...What are the differences between micro and macro estimating approaches? Under what conditions would you prefer one over the other? Macro estimates are typically top down, are usually used in the project conceptual phase, and depend on measures such as weight, square feet, ratios. Macro methods do not consider individual activity issues and problems. Macro estimates are good for rough estimates and can help select and prioritize projects. UNCERTAINTY Micro time and cost estimates are usually tied directly to the WBS and a work package. These estimates are made by people familiar with the task, which helps to gain buy-in on the validity of the estimate. Use of several people should improve the accuracy of the estimate. Micro estimates should be preferred if time to estimate is available, estimating cost is reasonable, and accuracy is important. Microeconomics is generally the study of individuals and business decisions, macroeconomics looks at higher up country and government decisions. Macroeconomics and microeconomics, and their wide array of underlying concepts, have been the subject of a great deal of writings. The field of study is vast; here is a brief summary of what each covers: Microeconomics is the study of decisions that people and businesses make regarding the allocation of resources and prices of goods and services. This means also taking into account taxes and regulations created by governments. Microeconomics focuses on supply and demand and other forces...
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...deliverables Types of Estimates Top-down (macro) estimates: analogy, group consensus, or mathematical relationships Bottom-up (micro) estimates: estimates of elements of the work breakdown structure WHY ESTIMATING TIME AND COST ARE IMPORTANT Estimates are needed to determine how long the project should take and its cost. Estimates are needed to schedule work. Estimates are needed to develop cash flow needs Estimates are needed to develop time-phased budgets and establish the project baseline. Estimates are needed to determine whether the project is worth doing. Estimates are needed to determine how well the project is progressing. Estimates are needed to support good decisions. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF ESTIMATES Other Factors Other Factors Other ((e.g. e.g. .downtime) ..downtime) downtime) Organization Organization Culture Culture Padding Padding Estimates Estimates Planning Planning Planning Horizon Horizon Horizon Quality of Quality of Quality Estimates Estimates Estimates Project Project Duration Duration Task Task Task Definition Definition Definition People People People productivity productivity productivity Project Project Project Structure and Structure and Organization Organization Organization ESTIMATING GUIDELINES FOR TIMES, COSTS, AND RESOURCES Have people familiar with the tasks make the estimate. Use several people to make estimates. Base estimates on normal conditions...
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...product. The results of this meeting were a set of general technical specifications along with major deliverables, a product launch date, and a cost estimate based on prior experience. Shortly afterward, a meeting was arranged for middle management explaining the project goals, major responsibilities, the project start date, and importance of meeting the product launch date within the cost estimate. Members of all departments involved attended the meeting. Excitement was high. Although everyone saw the risks as high, the promised rewards for the company and the personnel were emblazoned in their minds. A few participants questioned the legitimacy of the project duration and cost estimates. A couple of R&D people were worried about the technology required to produce the high-quality product for less than $200. But given the excitement of the moment, everyone agreed the project was worth doing and doable. The color laser printer project was to have the highest project priority in the company. Lauren was selected to be the project manager. She had 15 years of experience in printer design and manufacture, which included successful management of several projects related to printers for commercial markets. Since she was one of those uncomfortable with the project cost and time estimates, she felt getting good bottom-up time and cost estimates for the deliverables was her first concern. She quickly had a meeting with the significant stakeholders to create a WBS identifying the work packages...
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...Evidence of Evolution Introduction: Evolution is usually defined as the change over time in one or more inherited traits found in populations of organisms. Inherited traits are particular distinguishing characteristics. Evolution may occur when there is variation of inherited traits within a population. The major sources of such variation are mutation, genetic recombination and gene flow. This process has produced all the diversity of living organisms. Charles Darwin characterized the result as endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful. It has always been debated if there is any evidence of evolution and in what fields, in this report we will give a brief summary concerning: • DNA Evidence of Evolution • Biological Evidence of Evolution DNA Evidence of Evolution: DNA molecules are complex molecules which contain the assembly instructions for every living creature. Certain aspects of DNA have been interpreted as evidence for Darwinian evolution. DNA evidence for evolution includes mutations, genetic similarities among species, so-called “Junk DNA” and “Pseudogenes.” The fact that mutations can corrupt DNA is important for the Darwinian paradigm because in order for an organism to eventually evolve into an entirely different organism, changes must be made to the creature’s genome over time. But Darwinian evolution needs more than just change. It needs an increase in genetic information. Critics point out that genetic mutation does not appear to provide a...
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...Case Study #4: Public Budgeting-Death of a Spy Satellite Program Wideline Servius Columbus State University 1) Why does Irene Rubin at the outset argue that "public budgets are not merely technical managerial documents; they are also intrinsically and irreducibly political"? Do you agree or disagree based on your reading of the case "County Prison Overtime" Irene Rubin’ view that public budgets are not merely technical managerial documents and that they are also intrinsically and irreducibly political is because public budgets reflect the choice of government. As a general rule of thumb, government chooses to go along with programs that fit their own political agenda. Programs should reflect a general consensus about what kind or type of services that government should provide to the people. She argued that budgets should reflect priorities. Should government spend money on national defense or on public welfare? or should government spend money on the criminal justice system rather than nuclear power? She also believes that budgets should reflect broader public goals, meaning that legislators ought to listen their constituency and approve more spending to satisfy their needs. She further stated that government should be accountable. People always want to know if government is following their preferences and keep its promises. They also want to know that there isn’t any waste and want to see solid outcome. Irene also thinks that budgets should ensure that taxation is...
