...Macroeconomics -Written Assignment 1 Mentor – Dr. Suzanne Page By: Sylvia Johnston Clarke 11/27/12 Answer all of the following questions. Title your assignment "Written Assignment 1," unless your mentor directs otherwise. This assignment covers text chapters 1 through 6. 1. What is the mechanism by which the "invisible hand" pushes markets to equilibrium? Invisible hands uses households and firms interacting in the markets that can lead to desirable market outcomes. It usually leads markets to allocate resources efficiently. 2. Explain the two main causes of market failure and give an example of each. Two causes of market failure are externality – which is the impact of one persons actions on the well being of innocent bystanders; and market power, which is one group / persons unduly influence on market prices. An example of externality is well designed public policy enhancing economic efficiency and an example of market power is everyone needing water but there is only one well and that owner doesn’t face competition. 3. Use a production possibilities frontier to describe efficiency. (This question can be answered either with or without the use of a graph, depending on whether you have a graphing program on your computer. It is possible to describe the various points on the PPF without a graph.) 4. What is the difference between a positive and a normative statement? Give an example of each. A positive statement claims to attempt to describe the world...
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...Export is small private company in Massachusetts specializes in exporting luxury vehicles that only available in the United States market to Mainland China. Luxury vehicles export is special in nature due to its complicated regulations and various demands of different customers. Trover has conducted this business since 2007 and has built a sound reputation among its customers through reliable and efficient services. The head office of Trover is located in Quincy, Massachusetts, but the employees are working remotely in different cities to be in charge of the regional markets. Restricted by its scale and business pattern, the organizational structure of Trover is quite simple and direct. There are 6 full time employees, of which 5 are Regional Sales Manager working in different cities in Massachusetts and 1 Marketing Manager and several part-time Sales Specialists and Marketing Specialists. The CEO, acting as a CFO as well, takes control of the whole company. The organization chart is as follows: Organization chart of Trovers Export Mission and Challenges The mission of Trover is to provide luxury cars at a reasonable and competitive price as well as a great purchasing experience internationally for Chinese customers. Its business objectives for year 2014 are to expand customer base, increase sales volumes, and raise its reputation in the vehicle exporting industry. However, as the market of luxury vehicles export grows, the competition becomes increasingly fierce. Trover...
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...Executive Summary Problem Jasmin Rawlinson director of marketing at Porsche Canada requires guidance on how alter Canadians perception and behavior to favor winter driving. In addition, she must decide which mediums to choose for her 2010 marketing campaign. Analysis Porsche is an established luxury car manufacturer, who has recently opened a Canadian office. Canadians affluent communities consider Porsches the most prestigious Cars. Porsche customers are high-income individuals. Alternatives Porsche can choose to abandon the marketing plan for winter equipment, and avoid possibly wasting money. Alternatively, if Porsche chooses to create a marketing campaign, it must be decided whether to target the mass-market, or a high-income audience. Criteria The marketing campaign must stay within the 500,000-dollar budget. Porsche must sell 5,773 units in order to break-even. Porsche advertisements must be consistent cross-country. Recommendation Porsche should create a marketing campaign targeting towards a high-income audience. This strategy aligns with Porsches existing marketing mix, and will generate the company additional revenues. Problem Jasmin Rawlinson, director of marketing at Porsche Canada, is creating her marketing plan for the year of 2010. She is faced with the task of marketing winter equipment to Canadian consumers who prefer to keep their Porsches indoors during winter. Jasmin knows from an engineering standpoint, that Porsche vehicles are suitable...
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...CEO Carlos Ghosn, his leadership style, and the company's strategy. The questions focus on these issues and whether the strategy of Renault-Nissan is global or multinational. The case provides a good example of a firm that uses a global, integrated strategy for its worldwide operations. It is also a good example of a large company with ambitious goals to produce high quality products and sell them on every continent. BACKGROUND ■ Based in Tokyo ■ 2009- Sales were nearly $90 billion ■ Management planning to launch 48 new car models ■ A few years ago- on the verge of bankruptcy. ■ Renault- The French automaker took a 44 percent stake and installed Carlos Ghosn as Nissan’s CEO ■ Dramatic turnaround- Ghosn returned Nissan to profitability and became a celebrity in Japan ■ Ghosn- Born in Brazil, raised in Lebanon, and educated in France, he is a charismatic leader who speaks four languages and is idolized for saving one of the world’s premier car companies. ■ Ghosn closed inefficient factories, reduced Nissan’s workforce, curbed purchasing costs, shared operations with Renault, and introduced new products. NISSAN’S ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ■ Ghosn cut through antiquated thinking, defying Japan’s often bureaucratic and clubby business culture by, for example, reducing Nissan’s steel suppliers from five to three. ■ Ghosn introduced a proactive style, with fast decision making, and a culture of anticipating problems and eliminating them before they happen. ■ Ghosn is...
