BUSI510 Week 8 Discussion

In our final week our entire focus is on the value of the dollar relative to other currencies and the impact on our economy when the valuations between currencies change, i.e., impacts on imports and exports.

Example: a decrease in the U.S. exchange rate can help domestic firms that export to other countries and at the same time can have a negative impact on firms that import their inputs from overseas. Given that the U.S. dollar declined against the Great Britain pound U.S. automobile manufacturers will have a price advantage when selling comparable luxury cars in England. Your task for this week is to complete the following assignment by Wednesday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Saturday:

• In recent news there was a discussion about the possibility that some European Union members were considering a strategy of intentionally devaluing their currency against the dollar in order to increase exports. Explain how it is possible for a country to intentionally devalue its' currency and then define the benefits and consequences of this strategy.

   

BUSI510 Week 8 Assignment

Answer the following questions in your text and submit the answers and any supporting spreadsheets to the Dropbox.

• Application Question 3, page 451
• Application Question 4, page 470

 

Application Question 3, page 451

Based on the discussion in this chapter, update the controversy over the value of the Chinese yuan in foreign currency markets. Is China still using central bank foreign exchange policy to maintain the value of the yuan? What is the current policy of the United States on this issue?

 

Application Question 4, page 470

What variables other than price appear to have the biggest impact on the demand for McDonald's products? How much influence does the company have over these variables?

  

BUSI510 Week 7 Discussion

Discussion 1

The Federal Reserve Bank uses a variety of tools to change the supply of money and interest rates. Although the Federal Reserve cannot affect income, output, or inflation directly it can implement policies that influence interest rates. In turn the changes in interest rates can influence real spending and output. One of those actions is to change the federal funds rate (referred to as the fed rate). This is the rate banks charge each other for loans of reserves in order to meet the minimum reserve requirements. It happens frequently that when the fed rate changes there are noticeable changes in the financial markets. Your first task this week is to complete the following assignment by Wednesday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Does a change in the fed funds rate really have an actual direct monetary influence on the markets or is it nothing more than a perception? Explain.

Discussion 2

When making monetary policy changes decision makers are concerned with the macroeconomic goals of maintaining stable prices, full employment, and an economic growth rate that is sustainable. Two measurements are used to analyze the impacts on these goals:  aggregate demand (AD) and aggregate supply (AS). An AD curve is used to show how combinations of price level and income can result in a simultaneous equilibrium in real goods and money markets. An AS curve demonstrates the price level at which companies are willing to produce goods and services.  Your second task this week is to complete the following assignment by Friday and then respond to at least two of your classmate's posting by Sunday:

• Explain how changes in monetary policies can affect one or both of these measurements (AD and AS).

    

BUSI510 Week 7 Assignment

• Application Question 5, page 385
• Application Question 5, page 415

Application Question 5, page 385

Building on Figures 13.5 and 13.6, show how equilibrium in the money market would change:

If money demand is less sensitive to the interest rate or

If there is a greater responsiveness of money demand to changes in income

 

Application Question 5, page 415

Find the most recent summary of the survey of economic forecasters in the Wall Street Journal. What are the predictions for changes in real GDP and its major components, inflation, and unemployment? Describe the degree of consensus among the various forecasters.

  

BUSI510 Week 6 Discussion

Discussion 1

The framework utilized to provide an overall measurement of economic activity is called the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Your first task this week is to complete the following assignment by Wednesday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' postings by Sunday:

• Review the most current GDP measurement for the U.S. and one other country. Identify any differences between the two measurements and explain why the differences exist, i.e., the components of the measurements are different.

Discussion 2

Part of macroeconomics is the spending behavior of individuals and what factors influence this behavior. One factor that significantly influences individual spending is consumer credit.  Following the subprime market debacle financial institutions have increased their requirements for credit: referred to as tightening credit. Based on what has happened with consumer credit in the past few years complete the following task by Friday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• How has the tightening of consumer credited effected individual spending and in turn the U.S. economy? Has this strategy by the financial institutions helped our economic recovery?

    

BUSI510 Week 6 Assignment

Instructions

Answer the following questions in your text and submit the answers and any supporting spreadsheets to the Week Six Dropbox.

• Application Question 2, page 319
• Application Question 1, page 359

 

Application Question 2 Page 319

From the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web page (www.bea.gov), compare real GDP for 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010. Show the percentage change in real GDP over each of those decades. Do the percentages of GDP spent on consumption (C), investment (I), government (G), exports (X), and imports (M) differ significantly among those years? Are there changes in the balance of trade over the period? Explain.

 

 

Application Question 1, page 359

Use the aggregate expenditure model developed in this chapter to explain the following statements:

1.    Coming amid continued turmoil in the financial and credit markets, the report sent stocks lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 146.70 points Friday to close at 11,893.69.

