Economics for Business & Management, 3rd edition

 

By Alan Griffiths & Stuart Wall
May 2011
Pearson Education
Distributed by Trans-Atlantic Publications
ISBN: 9780273735243
561 pages, Illustrated
$99.50 paper original


Economics for Business and Managementoffers an exciting introduction to the principles and applications of microeconomics and macroeconomics to the global business problems faced by today’s decision makers:

· What are the characteristics for successful entry into new international markets?

· How can ‘sustainability’ affect decision making within businesses?

· Why are today’s global investors so concerned about national debt issues?

· In what ways does an awareness of cultural differences improve decision making by international marketing and human resource strategists?

· What strategies can companies such as BP use to repair damaged global reputations?

It is an ideal text for introductory courses in economics with a business and management focus and more general business environment courses with an economic underpinning.

Guided tour

Guide to the main focus of case studies

About the authors

Preface: using this book

Acknowledgements

Part I Micro Business Environment

1: Markets and resource allocation

Introduction

What you'll learn

Wants, limited resources and choice
Demand curves and functions
Supply curves and functions
Price determination
Changes in market price and quantity
Resource allocation in different economic systems
Recap
Key terms

2: Demand, revenue and consumer behaviour

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Price elasticity of demand (PED)
Price elasticity of demand (PED) and revenue
Total, average and marginal revenue
PED and tax incidence
Other elasticities of demand
The ‘Veblen effect’ and consumer behaviour
Consumer surplus
Utility and consumer behaviour
Recap
Key terms

3: Supply, production and cost

Introduction
What you’ll learn

The factors of production
Combining factors of production: the laws of returns
Costs of production: short run
Costs of production: long run
Deciding whether to produce in the short run and the long run
Price elasticity of supply (PES)
Outsourcing and cost
Governments, location and cost
Producer surplus
Recap
Key terms

4: Business organisation, objectives and behaviour

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Types of business organisation
Business objectives: maximising
Business objectives: non-maximising behaviour
Does firm objective matter?
Profit, ethics and the environment
Business behaviour
Corporate governance
Product life cycle
Recap
Key terms

5: Firm size, mergers and the ‘public interest’

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Small firm survival
Small firms and the UK economy
Growth in firm size
Mergers: who benefits?
Types of merger activity
Explanations of merger activity
Demerging
Mergers and the public interest
Recap
Key terms

6: Market structures

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Perfect competition
Contestable market theory
Monopoly
Monopolistic competition
Oligopoly
Recap
Key terms

7: Labour and other factor markets

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Factor payments and derived demand
Occupational differences in wages and employment
Imperfectly competitive labour markets
UK labour market regulations
EU Social Chapter
Flexible working and work–life balance
Gender and ageism
Transfer earnings and economic rent
Recap
Key terms

8: Market failure, regulation and competition

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Types of market failure
Correcting ‘market failures’
Regulation
Deregulation and privatisation
Regulation of privatised companies
UK competition policy
EU competition policy
Recap
Key terms

Part II Macro Business Environment

9: National income determination

Introduction
What you’ll learn

National income
National income: definitions and measurement
National income data: international comparisons
Components of the circular flow
Equilibrium in the circular flow: W/J approach
Equilibrium in the circular flow: 45° diagram approach
Equivalence of the two approaches
Changes in national income
National income multiplier
Inflationary and deflationary gaps
Recap
Key terms

10: Government policies: instruments and objectives

Introduction

What you’ll learn

Fiscal policy

Taxation

Government expenditure

Fiscal policy and stablisation

Monetary policy

Aggregate demand and aggregate supply analysis

Inflation

Employment and unemployment

Balance of payments

Exchange rate

Economic growth

Financial intermediation: post credit crunch

Recap

Key terms

11: Political, legal, ecological and technological environment

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Political environbsp;
Ecological environment
Technological environment
Recap
Key Terms

12: Functions of management: domestic business environment

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Marketing
Marketing mix
Human resource management
Accounting and management
Recap
Key terms

13: International business environment

Introduction
What you’ll learn

The internationalisation process
International business environment
Multinational enterprise (MNE)
International human resource management (IHRM)
International marketing
International marketing mix
European Union (EU)
North America
East and South East Asia
International institutions and international business
Free trade and government protectionism
Recap
Key terms

14: Strategies in a globalised business environment

Introduction
What you’ll learn

Strategic frameworks for corporate activity
SWOT and PESTLE analyses
Porter’s Five Forces analysis
Portfolio analysis
National strategic perspectives
Globalisation and strategic options for MNEs
Strategic joint ventures and alliances
Recap
Key terms

Appendix 1 Indifference curves, budget lines and the 'law of demand'

Appendix 2 Isoquants, isocosts and production

References

Answers to Stop and think and You try

Index



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