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...[6][7] As of August 2008, Honda surpassed Chrysler as the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the United States.[8] Honda was the seventh largest automobile manufacturer in the world behind Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Group, Ford, and Nissan in 2010.[citation needed] Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, scheduled to be released in 2012. Honda spends about 5% of its revenues into R&D.[9] From a young age, Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda (本田 宗一郎, Honda Sōichirō) (17 November 1906 – 5 August 1991) had an interest in automobiles. He worked as a mechanic at the Art Shokai garage, where he tuned cars and entered them in races. In 1937, with financing from an acquaintance, Kato Shichirō, Honda founded Tōkai Seiki (Eastern Sea Precision Machine Company) to make piston rings working out of the Art...
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... The firm manufactures vehicles that go by the same name, “Mercedes-Benz.” They are mainly luxury vehicles and they include: “Sedans, Coupes, SUVs & Wagons, Convertibles & Roadsters, Hybrid & Electric cars, trucks, coaches and buses”[1]. Mercedes-Benz has a strong presence in the motor industry based on its diversity of production. Its vehicles have state-of-the-art luxury gear with impeccable customer service. The targeted customer base for this brand includes the middle and the high class due to the vehicles’ luxurious nature. 1. Purchase Process: The following are the steps for purchasing a new Mercedes Benz type of vehicle a. Research on model Mercedes-Benz always encourages its customers to research about the car models before they make the purchase. This can be done in person, by visiting the car outlets or doing it online. In order to purchase a Mercedes-Benz car model, a customer is required to select the model of choice from a preferred dealer-outlet after agreeing on the qualities. Dealers are found in various collision centers that are certified by the brand. Alternatively, they can also be bought via the internet through their e-commerce websites. The brand uses two main websites. The first is Mbusa[2] and Mercedes-benz.com[3]. These two sites have the vehicle types. The models differ on price, gas mileage and internal features. Finally settle on the car model. b. Get pre-approved (online or offline) Customer is required to be pre-approved...
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...them a car. Immersing themselves into a culture helps them to best design a car to that group, helping them to love the driving experience, not just get from point A to point B. The drivers in Germany and the US have very different needs and BMW has made sure to take note of those differences, and they are reflected in Checkered Flag BMW in the available inventory. The same distinctions can now be made for the Chinese counterparts at BMW. The company created a design lab in China that takes into account every aspect of Chinese life and makes a BMW that is reflective of the people’s needs. BMW Shanghai: Driving in mega cities, designing the future and more By Seyth Miersma A few days before the Shanghai Motor Show kicked off, we were part of an international group of media that was invited to have a look at the BMW Designworks Shanghai Studio and ConnectedDrive Lab facility. The building that BMW found to house its Chinese think tank is in a lovely part of Shanghai known as the former French Concession. The late 1890s and early 1900s French architectural style, brick-paved streets and tree-lined spaces feel a world apart from the ultra-modern heart of Shanghai, and the BMW enclave is a suitable mix of high-tech and throwback cool. We were visiting, in short, to understand just why BMW has found it important to have design and research capability in China. As it turns out, answering those questions also served to shed some light on the Chinese auto market as a whole...
