ECON 7239 - Economics for Management

North Terrace Campus - Trimester 3 - 2019

This course provides an introduction to economic thinking and its relevance and application to managing organisations. The first part of the course deals with microeconomic issues such consumer choice and the structure of markets, including perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly, and the competitive regulatory environment. The second part deals with macroeconomics such as the determinants of the aggregate level of output and employment, and elements in the determination of macroeconomic policy including interest rates, inflation and foreign trade and capital flows. The focus of the course is on fundamental tenets of economics in relation to current issues and their implications for managers and competitive organisations.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code ECON 7239
    Course Economics for Management
    Coordinating Unit Economics
    Term Trimester 3
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week in standard Trimester. More when offered in intensive mode.
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange
    Restrictions Available for Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and Masters of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration (12) students
    Course Description This course provides an introduction to economic thinking and its relevance and application to managing organisations. The first part of the course deals with microeconomic issues such consumer choice and the structure of markets, including perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly, and the competitive regulatory environment. The second part deals with macroeconomics such as the determinants of the aggregate level of output and employment, and elements in the determination of macroeconomic policy including interest rates, inflation and foreign trade and capital flows. The focus of the course is on fundamental tenets of economics in relation to current issues and their implications for managers and competitive organisations.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Raul Barreto

    Trimester 2
    Mr David Murphy

    Some background information on me is available here.
    My office is: Room 10.51, Nexus 10, 10 Pulteney Street.
    Consultation times:  Thursday all day.  Other times by appointment.

    Email: david.g.murphy@adelaide.edu.au
    Mobile phone: 0408809734

    Trimester 3
    Dr Raul Barreto

    Some background information on me is available here.
    My office is: Room 426, Level 4, Nexus 10 Building, 10 Pulteney Street.
    Consultation times: 2pm-3pm every Tuesday or by appointment.

    Email: raul.barreto@adelaide.edu.au
    Telephone: 83133240.

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    Economics is often divided into two streams: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics focuses on the behaviours and
    interactions of economic agents, such as firms, households and individuals. Macroeconomics looks at the economy as a whole, especially the behaviours of aggregate measures (such as gross domestic product, economic growth the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, exchange rates and interest rates) and how they vary with the business cycle and respond to government policies.

    Our course provides an overview of both microeconomics and macroeconomics. Throughout the course, we will consider contemporary economic issues – and their relevance to business operational and/or strategic decision-making, as well as economic and/or social policy – through the lens of economics.

    On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

    1 An understand of key economic concepts, principles and analytical tools, as well as the “language” and ways of thinking that economists employ;
    2 An ability to apply key microeconomic and macroeconomic principles and analytical tools to make better managerial decisions – and communicate your solutions convincingly to both economists and non-economists;
    3 An understanding of economic policy issues and their relevance to management;
    4 An ability to communicate your views on economic conditions and policy issues and why they are relevant to management;
    5 An understanding of the roles that governments and markets can play in improving the welfare of our society; and
    6 Leadership, communication interpersonal skills and an ability to work collaboratively with your peers through group work.
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    1,2,3,5
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    1,2,3,6
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    1,2,4,6
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    1-6
    Intercultural and ethical competency
    • adept at operating in other cultures
    • comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts
    • able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes
    • demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges
    5,6
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    6
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources

    Hubbard, R., Garnett, A., Lewis, P., and O’Brien, A. (2018), “Essentials of Economics 4”, Fourth adaptation edition (4e), Pearson Australia.

    Paperback edition ISBN: 9781488616983 . Both paperback and eBook editions are available (e.g., from the publisher at http://www.pearson.com.au).

    Recommended Resources


    The following texts provide another perspective of the concepts covered in the course.  These text are availble for the University library, so please do not purchase a copy.

    Other useful Text:

    Bajada. C; Jackson. J; McIver, R. and Wilson. E.:“Economic Principles”, Third Edition 2012, McGraw-Hill, Irwin; Sydney.


    Krugman. P. and Wells. R.; “Economics”, Third Edition 2013, Worth, New York.The following text books provide another perspective of the concepts presented in the course.

    It is also recommended that you read relevant articles published in business sections of major newspapers (such as "The Australian" and "The Australian Financial Review" or business magazines (such as "The Economist") regularly.  This may help you to better appreciate the link between economic theory and it application to everyday events.



    Online Learning

    I will post course materials, assessment tasks and important announcements in MyUni. Please check both our MyUni course website and your university email account regularly. 

    https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au
    http://www.adelaide.edu.au/its/webmail/

    Lectures will be automatically recorded (whenever possible) and made available in the Echo 360 folder on MyUni. Please note that there may be occasions when the recording fails for technical reasons.

  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    Our course will be conducted in intensive mode over Friday and Saturday sessions. Each session will begin at 9.00am and end at 4.00pm, with a 30-minute lunch break and two 15-minute breaks in-between. The course is divided into 12 topics and we will generally cover two topics in each session. As it is difficult to predict exactly how long it will take to cover each topic and I don’t want to limit our in-class discussions, we may not finish our coverage of a topic in the designated session; if so, we will finish it in our next session.

    Given the breadth of topics covered and the intensive nature of our course, much of our in-class time will necessarily be spent in “interactive lecture” mode, with the emphasis on interactive. I like to make our in-class time as interactive as possible, so please feel free to ask questions and/or offer your perspectives and relevant examples from your own experience at any time. We will also break up our sessions with short problem-solving exercises, reviews of tutorial assignment questions/answers and discussion of current economic issues to help us understand and apply what we learn. I’ll bring at least one current issue to each session for us to discuss. Please also feel free to suggest current issues that you would like us to discuss.

