Economics and Business environment

Economics and Business environment is directed at tertiary students who will be taking up managerial positions in trade and industry or in government. The book describes the economic environment of European businesses. It has two main learning objectives. The first of these is to enable students to analyse the economic business environment. The theories described should, for example, permit students to calculate how much competition firms within a particular business sector are exposed to, to analyse the current economic position of a particular country and to make exchange rate prognoses. The second objective is to enable students to gauge the effect of the economic environment on business sales and profits. They will, for example, learn how competition, current market conditions and the exchange rate affect returns. The book is written with the following perspectives in mind: -The European context: the economic environment of European companies is central to the book. All the data and examples described in the book are based on the European situation. -The current state of affairs: the theories described in the book are illustrated at the hand of examples derived from the current European economic situation. As such, the student will obtain a good impression of recent developments within the European economy. -Practical situations: the book deals with economic topics that are relevant to European businesses. Modern business practice is the main emphasis of the book. The theories described are directed at enhancing understanding and analysing actual situations. -Accessibility: care has been taken to make the book as accessible as possible. Complicated analyses and mathematical models have been avoided as much as possible. Instead, diagrams and graphs illustrate the causal relationships between economic factors.