EC347-15 Topics Explored in Economics and Management
Introductory description
This capstone module provides students pursuing a joint degree in Economics and Management the opportunity to examine current issues impacting businesses from various e perspectives, while also consolidating their prior knowledge by applying concepts covered throughout the degree to research topics of their choosing.
The module provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in applying theoretical concepts to practical situations, thereby enhancing students' understanding of economic and management principles. Overall, this module equips students with a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic relationship between economics and management, preparing them for various roles within the business industry while also providing them with skills that will be useful in further academic pursuits.
Module aims
- Introduce students to current and relevant issues that significantly impact businesses
- Develop students' in-depth understanding of these issues through exploration of the academic literatures in Economics and Business
- Enable students to make strategic recommendations for real-world firms based on their understanding of these issues
- Foster students' comprehensive understanding of how the business environment influences and is influenced by the economic context
- Teach students how to apply economic theories to business decision-making to identify and evaluate the impact of economic policies on businesses.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
The specific topics covered in this course may vary from year to year based on current issues and trends. However, potential topics could include:
Economics:
Aggressive pricing strategies such as predatory pricing and gouging
Macroeconomic pricing pressures
Challenges of (online) marketing
R&D strategies in different industry structures
The benefits of being small (Judo Economics)
Principal agent challenges
Competition for markets
Financial pressures facing firms
Management:
Applied theory, (demonstrated critical thinking, evaluated options, developed recommendations etc.
Managing (in) organisations.
Leadership & Followership.
Accountability & Responsibility.
Power & Resistance.
Culture.
Ethics.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of how current issues are analysed in the academic literatures of Economics and Business.
- Develop effective strategies for real-world firms to compete based on their understanding of these issues
- Critically appraise the academic literatures in Economics and Business, identifying gaps in their scope and complementarities between them
- Apply critical thinking skills to assess and evaluate the impact of economic policies on businesses
- Effectively communicate their understanding of these issues and their recommendations to various stakeholders in a clear and concise manner.
Indicative reading list
Michael Baye Managerial Economics and Business Strategy
Economics and Business academic journal articles
Departmental Web link
To be decided
Research element
Students will develop an individual 2,500 word research project in the last 5 weeks of the module, where they evaluate a business of their choice.
Interdisciplinary
The research project combines case studies from management with economics concepts.
Subject specific skills
Analysis of Institutions;
Analysis of incentives;
Understanding of Uncertainty and Incomplete Information;
Research skills Data-based skills IT skills;
Mathematical, statistical and data-based research skills;
Policy evaluation.
Transferable skills
Analytical thinking and communication;
Analytical reasoning;
Critical thinking;
Creative thinking; Strategic thinking;
Problem-solving; Abstraction;
Written communication skills;
Oral communication skills.
Teaching split
| Provider | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Economics | 50% |
| Warwick Business School | 50% |
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 5 sessions of 4 hours (13%) |
| Seminars | 8 sessions of 3 hours (16%) |
| Project supervision | 8 sessions of 2 hours (11%) |
| Assessment | 90 hours (60%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
No private study requirements defined for this module.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| Research project proposal | 10% | 12 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
A research proposal should outline and motivate the research question. |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Final Research Project | 90% | 78 hours | No |
|
Individual report |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
The Department of Economics is committed to providing high quality and timely feedback to students on their assessed work, to enable them to review and continuously improve their work. We are dedicated to ensuring feedback is returned to students within 20 University working days of their assessment deadline.
Feedback for assignments is returned either on a standardised assessment feedback cover sheet which gives information both by tick boxes and by free comments or via free text comments on tabula, together with the annotated assignment. Students are informed how to access their feedback, either by collecting from the Undergraduate Office or via tabula. Module leaders often provide generic feedback for the cohort outlining what was done well, less well, and what was
expected on the assignment and any other common themes. This feedback also includes a cumulative distribution function with summary statistics so students can review their performance in relation to the cohort. This feedback is in addition to the individual specific feedback on assessment performance.
Pre-requisites
To take this module, you must have passed:
Courses
Course availability information is based on the current academic year, so it may change.This module is Core for:
- Year 3 of UECA-L1N2 Undergraduate Economics and Management
- Year 4 of UECA-L1N3 Undergraduate Economics and Management (with Intercalated Year)