Comprehensive Business Analysis

Aim

The goal of the course is for the student to be able to integrate technical, economic and organizational perspectives to analyze and develop the operations of industrial companies. More specifically, after completing the course, the student should be able to:

• Plan, implement and synthesize a comprehensive, analytical, clarifying and source-critical company analysis.
• Formulate concrete, well-founded and relevant action proposals for industrial companies and reason about how the proposals affect the company's stakeholders.
• Reason about companies' business ethics and role in society at large, where a key issue is how they can develop towards increased economic, environmental and social sustainability.
• Communicate and defend analyses and action proposals to company representatives, orally and in writing.
• Work in a team, and reflect on cooperation and group dynamics in the project.

Content

The course begins with a preparatory part in advanced practical business analysis of industrial operations. The course then contains a number of lectures that have a bearing on the business analysis and research that is carried out (for example, business and research ethics, environmental analysis, sustainability, operational analysis and communication of proposed measures).

The main content of the course consists of a total analysis of a small industrial company designed as an integrated business project where the student applies knowledge from the preparatory parts of the course, lectures and previous courses within the respective education program. The analysis covers both the company's internal conditions (for example, financial position, offering, production and organization) and external context (customers, competitors, other stakeholders and broader social trends) where the company's role in society is highlighted.

Based on the current situation analysis, central problems and development opportunities are identified. Based on these, the student designs and justifies proposed measures and their consequences. The result is communicated in writing and orally adapted to the company's situation.