Course Code: 30511, Lectures: 3, Credits: 3

Objectives
This course deals with the foundation of economic conduct in commercial activity. It surveys theoretical and practical areas that are required in entrepreneurship in general and technological entrepreneurship. The course covers the fundamental principles of economic science and provides practical tools for economic analysis of commercial activity.

Content
The value of money as a dependence of time: development of interest formulae and use of capitalization factors; construction and analysis of project cash flow; types of series; calculation of depreciation and income tax; economic feasibility analyses; cost of the firm’s capital, commercial calculations; nominal interest and effective interest; repayment tables; criteria for checking economic feasibility, Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), Return on Investment (ROI), and comparison of options: inflation, interdependency of projects and allocation of capital decisions, investment decisions and feasibility analyses in conditions of risk and uncertainty. Sections of micro-economics, such as, scarcity and the production possibility curve; economic growth; relative advantage and absolute advantage; the concept of market – definition, types, characteristics; demand, supply and equilibrium; governmental intervention; analysis and optimization of costs; global aspects of economics; international trade; basic concepts and techniques in accountancy; principles of account reports and their use; different types of companies and the reports that characterize them.

Outcome
On completing the course, students will

  1. comprehend the economic principles that impact the behavior of manufacturers and consumers in a competitive market.
  2. comprehend the principal skills in the behavior of a company and finance costs.
  3. be capable of evaluating the feasibility of projects, by using economic quantitative indices.
  4. be capable of analyzing companies’ financial reports and using various financial indices to examine financial strength.

Reading

  1. Yaniv, Introduction to Economics – Micro. The Open University, 1981 – 1982.
  2. Nahmias, The Theory of Finance, Financial Management of Commercial Entities, Part 4, The Open University, 1988.
  3. Arbia, Yampler, Konchitzky, Accountancy in Business. Dionon, 2003

Recommended Reading

  1. Park, Chan S.; "Contemporary Engineering Economics", Pearson, Prentice Hall, 5th Edition, 2011.
  2. Tarquin A., Blank L.; "Corporate Finance – Theory and Practice", John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2nd Edition, 2001.
  3. Livnat, Introduction to Management Accounting and Costing, The Open University, 1997.