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...School of Business University of California, Berkeley Visiting Researcher, ITEC Doshisha University EOQ June 2011 1 How Many Quality Problems Do They Have? • Operationally: 3 problems (as of 2/08/10) • From a “customer first” perspective, they had 7 million problems • From a future customer perspective, the universe of potential car purchasers EOQ June 2011 2 The Unfolding Big Picture • Subsequent to the recalls associated with floor mats and sticky pedals causing unintended acceleration, Toyota had 14 safety related recalls through Sept. 2010. • These highly publicized recalls may well have solidified in the U.S. public’s mind that Toyota has serious quality problems. EOQ June 2011 3 Test Results from Consumer Reports(CR) • If we examine the percentage of a brand’s vehicles recommended by CR, the trajectory shows significant decline for Toyota models from 85% recommended in 2008, to 73% in 2009, to 47% in 2010 the sharp drop in 2010 partially reflects recent recalls. By comparison, CR recommended 70% of Nissans in 2008, 77% in 2009 and 95% in 2010. EOQ June 2011 4 Figure 1: How Toyota’s Reliability Compares to Selected Competitors (Toyota shown in blue dotted line; Competitors shown in red solid line) Chevrolet Ford Honda Hyundai INITIAL QUALITY STUDY, problems per 100 cars measured at 90 days of ownership. J.D. Power & Associates VEHICLE DEPENDABILITY STUDY, problems per 100 cars experienced by original owners of three year old...
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...electric car by making compelling vehicles first began with the Roadster, a solely electric operated sports car to complete with high performance supercars to prove that electric technology was viable and an electric car didn’t have to be boring.Tesla then expanded its technological advantage to the luxury sedan market. The Model S, a zero emission and sustainable luxury sedan, was then introduced as their second electric car in 2012 to compete in the performance luxury sedan segment. The Model S won numerous awards. Tesla Motor is aiming to make the electric car mainstream and build Tesla Motors as a brand. Thus Tesla is the only automaker that sells zero-emission sports car in serial production at present. This report will cover marketing plan for Model S electric car in Canadian market focusing Vancouver area. As per survey data, it appears Tesla have recently opened their 2nd Canadian store in Vancouver in May 2014. The first Canadian store was opened in Toronto in Nov 2012. The growth strategy for Vancouver area will be market penetration. Tesla’s goal is to accelerate the world’s transition from gasoline powered vehicles to electric mobility with increasingly affordable electric cars. To achieve this goal, Tesla have following current strategies; * Business level Strategy: A focused differentiation strategy because their customers are mainly from middle and upper income levels, and Tesla focuses on providing high performance and creative electric cars. ...
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...Wroclaw is a major city in the Southwest region in Poland with an impressive outline of snow-covered mountains. This is a city filled with busy people and streets filled with expensive cars. From a luxurious shopping center of the salt mine, to downtown plaza, there are many places to visit while being the big city. Wroclaw summed up is pure air flowing through the city, icy cold weather, beautiful aged architecture, expensive belongings, and kind people. Walking throughout Wroclaw, the fresh air blows in pedestrians face and feels like little butterfly kisses on walkers cheeks. A light breeze flows through the busy streets of many uniquely looking groups of human beings chatting about the latest gossip in the middle of the shopping center. Natural light shines through the glass-paneled market. Even with packed streets, each breath taken cleanses the soul from everything in the world. Roaming the stoned streets, there's a certain serene feeling throughout the city....
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...Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2 6. Target Market Description…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3 7. Marketing Mix Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 8. SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 Introduction Gray’ Auto Detailing involves thorough cleaning and polishing of the interior and exterior parts of a motor vehicle. Auto detailing helps to maintain the vehicle, prolong its lifespan and increase its value during re-sale. Auto detailing is divided into two category, interior detailing and exterior detailing. Interior detailing involves cleaning and vacuuming the floor mats, cleaning all upholstery, cleaning the trunk of the car, wiping the windows and mirrors and performing all other duties that would make the interior part of the vehicle sparkling clean. As for exterior detailing, you would be required to brush and clean the wheel rims, wash the vehicle tires and polish the car exterior. Auto detailing business can provide you with an extra source of income. It is easy to start and requires minimal capital. A mobile auto detailing business is a recession proof business because even when the economy is witnessing a downturn, a mobile detailer would continue to receive patronage because a lot of people would want to maintain their current vehicles properly, since they may be unable to afford new cars. Mobile auto detailing eliminates the...
