Entire Course (Managerial Economics) Essay Example for Free

Entire Course (Managerial Economics) Essay Firm Objectives. Why do some business firms pursue a triple-bottom-line outcome while others focus only on profit maximization? Please, use a real company example to illustrate your points Decision Making Under Uncertainty. To save on gasoline expenses, Edith and Mathew agreed to carpool together for traveling to and from work. Edith preferred to travel on I-20 highway as it was usually the fastest, taking 25 minutes in the absence of traffic delays. Mathew pointed out that traffic jams on the highway can lead to long delays making the trip 45 minutes. He preferred to travel along Shea Boulevard, which was longer (35 minutes), but rarely had traffic jams. Edith agreed that in case of traffic jams, Shea Boulevard was a reasonable alternative. Neither of them knows the state of the highway ahead of time. After driving to work on the I-20 highway for 1 month (20 workdays), they found the highway to be jammed 3 times. Assuming that this month is a good representation of all months ahead, should Edith and Mathew continue to use the highway for traveling to work? How would you conclusion change for the winter months, if bad weather makes it likely for traffic jams on the highway to increase to 6 days per month? How would your conclusion change if Mathew purchased a new smart-phone app that could show the status of the highway traffic prior to their drive each morning, thus reducing the probability of them getting into a jam down to only 1day per month (where on this day, the app showed no traffic jam, but a jam developed in the meantime as they were driving along the highway). Economics of Risk and Uncertainty Applied Problems. Please, complete the following 3 applied problems in a Word or Excel document. Show all your calculations and explain your results. Submit your assignment in the drop box by using the Assignment Submission button. 1. A generous university benefactor has agreed to donate a large amount of money  for student scholarships. The money can be provided in one lump-sum of $10mln, or in parts, where $5.5mln can be provided in year 1, and another $5.5mln can be provided in year 2. Assuming the opportunity interest rate is 6%, what is the present value of the second alternative? Which of the two alternatives should be chosen and why? How would your decision change if the opportunity interest rate was 12%? Please, show all your calculations. 2. Volkswagen is considering opening an Assembly Plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the production of its 2012 Passat, tailored for the US market. The CEO of the company is considering two potential options for the size of the plant: one is a large size with a projected annual production of 150,000 cars, and the other one is a smaller size plant, which is cheaper to build, but can only produce up to 80,000 cars per year. Depending on the expected level of demand for these cars in the US, Volkswagen has to decide which option is more profitable. The discount rate is 6% and for simplicity purposes, the CEO is only evaluating a two-year horizon. The initial factory setup cost, the expected demand scenarios, profit, and probabilities are shows in the below table. Calculate the Net Present Value in each of the two options. Which option should the CEO choose and why? Please, show all your calculations. 3. An angel investor is considering investing in one of two start-up businesses and is evaluating the expected returns along with the risk of each option in order to choose the better alternative. Business 1 is an innovative protein energy drink, which has ENPV of $100,000 with a standard deviation of $40,000. Business 2 is a unique chicken wings dipping sauce with an ENPV of $60,000 and a standard deviation of $25,000. a) Apply the coefficient-of-variation decision criterion to these alternatives to find out which is preferred by the angel investor, assuming that he/she is risk-averse. b) Apply the maximin criterion, assuming that the worst outcome in Business 1 is to lose $5,000, whereas the worst outcome in Business 2 is to make only $5,000 in profit. c) If you were the angel investor, what is your certainty equivalent for these two projects? Are you risk-averse, risk-neutral, or risk-lover? Week 2 Marginal Rate of Substitution. What is the marginal rate of substitution (MRS) and why does it diminish as  the consumer substitutes one product for another? Use examples to illustrate Demand Elasticity. Please, read the article Hainer, R. (2010), provided in the required readings section for this week. The tobacco industry is a prime example to consider when talking about price elasticity of demand. While nicotine use can be addictive for many users, it is not addictive for the so-called social smokers. What can we say about the price elasticity of demand for nicotine products (such as cigarettes, pipes, tobacco) in the group of nicotine addicted users, versus the group of social smokers? Can we say whose demand is likely to be more elastic? Why? Consumer Demand Analysis and Estimation Applied Problems. Please, complete the following 3 applied problems in a Word or Excel document. Show all your calculations and explain your results. Submit your assignment in the drop box by using the Assignment Submission button. 