                                         

 2.   Administration officials said they were confident conditions would improve as tax rebates that are part of the recent $152 billion economic-stimulus package begin to reach consumers.

 

3.    The Fed is expected to cut interest rates again to prop up the economy.

 

BUSI510 Week 5 Preliminary Proposal

Proposed firm: Orlando Caribbean Restaurant

 

OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT

1.      About Company

2.      Market Structure

3.      SWOT Analysis

3.1           Strengths

3.2           Weaknesses

3.3           Opportunities

3.4           Threats

 

4.      Managerial Strategy

4.1 Pricing

4.2 Production

4.3 Resource utilization

4.4 Other strategies

5. Conclusion

  

BUSI510 Week 5 Discussion

Discussion 1

Week 5 is a continuation of our discussions on market structures; however, we will also transition to a discussion on pricing strategies.

The most important characteristic in an oligopoly market structure is that there are only a small number of firms competing, and as such their behavior is mutually interdependent.  In perfect competition and monopolistic competition each firm does not need to consider the behavior of the others because there are so many of them. How managers respond to the strategies of other firms in an oligopoly is critical to whether or not they can successfully compete. To test or predict how strategies affect the interdependence several models have been developed. One of those models is referred to as the Game Theory. This is a mathematical tool designed to analyze outcomes when players employ different strategies, i.e., cooperate or compete. The best known game theory is Prisoner's Dilemma. Your task for the first part of this week's discussion is to complete the following task by Wednesday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Visit the Prisoner's Dilemma site and play Prisoner's Dilemma at least twice, changing your strategy between attempts. Then, post your responses and explain how you think this strategy game helps managers make pricing decisions.

Discussion 2

The differences in demand and elasticity are the primary factors that drive management decisions related to pricing strategies. One strategy that is prevalent in the U.S. markets is price discrimination. This practice charges a different price to different target groups without consideration of the differences in the costs of production, i.e., senior citizens receive discounted prices at movie theatres while those consumers under 65 pay the full price. Your second task for this week is to complete the following assignment by Friday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Identify an industry or a company that practices price discrimination, then described the pricing strategy and finish by stating why you consider this an effective pricing strategy for the company or the industry.

     

BUSI510 Week 5 Assignment

Instructions

Answer the following questions in your text and submit the answers and any supporting spreadsheets to the Week Five Dropbox.

• Application Question 2, page 255
• Application Question 3 , page 287

Application Question 2, page 255

·         Discuss how the oligopoly models presented in this chapter apply to the behavior of Home Depot and Lowe's.

 

Application Question 3 , page 287

·         Discuss how price elasticity of demand influences the pricing strategies of Linear Technology Corp. What market model best describes this industry? Explain

 

      

BUSI510 Week 4 Discussion

Discussion 1

This week we are focused on the different environments in which companies operate and the market power related to each of these environments.

The environment in which a company operates is referred to as a market structure. There are four primary structures:  perfect competition; monopolistic competition; oligopoly; and, monopoly. A perfection competition has no market power to influence pricing while a monopoly has market power because it can set prices and in turn increase profits. The other two structures vary in degrees of market power based on combine characteristics of both competitive and monopolistic structures. For the first part of this weeks' discussion complete the following task by Wednesday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Select one of the major market structures outlined on page 173 of the text, and then identify two existing companies that you believe represent this structure and explain why.

Discussion 2

The level, or degree, of a company's market power is directly related to the principle of barriers into the market. Barriers are defined as any structural, legal, or regulatory characteristics of the company and the market structure that prevent other companies from producing comparable products at the same costs. Firms with market power will use several strategies to create these barriers: pricing; cost reduction; and, new product development. For the second part of this week's discussion complete the following task by Friday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index on pages 215-216 of the text identify the market power of at least two companies.

     

BUSI510 Week 4 Assignment

Answer the following questions in your text and submit the answers and any supporting spreadsheets to the Week Four Dropbox.

• Application Question 3, page 194
• Application Question 4, page 229

Application Question 3, page 194

Discuss how these facts are consistent with the model of perfect competition.

Application Question 4, page 229

·         Discuss the role of consumer demand in influencing Parker Pen's strategies.

·         Do you think Parker will be able to maintain its market power in China? Explain.

BUSI510 Week 3 Discussion

Discussion 1

Accounting profit

Discussion 2

When we talked about production and costs we need to recognize that managers face more decisions in the long run. Why? Because it is possible changes can occur in the combinations of inputs used in the production process. Because of the possibilities of these changes long run decisions are focused on minimizing the costs of production. An important consideration in minimizing these costs is the strategy of economies of scale defined as creating a lower unit cost by implementing a larger scale of production. This means that the average costs of production are lowered as the production is at larger output levels. For the second part of this discussion complete the following task by Friday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Identify and discuss the primary factors that are necessary to achieve economies of scale.