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...The History of Finance An eyewitness account. Merton H. Miller MERTON H. MILLER is Robert R. McCormick distinguished ser- vice professor emeritus at the University of Chicago (IL 60637). SUMMER 1999 * * * IT IS ILLEGAL TO REPRODUCE THIS ARTICLE IN ANY FORMAT * * *| t five years, the German Finance Association A is not very old as professional societies go, but then neither is the field of finance itself. Finance in its modern form really dates only from the 1950s. In the forty years since then, the field has come to surpass many, perhaps even most, of the more traditional fields of economics in terms of the numbers of students enrolled in finance courses, the numbers of faculty teaching finance courses, and above all in the quantity and quality of their combined schol-arly output. The huge body of scholarly research in finance over the last forty years falls naturally into two main streams. And no, I don’t mean “asset pricing” and “cor-porate finance,” but instead a deeper division that cuts across both. The division I have in mind is the more fundamental one between what I will call the business school approach to finance and the economics department approach. Let me say immediately, however, that my distinction is purely “notional,” not physical — a dis-tinction over...
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...CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Lecture Notes for Essentials of Marketing 14e For use only with Perreault/Cannon/McCarthy or Perreault/McCarthy texts. © 2014 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Multimedia Lecture Support Package to Accompany Essentials of Marketing Lecture Script 20-1 This slide refers to material on p. 499. Summary Overview This chapter concludes Essentials of Marketing by covering three broad concepts: 1) Evaluating marketing As indicated in Chapter 1, there are two levels of marketing: • the micro (managerial) level—concerns the marketing activities of an individual firm; and • the macro level—concerns how the whole marketing system works. 2) The key components of an innovative marketing plan. 3) Challenges facing marketers. Multimedia Lecture Support Package to Accompany Essentials of Marketing Lecture Script 20-2 This slide relates to material on p. 498. Summary Overview This chapter suggests that satisfaction and costs serve as criteria for evaluating the impact of marketing. Key Issues • A nation’s objectives affect the evaluation of marketing. • The social and economic objectives of a nation may differ depending on that nation’s socio-political structure. • Consumer satisfaction is the objective in the United States. • This objective is derived from a market-based economic system, and it implies that political freedom and economic freedom go hand in hand. • In the U. S., people have the right to live as they choose and to satisfy...
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...Poverty is a great problem in The United States and can be seen all around us on a daily basis. According to The US Census Bureau “In 2014, the official poverty rate was 14.8 percent. There were 46.7 million people in poverty. Neither the poverty rate nor the number of people in poverty were statistically different from the 2013 estimates.” However, poverty statistics have always differed, whether it is by race or gender, the economy results and numbers have always displayed a bias statistics. In this essay, women and their part in poverty will be addressed, and just exactly how their statistics...
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...already existing businesses that are trying to expand. The primary challenge is the difficulty in identifying the important factors that influence market potential. The other challenge is that once the influencing factors are identified, there are very few structured mechanisms available to show how these factors affect the bottom line of the business. In this paper, the authors present a three step market assessment methodology and illustrate it with an example of a manufacturing company. The proposed methodology is applicable especially to the case of an already existing company trying to expand its operations and sales to a new country or emerging market. The first step assesses the broad market potential of a country; the second step estimates the sales potential for a specific company, and the third step calculates return on investment for the company based on the resources required. Each step of the methodology accounts for several external and internal factors. An example of a fastener manufacturer targeting the Mexican market is used to demonstrate the application of the proposed...
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...MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS Application of economic theory and decision science tools to solve managerial decision problems OPTIMAL SOLUTIONS TO MANAGERIAL DECISION PROBLEMS Managerial enables the use of economic logic and principles to aid management decision-making. Managers are decision-makers and economics should be relevant to give practical guidance in arriving at right decisions. Every manager has to take important decisions about using his limited resources like land, capital, labour, finance etc. to get the maximum returns, therefore, managerial economics, concentrates on those practical aspects of micro-economics which help in decision-making. Managerial economics focuses on the most profitable use of scarce resources rather than on the achievement of equilibrium prices and quantities as pure theory of economics does. Viewed this way it is more practical and pragmatic than micro economics. Managerial economics equipped with theoretical background provides an answer to practical problems faced by a business firm. Managerial economics has introduced dynamism in the world of decision-making and business environment. In a free market economy, success in...
