Economic Analysis & Policy Group

Spring 2008 EAP Courses

Full-time MBA Program

Course Name	Course Description
Competitive and Corporate Strategy - 2 Unit Version	Competitive and Corporate Strategy is a course in management. It is designed to acquaint the student with delineation of business policy by the firm, and the development and implementation of a business strategy that will allow the firm to achieve its goals and objectives. The pursuit of these goals and objectives usually occurs within a competitive context, in which other rival organizations often seek similar if not the same ends (e.g., market share, profits, control of scarce resources, etc.). Accordingly, the essential drama of the marketplace is how one firm attempts to "win" vis-a-vis its rivals-- that is, how it develops and implements a competitive strategy. The basic perspective of the course will be that of the "general manager" of the firm, or that person charged with overall responsibility for competitive performance. We shall apply the concepts of the course to firms that compete in single businesses as well as multiple lines of activity, to firms that compete in domestic markets as well as international venues, and to firms that engage in production sector activity as well as the service sector of the economy. Finally, while this course is not specifically concerned with high-technology markets, it will make reference to this sector, as well as more mature and traditional industries.
Energy and Environmental Markets	In the past 30 years, some of the largest industries have made the transition from a regulated to market based paradigm. Managers in many transportation, information technology, and energy companies have had to devise strategies to cope with changes in economic and environmental regulations and the evolution of new markets and trading platforms. The energy industries feature a complex mix of regulation and market-driven incentives. Over the last decade, industries that had previously been viewed as staid and conservative have been rocked by deregulation initiatives, the California electricity crises, the Enron scandal, rising commodity prices, and now the challenge to reduce greenhouse gases. Drawing on the tools of economics and finance, we study the business and public policy issues that these changes have raised in energy markets. Topics include the development and effect of organized spot, futures, and derivative markets in energy; the political economy of deregulation; climate change, environmental impacts and policies related to energy production and use; privatisation of publicly owned energy assets; market power and antitrust; the transportation and storage of energy commodities; and the economics of alternative energy sources. We examine the economic determinants of industry structure and evolution of competition among firms in these industries; investigate successful and unsuccessful strategies for entering new markets and competing in existing markets; and analyze the rationale for and effects of public policies in energy markets.
Game Theory	This course is a survey of the main ideas and techniques of game-theoretic analysis related to competitive strategy, bargaining, conflict, and negotiation. As such, the course emphasizes the identification and analysis of archetypal strategic situations frequently occurring in bargaining situations. The goals of the course to provide students with a foundation to: Apply game-theoretic analysis, both formally and intuitively, to competitive strategy and bargaining situations. Recognize and assess archetypal strategic situations in complicated negotiation settings. Feel comfortable in the process of negotiation. The course has a strong experiential component. Students will repeatedly participate in a variety of strategic situations thereby developing the ability to translate their analyses into practice.
Macroeconomics in the Global Economy	This course is oriented towards examining real world puzzles in domestic and international macroeconomic events and policies. We will construct simple models to analyze these puzzles and, hopefully, shed light on the interactions of the various sectors of the economy that contribute to this behavior. The goal of this course is to enable you to analyze macroeconomic phenomena in a structured manner, and to express this analysis in a coherent way.

Evening & Weekend MBA Program

Course Name	Course Description
Competitive Strategy	The purpose of Competitive Strategy is to enable students to design profitable strategies that are responsive to the characteristics of the firm and the nature of competition in the industry or market. In particular, the course will address the following major questions: How do fundamental economic characteristics of an industry affect a company's ability to make profits? How can a company produce long-run economic profits? Or, in other words, how can a company generate value, and how can it capture that value as profit? What are the legal constraints on the methods a company uses in pursuit of profit? What strategy choices should a company make when its profitability and its competitor's profitability are affected by each other's choices? How should a company choose the scope of its activities? How can a company profitably enter new markets, and how can it preserve profitability in the face of entry into its existing markets? How does the external environment of the firm affect the optimal internal organization of the firm? How does a firm develop know-how that is unique and difficult for competitors to replicate?
Game Theory	See Full-time program description.
Macroeconomics in the Global Economy	See Full-time program description

Executive MBA Program

Course Name	Course Description
Competative and Corporate Strategy	See Full-time program description

Undergraduate Program

Course Name

Course Description

Macroeconomics Analysis for Business Decisions

Special Topics in Economic Analysis and Policy

Strategic Planning

As the Capstone Course for the Haas Undergraduate Program, this course has been carefully designed to provide you with the following:

A thorough introduction to those concepts and techniques that
is necessary for the design and implementation of strategies for the
successful "organization". These concepts and techniques can be appliedto "organizations" which operate in the private(market) and/or public(government) sectors of an economy. The operating environment for the "organization" in this course may be characterized as dynamic, global, strategic and uncertain.
An opportunity to strengthen your command of the core curriculum for the Haas Undergraduate Curriculum.
An opportunity to strengthen your command of the additional
knowledge and skills you have developed within the Haas School of Business as well as other areas of your education and/or work experience including, but not limited to, computer, interpersonal/team and multi-media presentation skills.
An important opportunity to enhance your work experience by
forming a small consulting team with your class colleagues for the
purpose of providing substantial strategic planning assistance to a rea "organization" from the community. You and your consulting team associates will select a real "organization" with assistance from me and a group of outstanding client "organization" coordinators.

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