Undergraduate Course: Business Economics (BUST08005)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course gives students an understanding of economic principles which enable managers to make optimal decisions and also makes students aware of some government policies which affect the decisions managers can make. The course encourages students to develop a critical and evaluative approach to the principles they are taught. |
| Course description |
The course is divided into topics. Firstly we consider the objectives of owners and managers. Secondly we consider demand and forecasting followed by cost theory and measurement. Then we put these two topics together and consider pricing policy with a particular interest in the interactions between firms. Next we consider pricing and other behaviour which is constrained by government competition policy. We then turn to another managerial policy: advertising decisions and then consider a very common problem: markets where the buyer or seller has different information compared with the other. Finally we look at the implications of being part of a network (e.g. a mobile telephone network).
Syllabus
1. Demand Analysis and Estimation
2. Productivity and Efficiency Analysis
3. Market Structure, Conduct and Performance
4. Pricing with Market Power
5. Introduction to Game Theory
6. Oligopoly
7. Asymmetric Information
8. Network Economies
9. Advertising Decisions
Student Learning Experience
The lectures will outline the economic principles with case examples. The tutorials will give students the opportunity to apply the principles to particular cases. The coursework essay will give students the opportunity either to apply economic principles to a particular case or to businesses in general.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 1 introductory level Business Studies course at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
166 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
For 2016-17: Essay of not more than 2000 words in Semester 1. 1 essay = 50%, Degree exam = 50%; resit exam = 100%. |
| Feedback |
1. Generic feedback on the COURSEWORK, together with individual marks, will be available on Learn within 15 working days of the submission deadline and you will be able to review your INDIVIDUAL FEEDBACK electronically via Grademark on Learn.
2. The TUTORIALS provide the opportunity for testing your understanding and getting FORMATIVE feedback. The tutorial exercises are posted in the 'Tutorials' folder on Learn and students are expected to complete the exercises before the tutorial so that any problems can be discussed at the tutorial.
3. The EXAMINATION marks will be posted on Learn together with generic feedback and examination statistics as soon as possible after the Board of Examiners' meeting (normally end of January/beginning of February). You will have the opportunity to look at your examination scripts in early February in the Business School UG Office Reception (Room 1.11, Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place). Note that you will not be able to remove any examination scripts from the UG Office until the retention period for the Exam Board is over. You will be notified when this can be. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Business Economics | 2:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | Business Economics | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Discuss the implications of differences in objectives between members of an organisation and between members of different organisations for management decision making and understand how to encourage managerial actions to be consistent with the aims of certain stakeholders.
- Understand and discuss the application of a wide range economic principles to decisions made by managers to enable them to maximise profits.
- Understand the importance of taking into account rivals' reactions to a manager's decisions when he or she is planning strategies.
- Understand and evaluate certain government micro-economic policies, such as competition policies and regulatory policies, which will affect the results of, or impose constraints on, managerial decisions.
- Critically evaluate the effectiveness of different economic principles when applied to managerial decision making.
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Reading List
Recommended to buy: M R Baye Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, McGraw Hill, 7th ed., 2010.
Additional reading: H. Davies & P. L. Lam Managerial Economics, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 2001.
I Png & D Lehman, Managerial Economics, 3rd ed., Blackwell, 2007, would be useful.
Other suggested reading:
W D Reekie & J N Crook, Managerial Economics, 4th ed., Prentice Hall, 1994.
D Besanko, D Dranove, S Schaefer and M Shanley, Economics of Strategy, John Wiley and Sons, 6th ed., 2013.
T. Jones Business Economics and Managerial Decision Making, John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
J Buckley, C Smith & J Zimmerman, Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture, McGraw-Hill, 5th International Edition, 2009
P G Keat & P Young Managerial Economics, Pearson, 2009.
M Moschandreas, Business Economics, Business Press, 2000.
G.A. Petrochilos Managerial Economics, Palgrave, 2004
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Cognitive Skills
1. Be able to demonstrate that (s)he can work in a tutorial group to use economic principles to recommend decision to managers.
2. Be able to demonstrate the application of relevant economic principles to certain decisions faced by mangers.
3. Be able to demonstrate the ability to evaluate certain opposing economics ideas, approaches, methods and theories.
4. Be able to demonstrate that (s)he can evaluate certain decisions that managers make in the light of economic principles and models
Key Skills
1. Be able to demonstrate an ability to use a small number of numerical problem solving techniques to solve certain specific problems which managers face as taught in lectures and practised in tutorials.
2. Be able to demonstrate an ability to assemble literature to synthesise and evaluate economic thinking or to discover some primary information about organisations so as to apply economic ideas to decisions they make.
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
1 hour tutorial per week for 8 weeks. Tutorials are held in Weeks 3-10. Each week's tutorial exercises are uploaded in the Tutorials folder on Learn. |
| Keywords | Business Economics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Augusto Voltes-Dorta
Tel: (0131 6)51 5546
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Patricia Ward-Scaltsas
Tel: (0131 6)50 3823
Email: |
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