Evolution of Business and Market

By Prateek Raj | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)

Learners enrolled: 989

This course deals with how businesses and markets have evolved over time. The six-week course is divided into six themes focused on the evolution of businesses and markets, and the role of networks, institutions, culture and technology in their evolution. Each week is discussed in detail covering topics as diverse as the persistence of merchant guilds in medieval Europe, the historical emergence of the modern impersonal markets, and their promised benefits in comparison to traditional systems of business and the influence of pre-colonial institutions on development in Africa and Asia.

The course also deals with how businesses could overcome frictions of information asymmetry and moral hazards. We first explore the role of networks and hierarchy in shaping traditional and modern business, and then discuss the historical evolution of the firm, from individual merchants and guilds to large multinational corporations. We discuss the importance and limits of formal institutions, the role of trust and cosmopolitan culture, and the impact of communication, transport and mass-media technologies.

The course is designed with the following specific objectives and learning outcomes:

Learn the role of a dense network of relationships in Traditional Business.

Understand the formalization of business over time from craft guilds to formal markets.

Describe how the social structure of a society affects the growth of the market.

Explain a historical perspective of how markets evolve.

Analyse various policies of business and market; role of institutions, cultural ingredients, and technology in the development process.

Study of the economy focusing exclusively on India.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	6 weeks
Category :	Management Studies
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	29 Jan 2024
End Date :	30 Apr 2024
Enrollment Ends :	29 Feb 2024
Exam Date :	26 May 2024 IST
Shift :	Shift 2

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Onset of Business
Week 2: Transformation of Business
Week 3: Evolution of Markets
Week 4: Democratized Market
Week 5: Forces of Evolution
Week 6: India as a Case

Click here for syllabus page

Exam schedule

Books and references

None

Instructor bio

Prateek Raj

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)

Prateek studies how businesses and markets evolve(d) in history, and in developing countries, and the technological, cultural and institutional causes that drive such evolution. Prateek is an Assistant Professor in Strategy at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). He earned his B.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) in 2010 and his Ph.D. from University College London (UCL) in 2018. During his PhD, he was a Research Associate at the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (2016-2018). Additionally, he was affiliated to the Kellogg School of Management and the Center for Economic History at Northwestern University as a Visiting Predoctoral Fellow (2015-2018). Prior to his PhD, he worked as an operations consultant for clients in metals and mining industry (2010-2012). Prateek has also taught operational research methods at the London School of Economics (LSE) (2012-2015), and continues to be an Honorary Research Associate at the UCL School of Management.

Course certificate

Enrolling and learning from the course is free. However, if you wish to obtain a certificate, you must register and take the proctored exam in person at one of the designated exam centre’s. The registration URL will be announced when the registration form is open. To obtain the certification, you need to fill out the online registration form and pay the exam fee. More details will be provided when the exam registration form is published, including any potential changes. For further information on the exam locations and the conditions associated with filling out the form, please refer to the form.

Grading Policy:

Assessment Type	Weightage
Mid-Term & End-Term	25%
Final Exam	75%

Certificate Eligibility:

40% marks and above in Mid Term & End Term
40% marks and above in the final proctored exam

Score	Type of Certificate
>=90	Gold
75 - 89	Silver
70 - 74	Bronze
40 - 70	Successfully Completed
<40	No Certificate

Sample Certificate:

Disclaimer: In order to be eligible for the certificate, you must register for enrolment and exams using the same email ID. If different email IDs are used, you will not be considered eligible for the certificate.

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