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...illustrate a process that can assist managers in the formulation of their international expansion strategies and plans. A comprehensive model of international expansion is outlined and applied to determine the optimal country to be targeted for entry by a US hotel firm and the optimal entry mode to be used. The model consists of three sections. Section One (macro assessment) identifies the major external macroenvironmental variables that determine the risks and opportunities of international expansion: market size, market growth and purchasing power; political, economic, legal and regulatory risks; and cultural and geographic distances. Through macro assessment, countries with the optimal risk/opportunity profiles are identified and ranked. Section Two (micro assessment) is applied to the optimal countries identified in Section One to estimate the potential profitability and financial value created (as measured by net present value) of expanding a firm’s operations into these countries. Micro-environmental variables capturing the countries’ local market conditions and the firm’s specific characteristics are utilized to estimate potential profitability and net present value. Section Three focuses on the country, industry, and firm-specific factors that determine the optimal market entry...
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...|VI Learning activity questions: Scope of Managerial Economics | | | | | |1. What is managerial economics all about? | | | |Managerial economics applies economic theory and methods to business and administrative decision making. Managerial economics | |prescribes rules for improving managerial decisions also helps managers recognize how economic forces affect organizations and | |describes the economic consequences of managerial behavior. It links traditional economics with the decision sciences to develop | |vital tools for managerial decision making. Managerial economics identifies ways to efficiently achieve goals. For example, suppose| |a small business seeks rapid growth to reach a size that permits efficient use of national media advertising. Managerial economics | |can be used to identify pricing and production strategies to help meet this short-run objective quickly and effectively. | | ...
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...F.Y.B.A. Paper – I Economic Theory (Micro Economics-I) SECTION – I Module 1 : Introduction Meaning, nature, scope, significance and limitations of micro economics. Ceteris Paribus – use and significance. Concept and types of equilibrium : stable, unstable, static and dynamic equilibrium – partial equilibrium and general equilibrium, positive economics and normative economics, managerial economics. Basic concepts – wealth, welfare and scarcity. Basic tools of economics analysis (equations and functions, graphs and diagrams, slope and intercepts) Module 2 : Consumers Behaviour and Demand Marishallian Approach : Equi-marginal utility, Law of demand – Determinants of demand. Elasticity of demand and its measurement. Price – Income – Cross and Promotional elasticity of demand. Consumer’s Surplus. Hicksian Approach : Indifference curves – properties of Indifference Curve, Consumer’s Equilibrium, Price effect, Income effect and substitution effect – Derivation of demand from Price Consumption Curve (PCC) – Giffen’s paradox. Samuelson Approach : Revealed Preference Theory. Module 3 : Production and Cost Analysis Concept of production function : short run and long run – Cobb – Douglass production function. isoquants – iso-cost line – producer’s equilibrium. Law of variable proportion and Law of returns to scale – Economies of scale – Economies of scope. Concepts of costs : Money and real cost, Opportunity cost, Social cost, Private cost – Derivation of short run and long run cost curves–...
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...women, causing disproportionate job losses due to the influx of foreign goods into domestic markets. Others argue that increased trade leads to greater gender equality by creating new jobs and economic growth.In fact, neither side in the debate is totally right, and a nuanced view is needed. Trade integration has translated into more jobs and stronger connections to markets for many women. Indeed, as shown by the World Bank's 2012 World Development Report (WDR 2012), increases in international trade have tended to increase women's employment, not a feature that typifies many development processes. And access to these jobs can empower women in important ways. Introduction: While it is difficult to establish a precise number, surveys estimate that women constitute a large share of informal cross-border trade in southern Africa. More than 70% of cross-border traders betweenMozambiqueandsouthAfricaarewomen. A recent survey in four key border crossings in the Great Lakes region between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda found that the majority of traders are young women and experienced traders. These traders face serious risks and losses with each border crossing, including threats and sexual harassment, bribes, fines, confiscation of goods, verbal abuse and insult. Additionally the study finds that 95% of traders want to invest in their business but are constrained by the current border environment and lack of access to finance. Several public actions...
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...chapter 1 Marketing’s Role in the Global Economy When You Finish This Chapter, You Should 1. Know what marketing is and why you should learn about it. 2. Understand the difference between micro-marketing and macro-marketing. 3. Know why and how macromarketing systems develop. 4. Understand why marketing is crucial to economic development and our global economy. 5. Know why marketing special— ists—including middlemen and — facilitators—develop. 6. Know the marketing functions and who performs them. 7. Understand the important new terms (shown in red). www.mhhe. When it’s time to roll out of bed in the morning, does your General Electric alarm wake you with a buzzer—or by playing your favorite radio station? Is the station playing rock, classical, or country music—or perhaps a Red Cross ad asking you to contribute blood? Will you slip into your Levi’s jeans, your shirt from L. L. Bean, and your Reeboks, or does the day call for your Brooks Brothers interviewing suit? Will breakfast be Lender’s Bagels with cream cheese or Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes—made with grain from America’s heartland—or some extra large eggs and Oscar Mayer bacon cooked in a Panasonic microwave oven imported from Japan? Will you drink decaffeinated Maxwell House coffee—grown in Colombia—or some Tang instant juice? Will you eat at home or is this a day to meet a friend at the Marriott-run cafeteria—where you’ll pay someone else to serve your breakfast? After breakfast, will you head off to school...
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