  

BUSI510 Week 3 Assignment

Application Question 3, page 141

The following discussion describes a new inventory system used by J. C. Penney39:

    In an industry where the goal is rapid turnaround of merchandise, J.C. Penney stores now hold almost no extra inventory of house-brand shirts. Less than a decade ago, Penney would have stored thousands of them in warehouses across the U.S., tying up capital and slowly going out of style.

    The entire program is designed and operated by TAL Apparel Ltd., a closely held Hong Kong shirt maker. TAL collects point-of-sale data for Penney's shirts directly from its stores in North America for analysis through a computer model it designed. The Hong Kong company then decides how many shirts to make, and in what styles, colors, and sizes. The manufacturer sends the shirts directly to each Penney store, bypassing the retailer's warehouses and corporate decision makers.

    Discuss how this case illustrates the concept of the opportunity cost of capital.

    How does this innovation also help in demand management?

Application Question 1, page  168

Discuss how the examples in the opening case show how the choices facing a firm making a long-run decision on plant location are much greater than those for a firm with a plant already in operation.

Why is the long run considered to be a planning horizon?

   

BUSI510 Week 2 Discussion

This week we will be discussing demand elasticity and the impact of consumer behavior on demand. 

Demand elasticity is actually a quantitative measurement designed to show percentage changes in quantity demands by consumers.  Elasticity is measured in terms of product prices, consumer income, prices of other goods and services, and several other variables. Elasticity, then, is a measure of the responsiveness to the changes in these variables. For the first part of this week's discussion complete the following task by Wednesday and then respond to at least two of your classmates' posting by Sunday:

• Select a product that is marketed in the U.S. that has shown significant movements in consumer demand elasticity. Identify the reasons for the movements and explain how the elasticity has affected management's ability to control pricing.

    

BUSI510 FInal Project - Orlando Carrebean Restaurant

Course Project

Instructions and Grading Criteria

Orlando Caribbean Restaurant

Overview

The Course Project is a formal report (including an executive summary) that provides an insightful analysis of a company's market structure and production decisions, i.e., expansion, or other economic principles. The project paper must include a minimum of two economic principles studied during the term of the course, i.e. linear regression analysis and trend analysis. The analysis (purpose, methodology, and conclusion) must be documented with academic support in the form of references and in-text citations utilizing APA style. 

This proposal should include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:

• Identification of the firm involved (text case study, existing firm, or proposed firm)
• Identification of the appropriate market structure in which the firm is or will do business (eg. competitive, monopolistic, etc.)
• Identification of internal strengths and weaknesses (or indication of an intention to study them) given microeconomic expectations and external opportunities and threats given macroeconomic expectations and implications for the firm (or indication of an intention to study this)
• Identification of optimal managerial strategies and tactics given the above, or indication of an intention to do so. These recommended managerial actions should include pricing, production, and resource utilization given the theory and evidence.  You should also indicate how each would be expected to add to the value of the selected firm.

The format should:

• Be written using APA style
• Include an executive summary
• Be at least 8 pages of narrative and statistical (spreadsheets) content

You will be graded on three aspects of this project; a Preliminary Proposal and Outline, the Finalized Course Project and your Review and Response of other student's projects. 

Deliverables

Preliminary Proposal (10 pts.)

Submit a Preliminary Proposal and Outline before Sunday of Week 5 in the "Student Project Preliminary Proposal" Discussion topic. In the same Discussion topic, submit feedback to other students on their proposals. 

Remember that this is a preliminary proposal; do the best you can and ask for feedback on specific issues if you'd like. Feedback you receive from your instructor and fellow students will assist you in refining your proposal.

Finalized Course Project (200 pts.)

Submit your Finalized Course Project to the "Final Course Project and Discussion" Discussion topic before Sunday of Week 7.  At the same time, submit it to the "Final Project" Dropbox for instructor grading. 

Review and Response (10 pts.)

Review and comment on other student's Finalized Course Projects in the "Final Course Project and Discussion" Discussion topic before Saturday of Week 8.

BUSI510 FInal Project Target_Corporation_Economic_Analysis

Course Project

Instructions and Grading Criteria

Overview

The Course Project is a formal report (including an executive summary) that provides an insightful analysis of a company's market structure and production decisions, i.e., expansion, or other economic principles. The project paper must include a minimum of two economic principles studied during the term of the course, i.e. linear regression analysis and trend analysis. The analysis (purpose, methodology, and conclusion) must be documented with academic support in the form of references and in-text citations utilizing APA style. 

