Business Tools for Successful Execution
Apply economic theory and analytical tools to make effective business decisions.
About This Specialization
In order to effectively manage and operate a business, managers and leaders need to understand the market characteristics and economic environment they operate in. In this Specialization, you will build a solid understanding of the operation of markets and the macro-economic environment with real-world examples. You will be able to identify firm and country-level economic factors that impact business decisions, develop an analytical framework using statistical tools, and apply economic theory and data in the analysis of business environment and trends to make effective business decisions.
The capstone project involves an in-depth analysis of an actual business situation in which you will examine the global economic environment of a business. The final project will be a business plan that uses statistical tools and economic theory to create a comprehensive analysis of the microeconomic and macroeconomic environment in which the focal company operates.
This Specialization is part of the University of Illinois Masters of Business Administration degree program, the iMBA. Learn more about the admission into the program here and how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into the program. You can also start with for-credit courses within the Illinois iMBA degree program.
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7 courses
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Projects
Designed to help you practice and apply the skills you learn.
Certificates
Highlight your new skills on your resume or LinkedIn.
Courses
- Beginner Specialization.
- No prior experience required.
COURSE 1
Firm Level Economics: Consumer and Producer Behavior
Upcoming session: Jun 26 — Jul 31.- Commitment
- 4 weeks, 3-5 hours/week
- Subtitles
- English
About the Course
All goods and services are subject to scarcity at some level. Scarcity means that society must develop some allocation mechanism – rules to determine who gets what. Over recorded history, these allocation rules were usually command based – the king or the emperor would decide. In contemporary times, most countries have turned to market based allocation systems. In markets, prices act as rationing devices, encouraging or discouraging production and encouraging or discouraging consumption in such a way as to find an equilibrium allocation of resources. We will construct demand curves to capture consumer behavior and supply curves to capture producer behavior. The resulting equilibrium price “rations” the scarce commodity. Markets are frequent targets of government intervention. This intervention can be direct control of prices or it could be indirect price pressure through the imposition of taxes or subsidies. Both forms of intervention are impacted by elasticity of demand. After this course, you will be able to: • Describe consumer behavior as captured by the demand curve. • Describe producer behavior as captured by the supply curve. • Explain equilibrium in a market. • Explain the impact of taxes and price controls on market equilibrium. • Explain elasticity of demand. • Describe cost theory and how firms optimize given the constraints of their own costs and an exogenously given price. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.COURSE 2
Firm Level Economics: Markets and Allocations
Upcoming session: Jul 3 — Aug 7.- Commitment
- 4 weeks of study, 3-5 hours/week
- Subtitles
- English
About the Course
In this class, we will derive equilibrium outcomes across a variety of market structures. We will begin by understanding equilibrium under a market structure called Perfect Competition, a benchmark construction. Economists have tools to measure the efficiency of market outcomes. We next consider the polar extreme of a competitive market: a monopoly market. We will determine the monopoly equilibrium price and quantity and efficiency properties. Much economic activity takes place in markets with just a handful of very large producers. To understand equilibrium in these oligopoly markets requires more careful attention to strategic interdependence. To capture this interdependence, we consider collusive arrangements among a small number of rivals as well as the use of simple game theoretic techniques to model equilibrium. Market Failure describes situations where markets fail to find the efficient outcome. Information asymmetries are one fertile form of market failure. Another form of market failure occurs when externalities are present. We will examine one key externality, pollution, and construct a policy prescription to mitigate the negative efficiency impacts of this externality. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Explain how different market structures result in different resource allocations. • Model the impact of external shocks to a particular market structure and demonstrate the new equilibrium price and quantity after the impact of this external shock has played out. • Evaluate the efficiency of an equilibrium. Different market structures produce different levels of efficiency. • Explain when and why the government might intervene with regulatory authority or antitrust litigation to lessen inefficiencies in some markets. • Describe how information problems can cause inefficient outcomes. • Understand externalities and consider optimal government response to these market failures. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.COURSE 3
Country Level Economics: Macroeconomic Variables and Markets
Current session: Jun 21 — Jul 31.- Commitment
- 4 weeks of study, 4-6 hours/week
- Subtitles
- English
About the Course
This course discusses how macroeconomic variables affect individuals’ personal, professional, and public activities and lays the foundation for the analysis of the mechanisms that drive macroeconomic variables. It start in its first module by introducing the key macroeconomic variables and explaining how they are defined and measured in order to enable the students to interpret macroeconomic data properly. In the second module, the course offers a perspective for separating out various parts of the economy driven by different processes and for combining those components to develop a richer view of the whole. In particular, it applies this approach to the analysis of the relationship of the trade deficit with the budget deficit and private savings, offering insights about some key determinants of the balance of payments. The third and fourth modules focus on the analyses of the foreign currency and money markets to provide fundamental models of the interest rate and exchange rate determination. They also discuss how these variables interact with each other and with the macroeconomic conditions, particularly monetary policy and the expectations about the future trends in the economy. These analyses lay the foundation for more comprehensive models of the macroeconomy in the next course of the Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Specialization. At the end of this course, you will be able to: • Systematically assess the national and international economic environment in which you live and work. • Analyze macroeconomic issues using key tools. • Be a more effective professional in your line of activity. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.COURSE 4
