Every time we have to make a choice we are faced with an opportunity cost. Using an example in your professional life, identify a situation where you were presented with a choice, the opportunity cost of the choice you made, and the process you used to make your choice. As part of your discussion explain whether or not responsible stewardship played a role in your choice. Remember to use the appropriate economic concepts and terminology that are applicable to your answer.
MODULE 2
MODULE 3
View the video at the link below and share your thoughts on the economic concepts that you believe are applicable. In your response provide a rationale on whether or not a firm has to possess market power in order to raise prices.
How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers
MODULE 4
If a firm has created value is it also always able to capture that value? How does a firm create value and then what must it be able to do to capture that value? In your answer provide an example of a firm that has been able to create value. Then discuss whether or not you believe it has captured that value and if so how it was captured and if not why it was not able to do so.
MODULE 5
MODULE 6
Should decision management and decision control be separated? As part of your discussion, provide a real-world example (or provide a fictitious example) of a firm where the control (correctly) resides with the same individual as well as an example of a firm where the control is (correctly) separated.
MODULE 7
Should decision management and decision control be separated? As part of your discussion, provide a real-world example (or provide a fictitious example) of a firm where the control (correctly) resides with the same individual as well as an example of a firm where the control is (correctly) separated.
MODULE 8
Describe an experience that you have had working on a team. As part of your response discuss how the team was evaluated. Also discuss whether or not the free-rider problem existed on your team. If it did exist also discuss how/if the problem was addressed. If the problem did not exist discuss why not or how the problem was managed.
1. (10 pts.) Stella Ann Freeman is having a difficult time deciding whether or not to purchase a new car. How would understanding the concept of opportunity costs help her make a decision?
2. (10 pts.) Referring to the table below, hiring a driver costs $10. Each machine costs $100. Which method should he use and why?
3. (10 pts.) Enron will be an example of a dysfunctional company for many years to come. It was clearly a company riddled with fraud and excess and its conduct drove it into bankruptcy. The text argues that individual behavior was not at the core of Enron’s problems. What were the problems with this corporation from an organizational architecture point of view?
4. (10 pts.) For many corporations such as utility companies, a major portion of the cost of production is fixed in the short run. Should these very large fixed costs be ignored when the executives are making output and pricing decisions? Why?
5. (10pts.) Choose a real-life example of a firm that you think is part of an oligopoly market and describe the characteristics of the market structure that explain why the firm would be classified as such.
6. (10 pts.; 2 pts each) You are the manager for Dunkin Donuts and know the following elasticities:
?= 1.5 ?I = 1.2 ? xy1 = 0.5 ? xy2 = -0.5
? is the price elasticity of demand for Dunkin Donuts (DD) glazed doughnuts, ?xy1is the cross elasticity of demand between DD glazed doughnuts and Krispy Kreme (KK) glazed doughnuts, ?xy2is the cross elasticity of demand between DD glazed doughnuts and DD French Vanilla coffee, and ?I is the income elasticity of DD glazed doughnuts.
a)If you want to increase your sales of glazed doughnuts by 30%, in what direction and by how much do you need to change the price?
b)If you make the percentage price change that you calculated in part a) will total revenue increase or decrease? How do you know?
c)Krispy Kreme lowers its price of glazed doughnuts by 20%. The demand for Dunkin Donuts glazed doughnuts will change by what percentage and in what direction?
d)Dunkin Donuts raises the price of its French Vanilla coffee by 15%. The demand for Dunkin Donuts glazed doughnuts will change by what percentage and in what direction?
e)If average income increases by 5% by what percentage and in what direction will the demand for Dunkin Donuts glazed doughnuts change? Are DD glazed doughnuts a normal good or an inferior good and how do you know?
7. (10 pts.) Westinghouse and General Electric are competing on the newest version of clothes washer and dryer combinations. Two pricing strategies exist: price high or price low. The profit from each of the four possible combinations of decisions is given in the following payoff matrix:
a) (2 pts.) Which strategy offers both Westinghouse and General Electric the best financial outcome?
b) (2 pts.) Does either firm have a dominant strategy? If yes, which firm and what strategy?
d) (2 pts.) Why do we see that the strategy that results is not the strategy that offers both players the best financial outcome?
