Economics for Managers

Aims of this Unit

Leaders and managers make optimal economic choices and decisions about the critical factors which drive their organisation, so they can compete effectively within local, national and global economic systems. This course aims to introduce the underlying principles of micro and macro­ economics for business. It will enable practicing managers to understand and apply economic analysis and frameworks, for making choices and decisions using economic concepts. It will enable mangers to understand the setting of economic policies and how their organisation may be impacted. This course is designed to provide an appreciation of how economists think and how integral economic thinking is to all management and leadership bodies of knowledge, including finance, people, marketing, operations and strategy.

Knowledge and Understanding

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of:
• The nature and method of economic thinking
• Scarcity, demand, supply, costs and prices in a market economy
• Operation of competitive, oligopolistic and monopolistic markets
• Role of government and other levers in the Australian national economy
• Contemporary economic issues as they affect private and public business sectors

Learning Outcomes

Following completion of this course, participants should be able to:
1. Describe and relate to their business environments the economic concepts of supply and demand, opportunity costs, marginal costs, trade-offs, externalities, transactions costs, comparative advantage, price elasticity and inflation
2. Explain market-exchange processes and discuss the impacts of monopoly and competition on market performance
3. Demonstrate an understanding of monetary and fiscal policy in Australia and show how national and global interest and currency rates affect business decisions
4. Evaluate the use of economic concepts and policies to improve thinking and decision making in business
5. Critically analyse economic impacts from rapidly changing environmental factors
6. Demonstrate a high order of skill in analysis, critical thinking and professional application
7. Demonstrate creativity and flexibility in the application of knowledge and skills to new situations, to resolve problems and to think rigorously and independently