Course Descriptions - Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)

BCM 10I FUNDAMENTALS OF ACCOUNTING I

Introduction: The basic principles, concepts, and conversions underlying accounting principles; Double entry book-keeping and books of original entry; Distinction between and treatment of capital revenue expenditure in accounts; Types of ledgers; Types of errors and their correction; Petty cash book; Reconciliation of bank and cash balances; Provisions: Reasons for providing for depreciation of fixed assets; Preparation of final accounts; Accounts for sole trader; Partnership account and their financial statements.

BCM 102 FUNDAMENTALS OF ACCOUNTING II

Company accounts: Financial statements and Issues of share and debentures; Manufacturing accounts; Incomplete records and single entry book-keeping; Accounting for non-profit organizations; Accounting for assets; Partnership re-alignments; Analysis of financial statements.
Prerequisite: BCM 101

BCM 104 MICROECONOMICS

Basic concepts in economics. The market mechanism: demand and supply. Equilibrium price and its determination. Production of goods and services: factors of production, short-run and long-run costs. Market types: perfect competition, monopoly, monopsony, and monopolistic competition. Income distribution and social welfare. Market imperfection and government interventions.

BCM 105 BUSINESS STUDIES

Introduction to business concepts. Types of business firms: domestic, foreign, multinational. Business ownership: sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited liability. Public enterprises, co-operatives, small-scale businesses, agribusiness. Sources of business finance. Social responsibility of business. Business organizational structures. Management functions: planning, organizing, directing, controlling, staffing, budgeting, delegating, and leading. Production, marketing and other functions of a business. International trade and commerce.

BCM 106 MANAGEMENT MATHEMATICS I

Introduction: Basic and fundamental techniques in algebra; Set theory; Binomial and exponential expansion; Functions: single, simultaneous, and inequalities; Calculus: Differentiation, derivatives, integration, and lagrangian multipliers.
Prerequisite: UCC002

BCM 200 COST ACCOUNTING

Nature and significance of cost accounting; Cost classification and purpose; Cost-volume-profit analysis; Cost systems and activity based costing: for service and merchandise companies, and for manufacturing companies; Process-costing systems; Cost allocation; Cost behavior termination; Master budget and responsibility accounting.
Prerequisite: BCM101 & BCM102

BCM 201 PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

Definitions, nature and importance of management. Evolution of management thought. Functions of management. Planning and decision making; The organization process; Staffing; Leading; Controlling process; Coordination; Moral and social dimensions of management. Interpersonal and organizational communications. Dynamics of management.

BCM 204 MACROECONOMICS

Macroeconomic aggregates: gross domestic product, potential and actual output, employment, Price indices. Measurement of national income. National income as an indicator of social welfare. The Keynesian model of income determination. Consumption and investment. Money and its functions. Money creation and the banking system. Inflation and unemployment. International economics. Economic growth and development.

BCM 206 MANAGEMENT MATH II

Introduction to matrices; Types of matrices; Matrix algebra; Application of matrices (input output models and Markov processes); Probability and decision making: Decision theory, decision trees, and expected value of perfect information; Mathematics of finance; Investment/Project appraisal techniques; Introduction to linear programming.
Prerequisite: BCM106

BCM 207 ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Nature and meaning of entrepreneurship. Characteristics of entrepreneurs: desire to achieve, risk taking, self-confidence, goal setting, and drive. Creation and starting of small businesses. Managing small businesses. Proposals for raising business capital. Operational decisions: market and location analysis. Business development and expansion.

BCM 208 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Historical development of marketing thought and practice; The marketing concept and alternative marketing management philosophies; Role of marketing in an organization and within the economy; The marketing environment; Marketing research and information system; Market segmentation, targeting and positioning; Understanding the consumer; The marketing mix: Product, price, distribution, and promotion; Marketing of services; International marketing.

BCM 210 BUSINESS FINANCE

The scope of business finance. Role of money in the economy. Financial markets and financial intermediaries. Sources and uses of funds. Local and central government finance. Time value of money: present value and future values, discount rates, simple and compound interest rates. Capital budgeting under uncertainty. Valuation of stocks; financial structure of a firm; portfolio analysis. Dividend policy. Financial planning and control. Cash flow projections.

BCM 301 BUSINESS LAW

Nature and meaning of law. Sources of law in Africa. Legal system in Africa. Law of persons. Law of contract. Law of tort. Legal status of a sole trader, a partnership, a limited company. Agency: creation and purpose, termination. Negotiable instruments. Banking law, Insurance law. Sale of goods: sales contracts, illegal sales, damage and destruction of goods. Hire purchase. Terms and conditions of employment.

BCM 302 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Concepts in human resource management; Fair employment practices; Human resource planning; Job analysis; Recruitment and selection; Training and development; Salary administration and personnel records; Promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, and dismissal; Job evaluation and performance appraisal; Morale and motivation; Industrial relations and Kenya labor laws.
Prerequisite: BCM 201

BCM 306 COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

Brief review of historical development of computers and computer organization, and hardware and software; Introduction to application programming; Data processing; Flow charts. COBOL, BASIC and FORTRAN programming: Data types, data structures, and controlling program flows.
Prerequisite: UCC104

BCM 307 BUSINESS STATISTICS

Nature and scope of statistics. Statistics as a management tool. Descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation. Data collection: population, samples, sampling methods. Organization and presentation of data; Measures of central tendency; Measures of dispersion; Regression and correlation; Introduction to probability theory and distribution; Bar charts and frequency distribution. Business applications. Prerequisites: BCM 106 & 206

BCM 308 RESEARCH METHODS

Introduction: Meaning and purpose of research, basic and applied research; Selection and definition of the research problem; Importance and scope of literature review; Developing the Conceptual Framework; Research Designs; Developing a Research Plan or Proposal; Sample design; Data Collection; Data Analysis and Interpretation; Issues in Research; Research Report.

BCM 401 COMPANY LAW

Nature and types of companies. Mechanics and consequences of incorporation. Memorandum and articles of association. Elements of company operations. Contracts with the company. The liability members and promoters. The prospectus; directors’ powers and duties. Enforcement of directors’ powers. Minority protection; appointment and qualifications of employees. Duties of auditors; methods of raising share and debt capital. Maintenance of share capital. Company annual returns and accounts. Directors’ report; statutory offences in conducting a company’s affairs; company meetings; winding up.
Prerequisite: BCM301

BCM 402 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Importance and role of information in business organizations. Sources and types of information. Information systems approach to management. Information patterns, needs and organizational barriers. Classification of business information systems design. Information retrieval. Approaches to management information systems design. Information flow and co-ordination. Automation of business information. Systems organization, planning and development (also see computer science curriculum).
Prerequisite: UCC 104 & BCM 201

BCM 403 MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING

Scope of management accounting. Analysis and interpretation of financial statements. Capital budgeting and depreciation accounting. Business budgets and budgetary control. Average costs, marginal costing and break-even analysis. Standard costing and variance analysis.
Prerequisite: BCM 200

BCM 404 BUSINESS POLICY AND ETHICS

Business goals, objectives, rules, tactics and ethics. Strategy formulation; components and levels of a strategy; strategic information. Industry level and firm level analysis. Implementation of business strategies under ethical constraints. Social and environmental responsibilities of business.
Prerequisite BCM 210

BCM 407 QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES

Differentiation and integral calculus; Matrices/input output analysis; Sampling theory: purpose of sampling, methods of sampling, central limit theorem, statistical estimation; Probability theory; Linear programming; Markov process; Regression analysis.
Prerequisites: BCM206 & BCM307