    While you don’t necessarily have to read the lecture notes prior to the relevant session, it would be useful to complete at least the required reading beforehand.

    To help ensure that our classes are as effective as possible, please feel free to provide me with feedback at any time. Your feedback will be particularly valuable in the early stages of our course, as this will enable me to change my teaching style before it is too late. In
    addition, I would be grateful if you could complete a SELT form and provide written comments (in addition to numeric scores) at the end of our course, as that will help me improve the course and my teaching for future students.

    Important note: This course assumes no previous training in economics. Please be aware that when people first study economics,
    they will almost-certainly feel frustrated for some time. I certainly did! We do need to learn a number of economic concepts/tools before we are able to tackle the more interesting stuff. It will almost-certainly take some time before you feel that what we are learning starts to “clicks together”. Therefore, if you feel somewhat frustrated in our first few sessions, that is completely normal. You will also feel somewhat frustrated even at the end of our course because, given the time available and the territory we have to
    cover, we will not be able to go into as much depth as you would like on various issues. It is more important that you gain some knowledge of a range of economic concepts/tools rather than an in-depth knowledge of only a few. However, to partially ease your frustration, I will provide optional (non-assessable) readings and/or optional attachments to our lecture notes so that you can explore particular topics in more depth if you wish to.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The University of Adelaide expects full-time students (i.e., those taking four 3-unit course at a time) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This translates to an average of 12 hours per week (48 hours per 4 weeks) for our 3-unit course. Therefore, in addition to our 12 class hours (two 6-hour sessions, excluding breaks) every 4 weeks, you should expect to devote an average of 36 hours per 4-week period to your studies in this course.

    Learning Activities Summary
    Schedule
    Session Topic Textbook
    reading
    Class date
    1 1.  Introduction to Microeconomics;
    Demand & Supply Part 1
    Hubbard
    Ch. 1, 2 & 3 (but not the appendices)
    September
    20
    1 2.  Demand & Supply Part 2  Hubbard Ch. 4 September
    20
    2 3.  Firms, Revenues, Costs & Supply Hubbard Ch. 6 September
    21
    2 4.  Market Structures Part 1: Perfect Competition & Monopoly Hubbard Ch. 7 & 8 September
    21
    3 5.  Market Structures Part 2: Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly Hubbard Ch. 9 October
    18
    3 6.  Economic Efficiency, Market Failure & the Role of Government Hubbard, Ch. 5 & 11 October
    18
    4 Mid-trimester
    test (in-class)
    Nil October
    19
    4 7.  Introduction to Macroeconomics: GDP, Unemployment & Inflation Hubbard Ch.12 & 13 October
    19
    4 8.  Aggregate Demand & Aggregate Supply Hubbard Ch. 14 (but not the appendix) October 19
    5 9.  Monetary Policy Hubbard Ch. 15 & 16 November
    15
    5 10.  Fiscal Policy Hubbard Ch. 17 November
    15
    6 11. International Economics - Part 1 Hubbard Ch. 18 November 16
    6 11.  International Macroeconomics - Part 2 Hubbard Ch. 19 November
    16
    Final Exam Nil November
    30
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary

    Type
    Weight
    Online quiz X 12 20%
    Mid-trimester test 35%
    Final exam 45%
    Assessment Detail
    Online Assessment

    There will be a total of 12 online quizzes. Each quiz will consist of 10 multiple choice questions. The quizzes are timed; you have 45 minutes to complete each quiz. Your grade will be the average of your 10 best scores.

    Quizzes 1 2 3 4 5 & 6 must be completed by Sunday 20 October 23:59pm
    Quizzes 7 8 9 10 11 & 12 must be completed by Saturday 30 November 23:59pm

    Important - You must find a reliable internet connection to compete each quiz. You have 45 minutes to complete the quiz. You may complete each quiz as often as you like prior to the due date. Only your HIGHEST mark will be recorded.

    Mid Semester Test

    The mid semester test will be held during session number 7 on Saturday morning 19 October from 9am until 12pm. It will cover topics 1 through 6. The test will consist of 40 multiple choice questions and 2 essays. The 40 multiple choice questions will be similar to the ones from the online quizzes. The essays will be similar to the tutorial questions discussed in class. You will have 3 hours to complete the test.

    Final Examination

    The final exam will be held on Saturday, 30 November from 9am until 12pm. It will have the same format as the midterm: 40 multiple choice plus 2 essays. While the multiple choice questions will cover the entire semester, the essays will cover only topics 7 through 11.
    Submission
    Please refer to MyUni for further instructions regarding how to submit tutorial assignments. Late submissions will not be accepted. Please retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

    Additional Assessment
    If a student receives 45-49 for their final mark for the course they will automatically be granted an additional assessment. This will most likely be in the form of a new exam (Additional Assessment) and will have the same weight as the original exam unless an alternative requirement (for example a hurdle requirement) is stated in this semester’s Course Outline. If, after replacing the original exam mark with the new exam mark, it is calculated that the student has passed the course, they will receive 50 Pass as their final result for the course (no higher) but if the calculation totals less than 50, their grade will be Fail and the higher of the original mark or the mark following the Additional Assessment will be recorded as the final result.
  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
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    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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