Fall 2014!

Does the proposed merger of Burger King and Tim Hortons make sense? More generally, if two of four firms in an industry merge, does improve their profitably while hurting consumers? [Perhaps to your surprise, the answers are “no” and “yes”, respectively.] When does it make sense for firms to bundle goods – Microsoft Office rather than Word or Excel or PowerPoint? What should the strategy of a dominant firm such as GM [now Toyota?!] be towards new entrants [Great Wall or Tesla]? When does franchising make sense [BMW dealerships versus Tesla company stores]?

“Industrial Organzation” addresses these and many other questions, generally examining them from the standpoint of firms or producers; it provides the framework that undergirds corporate strategy (while leaving the operational issues to the relevant subfields in Business Administration). If you have an industry you like (we examine beer brewing among others) or want a better foundation for thinking about strategy, then this is a cousre for you.