Saturday, January 3, 2009

Microeconomics or Business Essentials

Microeconomics

Author: R Glenn Hubbard

Hubbard & O'Brien motivate the study of economics through real business examples. The book motivates users by demonstrating how real business uses economics to make real decisions on a daily basis. Covers the different Market Structures in an intuitive fashion so that readers of all backgrounds and fields can grasp the importance and flow of these concepts. Chapter opening cases, examples and figures motivate the economic principles covered, while Solved Problems provide models of how to solve an economic problem – keeping readers focused on the main ideas of each chapter, and preventing them from getting bogged down due to a lack of basic math or "word problem" skills.

Cover a core of microeconomics topics, then lend an additional business emphasis by covering one or more optional chapters: Business Firms, Corporate Governance, and the Stock Market; Monopolistic Competition: The Competitive Model in a More Realistic Setting; or Pricing Strategy.

MARKET: For anyone in business who wants to benefit from understanding the economic forces behind their work.



Table of Contents:

Preface iv

Acknowledgments xvii

 

Part 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 1: Economics: Foundations and Models 2

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN U.S. FIRMS MOVE TO CHINA? 2

Building a Foundation: Economics and Individual Decisions 5

People Are Rational 5

People Respond to Economic Incentives 5

Optimal Decisions Are Made at the Margin 5

Solved Problem 1-1: Apple Computer Makes a Decision at the Margin 6

The Economic Problem That Every Society Must Solve 7

What Goods and Services Will Be Produced? 7

How Will the Goods and Services Be Produced? 7

Who Will Receive the Goods and Services Produced? 7

Centrally Planned Economies versus Market Economies 8

The Modern "Mixed" Economy 8

Efficiency and Equity 9

Economic Models 10

The Role of Assumptions in Economic Models 10

Forming and Testing Hypotheses in Economic Models 10

Making the Connection 1-1: When Economists Disagree:

A Debate over Outsourcing 11

Normative and Positive Analysis 12

Microeconomics and Macroeconomics 13

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse Positive Analysis with Normative Analysis 13

A Preview of Important Economic Terms 14

Conclusion 15

AN INSIDE LOOK: How Does Economic Growth in China Affect Other Countries? 16

*Summary 18

*Key Terms 18

*Review Questions 19

*Problems and Applications 19

*End-of-chapter resource materials repeat in all chapters.

CHAPTER 1 APPENDIX: Using Graphs and Formulas 21

Graphs of One Variable 22

Graphs of Two Variables 23

Slopes of Lines 23

Taking Into Account More Than Two Variables on a Graph 24

Positive and Negative Relationships 25

Slopes of Nonlinear Curves 25

Formulas 28

Formula for a Percentage Change 28

Formulas for the Areas of a Rectangle and a Triangle 28

Summary of Using Formulas 29

Problems and Applications 29

 

CHAPTER 2: Trade-offs, Comparative Advantage, and the Market System 32

MANAGERS MAKING CHOICES AT BMW 32

Production Possibilities Frontiers and Real-World

Trade-offs 34

Graphing the Production Possibilities Frontier 34

Solved Problem 2-1: Drawing a Production Possibilities Frontier for Rosie’s Boston Bakery 36

Making the Connection 2-1: Trade-offs and Tsunami Relief 38

Increasing Marginal Opportunity Costs 38

Economic Growth 39

Trade 40

Specialization and Gains from Trade 40

Absolute Advantage versus Comparative Advantage 42

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse Absolute Advantage and Comparative Advantage 44

Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade 44

Solved Problem 2-2: Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade 44

The Market System 46

The Circular Flow of Income 46

The Gains from Free Markets 48

The Market Mechanism 48

Making the Connection 2-2: Story of the Market System in Action: "I, Pencil" 49

The Role of the Entrepreneur 50

The Legal Basis of a Successful Market System 50

Making the Connection 2-3: Property Rights in Cyberspace: Napster, Kazaa, and iTunes 51

Conclusion 53

AN INSIDE LOOK: Choosing the Production Mix at BMW 54

 

