketing. Students are familiarised with especially service marketing, business to business marketing and the structure and operation of retail trade. Students learn investigative work approach in planning and development of marketing by implementing both a quantitative and qualitative research project in practice. The study methods have been planned so that they support the learning of each content field by offering a diversified learning environment for the student.

During the second study year, annual themes of the option of Marketing and International Business are
Operational marketing
Marketing research and planning

3rd year
During the third study year, the focus is on international trade and marketing. Students learn to construct business plans to enter international market areas and know the basic foreign trade techniques. The studying mainly takes place in English, the language of foreign trade, but German and French skills, negotiation skills and other personal working life abilities are also improved.

Students acquire international experience through student exchange or practical training abroad, which form a compulsory part of the degree. At the end of the studies, the learnt is integrated in the International Business Strategy -game in which the students practise business activities in the global operational environment.

Bachelor´s thesis forms an integral part of the studies. Students choose independently their bachelor’s thesis topics relating to for example their practical training places. An instructor and research group support the bachelor´s thesis process.

During the third year, annual themes of the option of Marketing and International Business are
International business operations
Essentials of international marketing
International business strategy game
English for marketing and international business

Option of Accountancy and Business Administration

Competences developed
The degree programme aims at educating Bachelors of Business Administration who have strong professional skills in their own special field. They know the basics of business administration and master the necessary special issues of their own option. In addition to Finnish, they communicate fluently at least in two other languages. They also have the information technology and information acquisition skills needed for lifelong learning in working life.

The aim is to educate hard-working and unprompted Bachelors of Business Administration who have team spirit, learning ability and investigative approach to work. In working life, they fast develop into experts in their enterprise and can develop their own field innovatively.

Professional status
Bachelors of Business Administration graduated from the option of Accountancy and Business Administration work in diverse expert tasks, such as accountant, cashier, invoice clerk, bank clerk, wages clerk, ledger-keeper, stock clerk, or in special expert tasks such as financial analyst, auditor, controller or in managerial duties such as financial manager, office manager and project coordinator.

The education also provides the students with good abilities for working as independent entrepreneurs.

Structure of degree programme and key contents
The Degree Programme in Business Administration consists of core studies, professional studies, which include practical training to enhance professional skills, bachelor´s thesis and elective studies. The practical training is usually completed in two parts: practical training 1 in the summer after the second study year and practical training 2 at the end of the studies. Practical training possibilities are offered by e.g. companies in the neighbouring areas, municipalities and towns. The bachelor´s thesis is made at the final stage of the studies. The bachelor´s thesis aims at developing and demonstrating the students´ abilities in applying their knowledge and skills in practical expert tasks related to the professional studies. It is the students´ demonstration of their own know-how. The bachelor´s thesis is working life –oriented and it is often made for the needs of the practical training place.

At first, key contents of the education are fields of entrepreneurship and companies´ relations to their environment. Communication, information acquisition and information technology skills are important skills to be developed. Teamwork skills, initiative and responsibility are emphasised in the education. In the option of Accountancy and Business Administration, students are familiarised with accounting, payroll administration, financing and invoicing. Taxation and diverse calculation practices forming the basis of decision-making become familiar. ADP programmes have a significant role.

Teaching methods
The studies mainly progress so that one stage is attained during each period (e.g. e1 in the figure below). A period includes approximately 15 credits of studies and so about 60 credits of studies are completed during an academic year. Students also receive credits from the elective studies, practical trainings and bachelor´s thesis. The total extent of the degree is 210 credits.
The studies have been divided to years of study as can be seen in the following stage figure.

The professional studies of the degree programme (stages 1-5 and 7) are completed during the first and second years of study. During the 2nd study year the students already start to deepen the special knowledge and skills of their own field in the options of Marketing and International Business and Accountancy and Business Administration.

The learning environment created for the business studies in Ikaalinen is called eXpertia. Pedagogically, it is based on problem-based learning. Students work part of the study time in small groups under the supervision of a tutor teacher learning working life –oriented phenomena and related theories. They are also discussed in workshops, assignments made for companies, expert lectures and company visits. During the second study year the students familiarise themselves with practical business activities in practice enterprise environment.

Structure of degree programme | Curriculum
Common core studies 10 cr
Professional studies of degree programme 85 cr
Professional studies of option 55 cr
Elective studies 15 cr
Practical training 30 cr
Bachelor´s thesis 15 cr
In total 210 cr

Learning outcomes and aims of programme / academic year

1st year
During the first study year, students develop their own professional skills, e.g. IT and communication skills. They are familiarised with the internal basic functions of companies and learn to know the elements of profitable business activity. After that, the viewpoint is expanded to the external operational environment of companies and they are familiarised with planning and development of customer and societal relations.

During the first year, annual themes are
Bachelors of Business Administration in labour market
Internal operations of companies
Successful customership
Societal operational environment of companies

2nd year
During the second-year studies, students deepen their knowledge in the basic business processes from the viewpoints of new companies, human resource management and internationalisation. Cultural knowledge and active language skills are key professional know-how fields to be developed during the semester. From the second-year autumn semester onwards, the students´ know-how is developed in the professional studies of the option.

During the second-year professional studies, annual themes are

Establishment of new enterprises
Internationalisation of enterprises

In the option of Accountancy and Business Administration, students have a diversified view of financial management issues. Students are familiarised with management of finances in companies by deepening their knowledge and skills in accounting, financial statements, payroll administration and invoicing. Direct taxation and tax planning are important subject matters to be discussed. The financing and investment alternatives of companies are also discussed during the studies. A key focus area of the studies is the use of financial management software, especially the use of accounting, payroll computation, invoicing and spreadsheet programmes are practised.

During the second year, annual themes of the option of Accountancy and Business Administration are

Financial management in companies
Special issues of accounting
Financial management in decision-making
ADP bookkeeping
Payroll administration and invoicing
Tax planning of companies

3rd year
During the third study year, students become familiar with calculation practices used by the company management as help in decision-making and analysis of business success. Students are familiarised with auditing, value-added taxation and research. In addition, financial management issues related to expansion to international markets are discussed.

The studies also include practical training in financial management tasks, e.g. in a finance department of a company or town as an accountant, cost accountant, wages clerk, invoice clerk or in a tax office or accounting company. The bachelor´s thesis is in most cases made for the needs of the practical training place.

In financial management tasks, employees are expected to be precise, independent and cooperative and have good financial skills. The finance field changes continuously and thus it is important to keep knowledge and skills up to date. The studies concentrate on development of these issues.

In the third year, annual themes of the option of Accountancy and Business Administration are

Business analysis
Auditing and financial applications of spreadsheet
Financial statement analysis and mathematical applications of financial management
Finance markets and investment

Expansion of companies
Consolidated financial statements and international financial statement practice
Special characteristics of value-added taxation and modern financial control

During optional and elective studies, students can complement their knowledge and skills as they consider necessary. Students are offered possibilities e.g. to develop their language skills and increase their knowledge and skills in matters supporting the studies in the option.