Introduction to Business Administration

Aims

This workshop is aimed at doctoral candidates and postdocs from all faculties (except economics and
business administration) who wish to gain a practical understanding of how organizations and companies operate. Participants will be introduced to key concepts of business administration, including strategy, finance, marketing, and leadership, with a focus on their relevance for research-related and professional contexts beyond academia. The workshop aims to provide a foundational understanding of how research can be translated into products, services, or start-ups, and to develop transferable skills such as project planning, stakeholder management, and communication with non-scientific partners. No prior knowledge of business or economics is required.

Content

1. Strategy & Business Models
2. Marketing & Customers
3. Operations & Value Creation
4. Finance & Accounting
5. People & Organizations
6. Entrepreneurship & Innovation
7. Strategic Career Management

Methods

Lecturer input, group work, plenary discussions

Target Group

All Doctoral Candidates & Postdocs (except economics and business administration)

About the Trainer

Dr. Julia Starzetz is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Basel, Switzerland. In addition to her academic work, she is working in a start-up company focused on learning technology. Her research interests include:
- Organizational and Personnel Economics
- Digital Transformation
- Employee Autonomy
- People Analytics
She studied Economics and Business Administration at Goethe University Frankfurt and Digital Innovation at University College Dublin, and completed her PhD at the University of Basel in 2023.

Workload

Approx. 18h (16 hours attendance + 2 hours pre- and post-session work)

Feature

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours and course places allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24h period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Course places/places on the waiting list will be confirmed by e-mail. Course registrations can only be canceled before the registration period ends (send an e-mail to grace@unibas.ch). Full course attendance is mandatory. Participants who fail to attend a course without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline are subject to a fee of CHF 30. In addition, participants who cancel their course registration at a later point in time, are absent without an excuse or do not attend the entire course will, for reasons of fairness, not be considered for course registration in the following semester and will be removed from other courses offered in the same semester. Please find the detailed regulations on the Transferable Skills Homepage.