Country Level Economics: Policies, Institutions, and Macroeconomic Performance
Upcoming session: Jun 28 — Jul 27.- Commitment
- 4 weeks of study, 4-6 hours/week
- Subtitles
- English
About the Course
This course examines macroeconomic performance in the short run and the long run based on the economy’s institutional and policy environment. The first module develops a model of macroeconomy in the short run when the price level has its own momentum and does not respond much to supply and demand forces. The model enables one to see how GDP, interest rate, and exchange rate are determined in the short run and how they respond to macroeconomic shocks and policies. The second module starts the analysis of long-run equilibrium by examining the foreign exchange market. It then connects the long-run outcome with expectations about the future trends in the exchange rate at each moment, which constitute a key driver of the spot exchange rate in the short run. The methodology developed for this purpose can be applied to expectations concerning other macroeconomic variables as well. Finally, the long-run foreign exchange model is employed to derive a number of important lessons for the long run trends in currency values and competitiveness of producers in various countries. The third module examines the drivers of aggregate output in the long run and the mechanisms of adjustment from the short run to the long run. The model provides insights about why some countries are much richer than others and why some economies grow faster than others over decades. The analysis also sheds light on why inflation varies across countries or over time in the same country. The model is employed to analyze the sources of macroeconomic instability and the roles of fiscal and monetary policies in stabilization or destabilization of the macroeconomy. The final module discusses the characteristics of desirable macroeconomic policies and the reasons why actual policies deviate from them. It connects these deviations to country characteristics that one needs to take into account when assessing a country’s long-term macroeconomic environment. The module ends with a discussion of the institutional conditions that help bring about better fiscal and monetary policies. At the end of this course, you will be able to: • Understand how the market for aggregate goods and services interacts with the money market to shape the macroeconomic equilibrium that determines income, interest rate, and exchange rate in the short run. • Understand the links between the short-run and long-run processes. • Assess the dynamic effects of macroeconomic policies and understand the roles of globalization, government policies, institutions, and expectations in macroeconomic outcomes. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.COURSE 5
Exploring and Producing Data for Business Decision Making
Upcoming session: Jul 3 — Aug 7.- Commitment
- 4 weeks of study, 4-6 hours/week
- Subtitles
- English
About the Course
This course provides an analytical framework to help you evaluate key problems in a structured fashion and will equip you with tools to better manage the uncertainties that pervade and complicate business processes. Specifically, you will be introduced to statistics and how to summarize data and learn concepts of frequency, normal distribution, statistical studies, sampling, and confidence intervals. While you will be introduced to some of the science of what is being taught, the focus will be on applying the methodologies. This will be accomplished through the use of Excel and data sets from many different disciplines, allowing you to see the use of statistics in very diverse settings. The course will focus not only on explaining these concepts, but also understanding the meaning of the results obtained. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Summarize large data sets in graphical, tabular, and numerical forms. • Understand the significance of proper sampling and why you can rely on sample information. • Understand why normal distribution can be used in so many settings. • Use sample information to infer about the population with a certain level of confidence about the accuracy of the estimations. • Use Excel for statistical analysis. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.COURSE 6
Inferential and Predictive Statistics for Business
Upcoming session: Jul 3 — Aug 7.- Commitment
- 4 weeks of study, 2-4 hours/week
- Subtitles
- English
About the Course
This course provides an analytical framework to help you evaluate key problems in a structured fashion and will equip you with tools to better manage the uncertainties that pervade and complicate business processes. The course aim to cover statistical ideas that apply to managers. We will consider two basic themes: first, is recognizing and describing variations present in everything around us, and then modeling and making decisions in the presence of these variations. The fundamental concepts studied in this course will reappear in many other classes and business settings. Our focus will be on interpreting the meaning of the results in a business and managerial setting. While you will be introduced to some of the science of what is being taught, the focus will be on applying the methodologies. This will be accomplished through use of Excel and using data sets from many different disciplines, allowing you to see the use of statistics in very diverse settings. The course will focus not only on explaining these concepts but also understanding the meaning of the results obtained. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Test for beliefs about a population.. • Compare differences between populations. • Use linear regression model for prediction. • Learn how to use Excel for statistical analysis. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.COURSE 7
Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Capstone
Upcoming session: Jul 31 — Sep 18.- Subtitles
- English
About the Capstone Project
The capstone project involves an in-depth analysis of an actual business situation in which you will examine the global economic environment of a business. The final project will be a business plan that uses statistical tools and economic theory to create a comprehensive analysis of the microeconomic and macroeconomic environment in which the focal company operates. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
Creators
Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta
Clinical Professor of Business Administration
Hadi Salehi Esfahani
Professor of Economics and Professor of Business Administration
Larry DeBrock
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Finance and Professor of Economics
Joseph A. Petry
Clinical Professor of Economics and Finance
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