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Syllabus

SCHMGMT644EconomicAnalysisforManagers

SpringSemester,2016

InstructorInformation:

Dr.RobertNakosteen
Professor,OperationsandInformationManagement
OfficeAddress:IsenbergSchoolofManagement
TelephoneNumber:(413)5455687
FaxNumber:4135453858
Email:nakosteen@isenberg.umass.edu

LastupdatedJanuary,2016



SYLLABUSOUTLINE
 SYLLABUSOUTLINE
IsenbergSchoolofManagementhomepage:http://www.isenberg.umass.edu/

AbouttheCourse coursedescription,learninggoalsandobjectives

Instructor biography,contactinformation

CourseRequirements requiredtextandvideos

Grades gradingpolicyforthiscourse

CourseCalendar importantdatestoremember

CoursePolicies academichonesty,andotherpolicies

AdministrativeIssues contactinformationforkeygraduateprogram
administrativeresources

Technical/ComputerSupport Vista&generalsupport

COURSESYLLABUS

ABOUTTHECOURSE
COURSEDESCRIPTION

Thisclassservesasareview/introductiontomicroeconomicsaswellasabrief
reviewofmacroeconomics.Themicroeconomicsportionofthecourseisabout
markets:howtheywork,andwhenandhowtheyfail.Thecoursehasconsiderable
overlap(potentialdependinguponinstructors)withothercoursesintheMasters
curriculum.TheserelatedcoursesincludeAccounting(bothsemesters),Marketing,
OrganizationalBehavior,Finance,Statistics,OperationsManagement,Businessand
itsEnvironment,andStrategy.

Themacroeconomicspartofthecoursewillcoverthemeasurementoftheeconomy,
includinghowGDP,inflation,andunemploymentaredetermined.Thefinancial
systemandtheUnitedStatescentralbank(theFederalReserveSystem)willbe
reviewed.Inaddition,wewillconstructamodelofthemacroeconomy.
 reviewed.Inaddition,wewillconstructamodelofthemacroeconomy.

COURSEOBJECTIVES
ThisMBAcoursewillattempttoaccomplishanumberofthings:

Provideanintroductiontheconceptofmarkets,howtheyfunction,andwhen
theydonot.
Addresshowmacroeconomicphenomenaaredefinedandmeasured.
Addresshowthefinancialandmonetarysystemsfunction,andhowthey
interactwiththerestoftheeconomy.
Provideamodelforhowthemacroeconomyfunctions.

Theprimarylearningtoolsarethetextbookandthecoursevideos.Regardingthe
textbook,foreachtopic,youwillbeassignedreadingtodo,andasetofproblemsto
finish.Theseproblemsareoptional,butgiveyougoodpractice.Manyofthetopics
inthecoursehaveanassociatedvideo.Inaddition,asetPowerPointslideswillbe
availableonthewebsite,summarizingimportantaspectsofeachunitinthecourse.
Inwhateverordermakessenseforyou,readtheassignment,watchthevideos,and
reviewthePowerPoint.

Wewillusethreadeddiscussionsinthisclassasamechanismforgaining
understandingtheconceptsyouarelearning,aswellasansweringquestionsthatyou
haveregardingtheproblemsIhaveassigned.Anyquestionsordifficultiesyouare
havingindoingtheproblems,getinvolvedinthethreadeddiscussion.Iwillaccess
theproblemsolvingthreadeddiscussionsvirtuallyeveryday.Iwouldalso
encourageyoutohelpeachotherthroughthediscussions.

Someofyoumaybeshyaboutexposingyourselfonthesethreadeddiscussions.I
wanttoestablishrightnow,inthestrongestterms,thatthereisnosuchthingasa
badquestion.Itoftencomesasasurprisetostudentshavingdifficultieswitha
problemoraconceptthatmostoftheotherstudentsintheclassarehavingthesame
problem.Youhavetousesomecouragetogetinvolvedinthethreadeddiscussions,
butitisacouragethatwillleadtorewards.Thereisreallynootherwaytolearnthis
materialbuttotrytoworkwithit,andgethelpwhenyouarehavingproblems.

Ofcourse,someofyoumaynotbeabletoovercomeyour"shyness"withthe
threadeddiscussion,especiallywithsomeofyourquestions/problems.Youare
welcometoemailmewithquestionsaswell.

Finally,regardingyouruseofthreadeddiscussions,Idonotformallygradethem.
Yourparticipationinthethreads,orlackofparticipation,doesnotaffectyourcourse
grade.Iwillnotewhenstudentsareparticularlyhelpfulinworkingwithother
students,butnotinaformalway.

ABOUTTHEINSTRUCTOR
BIOGRAPHY
RobertA.Nakosteen
 Ph.D.,UniversityofTennessee
M.A.,UniversityofMichigan
B.A.,UniversityofColorado

Selectedpublications:
ResearchpublishedinTheJournalofRegional
Science,TheJournalofHumanResources,Social
ScienceQuarterly,TheSouthernEconomicJournal,
TheReviewofRegionalStudies,Socioeconomic
PlanningSciences,EconomicInquiry,Applied
Economics,amongothers.