TERM PAPER
MBA540 Term Paper Directions: Due by the end of Module 7 Term Paper: A final paper that focuses on the course content, applied in the setting of your current or past employer, will be due in Module 7. In this paper you will focus on the following: 1. Provide a description of the company that you work for. As part of your description include a discussion of the type of organizational structure. 2. Describe an agency problem within the firm and discuss what you think is causing the problem and how the problem might be better controlled. 3. Describe the job dimensions of the firm and discuss whether or not you believe the current design is appropriate for the firm. Discuss any suggestions you might have for improving the job design. Grouped by function or by product or geography or a matrix organization? Provide a diagram if helpful to illustrate. Is this organization effective? 4. Describe the compensation package for executives and employees within the firm. Discuss whether or not you believe that the compensation package is effective and any suggestions that you might have for improving the compensation package. While these questions focus on the latter half of the course, you should remain mindful of the economic concepts that were developed in the beginning of the course. An “A” paper will demonstrate a thorough understanding of the relevant topics, completely discuss each of the four points of the paper, use terminology appropriate to the topic, and use word choice, spelling, and sentence structure appropriate for graduate-level work. Specific Formatting Instructions 1. All assignments must be completed as Word documents. If you do not have Word you can use Microsoft WordPad and use the rich text format (.rtf extension). 2. All assignments must be prepared in the APA format, including references. 3. Cover page. Use a single cover page that contains: a. the title of the assignment b. your name 4. Margins. All page margins should be the default margins for your word processing program. Use only the LEFT margin justification setting. 5. Page numbering. Please use page numbering for all pages except the cover page. 6. Spacing/Font. All papers should be single-spaced only (this includes spacing between paragraphs) and a 12 point font. 7. Direct quotes/ paraphrasing. Direct quotes and paraphrasing MUST be referenced and cited using APA guidelines. Although there is no limit on how many citations are in the paper, I will use limits of 15% for quotations and 25% for unoriginal wording for this course. When more than one quarter of a paper seems to be unoriginal, it usually indicates a problem. Even if sources are properly cited and some of the words are changed, it raises the question of how much original thinking went into the paper. There is a big difference between starting with a blank page and writing your own thoughts, and building the paper around quotes, paraphrased sources, and the altered wording of another author. You are encouraged to use textbook concepts as you attempt to explain in your own words the answers to the assignments rather than relying heavily on quoted material. Try to think about how you would explain your answer to someone who has not taken a managerial economics class. High scores on the originality report in Turnitin are not just a result of plagiarism; they can also result from an incorrect quotation/citation methodology or from using words that have been rearranged from your sources. If you use someone else’s work you must cite and reference it appropriately. 8. References. You must include a separate References page in APA format with each paper. Any source that is used to develop your paper must be included in this section. 9. File Name. The file that you submit to the Dropbox is the one that your instructor will grade. To facilitate the grading process, please save your file name as lastname_assignment name (e.g., caldwell_chapter 1 case study) so that when you upload the file it will be obvious to me who the file is from once it is downloaded for grading. Use of Turnitin: You will be submitting your term paper to a Dropbox that is linked to Turnitin. For those of you not familiar with Turnitin, it is a plagiarism identification service that can also assist students with term paper reference methodology. The Turnitin tool compares your writing against all published sources and also checks against prior class papers. You must cite all your source material including direct quotations, paraphrasing, and statements of fact. Click the Turnitin link under Resources in the course menu to download additional information on how the integration with the Dropbox works.
FINAL EXAM
1. (10 pts.) Discuss how organizational architecture and corporate culture are related. Use an example of a real-life firm and discuss how its corporate culture blends with its organizational architecture.
2. (10 pts.) Billy Riggan is in charge of all technical developments at Always Round Tire. He makes all the choices concerning product innovations in the company. He finds that he is overworked and that several of his research scientists seem to be spending work hours playing tennis. What is going on?
3. (10 pts.) Always Round Tire tries to base its promotions on seniority (where education and training requirements are not necessary). The company finds that this system seems to work most of the time with shop floor supervisors and team managers. But the system breaks down for higher-level positions. Why?
4. (10 pts.) Economists believe the free rider problem is very important in complex business organizational structures. Still, businesses continue to build teams to solve problems or to deliver products to consumers. Often special rewards or bonuses are provided to the team rather than to the individuals on the team. Write a brief essay that either defends the economists' concern or explain why economists are wrong on this issue.
5. (10 pts.) Many firms today use 360-degree performance evaluations. Make a case for this type of evaluation based on the informativeness principle. What problems may be encountered from implementation of such a system?
6. (10 pts.) Reflecting on what you have learned in this course, discuss the relevance of Responsible Stewardship in the context of economic analysis and organizational architecture.
Solution: SAINT LEO MBA540 FULL COURSE