Syllabus

Master of Business Administration

BUEC 505: Managerial Economics

Credits - 3

Description

Managerial Economics provides students with the opportunity to use economic theory to help make business decisions. The course will focus on how issues such as pricing, competition, incentives and biases impact how companies choose to allocate limited resources. Students will utilize economic theory to develop business strategies related to both external stakeholders (e.g., competitors, customers and suppliers) as well as internal operations, such as capital allocation.

Materials

Additional course materials will be provided in Brightspace

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

  • Use marginal analysis to inform business decisions
  • Differentiate between the implications of economic versus accounting costs on managerial decision making 
  • Analyze firm behavior under different market structures
  • Evaluate strategic decisions (i.e., vertical and horizontal integration) using the Five Forces Framework 
  • Apply Porter’s Five Forces framework to assess industry attractiveness
  • Effectively communicate strategic recommendations to stakeholders

Assignments

Strategic Industry Analysis through Milestone Projects (Weeks 1–6)

Students complete a series of structured milestone assignments analyzing a public company through the lens of Porter’s Five Forces. These include:

  • Week 1: Company selection + risk classification

  • Week 2: Threat of substitutes (2-slide deck)

  • Week 4: Buyer and supplier power (4-slide deck)

  • Week 6: Threat of new entrants and industry rivalry (4-slide deck)

Weekly Case Studies Applying Economic Theory (Weeks 3, 5, and 7)

Students engage in three applied case studies, each tied to a central economic concept:

  • Week 3: Economies of Scope and Joint Production

  • Week 5: Product Differentiation and Competitive Advantage

  • Week 7: Strategic Positioning: Differentiation vs. Cost Leadership

Each case requires a written analysis (500–750 words) and peer feedback via structured discussion boards.

Peer Review and Collaborative Learning (Ongoing)

Throughout the course, students participate in small-group peer review discussions for each case and milestone. These collaborative activities reinforce critical thinking, applied economics, and industry-specific insight while helping students improve their own work before final submission.

Final Strategic Analysis Project (Week 8)

In the final week, students synthesize their work into a 6–10 slide strategic recommendation presentation, incorporating Five Forces analysis, cost structure insights, and competitive strategy. The project mirrors real-world executive briefings and includes optional narration or speaker notes.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

AssignmentPoints
Academic Integrity Agreement1
Week 1 Discussion: Welcome and Introduction2
Week 1 Discussion: Course Project Launch – Company Selection2
Project Milestones (4 at 5 pts each) 20
Quizzes (8 at 2 pts each)16
Peer Review Discussions (6 at 3 points each)18
Case Study Assignments (3 at 6 pts each)18
Week 8 Assignment: Final Strategic Analysis Project20
Week 8 Discussion: Final Reflection and Project Exchange3

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

Course Dates: 8/27/2025 – 10/17/2025

Week 1: Wednesday – Sunday
Week 2: Monday – Sunday
Week 3: Monday – Sunday
Week 4: Monday – Sunday
Week 5: Monday – Sunday
Week 6: Monday – Sunday
Week 7: Monday – Sunday
Week 8: Monday – Friday

 

WEEK TOPICS ASSESSMENTS DUE
1 Managerial Economics and Strategic Decision-Making
  • Week 1 Discussion: Welcome and Introduction
  • Week 1 Discussion: Course Project Launch – Company Selection
  • Week 1 Assignment: Course Project Milestone 1 – Strategic Risk Outline Using Porter’s Five Forces
  • Week 1: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Assignment due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
2 Demand and Pricing
  • Week 2 Discussion: Peer Review – Assessing the Threat of Substitutes
  • Week 2 Assignment: Course Project Milestone 2 – Threat of Substitutes: Slide Deck & Narrated Presentation
  • Week 2: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Assignment due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
3 Cost and Production
  • Week 3 Discussion: Peer Review – Evaluating Economies of Scope in Mergers
  • Week 3 Case Study: Evaluating Economies of Scope in the VeloTech-Canyon Merger
  • Week 3: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Case Study due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
4 Economics of Organization
  • Week 4 Discussion: Peer Review – Buyer and Supplier Power Slide Decks
  • Week 4 Assignment: Course Project Milestone 3 – Buyer and Supplier Power – Strategic Exposure Assessment
  • Week 4: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Assignment due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
5 Market Equilibrium and the Perfect Competition Model
  • Week 5 Discussion: Peer Review – Innovation or Imitation?
  • Week 5 Case Study: Altaris AeroTech at a Crossroads
  • Week 5: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Case Study due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
6 Firm Competition and Market Structure
  • Week 6 Discussion: Peer Review – Final Five Forces Milestone
  • Week 6 Assignment: Course Project Milestone 4 – New Entrants and Industry Competition
  • Week 6: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Assignment due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
7 Market Regulation
  • Week 7 Discussion: Peer Review – Economic Ethics in Practice
  • Week 7 Case Study: Emissions and Ethics – The Volkswagen Scandal
  • Week 7: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due Friday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Case Study due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due Sunday at 11:59 PM ET
8 Game Theory and Course Wrap-Up
  • Week 8 Discussion: Final Reflection and Project Exchange
  • Week 8 Assignment: Final Strategic Analysis Project
  • Week 8: Quiz
  • Initial Discussion Posts due WEDNESDAY at 11:59 PM ET
  • Discussion Responses due FRIDAY at 11:59 PM ET
  • Assignment due FRIDAY at 11:59 PM ET
  • Quiz due FRIDAY at 11:59 PM ET

 

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

Information Technology Services (ITS)

  • ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Policies

Passing Grade Statement

A grade of 80% or higher is required to pass the course. A grade lower than 80% will result in you having to repeat the course. Obtaining two "Fs" in the program will result in dismissal from the program.

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement

Learning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly and ethically is an important skill in today’s society. AI is not a substitute for developing and enhancing skills in creativity, logic, critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, theorization, and writing essential to a public health professional. If you choose to use AI tools, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E2, they must be used wisely and intelligently to deepen your understanding of a subject matter and support learning. You are not allowed to use AI tools to generate your work. Content produced using AI tools cannot be used as a substitute for your original work.

Students in the Graduate Programs in Public Health (GPPH) must take ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of AI-generated content used in any work. You are expected to think critically about the results and alignment with the questions or tasks in the assignment and never substitute AI-generated results for professional human judgment and logic. GPPH students are also expected to understand that the information generated is not always accurate and, in some cases, propagates discrimination and bias. You must stay abreast of AI best practices, and the changing risks and benefits, and monitor AI for biases and risks for vulnerable populations and underrepresented groups.

Within GPPH, using AI-generated content in academic work falls under our academic integrity policies. All instructors will continue to use our AI detection software for each assignment submitted so it will be flagged.

Using any AI tool in your work must be acknowledged in-text every time it is used, not in your list of references. You will include a summary of what the AI tool was used to do, followed by the AI tool brand name, version/extension #, manufacturer/owner, and date used in parentheses.

For example, 

Themes from participant responses were identified using a chatbot session (ChatGPT, model GPT-4, OpenAI, May 17, 2024).

Failure to acknowledge the inclusion of AI-generated content in any work submitted violates our academic integrity policies and will be considered an infraction with the associated penalties for plagiarism as outlined in the Student Handbook.

The Student Orientation has a module "Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Students", please refer to this module for more information about navigating the use of AI.

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your Enrollment and Retention Counselor if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. Tuition charges may still apply. Students are strongly urged to consult with Student Financial Services, as course withdrawals may affect financial aid or Veterans benefits.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.