Academicandprofessionalactivities:

ExecutiveEditor,MassachusettsBenchmarks
Massachusettsforecastmanager,theNewEngland
EconomicProject,20002002
AssociateDirector,MassachusettsInstitutefor
SocialandEconomicResearch,19851993

Consultingactivities:
CreditSuisse
InternationalBankersSchool
MassachusettsDepartmentofEmploymentand
Training
U.S.DepartmentofDefense
U.S.GeneralServicesAdministration

Awards:

CampusDistinguishedTeachingAward,2013

MBATeachingExcellenceAward,numerousyears
CampusDistinguishedOutreachAward,2003
UniversityPresident'sPublicServiceAward,2003
CollegeOutstandingTeacherAward,2001.
OutstandingMBAteacher,1992

CONTACTINFORMATION
Dr.RobertNakosteen,Professor,Operationsand
NAME:
InformationManagement
TELEPHONE: 4135455687
EMAIL: nakosteen@isenberg.umass.edu
Pleaseusetheonlinehelpfortechnicalquestions
regardingthecourse.Thelinkstoonlinehelpcan
 regardingthecourse.Thelinkstoonlinehelpcan
befoundontheentrypagetoyourVistacourses.
FAX: 4135453858
SOM222C,IsenbergSchoolofManagement,121
OFFICELOCATION: PresidentsDrive,UniversityofMassachusetts,
Amherst,MA01003
Top
COURSEREQUIREMENTS
TECHNOLOGYREQUIREMENTS&COURSEVIDEOS

EveryliveclasssessionontheAmherstcampushasbeenrecordedandstreamedon
thecoursesite.SeetheClassVideosfolderintheCourseContentareaofthe
course.

ThevideosarerecordedandstreamedusingtheEchosystem.Thisvideosystem
requiresthatyouusethesameidandpasswordthatgetsyouintotheBBLearn
environmentinordertoaccessthevideos.Thevideosactuallyshowthroughthe
internet,sothereisnovideosoftwarerequired.

Youcanalsoattendtheclass"live",usingtheFuzeonlinemeetingtechnology.
ThereisadocumentpostedintheCourseContentareaofthecourseexplaininghow
todothis.

TEXTBOOK

Thetextbookforthiscourseis:Mankiw,Gregory,"EssentialsofEconomics",7th
edition,CengagePublishing(therearenumerousISBNs).

ThetextisavailablethroughthecampusAmazonconnection.

Thisisanexcellenttext,verywellwrittenandhighlyreadable.Itiswidelyusedas
atextinmastersprograms.

Thisisawidelyusedtextforbothundergraduateandgraduate(masterslevel)
courses.TheauthorhaslongadvisedRepublicanpoliticiansoneconomicpolicy,so
youwillseesomewhatconservativeorientationinthewriting.Mankiwlargely
keepsthisorientationincheck,andkeepshispresentationevenhanded.

The"ProblemAssignments"providedineachUnitofthecourseprovideagood
sourceforlearningandstudying.Thequesonsaretakenfromthetext,and
answersareprovidedinaccompanyinglinks.IwillusesimilarquesonsinExams.
 answersareprovidedinaccompanyinglinks.IwillusesimilarquesonsinExams.
Youarenotrequiredtoworkontheseassignments,andyouwillnotbeaskedto
turnthemin.Theyareenrelyforyouruseinstudying.

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GRADES
GRADINGPOLICY
Yourgradewillbebaseduponyourperformanceontwoexaminations,oneabout
halfwaythroughthecourse,andthesecondattheendofthesemester.Forthe
scheduleofexaminations,seethecourseschedulebelow.Eachoftheseexams
carriesequalweight.

HereisthegradingscaleIwillbeusing:

97100:A

9496:A(Aminus)
8893:B+(Bplus)

8487:B

7983:B(Bminus)

7478:C+(Cplus)

7073:C

Below70:F

Top
INTRODUCTIONS
PleaseIntroduceYourself
Tobeginthecourse,Iwouldliketofindoutsomethingaboutyou.Iwouldlikeeach
ofyoutowriteashortdescriptionofyourself,includingthefollowinginformation:
Yourname(andhowyouprefertobeaddressed),whereyoulive,whereyouwork

(ifyoudo),andthetypeofworkyoudo,whereyougotyourundergraduatedegree,
andwhatmajoryouhad.Pleasepostthisinformationinthethreadeddiscussionfor
thissectionofthecourse.
Top
COURSESCHEDULE
COURSESCHEDULE

Wewillfollowtheschedulelistedbelow.

FortheweekofJanuary18:

Usethisweektoexplorethecoursesite,whichisavailableinitsentirety.Also,
pleaseintroduceyourselftomeandtoyourcolleagues.

FortheweeksofJanuary25andFebruary1:

Unit1:Introduction(chapters1,2,and3).

and

Unit2:HowMarketsWork(chapters4,5,and7).

FortheweekofFebruary8:

Unit3:SpecialTopicsinMicroeconomics(chapters10and11).

FortheweekofFebruary15:

Unit4:ProductionandCost(chapter12).

FortheweeksofFebruary22andFebruary29:

Unit5:MarketStructureandCompetitiveMarkets(chapters13and14).

DuringtheweekofFebruary29,Iwillpostyourfirstexam,coveringUnits1
through5.Theexamwillbedistributedasan"assignment"intheContentareaof
thecourse.Theexamwillrequirethatyoudrawgraphsinansweringsomeofthe
questions.Youwillneedtoscanyourexamsanduploadthemasapdffile.Ifyou
donothavescanningcapability,youcanfaxyourexamto4135453858.More
detailedinstructionswillbesenttoyouastheexaminationisdistributed.Theweek
ofMarch7issetasideforcompletionoftheexam.

FortheweekofMarch7: