ECON 380 - Managerial Economics and Business Strategy

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UDB; Sustainability
The actions and reactions of business firms and consumers in a variety of market environments, emphasizing their strategies for optimization. Course not recommended for Economics majors.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Areas B1-B3.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better; and ECON 200, MATH 110 or MATH 130 or MATH 180, and STAT 100 or STAT 110.
Credit Restrictions: Not for BS Economics Major credit.
Equivalent Quarter Course: ECON 3551.
Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground, or Entirely Online, or Hybrid.
Grading: A-F grading only.
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UDB - Upper Division Science Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning, Overlay - Sustainability
Course Typically Offered: Fall & Spring

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Apply economic principles to management decisions;
Distinguish relevant from irrelevant costs for economic decision-making;
Understand the basic forces governing the operation of competitive markets;
Explain what input use and production decisions maximize profits;
Articulate the conditions that give rise to pricing power;
Determine how a firm with pricing power can maximize profits;
Determine if and how a firm can engage in price discrimination.

UD-B. Upper-division Science Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning Learning Outcomes

demonstrate advanced and/or focused science or quantitative content knowledge in a specific scientific field, using appropriate vocabulary and referencing appropriate concepts (such as models, uncertainties, hypotheses, theories, and technologies);
apply advanced quantitative skills (such as statistics, algebraic solutions, interpretation of graphical data) to scientific problems and evaluate scientific claims;
demonstrate understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry and the experimental and empirical methodologies used in science to investigate a scientific question or issue; and
apply science content knowledge to contemporary scientific issues (e.g., global warming) and technologies (e.g., cloning), where appropriate.

Sustainability Overlay Learning Outcomes

identify the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability, either in general or in relation to a specific problem;
analyze interactions between human activities and natural systems;
describe key threats to environmental sustainability; and
explain how individual and societal choices affect prospects for sustainability at the local, regional, and/or global levels.