CHAPTER 3: Where Prices Come From: The Interaction of Demand and Supply 62

HOW HEWLETT-PACKARD MANAGES THE DEMAND FOR PRINTERS 62

The Demand Side of the Market 64

The Demand of an Individual Buyer 64

Demand Schedules and Demand Curves 64

Individual Demand and Market Demand 65

The Law of Demand 66

What Explains the Law of Demand? 66

Holding Everything Else Constant: The Ceteris Paribus Condition 67

Variables That Shift Market Demand 68

Making the Connection 3-1: Why Supermarkets Need to Understand Substitutes and Complements 69

Making the Connection 3-2: Companies Respond to a Growing Hispanic Population 70

A Change in Demand versus a Change in Quantity Demanded 72

Making the Connection 3-3: Estimating the Demand for Printers at Hewlett-Packard 72

The Supply Side of the Market 73

Supply Schedules and Supply Curves 73

Individual Supply and Market Supply 74

The Law of Supply 74

Variables That Shift Supply 75

A Change in Supply versus a Change in Quantity Supplied 76

Market Equilibrium: Putting Demand and Supply Together 77

How Markets Eliminate Surpluses and Shortages 78

Demand and Supply Both Count 79

Solved Problem 3-1: Demand and Supply Both Count: A Tale of Two Letters 80

The Effect of Demand and Supply Shifts on Equilibrium 81

The Effect of Shifts in Supply on Equilibrium 81

Making the Connection 3-4: The Falling Price of Large Flat-Screen Televisions 82

The Effect of Shifts in Demand on Equilibrium 83

The Effect of Shifts in Demand and Supply over Time 84

Solved Problem 3-2: High Demand and Low Prices in the Lobster Market? 85

Shifts in a Curve versus Movements along a Curve 86

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Remember: A Change in a Good’s Price Does Not Cause the Demand orSupply Curve to Shift. 87

Conclusion 87

AN INSIDE LOOK: Hewlett-Packard Cuts PC Prices to Sell More Printers 88

 

CHAPTER 4: Economic Efficiency, Government Price Setting, and Taxes 96

SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT CONTROL APARTMENT RENTS? 96

Consumer Surplus and Producer Surplus 98

Consumer Surplus 99

Making the Connection 4-1: The Consumer Surplus from Satellite Television 100

Producer Surplus 101

What Consumer Surplus and Producer Surplus Measure 101

The Efficiency of Competitive Markets 102

Marginal Benefit Equals Marginal Cost in Competitive Equilibrium 102

Economic Surplus 103

Deadweight Loss 103

Economic Surplus and Economic Efficiency 104

Government Intervention in the Market: Price Floors and Price Ceilings 104

Price Floors: The Example of Agricultural Markets 105

Making the Connection 4-2: Price Floors in Labor Markets:

The Minimum Wage 106

Price Ceilings: The Example of Rent Controls 107

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse "Scarcity" with a "Shortage" 108

Black Markets 109

Solved Problem 4-1: What’s the Economic Effect of a "Black Market" for Apartments? 109

Making the Connection 4-3: Does Holiday Gift Giving Have a Deadweight Loss? 110

The Results of Government Intervention: Winners, Losers, and Inefficiency 111

Positive and Normative Analysis of Price Ceilings and Price Floors 111

The Economic Impact of Taxes 112

The Effect of Taxes on Economic Efficiency 112

Tax Incidence: Who Actually Pays a Tax? 112

Solved Problem 4-2: When Do Consumers Pay

All of a Sales Tax Increase? 114

Making the Connection 4-4: Is the Burden of the Social Security Tax Really Shared Equally between Workers and Firms? 116

Conclusion 117

AN INSIDE LOOK: Dealing with Rent Control 118

CHAPTER 4 APPENDIX: Quantitative Demand and Supply Analysis 125

Demand and Supply Equations 125

Calculating Consumer Surplus and Producer Surplus 126

Review Questions 128

Problems and Applications 129

Part 2: Markets in Action

 

CHAPTER 5: Externalities, Environmental Policy, and Public Goods 130

ECONOMIC INCENTIVES SPUR DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION TO REDUCE POLLUTION 130

Externalities and Efficiency 132

The Effect of Externalities 132

Externalities Can Result in Market Failure 134

What Causes Externalities? 134

Private Solutions to Externalities: The Coase Theorem 135

The Economically Efficient Level of Pollution Reduction 135

Making the Connection 5-1: The Reduction in Infant Mortality Due to the Clean Air Act 136

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Remember That It’s the Net Benefit That Counts 138

