...ECO 550 All Discussion Questions ECO 550 Week 1 DQ1 Managerial Economic Decision Making" Please respond to the following: From the e-Activity, assess how business leaders use managerial economics to make business decisions indicating how profits may be impacted. Analyze the principal-agent problem to determine how the relationship could be less adversarial. Provide support for your rationale. ECO 550 Week 1 DQ2 "Fundamental Economic Concepts" Please respond to the following: Pick a recently released good or service. Then, determine the factors that must be evaluated regarding the product’s supply and demand. Analyze how these factors impact the decision to supply the product indicating the significance of each in the decision-making process. Using the same product example above, analyzing how the risk tolerance factors play in supplying the good or service and how this should influence management’s decisions ECO 550 Week 2 DQ1 "Demand Analysis" Please respond to the following: From the e-Activity, if you were a manager in a tobacco company, analyze the elasticity of demand for tobacco products. Evaluate the factors involved in making decisions about pricing tobacco products indicating which would be the most influential. Using the same scenario above, discuss how the elasticity influence the short-term and long-term decisions of the company and the impact to the decision made related to profitability. ECO 550 Week 2 DQ2 "Estimating Demand" Please respond to the following: ...
Words: 1799 - Pages: 8
...points Customer-driven pricing may depress profits because _____. Answer Selected Answer: customers will only pay so much for a product Correct Answer: pricing for short term sales objectives often undermines perceived value by customers • Question 2 2 out of 2 points Cost-plus pricing is effectively opposite of a prudent pricing strategy because _____. Answer Selected Answer: it leads to overpricing in weak markets and underpricing in strong markets Correct Answer: it leads to overpricing in weak markets and underpricing in strong markets • Question 3 2 out of 2 points Proactive, value-based, and profit-driven principles are typically embodied by _____. Answer Selected Answer: successful pricing strategies Correct Answer: successful pricing strategies • Question 4 2 out of 2 points A problem with customer-driven pricing is _____. Answer Selected Answer: pricing is based on willingness-to-pay and the ignorance of the value of the product Correct Answer: pricing is based on willingness-to-pay and the ignorance of the value of the product • Question 5 2 out of 2 points A company that is willing to be a smaller company in order to be profitable is employing the _____ principle of strategic pricing. Answer Selected Answer: profit-driven Correct Answer: profit-driven • Question 6 0 out of 2 points Strategic pricing is proactive in _____. Answer...
Words: 32682 - Pages: 131
...Managing Financial Principles and Techniques - Financial and Investment analysis Contents 1. Be able to apply cost concepts to the decision-making process 2 2. Be able to apply forecasting techniques to obtain information for decision making 4 3. Be able to participate in the budgetary process of an organization 5 4. Be able to recommend cost reduction and management processes for an organization 7 5. Be able to use financial appraisal techniques to make strategic investment decisions for an organization 8 6. Be able to interpret financial statements for planning and decision making 10 References 12 1. Be able to apply cost concepts to the decision-making process 1.1 explain the importance of costs in the pricing strategy of an organisation The pricing strategy becomes the major element in marketing mix of Dell Computers as it is related to product positioning. When there is a planning for new product launch pricing strategy is important and it requires general sequence of stages involved during pricing the new product. The different steps are as follows: (Daft, 2011) * Developing marketing strategy – helps the company to develop marketing strategy based on market analysis, market segmentation and positioning * Marketing Mix decisions – Defining a product, distribution and its promotional tactics * Estimation of demand curve – Estimating the demand and understand how it varies from quantity wit price * Cost Calculation – Calculation of fixed...