1. Roshima is researching universities where she could study for her MBA degree. She is considering 3 major attributes that she considers important in her choice: ranking, price, and location. The value she places on each attribute, however, differs according to whether she remains full-time employed during her studies or quits her job and focuses on her degree. If she continues to work full time and takes all her courses online, then ranking is the most important attribute, twice as important as price and three times as important as location. If she quits her job and attends school full time, then location becomes three times as important as ranking and twice as important as price. She is considering two universities, respectively, the MBA program at Arizona State University (ASU) and the MBA program at University of Phoenix (UOP), both of which are priced at approximately $25,000. She has rated each attribute on a scale of 1 to 100 for each of the two schools. a. Which of the two options should Roshima pursue of she wants to keep her full-time job? (Calculate the total expected utility from each school option and compare. Graph is not required) b. Which of the two options should she pick if she plans to quit her job and dedicate to her studies? c. Which option should she pursue if the probability of being laid off and unable to find a new job is estimated as  0.6? Show your calculations and explain your reasoning. 2. The demand function for Einstein Bagels has been estimated as follows: – 40.73Px + 84.17Py + 0.55Ax  where Qx represents thousands of bagels; Px is the price per bagel; Py is the average price per bagel of other brands of bagels; and Ax represents thousands of dollars spent advertising Einstein Bagels. The current values of the independent variables are , , and a. Calculate the price elasticity of demand for Einstein’s Bagels and explain what it means. b. Derive an expression for the (inverse) demand curve for Einsteins’s Bagels. c. If the cost of producing Einstein’s Bagels is constant at $0.10 per bagel, should they reduce price and thereafter, sell more bagels (assume profit maximization is the company’s goal)? d. Should Einstein Bagels spend more on advertising? 3. The consulting firm that you work for has been hired by the US Government to provide an independent analysis of the demand-side effects of a contemplated increase in the tax on gasoline. They provide you with a data set relating to the period 1962-1987, which they say contains valuable historic lessons relating to the impact of volatile pump prices due to the supply restrictions imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations that required car manufacturers to increase the fuel efficiency of the cars they sold, while at the same time Real Disposable Income (RDI) per capita was rising, the number of passenger cars (NPC) almost doubled, and inflation was pushing up the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Week 3 Relevant Costs. Two partners own together a small landscaping business in North Carolina, called Summer Lawn Care. They have been specializing in summer grass seeding, installation, and maintenance. Recently, the partners acquired special technology and know-how for winter grass installations and maintenance. They also added a tree cutting service as recent storms in the  area had caused demand for this service to soar. One of the partners insists that the name of the business should change to Lawn and Tree Care, so that it better reflects the range of services and, thus, generates more customer interest, and thus contracts. The second partner wants to keep the old name and argues, â€Å"We have already paid for business cards, vehicle paint, signage, and ads in Yellow Pages†. Evaluate the arguments of the two partners. Explain and illustrate their points by identifying the relevant and irrelevant costs for this decision. Contribution Analysis. Explain what is meant by â€Å"contribution analysis†. Carefully define the term and provide examples to illustrate it. Production Cost Analysis and Estimation Applied Problems. Please, complete the following 3 applied problems in a Word or Excel document. Show all your calculations and explain your results. Submit your assignment in the drop box by using the Assignment Submission button. 1. Jennifer Trucking Company operates a large rig transportation business in Texas that transports locally grown vegetables to San Diego, California. The company owns 5 large rigs and hires local drivers paid fixed salaries monthly, regardless of the number of trips or tons of cargo that each driver transports each month. 2. The Palms Dry Cleaning Shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, faces a highly seasonal demand for its services, as the snow-birds retirees flock to Florida in mid-fall to enjoy the mild winter weather and then return to their main homes in mid-spring. Given this seasonality, Palms tries to keep the overhead costs as low as possible and therefore, often uses seasonal contracted labor to man its operations. The following table shows the labor costs in each month of operation over the past 12 months as well as the total number of garments that were dry-cleaned in each month. Palms pays fixed wages per hour to each employee, and we can assume that the costs of other variable inputs (such as chemicals, electricity, etc) have remained constant. 