6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL
Postgraduate - Unit
Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.
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Organisational Unit
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Unit guides
Synopsis
The unit develops and examines the theoretical and empirical relationships between the structure of industries, the behaviour of enterprises and market performance. The fundamental principles are applied to the advanced analysis of various forms of firms' interaction: entry deterrence, collusion, product differentiation, advertising, RandD, price discrimination, vertical integration. Welfare and policy issues will be discussed with the help of applied theory and empirical approach. In this respect recent journal articles will be used to analyse the concepts.
Outcomes
The learning goals associated with this unit are to:
- to promote students understanding of the industry in which firms compete
- to understand strategic concepts and the use of such concepts with regard to economics, management, and organisational behaviour thereby developing an economic framework or way of thinking
- to understand the question 'how do we define the firm?', and the relationship of the definition of the firm to the 'make or buy' problem
- to establish an understanding of the dynamics of entry and exit in the marketplace by looking at strategies that incumbents employ to prevent entry or quicken exit by competitors
- to develop a competitive advantage framework for characterising and analysing a firm's strategic position within the market.
Assessment
Within semester assessment: 55% + Examination: 45%
Workload requirements
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
See also Unit timetable information
Chief examiner(s)
Co-requisites
Students must be enrolled in B6001 MApplEcoEcmets Business economics specialisation, 3842, or with permission of the Course Director