Note: The BBusiness course structure has changed slightly for 2006. The changes are reflected below.
I'll try and give you an overview of the standard first year subjects in the BBus, so you have an idea of what to expect (based on 2004-2005 classes).
Overall, you are looking at about 3-4 hours per subject. You usually do 4 subjects per semester, giving you a total of 12-14 hours a week, usually in 3-4 days, depending on your timetable.
If you follow the standard BBus program, in your first semester, you do: Accounting For Business, Economics For Business, Managing People and Organisations and Marketing Foundations. In your second semester, you do: Business Law and Ethics, Business Information Analysis and Fundamentals of Business Finance. Then you have to choose 1 other subject from a list of 2 subjects. This will depend on your major/s that you are going to do. Since most people do either Accounting or Finance, they end up choosing Accounting Transactions and Business Decisions. If not, you can do Business Strategy.
I'll give a brief overview of each of the subjects I mentioned. Thanks to others for the contributions as well.
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CORE SUBJECTS
22107 Accounting For Business
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 3 hours a week.
- This subject is an introductory accounting subject which covers the basics of accounting, such as debits and credits, balance sheets, profit and loss statements. It also covers some introductory financial accounting and management accounting topics which you do in depth in later accounting major subjects.
- This subject, combined with 22207 below gives you the basic grounding knowledge you need in accounting.
- It is a combination of numbers and theory. You will be doing some calculations, however, nothing too complex. Basically, if you can use a calculator, you will be fine with the calculations. Most of the numbers will come in the form of balance sheets and profit and loss statements, and some formula's towards the end of the subject. The theory side of this subject is minimal in this subject, though you will have to write 1 or 2 "essays" or long answer questions in the mid-semester and final exams, based on accounting theory.
- Not really any group work in this subject.
25115 Economics For Business
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 3 hours a week. Additional classes are available for extra help.
- This subject is an introductory economics subject which covers the basics of economics, in both the microeconomic side and macroeconomic side. Basically, it teaches you most of the stuff taught in the HSC Economics subject, plus a little more. If you have done the HSC Economics subject, you will find this subject slightly easier.
- It covers the basic topics in both micro and macro economics such as supply and demand, market structures, fiscal and monetary policy and foreign exchange. It gives you a good grounding knowledge to be able to understand economic concepts in the real world and any terms you encounter in your major/s.
- It is mostly a theory subject with very little calculations/numbers, however quite a fair about of graph drawing. The exams comprise of mostly multiple choice and short answer questions and perhaps one or two long answer/essay type questions.
- Not really any group work in this subject.
21129 Managing People and Organisations
- This subject includes 1 lecture (1 hour) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 2 hours a week.
- This subject is an introductory management subject which covers the basics of management, both relating to communication with people and also organisations as a whole.
- It covers basic management skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership, and such.
- It is a very theory based subject with essays and textbook readings.
- There is group work in this subject, usually in the form of writing an essay or a debate.
24108 Marketing Foundations
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (2 hours) to give you a total of 4 hours a week (though can vary).
- This subject is an introductory marketing subject which covers the basics of marketing, dealing with how to market products, what attracts audiences and how to put your product on the market.
- It is also a very theory based subject, with a fair amount of essay and long answer type questions.
- There is group work in this subject, usually in the form of doing a research assignment.
26133 Business Information Analysis/26134 Business Statistics
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 3 hours a week. Extra classes and drop-in lab workshops are available.
- This subject is an introductory statistics subject which covers the basics of statistics and knowledge management.
- It covers basic knowledge management skills, such as how to organise and manage data, information and knowledge and how to create and use it. On the other side, it introduces you to the statistical tools you need to create knowledge from data. These include basic statistical methods like mean, standard deviation, variances and more advanced methods such as correlation and regression. It also introduces you to risk management with probability.
- It is a fairly mathematical based subject with some theory lectures on knowledge management. It will require you to do a fair amount of calculations using formula's, but again, nothing like HSC Mathematics. If you are good at maths, then this subject should not be too hard.
- There is group work in this subject, usually in the form of a case study assignment.
79203 Business Law and Ethics
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (2 hours) to give you a total of 4 hours a week (though varies).
- This subject is an introductory law subject which covers the basics of business law and also ethical issues.
- It provides you with an introduction to the business law topics taught in the LLB degree, such as consumer law, contract law and the law of torts. It also covers the analysis of ethical issues in business and what type of implications these have.
- It is a fairly theory based subject with a lot of textbook readings. It can be a challenging subject for most students, though it is not too bad.
- There is usually group work in this subject, usually in the form of some type of class presentation.
25300 Fundamentals of Business Finance
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 3 hours a week. Extra classes are available.
- This subject is an introductory finance subject which covers the basics of finance in businesses. It introduces you to the basic concepts in finance, in preparation for the finance major as well as some concepts in accounting. You need to have done 22107 and 25115 before doing this subject. 26133 will also help you in this subject and can be done together with this subject.
- It covers fundamental concepts in finance, such as time value of money, annuities, debt and equity instruments, capital budgeting and foreign exchange and options.
- It is a fairly mathematical based subject, with some financial theory includes. It is not as mathematical as 26133 though. As long as you can use formulas and a financial calculator (which you learn how to use in the subject), you will be fine.
- There is usually group work in this subject, usually in the form of a case study assignment.
CORE ELECTIVE SUBJECTS (Choose 1 from the following)
22207 Accounting Transactions and Business Decisions
- This subject includes 1 lecture (2 hours) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 3 hours a week.
- This subject is an continuation of the first introductory accounting subject (22107) which covers more of the basics of accounting, though the harder basic stuff. You need to do 22107 before doing this subject.
- It is again, a combination of theory and calculations, though sligly more calculations and accounting journal entries.
- It covers the topics of inventory management, partership and company accounting, more management accounting concepts and cash flow statements. The topics can be challenging to some students, though if you have an interest in accounting, you will be fine.
- Not really any group work in this subject.
21193 Introduction to Corporate Strategy/Business Strategy
- This subject includes 1 lecture (1 hour) and 1 tutorial (1 hour) to give you a total of 2 hours a week
- Mathematical ability is not required in this subject apart from a few simple calculations. This subject is more importantly based around the application of business and strategical concepts to a business framework. Very practical natured subject with only a 30% final exam (Spring 05) with the bike simulation the main focus of assessment [nearly everyone passed before the final]. There is very minimal direct examination of lecture material apart from the 90 MC 30% final.
-This subject is very group based with the formation of a 3-6 people team to compete as a bike firm through a computer simulation. This simulation makes teams compete against other class mates. It culminates in weekly decisions to affect performance, a group strategic outline and a board presentation. Also there is 2 case studies which are defined as group work but are more self focused team work as the questions do not relate.
-Renamed Business Strategy from Austumn 06 onwards
(THE LECTURER IS REVIEWING THE SUBJECT'S STRUCTURE, CONTENT AND ASSESSMENTS I AM LEAD TO BELIEVE) (Thanks to maka).
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That is basically the core subjects that you study in your first year. The course structure and more information on the BBus is available at:
http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/bus/ug/c10026.html
The same subjects are alsp studies in all of the combined BBus degrees in IT, Science, Engineering, Law and International Studies.
I hope this was of help to potential students!