Managerial economics : economic tools for today’s decision makers, 7th ed.

• Main Author: Paul G. Keat, Philip K.Y. Young, Stephen E. Erfle.
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Pearson 2020
• Subjects: Managerial economics.
• Online Access: http://dspace.uniten.edu.my/jspui/handle/123456789/15327

As in all our previous editions, this edition’s changes are based on our classroom teaching, consulting engagements, and corporate education seminars. In addition, we have received a number of useful suggestions from the reviewers of our sixth edition. In this seventh edition, we welcome co-author, Stephen Erfle of Dickinson College. Steve has been of particular help in revising and improving the quantitative sections of our text. He has also provided a major addition: the use of Excel in the presentation of many of the numerical and graphical illustrations presented throughout the text. Here are noteworthy additions, improvements, and enhancements to this edition: ➤ We developed Excel Applications (Excel Apps) for a number of the numerical and graphical illustrations used throughout the text. These apps, noted with the icon, APP are available to readers on our website and an index delineating what is in each Excel App is provided on the inside rear cover of the text. They allow readers to turn the static figures and tables in the text into dynamic illustrations, and they will also strengthen students’ ability to use Excel, which we believe is a critical skill in today’s job market. ➤ We have developed a series of regression Excel Apps that provide readers with a more detailed discussion of many of the topics in regression analysis touched on in Chapter 5. See the Excel Apps listing on the back cover for additional information about coverage about regression topics in various chapters. ➤ We have completely rewritten Chapter 11, “Game Theory and Asymmetric Information.” User feedback requested more in-depth coverage of this challenging topic. The chapter now includes increased coverage of game theory and bargaining as well as a more in-depth discussion of adverse selection and moral hazard. ➤ Chapter 15, “Managerial Economics in Action,” is an entirely new chapter. Throughout the text, we try to show how the economic concepts and tools of analysis can be applied to the beverage industry by introducing in each chapter a Situation and a Solution for our hypothetical company called Global Foods. In our concluding chapter, we discuss how the basic concepts of supply and demand can be applied to the real global soft drink industry. This chapter was written especially for this edition by a seasoned industry consultant, Farshad Sarmad. Using current industry data and his own experiences, Farshad shows how the factors affecting supply and demand can be applied to various segments of the soft drink industry in countries around the world. ➤ Significant developments in information and communications technology (e.g., cloud computing, social media, and Internet commerce) have enabled businesses to store massive amounts of data generated in digital format. We introduce readers to these developments in Chapter 5, “Demand Estimation and Forecasting.” We asked Dr. Mukal Patki, a business analytics specialist at PayPal, to help us with this task. In Appendix 5B, “Understanding Consumer Behavior Through Testing,” he talks about how “big data” has enabled companies to conduct in-depth studies of consumer behavior using a technique called “test and learn.” ➤ In Chapter 14, “Government and Industry: Challenges and Opportunities for Today’s Manager,” we have added a discussion of patent laws and the concept of protecting intellectual property (IP), such as trademarks and copyrights. These are significant ways that government affects commerce in a free market economy. This section was written by Riyon Harding, an expert in the commercialization of IP at IBM, a company that is recognized throughout the world for the number of new patents it receives from the U.S. government every year. ➤ To give readers a better idea of how managerial economics can be applied in some of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), we asked Navin Punjabi, a professor of business in Mumbai, to discuss some of the challenges of doing business in India (Chapter 13). We also asked Lisa Vortsman, a product manager for the dressings category in an actual “Global Foods” company (Lisa requested that her company not be identified) to talk about the challenges of increasing the demand for this category in countries like Russia and Brazil. ➤ We have also received the help of outside experts to improve our discussions about other topics of importance and current interest in business. F. John Mathis, Professor of Global Economics and Finance, has written a highly informative summary of the causes and consequences of the 2008 financial crisis (Chapter 14). To provide our readers with a better idea of the actual challenges of initiating and implementing a supply chain management system, we interviewed Steve Martson. Steve, a recently retired executive who has led supply chain systems implementation in companies such as Dell and IBM, talks about some of his experiences working in this very important field (Appendix 7C). As we have done in all of our previous editions, we have updated our examples wherever appropriate. We have kept some of the examples that we first introduced in our previous editions if we believe they serve as good teaching illustrations, regardless of when they occurred.