115.769

Business Economics

COURSE PROFILE

MBA Online

July 2024

WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?

COURSE PRESCRIPTION

Study of core microeconomic and macroeconomic principles and how these can be used in a business environment to enable effective decision-making.

SUMMARY OF THE COURSE

This course focuses on select areas of economics. We will look at consumer choice because this is an area firms

benefit from understanding. Since the Asian crisis of 1997 the global economy has also been very turbulent. The    Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 are examples of these shocks. We will look at ways to make better decisions in such environments.

Another area of focus will be the different market structures firms may find themselves in. This will lead into the kinds of strategies that can be used in each context.

Government macroeconomic policy can also influence the performance of firms. We will undertake a brief survey of these and extend this to the business cycle.

COURSE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1.  explain different market structures and optimal decisions in terms of the economic environment in which a firm operates

2.  construct economic arguments in terms of key microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts

3.  apply economic models to the analysis of selected business economic issues

4.  discuss the impact of national and global business environments and their impact on business in cross- cultural settings, including the Māori economy in New Zealand

5.  critically evaluate the implications of national economic policies and global economic trends for an organisation’scompetitive environment

6.  work as an effective member of a team.

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER COURSES

Economics provides important foundational concepts for many other courses. The topics on the macroeconomy, including fiscal and monetary policy, provide a wider context for the topics covered on other MBA courses.

COURSE ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMME COMPETENCIES

The 115.769 course in the MBA exists to contribute to these overarching themes in the MBA Graduate Attributes (the full details of which are located on the MBA Community Hub site):

•   strategic thinking

•   leading with integrity

•   problem analysis and problem-solving

•   technology savviness.

The  115.769  course  is very firm-focused.  It  elaborates the broad  economic relationships firms have with their customers. It provides some policies firms can adopt to survive in turbulent economic environments. The impact  of international events and government policy is outlined. It also examines the relationships that firms may have  with other firms in the market. The course, therefore, gives a strong economic basis for firms’ success in the different environments they face.

OVERVIEW OF THE TOPICS COVERED

The course is organised into seven topics as follows:

TOPIC	NAME
1	Markets •   Core concepts in economics are introduced and then how markets work is elaborated
2	how markets work is elaborated Consumer choice •   The effect of prices and incomes are expanded first, before we look closely at the decision heuristics of consumers
3	Decision-making under uncertainty •   The traditional approach of using expected payoffs to decision-making are explained •   The alternative planning tool, scenario planning
4	Market structures I •   How firms act if they are in a market characterised as perfect competition •   How a firm behaves if it is in a market characterised as a monopoly
5	Market structures II •   How firms act if they are in a market characterised as monopolistic competition •   How firms act if they are in a market characterised as oligopoly •   The role of the Nash equilibrium in finding solutions to games •   A selection of strategic problems that game theory can be used to analyse
6	Macroeconomics fundamentals •   GDP and its components •   The problems of inflation and unemployment •   Business cycles
7	Macroeconomic policy •   How shocks and government policy influence the level of economic activity •   Why, in broad terms, comparative advantage explains the pattern of international trade •   The impact of trade protectionism

HOW IS THIS COURSE ASSESSED?

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS COURSE

In addition to achieving 50 percent overall, you must achieve at least an average of 50 percent across all

individual assessments to pass the course requirements. All grades awarded by the lecturer are subject to review and moderation by the School and do not become final grades until approved by the School.

While not all your teamwork is formally assessed, online class sessions, team meetings and forum participation    are an integral part of your online MBA experience. You are expected to contribute to discussions and debates — and failure to do so will likely affect your competence to complete assessed work at a high grade level.

Note: Due to the potential of unforeseen pandemic developments, please refer to the course Stream site for

updated information regarding lectures, assessments and soon. This information will be regularly updated if the situation changes.

Note: Artificial intelligence tools and technologies may not be used for any assessment (e.g. text-generating, image- generating, translators) for this course. Using the AI tool portions in benign grammatical-support applications (e.g. Grammarly), such as the GrammarlyGO GPT-engine, to generate content and/or generate references, creates new content that is not authored originally by you. This new content then needs proper citations or it will lead to a classification of plagiarism. Instead, you are encouraged to produce written work yourself which involves thinking, researching,  synthesising,  ordering  and  composing.  Read  Massey  University’s  Use  of  Artificial   Intelligence  in Assessment Policyhere.

