Observing the moon Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Observing the moon - Assignment Example When you make your fist and hold it out at arm’s length, it represents approximately 10 degrees. This can be checked out by going fist over fist from the horizon to the point directly over your head which is 90 degrees from the horizon to the point directly overhead thus should span approximately 9’fists’. From each observation of the moon, find the moon in the sky and find the point along the horizon directly below the moon. Measure how many fists the moon is above the horizon. This will be the altitude measurement of the moons line touches the horizon. Though measuring azimuth is a bit trickier, this is the number of degrees along the horizon starting from true north and always passing through the east. One has to find out where north is and then drop imagined line down from the moon to the horizon and count how many fists it takes to go from north to where the imaginary line touches the horizon. Since each fist equals 10 degrees, increase the number of fists u sed by 10 to get the azimuth in degrees. It is advisable that you should make your observations from the same location in order not to determine true north every time. At first the new moon is seen. The moon, sun and earth are in approximate alignment. The new moon is on the opposite side of the earth such that the entire sunlit part of the moon is facing us. The shadowed portion is entirely hidden from view. At first and third quarter moons happens when the moon is at a 90 degree angle with respect to the earth and sun. In this case, we only see half of the moon illuminated and half in shadow. In the waxing crescent, the sunlit portion is increasing but less than half. On the other hand, waxing gibbous refers to when the sunlit portion increases but is now more than half. At full moon, there is maximum illumination and after this, the light continually decreases hence waning gibbous phase occurs next. The third quarter is then followed by the waning crescent which wanes until

Car belt design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Car belt design - Assignment Example PLA material is bio plastic material that is mostly sourced from the bio materials having sugars in the form of form of starch and cellulose. It is 100% bio degradable material. The fibres derived from the PLA material can easily replace the nylon in cases where nylon is used extensively. Moreover, PLA material can replace the poly vinyl can be used to manufacture surgical as well as common use polythene bags. It requires less temperature to be converted in any form. The common type of material available as biodegradable plastic is poly lactic acid (PLA). However, the material available for the use is made up of poly-L-lactide (PLLA) that appears after the polymerization of L, L-lactide and PLA. The crystallization percentage of the PLA is about 37%. It achieves glass transition state at about 60- 85 o C. It melts at about 178 o C and the average tensile modulus is about 2.7–16 GPa. In pure condition, PLA can resist a temperature of about 110 o C. However, as the purity is altered heat resistance as well as abrasion resistance can be enhanced. PLA has the similar mechanical properties as compared to that of Polyethylene terephthalate (PETE). PLA can be turned into fibres of required length and diameter with the help of similar process used for the other thermo plastic materials. The process is often named as melt spinning process that converts melted. The most advantageous feature of the PLA is the bio-degradability of the material. Once the belt attains its age in car or other vehicle, the feature of biodegradability is much important as it decomposes the material naturally and does not bother the environment (Niaounakis, 2013, 161). Blending other polymers into the PLA enhances its heat resistivity. Other bio plastics like poly-D-lactide can be mixed with the PLA or PLLA to enhance the heat resistivity. The mixing of the other compounds can be altered according to the application. If ratio of the poly-D-lactide and PLA become 1:1,

MGMT 4350 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MGMT 4350 - Essay Example and the processes of change and transition in order to articulate all the available mental and physical resource to ensure that the process goes on seamlessly. This paper seeks to discuss the various factors worth considering while managing change and transition. Particularly, the paper will focus on managing an organization culture transition in a student organization in which I am the leader. Â   The change transition objective is to change the organizational culture of our students’ organization. The university requires that students form a student union that will be mandated with the responsibility of representing the issues to the university management board. The student union is a leadership team selected, through voting, by the university students. The university implemented the student union in early 1950s. Therefore, most of the organizational culture of the student union reflects the ideas that the university senate had in 1950s. The university and world at large has undergone tremendous changes in various facets of life. Many changes have occurred in the management styles due to improvement in technology and the emergence of new theories and models of leadership. Therefore, the student union has been left behind with its old organizational culture when other universities have embraced the power of information technology in management. In order to make the stu dent union to cope with the challenges of modernity, the organizational culture needs to be changed from the conventional leadership culture to technologically powered type of organizational culture. The transition seeks to transform the student union from conventional based to technologically based organizational culture. The student union is ripe and ready for transition. Indeed, the challenges that the student union is facing is overwhelming. The conventional type of organizational culture has become a burden for the student union in terms of meeting its obligations. Since the student union is

