Syllabus for EIO-520

ECONOMIC ISSUES IN ORGANIZATIONS


COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course explores the complex relationship of strategic economic issues within an organization and the organization’s interaction with other firms in the industry. The course begins with a brief overview of the basic economics of the firm and uses those principles to drive an analysis of the firm’s activities and interactions with other firms. The course examines different market structures to see how overall economic structure affects decision making and interactions; this basic structure will be used to analyze competition with other firms in obtaining resources, setting prices to maximize profits, and reacting to decisions of competitors. The course also examines methodologies for evaluating results and explores ways to use that analysis in making future decisions.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

CO1        Use the concepts that underlie the economics of the firm in terms of cost, revenues,profitability, and profit maximization.

CO2        Appraise the effects of economies of scale in terms of the decision to add production capacity and its effects on cost structures and profit maximization.

CO3        Analyze the decision-making process for the creation of specific corporate strategies (i.e., diversification, market entry, market exit, and product positioning) with a focus on the costs and benefits for a change in strategic direction.

CO4        Assess cost-benefit decisions within the organization to achieve higher profitability and market control.

CO5        Differentiate between the four market structures and how competition affects profitability and decision making in each.

CO6        Select appropriate performance measurement approaches for the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to complete your coursework. Some course materials may be free, open source, or available from other providers. You can access free or open-source materials by clicking the links provided below or in the module details documents. To purchase course materials, please visit the University's textbook supplier.

Required Textbook

ISBN-13: 978-0470373606

COURSE STRUCTURE

Economic Issues in Organizations  is a three-credit online course, consisting of five modules. Modules include topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, and complete a final paper. See below for more details.

Consult the Course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in this document.

Discussion Forums

You are required to complete fourteen online discussion forums.

Online discussions provide an opportunity for you to interact with your classmates. During this aspect of the course, you respond to prompts that assist you in developing your ideas, you share those ideas with your classmates, and you comment on their posts. Discussion board interactions promote development of a community of learners, critical thinking, and exploratory learning.

Please participate in online discussions as you would in constructive face-to-face discussions. You are expected to post well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections for each item, making reference, as appropriate, to your readings. You are also expected to reply to your classmates' posts in a respectful, professional, and courteous manner. You may, of course, post questions asking for clarification or further elucidation on a topic. You can find the Online Discussion Grading Rubric in the Evaluation Rubrics Folder in the course Web site..

Written Assignments

You are required to complete five written assignments. The written assignments are on a variety of topics associated with the courses modules. In each module you analyze a question and synthesize module concepts in a paper of 2–3 pages (500–700 words). If you feel it is necessary, you may bring outside resources into these papers. If you do, be sure to cite any sources correctly in APA style. You can find the Written Assignment rubric within the assignment link in Moodle.

Final Paper

You are required to write a graduate-level paper that addresses one of the scenarios described in the Final Paper assignment with a focus on issues relevant to course concepts. The Final Paper is designed to demonstrate your decision-making process by using a real-world business example. You will choose from three options to develop a new business, for which you will collect market data and outline your ideas and proposed decisions.

The scenario event serves as a springboard to demonstrate an understanding of concepts and information covered in the course, to allow you to apply learning, draw reasoned conclusions, and make recommendations on best practices.

Guidelines

You can find the Final Project rubric within the assignment link in Moodle.

A Note About Research

The use of Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias for graduate-level papers is inappropriate. Aside from the uneven quality of the information that may be found in these sources, the real issue is that the information presented in these sources is "already digested." Use of such sources is an unacceptable shortcut for the graduate student. Students gathering information from these sites are essentially obtaining analyses done by someone else, not doing the work themselves. Rather than exploring the literature on a subject, such students are merely using the words of others who have already taken this vital step in academic research. It is imperative that graduate students be able to search the more academically-oriented literature, sift through useful (and not so useful) information, analyze, synthesize, and report the results of their assignments. All of these steps are bypassed if information is cited from an online site such as Wikipedia. To sum up: Using information summarized or annotated by someone else is an unacceptable shortcut for a graduate student.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A

=

93–100

B

=

83–87

A–

=

90–92

C

=

73–82

B+

=

88–89

F

=

Below 73

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., assignments, discussion postings, projects, etc.). Graduate students must maintain a B average overall to remain in good academic standing.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

ACADEMIC POLICIES

To ensure success in all your academic endeavors and coursework at Thomas Edison State University, familiarize yourself with all administrative and academic policies including those related to academic integrity, course late submissions, course extensions, and grading policies.

For more, see:

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