Words: 3451 - Pages: 14
...Email us At: Support@homeworklance.com or lancehomework@gmail.com ECO 550 DQ 1: Managerial Economic Decision Making From the e-Activity, assess how business leaders use managerial economics to make business decisions indicating how profits may be impacted. Analyze the principal-agent problem to determine how the relationship could be less adversarial. ECO 550 DQ 2: Fundamental Economic Concepts Pick a recently released good or service. Then, determine the factors that must be evaluated regarding the product’s supply and demand. Analyze how these factors impact the decision to supply the product indicating the significance of each in the decision-making process. ECO 550 DQ 3 From the e-Activity, explain the most important information you would require on which to base sound economic judgments. Explain your rationale. Assess the various forms of organizing and processing information to determine which is the most difficult to get correct. Explain your rationale ECO 550 DQ 4 Analyze the characteristics that make any transaction possible and justify the importance of each of the characteristics.Evaluate the role institutions play in transactions and discuss the likely economic impact if institutions did not exist. ECO 550Chapter 1 (Ex.2, 3, 4) and Chapter 2 (Ex.1, 5, 6) ECO 550 Chapter Questions ECO 550 WEEK 2 DQ 1 : Demand Analysis From the e-Activity, if you were a manager in a tobacco company, analyze the elasticity of demand for...
Words: 1790 - Pages: 8
...Solutions Manual COST ACCOUNTING Fifteenth Edition Charles T. Horngren Srikant M. Datar Madhav V. Rajan ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Acquisitions Editor: Ellen Geary ------------------------------------------------- Editorial Project Manager: Nicole Sam ------------------------------------------------- Editorial Assistant: Christine Donovan ------------------------------------------------- Project Manager: Roberta Sherman ------------------------------------------------- Supplements Project Manager: Andra Skaalrud ------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying...
Words: 9620 - Pages: 39
...Decision making is the process of choosing among alternative courses of action for the purpose of attaining a certain goal. In this paper I am going to scrutinise a number of courses offered in four different disciplines within a business school and identify how these courses relate with decision making. The conclusions are presented in tabular form. IVEY Business School and The University of Pennsylvania were my source of information. There school of Business offers many different courses all of them lying under or comprising of the different disciplines that are found in business school. Some of these include: i. Business, Economics and Public Policy Course Relation to Decision making Focus Computerized support Intro to Business Economics Explores the economics and politics of public policy to provide the student with an analytic framework. Policy issues relating to taxation, social security, low-income assistance. High Financing and Managing Government Covers cost-benefit evaluations which influence decision making. Role of public policy in affecting the efficiency of markets and the distribution of resources in society. High. Economic Analysis of Law Teaches students how to think as an economist about legal rules and evaluate alternative legal rules. Interpretation of legal rules Moderate Behavioural Economics, Markets, and Public Policy Applies insights from psychology to the study of economic phenomena and decision making. How psychology plays out in markets, where...
Words: 1275 - Pages: 6
...After the decision to sell has been made, a company will need to think about the action plan that it will employ to get the goods or services to the customers it is targeting. The action plan is called the marketing mix. The marketing mix is one of the biggest and most critical decisions that a company will make. A bad marketing mix can result in poor performance and the potential for financial losses. The marketing mix was defined by McCarthy forty years ago as the set of marketing tools that a firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives or goals (Kotler and Keller, 2006). The marketing mix is then broken down into four distinct categories. These categories are called the four P’s or product, price, place, and promotion. The goal of the four P’s will hopefully be the aim of attracting and retaining the customers or target market that a company has identified. All four P’s of the marketing mix are essential and are interrelated (Perreault and McCarthy, 2005). In order for a company to successfully implement a marketing mix, a careful and well researched market plan needs to be generated. The market plan should include a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis is an evaluation of a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT analysis can help to identify the areas that a company can use to take advantage of and to stay clean of any roadblocks that might hinder a successful marketing mix. After an organization studies the elements of the SWOT analysis, the business...
Words: 1580 - Pages: 7
...Chapter 1: The Accountant’s Role in the Organization Chapter 2: An Introduction to Cost Terms and Purposes Carver HBSP United States, Consulting Co. #199006 consulting, 10,000 7p employees, 1994 Daniel Dobbins Distillery, Inc. HBSP #189065 7p TN #189172 Tennessee, liquor distillery, 1988 The managing partner of a relatively new consulting firm is concerned because training costs at the firm's new training center are higher than expected. Analysis of actual costs compared to those expected is required. In addition, he is considering capitalizing some training costs for later amortization. A management control system for the center is also a priority. A distiller increases whiskey production and income declines because of accounting methods in use. Questions are raised regarding the treatment of expenditures, which can be classified as production, inventory, or period costs. The necessary aging process raises added questions about prior period restatements and needed financing. Chapter 3: Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis Hollydazzle.com HBSP New England, #100066 Web retailing, 5p 1999 Describes the underlying economics...