This proposal should include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:

• Identification of the firm involved (text case study, existing firm, or proposed firm)
• Identification of the appropriate market structure in which the firm is or will do business (eg. competitive, monopolistic, etc.)
• Identification of internal strengths and weaknesses (or indication of an intention to study them) given microeconomic expectations and external opportunities and threats given macroeconomic expectations and implications for the firm (or indication of an intention to study this)
• Identification of optimal managerial strategies and tactics given the above, or indication of an intention to do so. These recommended managerial actions should include pricing, production, and resource utilization given the theory and evidence.  You should also indicate how each would be expected to add to the value of the selected firm.

The format should:

• Be written using APA style
• Include an executive summary
• Be at least 8 pages of narrative and statistical (spreadsheets) content

You will be graded on three aspects of this project; a Preliminary Proposal and Outline, the Finalized Course Project and your Review and Response of other student's projects. 

Deliverables

Preliminary Proposal (10 pts.)

Submit a Preliminary Proposal and Outline before Sunday of Week 5 in the "Student Project Preliminary Proposal" Discussion topic. In the same Discussion topic, submit feedback to other students on their proposals. 

Remember that this is a preliminary proposal; do the best you can and ask for feedback on specific issues if you'd like. Feedback you receive from your instructor and fellow students will assist you in refining your proposal.

Finalized Course Project (200 pts.)

Submit your Finalized Course Project to the "Final Course Project and Discussion" Discussion topic before Sunday of Week 7.  At the same time, submit it to the "Final Project" Dropbox for instructor grading. 

Review and Response (10 pts.)

Review and comment on other student's Finalized Course Projects in the "Final Course Project and Discussion" Discussion topic before Saturday of Week 8.

BUSI510 FInal Course Project

Course Project

Instructions and Grading Criteria

Overview

The Course Project is a formal report (including an executive summary) that provides an insightful analysis of a company's market structure and production decisions, i.e., expansion, or other economic principles. The project paper must include a minimum of two economic principles studied during the term of the course, i.e. linear regression analysis and trend analysis. The analysis (purpose, methodology, and conclusion) must be documented with academic support in the form of references and in-text citations utilizing APA style. 

This proposal should include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:

• Identification of the firm involved (text case study, existing firm, or proposed firm)
• Identification of the appropriate market structure in which the firm is or will do business (eg. competitive, monopolistic, etc.)
• Identification of internal strengths and weaknesses (or indication of an intention to study them) given microeconomic expectations and external opportunities and threats given macroeconomic expectations and implications for the firm (or indication of an intention to study this)
• Identification of optimal managerial strategies and tactics given the above, or indication of an intention to do so. These recommended managerial actions should include pricing, production, and resource utilization given the theory and evidence.  You should also indicate how each would be expected to add to the value of the selected firm.

The format should:

• Be written using APA style
• Include an executive summary
• Be at least 8 pages of narrative and statistical (spreadsheets) content

You will be graded on three aspects of this project; a Preliminary Proposal and Outline, the Finalized Course Project and your Review and Response of other student's projects. 

Deliverables

Preliminary Proposal (10 pts.)

Submit a Preliminary Proposal and Outline before Sunday of Week 5 in the "Student Project Preliminary Proposal" Discussion topic. In the same Discussion topic, submit feedback to other students on their proposals. 

Remember that this is a preliminary proposal; do the best you can and ask for feedback on specific issues if you'd like. Feedback you receive from your instructor and fellow students will assist you in refining your proposal.

Finalized Course Project (200 pts.)

Submit your Finalized Course Project to the "Final Course Project and Discussion" Discussion topic before Sunday of Week 7.  At the same time, submit it to the "Final Project" Dropbox for instructor grading. 

Review and Response (10 pts.)

Review and comment on other student's Finalized Course Projects in the "Final Course Project and Discussion" Discussion topic before Saturday of Week 8.

  

 

BUSI510 Week 1 Assignment

Work answer the following questions in your text and submit the answers and any supporting spreadsheets to the Week One Dropbox.

• Application Question 2, page 14
• Application Question 5, pages 44-45

   

BUSI510 Week 1 Discussions

Select a specific industry and then identify and discuss a significant trend in supply or demand that directly influences management's pricing decisions.

Select a macroeconomic event and explain why you believe that this event does influence management decisions and why it cannot be controlled by management.

  

BUSI510 Week 1 Assignment

Answer the following questions in your text and submit the answers and any supporting spreadsheets to the Week One Dropbox.

• Application Question 2, page 14
• Application Question 5, pages 44-45

 

Application Question 2, page 14

There are four major types of markets in microeconomic analysis:

1. Perfect competition

2. Monopolistic competition

3. Oligopoly

4. Monopoly