During the second academic year of the degree programme it is important to give a wide and general view of the environment where the graduate student will work, whether it be in a business company or as an independent entrepreneur.

It is important to take into account what the company really is in the scope of Institutional Communication and Public Relations, which elements form it, and the role the person plays in the economical context of the company and this in turn in the global context of the economy.

It is a basic education subject with a general and descriptive profile, which is intended to give a global vision of the company, its problems or issues and its relationship with the environment and also determine which are its functions and interactions with both internal or external agents.

The subject has a basic and introductory focus, where the first themes are spent on clarifying the general concepts of the company, its environment and its dimension, and reviewing theoretical approaches about the company that have been made in the context of economic and administrative thinking. In this way, the student is confronted for the first time with the concept of business and the environment in which it is situated.

Once the student positions the company as an economic trader, an introduction is given to the different functional areas of the organisation. The problems of the administration and management of resources that apply to each of the areas, such as authentic and technical resources, financial resources or human resources as well as other areas such as sales, marketing or operations. It is intended that students learn about the most important decisions to be made in each of the areas discussed and to identify the variables that are most relevant in each case as well as apply simple techniques to solve the different problems.

Finally, it is intended that the student learns the essential functions of company management, understanding the service company and the consumer goods company.

The importance of human relations and the proper management of staff are highlighted in this area to achieve maximum organisational efficiency.

All subject contents are developed with a practical approach, encouraging student participation and discussion in the classroom.

The subject aims to give an overview of the company, its problems, and its relationship with the environment without going into details as these details are dealt with in more specialised subjects. The knowledge and skills acquired by students in this subject are key to all professional activity linked to the development of Communication, Corporate Communication or a Public Relations Agency.