Processes and Evaluation in Employment Relations Essay

Processes and Evaluation in Employment Relations - Essay Example A study of the Australian workplace scenario shows that strategic HRM are often faced with issues when trying to affect cultural changes as lack employee focus, leading to increased work related insecurities and a persistently decreasing job satisfaction (Leah, 1999). Culture, which fundamentally relates to the meaning an individual deciphers about the world around him and an understanding of the tools with which he must deal with this world, the primary objective of cultural changes within a workplace is associated with conscious and active processes aimed at developing capabilities that enable individuals to find new methods of working. It makes way for new processes, beliefs, thoughts, and measures that help to bring about organizational success. Owing to current large-scale globalisation, business strategies have become more intricate, making it necessary that workplace culture within an organisation becomes more complex in order to implement various modifications. This paper wil l study the role of HRM as regards affecting cultural changes within an organisation and will derive that implementing cultural changes is a complex and difficult process, and HR management has a limited role in affecting these changes. Human resource management can be defined collectively as comprising of â€Å"all concepts, strategies, policies and practices which organizations use to manage and develop the people who work for them† (Rudman, 2002, 3). The current function of HR is to manage long-term goals, and to take a wider and more balanced approach, instead of convening only on internal issues pertaining to human resource management. Modern HR managers emphasise more on future-based goals, long-term strategies, value adding leadership roles with focus on global integration, primarily in terms of economic and socio-cultural integration (Adler and Gundersen, 2008, pp.7-9). Fig 1: Human resource activities of a modern business firm (International HRM and organizational be havior learning guide, 2010). Ulrich (1996) delineated HRM roles and divided them into four categories based on their functions. These are Change Agent, Strategic Business Partner, Administration, and Employee Champions (Ulrich, 1996, pp. 19-20). Besides these, HR managers must be knowledgeable about the socio-cultural effects of globalization and be technologically oriented. In context of HR functions as a change agent and a strategic business partner, which encompass bringing in strategic cultural changes within an organization, these are associated with guiding and assisting in creating an overall business strategy and framing of HR plans and activities, keeping in mind the current globalization. If human resource strategies are incorrectly planned and implemented, an organization is likely to face failure within the global market that is highly competitive in nature (Belcourt and McBey, 2010). Here, the human resource managers help to formulate overall business strategies and se t goals for a firm, while bringing in suitable workplace cultural changes within an organization that would assist in achieving success in overall business outcome. The word ‘organisational culture,’ which became popular during the 1980s, is often considered

Fashion is dress in which the key feature is rapid changing of style Essay

Fashion is dress in which the key feature is rapid changing of style - Essay Example The essay "Fashion is dress in which the key feature is rapid changing of style" discusses the role of fashion in the changing of style. Irrespective of the degree of change in style; we are going through a phase of fashion revolution. The following factors are responsible for the continual change in fashion. The change in the society or social trends is highly evident if we focus on the dress of women. Over the years the style of dressing of women has undergone a considerable change. This can be attributed to the emancipation, equality and independence of women. There has been a remarkable change in the attitudes of and towards women and this attitudinal change is directly linked with their dresses. The past century has experienced the change in the dress of women the most. Before 1920’s women used to be confined indoors. Slowly they started venturing outside. They started attending social events and their past time included outdoor games in the early part of 20th century. So their dresses underwent changes providing them freedom in movement. Some even started moving out of homes for becoming career women. The outcome was a further change in their attitudes and style of their dresses. Emphasis was given on their comfort as they started spending long hours outside. Another indication of changing times and changing fashions was the vogue for the tango. Tango teas and tango parties became all the rage well before 1914†¦slinky dresses with their slit hems were ideally suited to the fashionable contortions. of the new dance, for which the traditional tea-gown would have been utterly incongruous. (p.77) While researching the style during 1930's, Ewing (1975) has observed: Where all kinds of women were leading busy, active lives, simple fashions were desirable for ordinary daily comings and goings, with the luxury of long low-cut gowns reserved for evenings. At this time evening dress were worn very widely in Britain on a great variety of occasions and by the working girl and the middle class housewife as well as by the Duchess and debutante. (p.111) With the advent of beach custom, fashion changed again as the favorite past time drifted from games to sun tanning on the beach. During the 1950's the most remarkable change in the swimming costume was the introduction of bikinis. The new independent superwomen of the 21st century, with their jobs, their money and secure futures are following new fashion with leaps and bounds. They are choosing dresses that enhance their personality as well as enable them to carry out the responsibilities of their jobs with ease. Since they are financially strong they are always in look of something different and this is one of the reasons why fashion is changing rapidly and continually. Other social trend that brought a change in fashion was the growing self-sufficiency of the middle class and men's interest in looking better. Gone are the days when fashion was considered to be the domain of only rich and famous or those belonging to the fairer sex. Today fashion has no barriers. Rich and not so rich, men and women, young and old and even children are becoming fashion conscious. So whatever style, the rich are following, are being followed by the poor also. The same designs are being copied on shoestring budgets by compromising a little on the quality