Words: 6264 - Pages: 26
...THE APPLICATION OF INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES FOR ENHANCING PROFITABILITY AND COMPETITIVENESS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF JAMAICAN MANUFACTURERS Phillip C. James University of Technology, Jamaica College of Business and Management School of Business Administration ABSTRACT This study represents the first in management accounting research in Jamaica which seeks to determine the extent to which innovative management accounting principles (IMAPs) are applied in the manufacturing sector. The aim is to determine if manufacturers in Jamaica are using IMAPs to improve export competitiveness and enhance profitability .The study also seek to determine the factors that prevent manufacturers from adopting these management accounting principles. Five manufacturing organizations were examined using an exploratory case study approach. Results indicate that companies adopting IMAPs have more reliable information for decision making, higher levels of profitability and competitiveness when compared with non- adopting companies. Key Words: Innovative Management Accounting Principles, Profitability, Competitiveness 1. INTRODUCTION The manufacturing environment of the twenty-first century has changed considerably when compared with what existed decades ago. Arising from this development and with the increase in global competition, the need for accurate cost information has become an imperative. Manufacturers worldwide have suddenly realized that the continued...
Words: 7284 - Pages: 30
...machine-hour systems. In addition, the case demonstrates how cost systems can induce subtle and not so subtle shifts in the strategy of the firm. In particular, we see how certain businesses are made to look inappropriately attractive or unattractive. Cost Behavior, Capacity Analysis and the Downward Demand Spiral Case: Bridgeton Industries: Automotive Component & Fabrication Plant Case Description: Bridgeton Industries was experiencing reduced sales. To become more competitive it introduced a classification procedure for products based upon their productivity and other factors. Products were classified into three groups: world class, potentially world class, and non-world class. The firm outsources the non-world class products. This outsourcing causes the costs on the remaining products to increase because some fixed costs associated with the outsourced products did not go away. These residual costs caused more products to become non-world class and hence candidates for outsourcing. The firm has entered the death spiral. Activity-Based Costing Case: Destin Brass Products Co. Case Description: A specialized manufacturer of brass valves, pumps, and flow controllers is troubled by competitive pricing in pumps and higher than expected margins for flow controllers. Managers’ are increasingly questioning whether they know the true manufacturing costs of its products,...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
...machine-hour systems. In addition, the case demonstrates how cost systems can induce subtle and not so subtle shifts in the strategy of the firm. In particular, we see how certain businesses are made to look inappropriately attractive or unattractive. Cost Behavior, Capacity Analysis and the Downward Demand Spiral Case: Bridgeton Industries: Automotive Component & Fabrication Plant Case Description: Bridgeton Industries was experiencing reduced sales. To become more competitive it introduced a classification procedure for products based upon their productivity and other factors. Products were classified into three groups: world class, potentially world class, and non-world class. The firm outsources the non-world class products. This outsourcing causes the costs on the remaining products to increase because some fixed costs associated with the outsourced products did not go away. These residual costs caused more products to become non-world class and hence candidates for outsourcing. The firm has entered the death spiral. Activity-Based Costing Case: Destin Brass Products Co. Case Description: A specialized manufacturer of brass valves, pumps, and flow controllers is troubled by competitive pricing in pumps and higher than expected margins for flow controllers. Managers’ are increasingly questioning whether they know the true manufacturing costs of its products,...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
...machine-hour systems. In addition, the case demonstrates how cost systems can induce subtle and not so subtle shifts in the strategy of the firm. In particular, we see how certain businesses are made to look inappropriately attractive or unattractive. Cost Behavior, Capacity Analysis and the Downward Demand Spiral Case: Bridgeton Industries: Automotive Component & Fabrication Plant Case Description: Bridgeton Industries was experiencing reduced sales. To become more competitive it introduced a classification procedure for products based upon their productivity and other factors. Products were classified into three groups: world class, potentially world class, and non-world class. The firm outsources the non-world class products. This outsourcing causes the costs on the remaining products to increase because some fixed costs associated with the outsourced products did not go away. These residual costs caused more products to become non-world class and hence candidates for outsourcing. The firm has entered the death spiral. Activity-Based Costing Case: Destin Brass Products Co. Case Description: A specialized manufacturer of brass valves, pumps, and flow controllers is troubled by competitive pricing in pumps and higher than expected margins for flow controllers. Managers’ are increasingly questioning whether they know the true manufacturing costs of its products,...
