Summary: Introduction to Business Course Outline Sept 2026 - Updated

Course Purpose and Learning Outcomes

This course introduces foundational business concepts and prepares students to understand how businesses operate within their environments. By the end of the course, students are expected to explain key business terms, describe forms of business ownership, analyze the business environment, identify sources of business financing, explain basic management functions, and demonstrate understanding of business ethics and social responsibility.

Course Content Overview

• Weeks 1–2: Introduction to business, including the nature and purpose of business and commerce, customer satisfaction, needs, wants, utility, and basic business concepts.
• Weeks 3–4: The business environment, including physical, economic, historical, political/legal, socio-cultural, and technological environments, and how these interact with business.
• Weeks 5–6: Forms of business ownership, including unincorporated businesses such as sole proprietorships and partnerships, incorporated businesses such as private and public companies, and complex organizations such as mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and franchises.
• Weeks 7–8: Cooperative societies, including their history, formation procedures, principles, governance, types, and structure.
• Weeks 9–10: Business financing, including sources of finance, financial institutions and intermediaries, banking operations, and capital markets and the stock exchange.
• Weeks 11–12: Basic business management functions: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.
• Week 13: Business ethics and social responsibility, including ethical decision-making and corporate social responsibility.

Teaching and Assessment

The course uses lectures, class discussions, case studies, group work, and assigned readings. Assessment is made up of continuous assessment tasks such as CATs, assignments, and case studies worth 30%, and a final examination worth 70%, for a total of 100%.

Reading Materials

The outline lists core textbooks in business studies and additional recommended readings in management, business, and ethics. These texts support the topics covered across the semester.