The Basis for Private Solutions to Externalities 138

Making the Connection 5-2: The Fable of the Bees 140

Do Property Rights Matter? 140

The Problem of Transactions Costs 141

The Coase Theorem 141

Government Solutions to Externalities 141

Solved Problem 5-1: Using a Tax to Deal with a Negative Externality 142

Command and Control versus Tradeable Emissions Allowances 144

Licenses to Pollute? 145

Making the Connection 5-3: Can Tradeable Permits

Reduce Global Warming? 145

Four Categories of Goods 146

Making the Connection 5-4: Should the Government or the Airlines Screen Luggage at Airports? 147

Public Goods and Common Resources 148

The Demand for a Public Good 149

The Optimal Quantity of a Public Good 150

Solved Problem 5-2: Determining the Optimal Level of Public Goods 151

Common Resources 153

Conclusion 155

AN INSIDE LOOK: Two Approaches to Fighting Global Warming: Kyoto Protocol and the Chicago Climate Exchange 156

 

CHAPTER 6: Elasticity: The Responsiveness of Demand and Supply 164

DO PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THE PRICES OF BOOKS? 164

The Price Elasticity of Demand and Its Measurement 166

Measuring the Price Elasticity of Demand 166

Elastic Demand and Inelastic Demand 167

An Example of Computing Price Elasticities 167

The Midpoint Formula 168

Solved Problem 6-1: Calculating the Price Elasticity of Demand for Wheat Using the Midpoint Formula 169

When Demand Curves Intersect, the Flatter Curve Is More Elastic 170

Polar Cases of Perfectly Elastic and Perfectly Inelastic Demand 170

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse Inelastic with Perfectly Inelastic 172

What Determines the Price Elasticity of Demand for a Product? 172

Availability of Close Substitutes 172

Passage of Time 173

Luxuries versus Necessities 173

Definition of the Market 173

Making the Connection 6-1: The Price Elasticity of Demand for Breakfast Cereal 173

Share of the Good in the Consumer’s Budget 174

Is the Demand for Books Perfectly Inelastic? 174

The Relationship between Price Elasticity and Total Revenue 174

Elasticity and Revenue with a Linear Demand Curve 175

Solved Problem 6-2: Price and Revenue Don’t Always Move in the Same Direction 176

Estimating Price Elasticity of Demand 178

Making the Connection 6-2: Determining the Price Elasticity of Demand for DVDs by Market Experiment 178

Other Demand Elasticities 178

Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand 179

Income Elasticity of Demand 180

Making the Connection 6-3: Price Elasticity, Cross-Price Elasticity, and Income Elasticity in the Market for Alcoholic Beverages 180

Using Elasticity to Analyze the Disappearing Family Farm 181

Solved Problem 6-3: Using Price Elasticity to Analyze

the Drug Problem 182

The Price Elasticity of Supply 183

Measuring the Price Elasticity of Supply 183

Determinants of the Price Elasticity of Supply 184

Making The Connection 6-4: Why Are Oil Prices So Unstable? 184

Polar Cases of Perfectly Elastic and Perfectly Inelastic Supply 185

Using Price Elasticity of Supply to Predict Changes in Price 185

Conclusion 187

AN INSIDE LOOK: Do People Care about the Prices of Books on Amazon.com? 190

 

Part 3: Firms in the Domestic and International Economies

CHAPTER 7: Firms, the Stock Market, and Corporate Governance 198

GOOGLE: FROM DORM ROOM TO WALL STREET198

Types of Firms 200

Who Is Liable? Limited and Unlimited Liability 200

Making the Connection 7-1: What’s in a "Name"? Lloyd’s of London Learns about Unlimited Liability the Hard Way 201

Corporations Earn the Majority of Revenue and Profits 202

The Structure of Corporations and the Principal-Agent Problem 202

Corporate Structure and Corporate Governance 202

Solved Problem 7-1: Does the Principal-Agent Problem Also Apply to the Relationship between Managers and Workers? 203

How Firms Raise Funds 204

Sources of External Funds 204

Stock and Bond Markets Provide Capital–and Information 205

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" When Google Shares Change Hands, Google Doesn’t Get the Money 206

Making the Connection 7-2: Following General Electric’s Stock and Bond Prices in the Financial Pages 207