Words: 1304 - Pages: 6
...Another strategy is to release the product into the highly competitive mainstream razor market where the product can be positioned as the most effective razor available. Randall meets internal resistance to the mainstream strategy from the product manager for the company's current, but aging, mainstream razor products and he must consider the effects of cannibalization in his plan. Randall must recommend an optimal strategy and provide supporting economic analysis of his decision--not just for Clean Edge, but for its effect on the entire company. Learning objective: Explore issues associated with strategic product positioning. Review new product development process and understand the importance of evaluating product-company and product-market fit in assessing new product opportunities. Understand the importance and marketing implications of determining whether a new product is a big breakthrough or a simple line extension. Subjects covered: Marketing strategy; New product marketing; Product positioning; Profitability analysis;...
Words: 1285 - Pages: 6
...1. Using the information in the case, design an activity-based costing system and estimate product costs and gross margin percentages for valves, pumps and flow controllers. Justify your reasons for your ABC system design and computations. As per the ABC costing system, the 5 overhead cost drivers that can be identified are: A. Product Sustaining Activity Costs (i) Engineering Costs B. Batch Activity Costs (i) Receiving & Production Costs (ii) Setup Labor Costs (iii) Packaging & Shipping costs C. Unit Level Activities (i) Machine utilization cost Calculation for cost per unit (per piece) for each of the overhead activities for the 3 products Machine Valve Pump Flow Controller Total Machine hours 3750.00 6250.00 1200.00 11200.00 Machine hrs / unit 0.50 0.50 0.30 machine related exp. 336000.00 Cost / machine hrs 30.00 $ Machine / unit 15.00 15.00 9.00 Engineering Valve Pump Flow Controller Total Hrs Engg Work hrs 250.00 375.00 625.00 1250.00 Engg Work hrs / unit 0.03 0.03 0.16 Engineering Cost 100000.00 Cost / engg work hr 80.00 $ engg hrs / unit 2.67 2.40 12.50 Receiving & Prod.Control Valve Pump Flow Controller Total No. of Prod. Runs 10.00 50.00 100.00 160.00 No. of components 4.00 5.00 10.00 Receiving & Prod. Control Cost 180000.00 Cost / Prod. Run 1125.00 Total Cost for all components of a prod. 11250.00 56250.00 112500.00 $ Receiving Cost / unit 1.50 4.50...
Words: 1824 - Pages: 8
...Dakota Office Products Case Analysis Concern over a first year loss prompted a case study of the business operations of Dakota Office Products. Harvard Business School professor Robert S. Kaplan authored the case study as an illustration of use of activity based cost allocation and profitability (Kaplan, 2005). In the case presentation, John Malone, the General Manager of Dakota Office Products (DOP) commissioned analysis of the company’s operations and cost allocation practices; it focused on the company’s distribution center. Activities that emerged as cost drivers included: commercial freight shipping, personal delivery of orders under the Desktop Delivery program, warehouse handling and space, and several product ordering and entry activities. In this paper, the cost drivers were utilized to establish activity-based costing for DOP. Profitability for two current DOP customers was also analyzed for behavior patterns that might lead to or suggest improved pricing. Specific assignment questions were detailed and answered on the topic of relative profitability of the two customers. The objective of the analysis was to utilize learnings from the profitability calculations in order to make recommendations which would return DOP to profitable operation following the year of the unexpected loss. If the methods in this paper were utilized, it is felt to be a useful tool to assist DOP management in turning the company around. Method The assignment is summarized in this...
Words: 2526 - Pages: 11