ASSIGNMENT EXTENSIONS

An extension of time to complete an assignment may be granted at the discretion of the course coordinator in the case of unforeseen circumstances such as misadventure or illness. We encourage you to apply for an extension of time via the Student Portal. You may need to substantiate your application with appropriate documentary evidence such  as  medical  certificates,  accident  reports  etc,  which  you  can  upload  to  the  Portal  and  which  will  be  held confidentially,  to  preserve  your  privacy.   (Please  note  that  work  commitments,  computer  failures,  or  lack  of commitment from other group members are usually considered insufficient grounds for an extension.)

Please make an application via the Portal as soon as possible if you need an extension. If the request is a small-scale one iea few days only, you may wish to check first with your instructor.

The earlier we hear from you, the better we are able to support you.

LATE ASSIGNMENTS

We expect that you will work diligently to manage your workload and plan assignment preparation so you can submit  in  a  timely  fashion.  This  is  part  of  the  expectations  for  academic  study.  However  we  also  know  that unexpected circumstances can and do arise.

If you do miss the deadline and you did not ask for an extension, you may still submit your assignment late. However, in usual circumstances*:

A penalty of 2 marks out of 100 per day (including weekends) will be applied to the final mark.

Assignments that are 8-14 days late may receive little, if any, written feedback and may not be returned within the three-week turnaround time.

If your assignment arrives 15+ days after the deadline, and you haven’t been granted an extension, it will not be marked and you will receive a zero grade.

*  We  recognise  that  unusual  circumstances  (including  global  pandemics)  may  cause  sudden  and  unexpected disruptions to study. If such unusual circumstances arise, your Course Coordinator will let you know of any changes in expectations around late submissions. As always, please let us know of circumstances that have affected you.

FOR STUDENTS WISHING TO SUBMIT ASSESSMENTS IN TE REO MĀORI AND NEW ZEALAND SIGN

LANGUAGE

Massey  University  recognises  the  status  of  Te  Reo  Māori  and  New  Zealand  Sign  Language  (NZSL)  as  official languages of Aotearoa New Zealand, and particularly recognises the status of Te Reo Māori as aTaonga with respect to Te TiritioWaitangi.

The Massey Business School supports the right and opportunity of any students who wish to submit assessments in Te Reo Māori and will seek to equitably support students who use NZSL.

Māori Teachingstaffwhohavebeenadvisedastudent assessmentwillbesubmittedinTeReoorwhohavereceived a Te Reo assignment will work with the Associate Dean Māori in the first instance to discuss the nextsteps.

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM

For all course assignments it is acceptable (and helpful) to discuss the issues with other students. You may freely ask and answer questions that promote learning.

However, it is not acceptable to:

•   copy another student’s work, in part or in total, or an official/model answer from either the current class or from a previous class

•   allow other students to copy your work, in part or in total

•   copy your own work if it has already been submitted for assessment elsewhere

•   provide students in future years with copies of your assignments

•   copy and paste sections from internet-sourced documents or pages

•   post assessment questions and request answers — or copy someone else’s answers — from any online ‘learning’ or ‘homework’ websites (these are cheating sites)

•   have another person prepare and/or write your assignment (or parts of your assignment) on your behalf. A link to the Massey University Academic integrity student guideis here.

Please make yourself familiar with the Code of student conductavailable here.

HOW WILL WE LEARN IN THIS COURSE?

APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE COURSE

This course covers a seven-week period. Each week will focus on one topic. Topic readings (including the relevant textbook chapters) provide important  content and need to be read  each week.  The  online classes give you an opportunity to clarify issues raised by the readings. There is a wealth of different work and life experience in the MBA  classroom,  and  I  will  be  encouraging  you  to  share  insights  and  questions  through  active  participation. Through this discussion, you will gain the insights necessary to move from knowledge to application in your own work contexts.

NOTIONAL HOURS OF LEARNING

According to the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, ‘notional hours of learning’ refers to the learning time that it would take an average learner to meet the learning outcomes defined for a particular course. The credit  value for this class (15 credits) offers a guideline not only concerning the number of credits you earn towards the  degree or diploma for which you are enrolled, but also concerning the total amount of time you might reasonably  expect to spend on this course in order to complete it.

A 15-credit course  is  defined  by  the   Tertiary   Education  Commission  as   150  hours  of  student  workload,   so you can expect to allocate to this  course about  19 hours  of study hours outside  of classes per week,  although of course everyone works differently. Expect some weeks to be busier than others, especially when assignments are due, but you should be working on your coursework regularly, every week.

You can find a great tool to help you plan your timeline  for completing an assignment here: Assignment planning calculator.