Using Financial Statements to Evaluate a Corporation 208

Making the Connection 7-3: A Bull in China’s Financial Shop 209

The Income Statement 210

The Balance Sheet 211

Understanding the Business Scandals of 2002 211

Solved Problem 7-2: What Makes a Good Board of Directors? 212

Conclusion 213

AN INSIDE LOOK: Google’s Initial Public Offering 214

CHAPTER 7 APPENDIX: Tools to Analyze Firms’ Financial Information 220

Using Present Value to Make Investment Decisions 220

Solved Problem 7A-1: How to Receive Your Contest Winnings 222

Using Present Value to Calculate Bond Prices 223

Using Present Value to Calculate Stock Prices 223

A Simple Formula for Calculating Stock Prices 224

Going Deeper into Financial Statements 225

Analyzing Income Statements 225

Analyzing Balance Sheets 226

Key Terms 227

Review Questions 227

Problems and Applications 228

 

CHAPTER 8: Comparative Advantage and the Gains from International Trade 230

SUGAR QUOTA DRIVES U.S. CANDY MANUFACTURERS OVERSEAS 230

An Overview of International Trade 232

The Importance of Trade to the U.S. Economy 232

U.S. International Trade in a World Context 233

Making the Connection 8-1: Has Outsourcing Hurt the U.S. Economy? 234

Comparative Advantage: The Basis of All Trade 235

A Brief Review of Comparative Advantage 235

Comparative Advantage in International Trade 235

The Gains from Trade 236

Increasing Consumption through Trade 237

Solved Problem 8-1: The Gains from Trade 238

Why Don’t We See Complete Specialization? 240

Does Anyone Lose as a Result of International Trade? 240

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Remember That Trade Creates Both Winners and Losers 241

Where Does Comparative Advantage Come From? 241

Making the Connection 8-2: Why Is Dalton, Georgia, the Carpet-Making Capital of the World? 242

Comparative Advantage Over Time: The Rise and Fall–and Rise–of the U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry 242

Government Policies That Restrict Trade 243

Tariffs 245

Quotas 246

Measuring the Economic Impact of the Sugar Quota 247

Solved Problem 8-2: Measuring the Economic Effect of a Quota 247

The High Cost of Preserving Jobs with Tariffs and Quotas 249

Gains from Unilateral Elimination of Tariffs and Quotas 249

Other Barriers to Trade 250

The Argument over Trade Policies and Globalization 250

Why Do Some People Oppose the World Trade Organization? 250

Making the Connection 8-3: The Unintended Consequences of Banning Goods Made with Child Labor 251

Making the Connection 8-4: Has NAFTA Helped or Hurt the U.S. Economy? 253

Dumping 254

Positive versus Normative Analysis (Once Again) 255

Conclusion 255

AN INSIDE LOOK: The United States and Australia Reduce Trade Barriers 256

CHAPTER 8 APPENDIX: Multinational Firms 263

Multinational Firms 263

A Brief History of Multinational Enterprises 263

Strategic Factors in Moving from Domestic to Foreign Markets 264

Making the Connection 8A-1: Have Multinational Corporations Reduced Employment and Lowered Wages in the United States? 266

Challenges to U.S. Firms in Foreign Markets 267

Competitive Advantages of U.S. Firms 267

Key Terms 268

Review Questions 268

Problems and Applications 268

 

Part 4: Microeconomic Foundations: Consumers and Firms

CHAPTER 9: Consumer Choice and Behavioral Economics 270

CAN LEBRON JAMES GET YOU TO DRINK POWERADE? 270

Utility and Consumer Decision Making 272

The Economic Model of Consumer Behavior in a Nutshell 272

Utility 272

The Principle of Diminishing Marginal Utility 273

The Rule of Equal Marginal Utility per Dollar Spent 273

Solved Problem 9-1: Finding the Optimal Level of Consumption 277

What If the Rule of Equal Marginal Utility per Dollar Does Not Hold? 278

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Equalize Marginal Utilities per Dollar 279

The Income Effect and Substitution Effect of a Price Change 280

Where Demand Curves Come From 281

Social Influences on Decision Making 282

The Effects of Celebrity Endorsements 283

Making the Connection 9-1: Why Do Firms Pay Tiger Woods to Endorse Their Products? 283

