Economics of the Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Profession

Economics is the science of economic management, which dates back to ancient times. Regardless of the economic strategy of the state, its technological structure, priority of big business or small enterprise, the efficient operation of enterprises has become fundamental to the entire economy.
Economists deal with a wide range of issues from the calculation of production costs and prices, the development of incentive systems, to the analysis of companies' financial performance. A particular attention shall be drawn to scholars-economists who are involved in developing economic theories, programmes and strategies for managing the economics of enterprises of all types and sectors.
It is an interesting profession for people with analytical mind and creative abilities, aimed at management of any economic activity on the basis of objective economic laws, models and business processes.

Educational Process

The Economics of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship specialty is chosen by students at the end of the second year, upon completion of the General Scientific Discipline “Economics”. This specialty is recommended for students who connect their future career with economic activities in enterprises of different spheres, entrepreneurial structures and as owners of their own business.
The general economic and social knowledge acquired during the 1st and 2nd year is enhanced with a number of professional disciplines. These disciplines build up the specialized skills to better perform specific functions at enterprises and work in specific fields of activity. Some of these disciplines belong to the University Disciplines Module and are delivered for all students who have chosen the specialty “Economics of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship”. The obtained knowledge is necessary for work in any enterprise, they include “Business Analysis”, “International Economic Relations”, “Marketing”, “Information Systems in Economics”, “Labour Economics”, “Quality Economics”, “Logistics”, “Taxes and Taxation”, “Business Risk Assessment and Management”, “Crisis Management”, “Strategic Planning”, “Social and Economic Forecasting”, “Theory of Market Sectors” and some others. Students are also offered more than 30 optional disciplines, allowing for an individual approach to learning, taking into account individual interests and employment prospects. Amon such disciplines are the following: “Investment project management and project analysis”, “Fundamentals of digital entrepreneurship”, “Modern industrial policy”, “Business climate of Russian regions”, “Commercialisation of start-up ideas”, “Business (competitive) intelligence”, “State regulation and financial and credit support of business activities”, “Enterprise finance”, “Enterprise forecasting”, “Intellectual property management”, “Service economics”, “Sports entrepreneurship”, “Innovative entrepreneurship”, “Social entrepreneurship”, “Real estate economics”, “Economics of FEC (Fuel-energetic complex)”, “Benchmarking (competitive monitoring)”, “Business planning”, “Managerial accounting”, “Smart economics”, “Free economic zones and offshore”.
The peculiarity of RUDN courses is the advanced study of foreign languages, which enables you to master the art of business communication in a foreign language alongside the professional knowledge.
The course is delivered by a unique team of highly qualified scholars with extensive educational experience, as well as practicing lecturers who hold leading positions in the field of economics and management.
Upon completion the programme “Business Economics and Entrepreneurship”, graduates shall be able to
— carry out a comprehensive financial analysis of enterprises with objective identification of key business issues;
- establish the future development strategy for an enterprise, taking into consideration the internal and external market conditions and financial capabilities;
- set up new businesses and run their own business;
- carry out feasibility studies for improvement of business activities;
- prepare business plans for investment projects to obtain financing and attract other participants;
- develop functional plans of an enterprise in the areas of human resources management, product quality, logistics, innovation, information and technology development, security, et al.;
- optimise key and ancillary business processes in enterprises;
- use modern information technology for data retrieval and processing, forecasting, optimisation, business planning and process modelling.
- solve specialised tasks of industry planning.
During the course students are provided with numerous case studies to analyse and optimise different aspects of enterprises, as well as complex creative tasks to consolidate practical skills in enterprise management: analysis of enterprise financial reports, elaboration of business plans, development strategies, rationalisation of particular management functions.

Practice

The curriculum of the programme provides for work placement at enterprises. Students have the opportunity to undertake internship according to an individual plan at the enterprises of their choice, where they plan to work later. It is possible to complete a placement in companies – partners of the Department of National Economy. Each placement has its own program with a list of aspects to be covered by the student at the enterprise. Students receive individual tasks according to their professional interests and the topic of the graduation thesis. The research paper internship ensures that the necessary information is collected to form the analytical and practical part of the final qualification paper.
Departmental internship base is represented by a variety of enterprises. Among them are the following: the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, PJSC Lukoil, PJSC Gazprom, Skolkovo Innovation Centre, Energy Services Technology Company Novas SC, Partnership “Russian Appraisers Society” et al.
Internships and work placements in leading foreign universities are also available to students:
— internship/work placement in China together with Peking University under the programme “International cooperation between Russia and China” (Beijing);
— internship/work placement in Austria together with the European economic rating company NRA International GmbH (Vienna);
— internship at the University of Applied Sciences (Munich, Germany);
— internship at the University of Applied Sciences (Augsburg, Germany).
The Department regularly holds master classes and roundtable discussions with the participation of leading Russian and foreign specialists. The topics of the events cover a wide range of issues in general economic and sectoral development as well as reflect the best practices of enterprises in solving specific applied problems of economics and management.
Students of the Department have the opportunity to participate in research projects under grants from the Russian Science Foundation, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Skolkovo and a number of other organisations.

Career

Graduates are eligible for employment in a variety of specialisations, for instance:
— Production economists are able to coordinate the workload of individual departments, plan production, record residuals, and calculate the amount of raw materials needed for production;
— Payroll and labor economists develop incentive programs, calculate productivity, pay piece-rate employees, and check rewards and bonuses;
— Cost and pricing economists calculate the cost of production, identify the components that have the greatest impact on costs to reduce them, and analyze supplier prices;
— Financial analysists investigate the potential profitability of new projects and examine the financial and other performance of the business as a whole.
The working field for graduates in Economics of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship typically includes
— Economic, financial, marketing, production and analytical services;
— Organizations of different sectors, areas and types of ownership;
— Financial, credit and insurance institutions;
— State and municipal authorities;
— Academic and departmental research organisations.