The main purpose of the degree program at the College of Business & Economics (CBE) at Cal State Fullerton is to provide you with the knowledge and skills that prepare you for a successful career in business.  In order to assist us in achieving this goal, we will use a number of assessment tools to track your progress through the CBE curriculum.  Please expect to participate in CBE assessment activities in several of your courses while at the CBE.  As you do so, you will assist us in identifying our program’s strengths and weaknesses as well as areas for potential improvement.  In other words, you are making an important investment in the value of your degree.

The primary objective of this course is to develop the complete set of tools required for a firm's manager to make well informed, responsible and efficient business decisions in an increasingly dynamic world.  To this end, the course envisages integrating the traditional microeconomic analysis of standard topics -- demand and supply, production and costs, market structure and market failures, factor market interactions, antitrust and regulation -- with the treatment of more current and managerially important topics such as developing effective performance-evaluation systems and compensation plans, assigning decision-making authority among employees, or managing transfer-pricing disputes among divisions.  

However, knowledge of the underlying economic framework within which to analyze managerial problems is by itself not enough for a manager in today's fast changing business environment.  A broad understanding of the perspectives that form the context for business is essential.  For instance, employing cheap child labor in production plants located in developing countries is not only ethically wrong, it can also lead to severe backlash effects over time that adversely affect the fortunes of the manager and his/her firm.  Similarly, the increasingly global nature of competition in conjunction with the rapid pace of technological change throws up a number of knotty issues.  Should renewal of China's most favored nation (MFN) trading status (now referred to as normal trade relations (NTR)) be made conditional upon evidence of significant progress in the area of human rights?  How will encryption software firms be affected by federal restrictions on exports of such software stemming from concerns about national security?  What lessons should managers draw from the European Union's decision to scuttle General Electric's proposed acquisition of Honeywell despite the deal having already received antitrust clearance from the Federal Trade Commission?  How should firms reinvent themselves to cater to the growing demographic diversity in the marketplace reflected, for instance, in developments such as the increasing financial clout of the Hispanic community?  In view of these kinds of issues, it becomes clear that a business student's education is incomplete without adequate exposure to the following perspectives: (i) Ethical issues, (ii) Global issues, (iii) Political, social, legal, regulatory, and environmental issues, (iv) Technological issues, and, (v) The impact of demographic diversity on organizations. 

In accordance with the above, Intermediate Business Microeconomics aims at meshing the bread and butter tools of microeconomic analysis with a well rounded appreciation of the important perspectives that form the business environment in the contemporary world.  

The course text is, Transactions and Managerial Strategies:  Economics for Managers by Robert J. Michaels, First Edition, South-Western, Cengage Learning.

There will be three hourly exams and a comprehensive (optional) final exam.  Each exam will count for 30 percent of the course grade since you will be able to drop one exam.  There will also be number of unannounced quizzes given periodically which will account for 10 percent of the final grade.  Likewise, you will be able to drop one quiz as well.   Please note, if you are satisfied with your grades from the first three exams, you do not have to take the final exam.  Furthermore, if you miss any of the exams or if you receive a low grade in any of the exams, you MUST take the comprehensive final exam.  Please check the following link for your final exam date and time:  http://www.fullerton.edu/admissions/CurrentStudent/FinalExaminations.asp Please purchase Scan sheet called SCANTRON "Form No. 882-E".

Please note that PLUS/MINUS grading will be applied in this class.

Qualifying Mathematics Test -- Word

Qualifying Mathematics Test -- PDF

Qualifying Mathematics Test Answer Key

Course Grades

I.    Introduction, Market and Prices:  

A.    Key Concepts

1.    Firm's objectives
2.    Fundamental Economic Concepts
3.    Marginalism
4.    Opportunity Cost
5.    Optimization
6.    Demand and Supply Analysis
7.    Elasticities

II.    Producers, Consumers, and Competitive Markets:

        1.    Profits as Motivator
        2.    Alternatives to Profit Maximizing
        3.    Non-Profit Organizations
        4.    Technology and Inputs
        5.    Short and Long-run Costs
        6.    Estimation of Cost Functions
        7.    The Learning Curve

III.    Market Structure and Competitive Strategy:

        1.    Perfect Competition
        2.    Monopolistic Competition
        3.    Monopoly and Monopsony
        4.    Advertising
        5.    Asymmetric Information Exchange
        6.    Optimal Mark up Pricing
        7.    The Regulatory Process
        8.    Public Utilities
        9.    Oligopolistic Market Solution
        10.  Oligopolistic Rivalry and Game Theory
        11.  Cartel and International Perspective

IV.    Information, Market Failure, and the Role of Government:

        1.    Pricing Practices and economic efficiency
        2.    Regulatory Constraints
        3.    Externalities and Market failure
        4.    Markets with Asymmetric Information

COURSE INFORMATION

1. Students are responsible for EVERYTHING said in class, including material not covered in the book, exam dates and any changes in the reading assignments.  If you miss all or part of a class, be sure to find out from another student everything that transpired.

2. Students are expected to arrive in class before the start of the lecture. If for any reason you are late for the class, you must make every attempt to avoid disturbing other students while making your entry.   If you are unable to do so, either avoid entering the class or ask for assistance!  If you are more than 10 minutes late, you may attend the class however, you are not allowed to take the quiz.  Furthermore on the exam days, after completion of your exam, please leave the class quietly without disturbing other students in class.  

3. Attendance at exams are mandatory. The professor must be notified in advance of any unusual problem, which makes a student's taking of an exam at the scheduled time impossible. Only rarely are such excuses accepted, in which case a prompt make-up exam will be given. Excuses must be in writing on official letterhead stationery (that of a doctor, a funeral director, etc.) All excuses must have an official phone number, which will be called for routine verification of the excuse.

4. Prerequisite for ECON. 315: Introductory Macroeconomics (201), Introductory Microeconomics (201), and Mathematics (135).

5. Incomplete is virtually never given.

6. No exceptions are made to the course grading system stated on the syllabus.

7. No exceptions are made to the final exam date mandated by the university.

8.  Withdrawal policy is based upon rules mandated by the university policy.

9.  Any Academic Dishonesty by the students will be treated according the university policy stated in university catalog. Please read it  http://business.fullerton.edu/ethics/UPS300021.htm.