Network Externalities 283

Does Fairness Matter? 284

Making the Connection 9-2: Professor Krueger Goes to the Super Bowl 287

Behavioral Economics: Do People Make Their Choices Rationally? 287

Ignoring Nonmonetary Opportunity Costs 287

Business Implications of Consumers Ignoring Nonmonetary Opportunity Costs 288

Failing to Ignore Sunk Costs 289

Being Unrealistic about Future Behavior 289

Making the Connection 9-3: Why Don’t Students Study More? 290

Solved Problem 9-2: How Do You Get People to Save More of Their Income? 290

Conclusion 291

AN INSIDE LOOK: Can Whoopi Goldberg Get You to Buy Slim-Fast? 292

CHAPTER 9 APPENDIX: Using Indifference Curves and Budget Lines to Understand Consumer Behavior 298

Consumer Preferences 298

Indifference Curves 298

The Slope of an Indifference Curve 299

Can Indifference Curves Ever Cross? 300

The Budget Constraint 300

Choosing the Optimal Consumption of Pizza and Coke 301

Making the Connection 9A-1: Dell Determines the Optimal Mix of Products 302

How a Price Change Affects Optimal Consumption 303

Solved Problem 9A-1: When Does a Price Change Make a Consumer Better Off? 304

Deriving the Demand Curve 305

The Income Effect and the Substitution Effect of a Price Change 305

How a Change in Income Affects Optimal Consumption 307

The Slope of the Indifference Curve, the Slope of the Budget Line, and the Rule of Equal Marginal Utility per Dollar 307

The Rule of Equal Marginal Utility per Dollar Revisited 309

Key Terms 310

Problems and Applications 310

 

CHAPTER 10: Technology, Production, and Costs 312

SONY USES A COST CURVE TO DETERMINE THE PRICE OF RADIOS 312

Technology: An Economic Definition 314

Making the Connection 10-1: Improving Inventory Control at Wal-Mart 314

The Short Run and the Long Run 315

The Difference between Fixed Costs and Variable Costs 315

Making the Connection 10-2: Fixed Costs in the Publishing Industry 316

Implicit Costs versus Explicit Costs 316

The Production Function 317

A First Look at the Relationship between Production and Cost 318

The Marginal Product of Labor and the Average Product of Labor 319

The Law of Diminishing Returns 319

Graphing Production 320

Making the Connection 10-3: Adam Smith’s Famous Account of the Division of Labor in a Pin Factory 320

The Relationship between Marginal and Average Product 320

An Example of Marginal and Average Values: College Grades 322

The Relationship between Short-Run Production and Short-Run Cost 323

Marginal Cost 323

Why Are the Marginal and Average Cost Curves U-Shaped? 323

Solved Problem 10-1: The Relationship between Marginal Cost and Average Cost 325

Graphing Cost Curves 325

Costs in the Long Run 327

Economies of Scale 327

Long-Run Average Total Cost Curves for Bookstores 327

Solved Problem 10-2: Using Long-Run Average Cost Curves to Understand Business Strategy 329

Making the Connection 10-4: The Colossal River Rouge: Diseconomies of Scale at the Ford Motor Company 331

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse Diminishing Returns with Diseconomies of Scale 332

Conclusion 332

AN INSIDE LOOK: Using Long-Run Average Cost Curves to Analyze Expansion at Sony and Samsung 334

CHAPTER 10 APPENDIX: Using Isoquants and Isocosts to Understand Production and Cost 342

Isoquants 342

An Isoquant Graph 342

The Slope of an Isoquant 342

Isocost Lines 343

Graphing the Isocost Line 343

The Slope and Position of the Isocost Line 343

Choosing the Cost-Minimizing Combination of Capital and Labor 344

Different Input Price Ratios Lead to Different Input Choices 345

Making the Connection 10A-1: The Changing Input Mix in Walt Disney Film Animation 346

Another Look at Cost Minimization 347

Solved Problem 10A-1: Determining the Optimal Combination of Inputs 348

The Expansion Path 349

Key Terms 350

Problems and Applications 350

 

Part 5: Market Structure and Firm Strategy

CHAPTER 11: Firms in Perfectly Competitive Markets 352

PERFECT COMPETITION IN THE MARKET FOR ORGANIC APPLES 352

Perfectly Competitive Markets 355

A Perfectly Competitive Firm Cannot Affect the Market Price 355

The Demand Curve for the Output of a Perfectly Competitive Firm 356

How a Firm Maximizes Profit in a Perfectly Competitive Market 356

Revenue for a Firm in a Perfectly Competitive Market 357

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse the Demand Curve for Farmer Whaples’s Wheat with the Market Demand Curve for Wheat 357

