Please structure the paper only following the component 3 and 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3: Explain what sort of pricing strategies and profit maximization behaviors are exhibited.
4: Specify characteristics of the market: monopoly (near-monopoly/natural), oligopoly, monopolistic competition? What makes it so? What sort of behaviors does the company/industry engage in (i.e. collusion? Predatory pricing? Creations of barriers to entry? Rent seeking? – can include as a part of government intervention section also)
Also, please see details below.
Final Project and Presentation (30% of your final grade) – DUE Tuesday, June 5th, 2018
Assignment: Your group has been assigned to present an overview of organizational/operational structure and economic factors that impact business decisions for a specific entity that engages in commercial transactions.
You may approach this assignment by imagining that you are giving this presentation to a group of potential investors who have virtually no understanding of economics and no prior knowledge of your company and industry. They need an overview of key factors and economic analysis in order to make sense of the sort of environment within which your company/industry is operating.
Project Goal: Demonstrate an understanding of key microeconomic concepts covered in ECON 1030 and certain elements of macroeconomic concepts as they apply to company/industry of your choice (domestic, foreign or multinational).
Possible ideas: focus on one specific airline with explanation of the larger airline industry model; Xcel Energy; Amazon; Wal-Mart or other large retailers; De Beers; Microsoft; Starbucks; professional sports leagues; research the U.S. or another country’s automobile industry or look at a specific car manufacturer within the context of the larger industry); HealthONE or another hospital network can consider small/medium-sized businesses with which you have close familiarity, for example, medical or law practice; locally owned café (as well as the general industry trends).
Deliverables: research paper and presentation of key findings – both due during the final period.
Research paper has no specific page requirements/limits, but I estimate that a fairly comprehensive overview will result in at least 13-18 pages, including bibliography, appendices, etc.
Paper must be double spaced, with citations/bibliography in APA, MLA, Chicago/Tarubian styles (I do prefer footnotes over endnotes.) Proper formatting is part of the final grade.
Presentation: 10-12 minute presentation in whatever format you see fit (Power Point, handouts, etc.) plus 2-3 minutes of questions/clarifications
No one group can present on the same company (same industry is OK).
Please confirm your company/topic choice by Thursday, May 24th at 6PM (end of our next class) so I can ensure that there are no duplications. You will also have time during our last session to work on the project as a group and ask me questions.
If your group decides to make a change to your original topic selection, you must notify me by Saturday, May 26th.
All group members must be involved in research, writing and presentation of material.
Students will write up an overview of their individual contribution to the project; students will also comment whether their group members were pulling their own weight or were “free-riding. A separate self/group member grading rubric will be provided and will be turned in with the research paper.
During each group’s presentation, those in the audience will need to complete a Peer Feedback form which will count toward students’ participation points.
Grading rubric, Individual Group Member Evaluation and Peer Feedback forms will be posted on Canvas.
Additional details and considerations:
1. Pick an industry for which you would assume information would be readily available (publically traded companies, industries that are of interest to research scholars) or those with which you have personal familiarity (for example, a small business or a former employer).
2. Primary emphasis should be given to the microeconomic dimensions of operation, meaning information that was covered in Chapters 5 – 15 (with some consideration to other market failures and international factors covered in later chapters).
3. Pay attention to using economic concepts and language we have covered this quarter. I am not expecting economic modeling/diagrams, specific accounting and financials, but you are certainly welcome to include them in an appendix and use them for your presentation, if they are available or you want to take a stab at creating one
4. You can look over our syllabus and your textbook and get a general idea of key concepts pertaining to firm theory
5. Please note: I am not grading you on how accurately you can write about firm’s production structure, pricing strategies, and consumer demand, but on how you were able to, based on the information you have gathered, to present a case for what you are describing.
For example, you can structure your paper/presentation around the following components:
1) Present basic descriptives of your company/industry what is being produced, what is the value to society, etc; management/operational challenges; mention historical evolution of the market and its current state
2) Production Theory considerations: costs in the short-run, costs in the long-run, identify factors of production, types of technologies/inputs; how resource markets affect cost considerations (i.e. resource demand for labor and capital; typical wages and recent trends in wages)
3) Explain what sort of pricing strategies and profit maximization behaviors are exhibited
4) Specify characteristics of the market: monopoly (near-monopoly/natural), oligopoly, monopolistic competition? What makes it so? What sort of behaviors does the company/industry engage in (i.e. collusion? Predatory pricing? Creations of barriers to entry? Rent seeking? – can include as a part of government intervention section also).
5) Identify the demand: who are the consumers? are there substitutes, complements, what is driving demand? How elastic is it?
6) Externalities: identify negative and/or positive externalities produced by the commercial entity
7) What is the role of government and regulatory policy? What are some taxation issues?
8) Identify any international economic considerations (from both the demand and the supply side); are there any other macroeconomic variables that may impact operations? Is there international competition?
9) Any current news relating to your industry that may impact its operations? Prognosis for the future (from available professional business/economic analysis)?
Again, you are not bound to follow the structure above, but I will be looking for you to cover areas specifically dealing with firm production theory and pertinent economic considerations.
