The Economics of Corporate Strategy (BS0191)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : MSE-3-ECS

The course covers the economic principles of certain corporate strategies and their application. Topics include: vertical integration, transactions costs, agency problems, franchising, diversification, competitive advantage, innovation, strategy and structure.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Business Economics (BS0029) or with consent of the Course Organiser.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Business Studies, (Management School and Economics, Schedule H)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
10/01/2008	09:00	11:00	Room G.8, 1 George Square (Neuroscience)	Med+Vet

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	09:00	10:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge and Understanding
On completion of the course students should:
a) Be able to describe
- What determines the internal structure of the firm in relation to vertical integration and diversification;
- How both of these are largely determined by transactions costs;
- The factors that determine the type of pay structure for senior management;
- How transactions costs explain the decisions relating to franchising;
- The underlying factors affecting strategy in relation to differentiated products or cost advantage, and the implications for management style of these two directions;
- The factors which enable firms to remain profitable for relatively long periods, and those which give only temporary advantage;
- The issues that affect the speed and direction of innovation;
- And the way in which information asymmetry and the structure of the firm, in terms of vertical or horizontal integration, affects the managerial structure of the company.

Cognitive Skills
On completion of the course students should
a) be able to evaluate the rationale of the economic hypotheses behind corporate decisions, including being able to
b) detect assumptions, identify inconsistency in arguments and interpret empirical evidence;
c) be able to evaluate the appropriateness of the arguments to different situations;
d) be able to effectively and concisely communicate their ideas;
e) be able to efficiently read academic articles and synthesise the contents of a collection of references.