Determining the Profit-Maximizing Level of Output 358

Illustrating Profit or Loss on the Cost Curve Graph 360

Showing a Profit on the Graph 361

Solved Problem 11-1: Determining Profit-Maximizing Price and Quantity 361

Illustrating When a Firm Is Breaking Even or Operating at a Loss 363

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Remember That Firms Maximize Total Profit, Not Profit per Unit 364

Making the Connection 11-1: Losing Money in the Medical Screening Industry 365

Deciding Whether to Produce or to Shut Down in the Short Run 366

Making the Connection 11-2: When to Close a Laundry 366

The Supply Curve of the Firm in the Short Run 367

The Market Supply Curve in a Perfectly Competitive Industry 368

"If Everyone Can Do It, You Can’t Make Money At It"– The Entry and Exit of Firms in the Long Run 368

Economic Profit and the Entry or Exit Decision 369

Long-Run Equilibrium in a Perfectly Competitive Market 372

The Long-Run Supply Curve in a Perfectly Competitive Market 372

Increasing-Cost and Decreasing-Cost Industries 374

Perfect Competition and Efficiency 374

Making the Connection 11-3: The Decline of Apple Production in New York State 374

Productive Efficiency 375

Solved Problem 11-2: How Productive Efficiency Benefits Consumers 375

Allocative Efficiency 377

Conclusion 377

AN INSIDE LOOK: Firms Crank Out Organic Snacks 378

 

CHAPTER 12: Monopolistic Competition: The Competitive Model in a More Realistic Setting 386

STARBUCKS: GROWTH THROUGH PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION 386

Demand and Marginal Revenue for a Firm in a Monopolistically Competitive Market 388

The Demand Curve for a Monopolistically Competitive Firm 388

Marginal Revenue for a Firm with a Downward-Sloping Demand Curve 389

How a Monopolistically Competitive Firm Maximizes Profits in the Short Run 391

Solved Problem 12-1: How Not to Maximize Profits 392

What Happens to Profits in the Long Run? 393

How Does Entry of New Firms Affect the Profits of Existing Firms? 393

"Don’t Let This Happen To You!" Don’t Confuse Zero Economic Profit with Zero Accounting Profit 394

Making the Connection 12-1: The Rise and Fall of Apple’s Macintosh Computer 395

Solved Problem 12-2: The Short Run and the Long Run for the Macintosh 396

Is Zero Economic Profit Inevitable in the Long Run? 397

Making the Connection 12-2: Staying One Step Ahead of the Competition: Eugène Schueller and L’Oréal 398

Comparing Perfect Competition and Monopolistic Competition 399

Excess Capacity under Monopolistic Competition 400

Is Monopolistic Competition Inefficient? 400

How Consumers Benefit from Monopolistic Competition 400

Making the Connection 12-3: Abercrombie and Fitch: Can the Product Be Too Differentiated? 400

How Marketing Differentiates Products 401

Brand Management 401

Advertising 401

Defending a Brand Name 402

What Makes a Firm Successful? 403

Conclusion 403

AN INSIDE LOOK: Starbucks and McDonald’s Cater to Insomniacs 404

 

CHAPTER 13: Oligopoly: Firms in Less Competitive Markets 412

COMPETING WITH WAL-MART 412

Oligopoly and Barriers to Entry 414

Barriers to Entry 415

Becoming a Doctor or Best of Weight Watchers Magazines

Business Essentials

Author: Ronald J Ebert

This best-selling book continues to present a brief “no-nonsense ” approach to the fundamentals of business that spans the range of all functional areas– management, marketing, operations, accounting, information systems, finance, and legal studies.

Topics comprehensively covered include: the contemporary business environment; the business of managing; principles of marketing; managing information; people in organizations; and financial issues.

An excellent reference resource for business managers and executives; also appropriate for entrepreneurs and others involved in business relations.

Booknews

This textbook introduces the U.S. business system, the organization of companies, human resource management, the principles of marketing, information systems, accounting, banking, and investment. Topics include business ethics, labor relations, consumer behavior, product pricing, and the federal reserve system. The fourth edition adds real-life case studies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



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