3. Over the past 12 months the Four Winds Novelty Company firm has recorded its internet sales (equals monthly output levels) and its monthly total variable costs (TVC) for a particular novelty item as shown in the following table. Sales have grown over this period with  relatively few shocks due to uncontrollable weather, political and sporting events. This online retailer carries no inventories; when it receives a pre-paid on-line order from a customer, it simply buys the product from a supplier and ships it out to the customer. Week 4 Strategic Behavior Oligopolies. An interesting example of strategic behavior comes from a 1997 article about Microsoft’s investment in Apple (New Straits Times, 1997). The article is included in the Required Readings list. Facing tough anti-trust scrutiny from government agencies, Microsoft provided financial support to Apple in order to ensure Apple’s survival and, therefore, to ensure that competitiveness in the industry remains. Moreover, the partnership with Apple provided an additional market for Microsoft’s products – the MS Office and the IE products were to be bundled with the MAC OS as one of the conditions for this financing. Discuss this case in the context of market structure and strategic behavior. What market structure do these firms operate in? Why did Microsoft need to preserve competitiveness in the industry? What was Microsoft afraid of in the event that Apple did not survive? Local Market Power. Bulls Eye department store specializes in the sales of discounted clothing, shoes, household items, etc. similar to the offerings at a regular Walmart or Target. Bulls Eye is the only department store in Show Low and the nearest other discount retailer is Target, located 49 miles away in Eagar. Bulls Eye, therefore, has some market power in its local area. Despite having some market power, Bulls Eye is currently suffering losses. An analyst at Bulls Eye is recommending to the manager to raise prices, so that profitability can be improved. The manager is unsure of this strategy as recent data points to increasing numbers of individuals shopping more and more. What are the pros and cons of raising the prices at Bulls Eye and would that strategy be profitable? Market Structures and Pricing Decisions Applied Problems. A small business which produces plastic vacuum-suction covers for round household dishes has  a monopoly that is protected by a utility patent. The market demand curve for this product is estimated to be: – 25P where Q is the number of plate covers per year and P is in dollars. Cost estimation processes have determined that the firm’s cost function is represented by + 2500Q -0.25*Q2. 2. Greener Grass Company (GGC) competes with its main rival, Better Lawns and Gardens (BLG), in the supply and installation of in-ground lawn watering systems in the wealthy western suburbs of a major east-coast city.Last year, GGC’s price for the typical lawn system was $1,995 compared with BLG’s price of $2,100. GGC installed 9,130 systems, or about 55% of total sales and BLG installed the rest. (No doubt many additional systems were installed by do-it-yourself homeowners since the parts are readily available at har dware stores.) Week 5 Good Will in Price Bidding. Sometimes, a bidder on a work contract may bid lower than what would maximize his/her profit from the contract and the reason for that is to create goodwill (to increase expected future business from the buyer). How would you value the goodwill that is obtained in this way? New Product Introduction. Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany owns the Alka-Seltzer, which was launched in 1931 and was meant for relief of minor aches, pains, inflammation, fever, headache, heartburn, sour stomach, indigestion, and hangovers. The Alka-Seltzer Plus was a spin-off of the original medicine, meant to relieve colds and flu. The company has recently introduced a new and improved Alka-Seltzer Plus, as described in the TV ad: â€Å"The Cold Truth†, (please, watch the ad listed in the Required Readings) Price Quotes and Pricing Decisions Applied Problems. Please, complete the following 3 applied problems in a Word or Excel document. Show all your calculations and explain your results. Submit your assignment in the drop box by using the Assignment Submission button. Maxim Motronics A.G. have been marketing a new product in Europe that has achieved notable market success and it now plans to introduce this product into the United States market. Week 6 Game Theory and Strategic Behavior. Suppose that GE is trying to prevent Maytag from entering the market for high efficiency clothes dryers. Even though high efficiency dryers are more costly to produce, they are also more profitable as they command sufficiently higher prices from consumers. The following payoffs table shows the annual profits for GE and Maytag for the advertising spending and entry decisions that they are facing. Based on this information, can GE successfully prevent Maytag from entering this market by increasing its advertising levels? What is the equilibrium outcome in this game? Sustainable Competitive Advantage. Describe the circumstances under which a firm chooses a low-cost strategy to attain sustainable competitive advantage. What about the situations when a differentiation strategy is chosen? Provide specific real world examples. Focus of the Final Paper Research a specific company of your choice and identify some of the managerial decisions that were made over time and in response to changes in its market or competitive environment. Use the Ashford University Online Library and web-based sources for your research. At least three external scholarly sources must be used. Address all of the following areas: Describe the company and provide a brief history of its operations. Find or use graphs to illustrate its financial performance over the years. Identify any sources of risk or uncertainty in its operations. Do the financial reports indicate risky or uncertain activities or changes to the economic environment that ultimately appear to have affected the company’s financial outcomes? Be specific. Are there any government regulations that have affected this company’s operations domestically or abroad? Explain.

