Economics for Sustainable Business

GSMB 7304 is one of the core courses in the MBA programme at the IIUM Graduate School of Management. In today’s competitive and ever-changing world, businesses are not only expected to be profitable, but to be socially responsible and promote sustainability. A sustainable business is one that has minimal negative impact on the global or local environment, society and the economy. This course integrates economic concepts and tools with business practices to facilitate effective decision-making by sustainable business leaders and managers. Both microeconomics and macroeconomics are covered with the inclusion of Islamic perspective on selected topics. Microeconomics deals with how businesses and consumers make rational decisions and how they interact with each other in markets. Key topics include supply and demand, price determination, market structures, situations of market failure, and the impact and role of government on the market. Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole. It focuses on the aggregate changes in the economy such as unemployment, growth rate, gross domestic product and inflation. With knowledge of both micro- and macroeconomics, students will be able to understand how they affect the sustainability of businesses. Practical case studies and real-life examples of businesses in Malaysia and around the world are included in each topic for a more applied orientation to the course.