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...The customer perceived value of supermarkets: Customer perceived value (CPV) is the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives (Kotler, 2003). Customers will buy from the firm that they see as offering the highest perceived value. There are various benefits that a person receives and he sacrifices something in order to achieve that. The first table takes in the interests received and sacrifices made while shopping at supermarkets. Benefits of visiting supermarkets | Sacrifices of visiting Supermarkets | Convenience/Accessibility -Extensive range of products and services-Ample amount of stores present-24x7-Mobile apps, discounts and freebies-Smooth access to pedestrians and vehicles | Monetary-Cost of buying the goods-Cost of going to the supermarket | Monetary -Economical Prices-Coupons and discounts-Saving schemes | Effort -Time taken to travel to the supermarket-Queueing and locating the product | Quality -Large brands have certain quality standards before being imported. -Goods have certain quality standards approved by the ministry | Health-Products may cause a hazard to people while consuming-Stress in queueing-Products might contain harmful contents | Social-Sense of pride while buying branded goods.-Benefits the person’s psychology for shopping at big brands | Social-Psychology of people shopping at cheaper stores | Opportunity-Ease of accessibility-Small...
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...HZ UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES Zeeland – German Tourists German tourists should be satisfied about the quality of a holiday in Zeeland 10/22/2012 An essay on Should German tourists be satisfied about the quality of a holiday in Zeeland? University: | HZ University of Applied Sciences | Semester: | 5. Semester | Academic year: | 2012/2013 | Course: | CU10130 - Lifestyle | | | | | 1 *Student: Scaldis Academy:, Department of Vitality Management and Tourism. Zeeland – German Tourist Introduction The number of German tourists visiting the Netherlands has dramatically reduced as compared to a few years ago. This has led to a need to research the cause of this reduction. We as students following the minor lifestyle management are focusing more on how to bring back the German tourists to Zeeland, Netherlands coastal area with beautiful clean beaches and dunes. Tourism is a way of distancing yourself from every day activities. It is a service-intensive industry that depends on the quality of customers' service experiences and their consequent assessment of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a service experience. Experience is conceived as conscious awareness and is manifested as precondition for responses to tourist business. The management and performance of service quality is thus of crucial importance to the tourism industry. In this report the question as to whether Germans tourists should be satisfied with the quality of holidays...
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...1994 by SIR Alec Issigonis (BMW Group, 2009) At the beginning it was an affordable iconic British car, now it has become a cool luxury car dominantly for a young segment. Its international marketing strategy is differentiated in a way that a brand is built up on the historical iconic image of Mini for the UK and associated market, but it is not associated with any values in the past for the US customers. Overall, Mini’s marketing strategy is considered to be innovative, creative, and sometimes “silly”, which is of great value for its young energetic target audience. Mini focused on group of young generation – up to thirty five years old, well-educated and wealthy background. Those people that want to be different and willing to pay a big amount of money to show their status and images. Mini has used “un-traditional” way to advertise its products. Only $20 million was spent on traditional media in 2012 such as television, compared to $80 million spent by its competitors Fiat. Under direction of BMW group, beside TV and Magazine advertising, an extensive amount around @20.7 million euro was spent on E-marketing to bring people awareness about the product. As it is a technology world today, the Yo ungers would prefer accessing the internet to search for wanted information, rather than sitting at home and watch television. In addition, customers can access and see the cars in a fancy, fashion events like in Paris with appearance of young celebrities and various guests to...
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...Introduction The English word 'Decision' originated from the Latin word 'decisio' which means "to cut from." 'To decide' means "to come to a conclusion" or "to pass a resolution. According to Trewartha and Newport "Decision making involves the selection of a course of action from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given problem." Bounded rationality The concept and associated decision model of bounded rationality was first discussed by Herbert Simon in his celebrated book Models of Man published in 1957 by John Wiley and Sons. Simon basically stipulates that individual decision making is not rational as assumed by a number of theories, especially dealing with economics issues. Individual decision making is limited by a number of boundary conditions such as the individual's intellectual traits, time, and non perfect information. Non perfect information for example, can pertain to limited access to reliable information or raw information, information corruption through layered processing and/or simply lack of information Bounded rationality and decision making. When applied to management decisions, managers, usually because of time constraints, lack of information, and cognitive factors usually make numerous daily decisions and seek to make the best possible decision considering the circumstances, rather than the optimal decision; the optimal decision would be the most rational decision under perfect circumstances. Perfect...
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