Lucy Liu :: Charlies Angels

Lucy Liu Lucy Liu is an important figure in the Asian American community. She is one of the few Asian actors who sas made it big in the film world. She has starred in a television series, "Ally McBeal," and also in movies. Her biggest impact in the film world has been the movie Charlie's Angels, in which she instills strength in being a woman and also brings in elements of her Asian background. Lucy Liu has indeed broken the stereotype of Asian Americans as she is not passive or submissive. Lucy Liu has become an important figure in the Asian American community. In a quote by AskMen.com, â€Å"Lucy Liu has broken the mold that Asian actors are prone to passivity, and made herself a veritable star.† She is seen as a serious actress because her popularity is soaring in Hollywood. Hollywood has a very minimal Asian influence, but Lucy Liu has made it as a sought-after star. One of her most memorable characters is her being one of the three agents in Charlie’s Angels. Typically, most of the Asian women in the past have been created to have stereotypes such as the â€Å"dragon lady†, who is a beautiful evil villain, and other characters that are passive and submissive to their men. Lucy Liu’s character in Charlie’s Angels is a strong, powerful woman. Although this is just a fictional character, the way her character is perceived is that she is in control of her situations and she is able to â€Å"kick butt.† It gives me pride knowing that a person of my ethnicity can become so successful, and it gives me hope that I can accomplish great things as well. Her character shows that Asian women are not just two dimensional.

How many of you love cats and would like one?

I hope this speech will help you become sane and understand the craftiness in a feline. But for those who already own one I am sorry but all hope has been lost. I am here to talk to you about a club that I am truly committed to. It is called CHOW. I doubt many of you have ever heard of it but it stands for Cat. Haters. Of. The. World. Cats are the most selfish, evil eyed, greedy, filthy things in the world. What do you think cats are sitting around lazing around for? They are coming up with ideas on how to trick the owner and steal food if not how to kill Barack Obama and become the first evil eyed monster to become the president and who would be the first lady. They are cunning creatures who think they own the world. Well let me tell you now; they don't. Have you ever endured the aggravation that is given by a cat when it imitates what you do? Well I have done so many times seeing as there are about sixteen cats in the awful household next door no wait the parasites have also invaded my doorstep and under my dad's car, my garage and my roof. I mean these killers have left their fresh kill under our porch doormat to stop it being taken away by my old neighbour. The squeaking and the squishy, mushy feeling that is created on every step taken by myself isn't pleasant seeing as two weeks later my sister had revealed the horrors of the dark side that lay beneath our door mat. It will never be normal again. Having seen all that sticky oozy blood I can never step foot on that step ever again. Surely an old man of about ninety years old should be caring for his own health than his devil cats. Has he not discovered the real truth behind these supposedly â€Å"cute babies†. Approximately seventy percent of the Earth sees the reality behind the black fur and the huge eye sockets with coloured eyes. Some may say I have missed the fact that they do not harm, yet have you realised that they are in fact associated with witches. In fact there is a black cat who tries to pounce at me every time I try to throw a bag at it. As you may or not know I throw like a chicken so I don't really understand what the cat tries to do but I can tell you that it is not normal. Don't worry I have checked to make sure that no one is watching. It does not help that I am allergic to them but their really big eyes scare me. Once upon a time in a house in a town called Wembley, I watching TV and eating chips when an overweight obscure tomcat came and sat on the same scarlet coloured sofa as me. I had not realised until my sister had went into the dining room screaming.

