University of Alberta School of Business
Department of Marketing, Business Economics and Law
BUEC 311 A2: Business Economics, Organization and Management Fall 2008 Instructor: Rodney Beard, B.A, Diplom-Volkswirt, PhD
Classroom: BUS 1-05, 15.30PM 16:50PM Tues Thurs Office Hours: Tues 11-12, Thu 11-12
E-mail: [email protected] Course Description:
Underlying economic forces often drive decision-making in business organizations. Making business decisions involves a complex interaction of business strategy, microeconomics, finance, and various interconnected organizational functions. Poor decisions will result from ignoring such interactions and economic forces.
Topics in the course include the organization of firms and industries, buyer behaviour/meeting customer needs and strategic decision-making regarding production, resources, risk/uncertainty, scale/scope product pricing and gaining competitive advantage involving the use of game theory, In contrast to courses in economic theory that concentrate on public policy by governments with the objective of maximizing economic benefit for society as a whole, this course will focus on the individual business and how it can use microeconomic theory to maximize its own profits.
A business planning approach will be taken so that by the end of the course you will be able to use basic microeconomic concepts to help you develop a business plan of your own.
Course objectives:
1. To solidify and expand one’s knowledge of microeconomics.
2. To gain an appreciation of the market system, its strengths and weaknesses, and some policy implications thereof.
3. To be able to interpret micro-economic events as reported in the media, and to understand related policy issues.
Text:
Pindyck, Robert S. and Rubinfeld, Daniel L. Microeconomics seventh edition, 2008, Pearson Prentice Hall.
Although the text is essential as a reference and the course schedule generally follows the chapters laid out in the text, the heart of the course will be contained in the presentations by the instructor in class, which will vary in timing and content from the text. Many of the theories presented will be illustrated through classroom experiments with the participation of the students.
Additional reference will be made to the following:
Competitive alternatives KPMG’s guide to international business location 2008 Edition (http://www.competitivealternatives.com/download/default.asp)
Rodney Beard Elasticity Tables-Canada 2008 (available from U-learn course website)
Assessment:
Course grades will be through a combination of assignments, midterms and final exams. If you miss a midterm exam or fail to submit an assignment on time, you will receive a grade of zero on that component unless you provide the instructor with appropriate documentation of the reason you missed the exam or the assignment submission. This might include doctor’s notes for illness, police reports for accidents, etc. With appropriate documentation, the weight of the missed assignment or exam will be added to the final exam weight. Make-up assignments or exams will normally not be offered.
If you feel that the exam or assignment grading was incorrect, you must advise the instructor within one week following the return of the exam or assignment. That advice must include a brief outline of why you believe the grade was incorrect. If you are absent when the assignment or exam in question is returned, the one week time limit will be from the date the exam or
assignment was first returned to the class, not from the date that you actually received your exam or assignment. Any request for re-grading will be considered to be a request to re-grade the entire exam or assignment, not just the issue that you raised.
Deferred final exams will be allowed for students following the University’s procedures for obtaining deferrals noted in:
http:www.bus.ualberta.ca/BCom/Current/PolicyProcedures/deferredexams.htm#1. Policy about course outlines can be found in §23.4(2) of the University Calendar.
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of student Behaviour (online at
www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an
offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
The weights for marking are as follows:
Assignment part 1 (business plan) 10%
Midterm 1 Ch 1 – 7,14 20%
Midterm 2 Ch 8 – 13 20%
Assignment part 2 (report 1) 5%
Assignment part 3 (report 2) 5%
Final exam 40%
Assignments:
The assignment will consist of you developing a business plan for a fictitious company. A word template for this will be made available to you through the course website. Alternatively you can got to the Scotia bank website and use Scotia bank plan writer for business
(http://scotiabank.com/cda/content/0,,CID10328_LIDen,00.html). Your plan may be saved at any-time as a word document.
Parts 2 and 3 of the assignment will require you to modify your business plan in the light of new information before resubmitting your plan for assessment.
For assignments students will be allocated to groups, however each group member will submit an individual assignment that will be assessed individually. After receiving a grade for the assignments, students in each group choose which plan to follow. The details of each assignment will differ slightly between groups (different figures will be used).
Assignment due dates and exam dates are noted on the enclosed course schedule. The
assignments are to be submitted to the BUEC A2 course assignment slots outside of the general office located on the third floor of the business office by 3:30 pm on the stated due date and they must include the instructor’s name on the first page. Alternatively, assignments can be handed to the instructor in class on the due date.
Exams:
The first and second midterm exams will include material covered as shown in the course schedule below.
Bring picture ID to each exam, along with your own calculator with sufficient battery power.
Students are expected to follow the student code of behaviour on plagiarism and all other matters.
Grading:
Descriptor Letter Grade
Grade Point Value
Percentage
Excellent A+
A A-
4.0 4.0 3.7
95-100 90-94 85-89
Good B+
B B-
3.3 3.0 2.7
80-84 75-79 70-74 Satisfactory C+
C
2.3 2.0
65-69 60-64
C- 1.7 55-59
Poor D+ 1.3 50-54
Minimal Pass D 1.0 45-49
Failure F 0.0 <45
Course Schedule
(The schedule is subject to change by the instructor) Topics
1. Introduction-issues for a business (chapters 1-2)
2. The consumer or who wants this and how much do they want? (chapters 3,4,5) 3. Production and costs or how much does it cost to make it available? (chapters 6-7,14) 4. Big Business or what do you do if you are the only producer? (chapters 10-11)
5. Market evolution or what happens when others try to take your profits away (chapter 12).
6. Strategic thinking (chapters 12-13)
7. Small business-competition on the margin (chapters 8,9,16).
8. Knowledge is power and power corrupts (chapter 17) 9. Government and Business (chapter 18)
10. Review
Course schedule
Date Topic
Thurs Sept 4 1
Tues Sept 9 1
Thurs Sept 11 2
Tues Sept 16 2
Thurs Sept 18 2
Tues Sept 23 3
Thurs Sept 25 3
Tues Sept 30 3
Thurs Oct 2 Review
Tues Oct 7 Mid-term 1
Thurs Oct 9 4
Tues Oct 14 4
Thurs Oct 16 4
Tues Oct 21 5 Assignment 1
Thurs Oct 23 5
Tues Oct 28 6
Thurs Oct 30 Review
Tues Nov 4 Mid-term 2
Thurs Nov 6 7
Tues Nov 11 Holiday (remembrance day)
Thurs Nov 13 7 Assignment 2
Tues Nov 18 7
Thurs Nov 20 8
Tues Nov 25 8
Thurs Nov 27 9 Assignment 3
Tues Dec 2 Review