Robert Clive - Biography of 18th Century British General

Born September 29, 1725 near Market Drayton, England, Robert Clive was one of thirteen children. Sent to live with his aunt in Manchester, he was spoiled by her and returned home at age nine an ill-disciplined troublemaker. Developing a reputation for fighting, Clive compelled several area merchants to pay him protection money or risk having their businesses damaged by his gang. Expelled from three schools, his father secured him a post as a writer with the East India Company in 1743. Receiving orders for Madras, Clive boarded the East Indiaman Winchester that March. Early Years in India Delayed in Brazil en route, Clive arrived at Fort St. George, Madras in June 1744. Finding his duties boring, his time at Madras became more livelier in 1746 when the French attacked the city. Following the citys fall, Clive escaped south to Fort St. David and joined the East India Companys army. Commissioned as an ensign, he served until peace was declared in 1748. Displeased at the prospect of returning to his regular duties, Clive began to suffer from depression which was to plague him throughout his life. During this period, he befriended Major Stringer Lawrence who became a professional mentor. Though Britain and France were technically at peace, a low-level conflict persisted in India as both sides sought an advantage in the region. In 1749, Lawrence appointed Clive commissary at Fort St. George with the rank of captain. To advance their agendas, the European powers often intervened in local power struggle with the goal of installing friendly leaders. One such intervention occurred over the post of Nawab of the Carnatic which saw the French back Chanda Sahib and the British support Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah. In the summer of 1751, Chanda Sahib left his base at Arcot to strike at Trichinopoly. Fame at Arcot Seeing an opportunity, Clive requested permission to attack Arcot with the goal of pulling some of the enemys forces away from Trichinopoly. Moving with around 500 men, Clive successfully stormed the fort at Arcot. His actions led to Chanda Sahib sending a mixed Indian-French force to Arcot under his son, Raza Sahib. Placed under siege, Clive held out for fifty days until relieved by British forces. Joining in the subsequent campaign, he aided in placing the British candidate on the throne. Commended for his actions by Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder, Clive returned to Britain in 1753. Return to India Arriving home having amassed a fortune of  £40,000, Clive won a seat in Parliament and aided his family in paying off its debts. Losing his seat to political intrigues and needing additional funds, he elected to return to India. Appointed governor of Fort St. David with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the British Army, he embarked in March 1755. Reaching Bombay, Clive aided in an attack against the pirate stronghold at Gheria before reaching Madras in May 1756. As he assumed his new post, the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah, attacked and captured Calcutta. Victory at Plassey This was partially provoked by British and French forces reinforcing their bases after the beginning of the Seven Years War. After taking Fort William in Calcutta, a large number of British prisoners were herded into a tiny prison. Dubbed the Black Hole of Calcutta, many died from heat exhaustion and being smothered. Eager to recover Calcutta, the East India Company directed Clive and Vice Admiral Charles Watson to sail north. Arriving with four ships of the line, the British retook Calcutta and Clive concluded a treaty with the nawab on February 4, 1757. Frightened by the growing power of the British in Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah began contacting the French. As the nawab sought aid, Clive dispatched forces against the French colony at Chandernagore which fell on March 23. Turning his attention back to Siraj Ud Daulah, he began intriguing to overthrow him as the East India Companys forces, a mix of European troops and sepoys, were badly outnumbered. Reaching out to Mir Jafar, Siraj Ud Daulahs military commander, Clive convinced him to switch sides during the next battle in exchange for the nawabship. As hostilities resumed, Clives small army met Siraj Ud Daulahs large army near Palashi on June 23. In the resulting Battle of Plassey, British forces emerged victorious after Mir Jafar switched sides. Placing Jafar on the throne, Clive directed further operations in Bengal while ordering additional forces against the French near Madras. In addition to overseeing military campaigns, Clive worked to refortify Calcutta and endeavored to train the East India Companys sepoy army in European tactics and drill. With things seemingly in order, Clive returned to Britain in 1760. Final Term in India Reaching London, Clive was elevated to the peerage as Baron Clive of Plassey in recognition of his exploits. Returning to Parliament, he worked to reform the East India Companys structure and frequently clashed with its Court of Directors. Learning of a rebellion by Mir Jafar as well as widespread corruption on the part of company officials, Clive was asked to return to Bengal as governor and commander in chief. Arriving at Calcutta in May 1765, he stabilized the political situation and quelled a mutiny in the companys army. That August, Clive succeeded in getting Mughal emperor Shah Alam II to recognize British holdings in India as well as obtained an imperial firman which gave the East India Company the right to collect revenue in Bengal. This document effectively made it the ruler of the region and served as the basis for British power in India. Remaining in India two more years, Clive worked to restructure the administration of Bengal and attempted to halt corruption within the company. Later Life Returning to Britain in 1767, he purchased a large estate dubbed Claremont. Though the architect of the growing British empire in India, Clive came under fire in 1772 by critics who questioned how he obtained his wealth. Ably defending himself, he was able to escape censure by Parliament. In 1774, with colonial tensions rising, Clive was offered the post of Commander-in-Chief, North America. Declining, the post went to Lieutenant General Thomas Gage who was forced to deal with the beginning of the American Revolution a year later. Suffering from a painful illness which he was attempting to treat with opium as well as depression regarding criticism of his time in India, Clive killed himself with a penknife on November 22, 1774.