E-Banking in the Selected Private Commercial Banks Essay Example for Free

E-Banking in the Selected Private Commercial Banks Essay E-Banking is the waves of the future. It provides enormous benefits to consumers in terms of case and cost of transactions, either through internet, telephone or other electronic delivery channels. For many consumers, electronic banking means 24-hours’ access to cash through an Automated Teller Machine ATM or Direct Deposit of paychecks into checking or savings accounts. E-banking is a form of banking where funds are transferred through an exchange of electronic signal between financial institution, rather than exchange of cash, cheeks or other negotiable instruments. The banking industry as a whole, except for the four specialized banks (SBs) rushed to offer technology based baking services during the middle of the current decade. The existing form of e-banking that satisfies customer demand in banking activities electronically throughout the world are PC banking or PC home banking that include online banking, Internet banking, mobile banking and tele banking. The existing modern and innovative technology driven products and services offered by the banking system in Bangladesh includes debit card, credit card, automated teller machine (ATM) cards such as Master Card, Visa Card, Q-cash Card, Point of sales (POS), on line service, tele banking, internet banking, society for worldwide inter bank financial telecommunication (SWIFT), and Reuter. In most of the modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic card which is known as ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastics smart card with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date etc. Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN). The government’s emphasis on building a digital Bangladesh, setting up ICT park, raising allocation for developing ICT infrastructure, waiving taxes on computer peripherals and other measures including the automation program of banking sector led by the Bangladesh Bank and competition among the scheduled banks in improving customer services have accelerated the prospects of e-banking in Bangladesh. Introduction: There is no official definition of this term, but it generally implies a service that allows customers to use some form of computer to access account-specific information and possibly conduct transactions from a remote location such as at home or at the workplace. Online or internet banking is the next stage in the development of banking services in Bangladesh. The banking system in the country was known for their stability and also stubbornness. The public banks in the country always resisted to any kind of change in their working styles through strikes and walk outs. But after some vigorous training and negotiations the concept of online banking was bought into mainstream banking in Bangladesh. This was already popular in other more developed countries and with the opening up of the banking market to foreign players in Bangladesh it was begging to be implemented in our mainstream commercial banking systems. Internet banking has been so popular in the countries; it has been implemented in so far due to certain reasons. Online Banking makes the regular transactions for a client speedy and time efficient with little or no paperwork involved. There is no need for standing in long ques any more for making a deposit or getting a withdrawal. Banking has turned into a 24/7 service with the bank always available to their client. This especially helps the various businessmen who need the best services at any time day or night. Online banking is the need of the new professional in this modern age who is always on the move and working and trying to succeed in a constantly changing and dynamic environment. There are advantages involved for the bank here as well. Through online banking the bank can attract the more sophisticated clients whose needs can now be met through banking through the internet. Also this makes the banks competitive in the international market and against the best banks in the world. Online banking has positively affected the banks in increasing their customer diversity and improved the quality of clients as well. Objectives of the study: The major objectives of the study are to analyze the present status of e-banking, its various forms, their characteristics, benefits and constraints in Bangladesh. Methodology of the study: The study is based on review of related studies done earlier and secondary information collected through library work. Justification of the study: E-Banking can conveniently manage all our banking needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with online banking. This Internet-based solution allows us to manage our company’s finances from any computer with internet access. Online banking application addresses the needs of small, individual and corporate account holders of the bank. This application provides a comprehensive range of banking services that enable the customer to meet most of their banking requirements over the net. Many people find that internet banking is very convenient as the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages. There are many different positive aspects to banking online. One of them is that we can do our banking from home, without having to waste gas driving to the bank or waste time waiting in line. Most banks are eager to get us to try online banking. Check out our banking terms with regard to this option offered by most banks. The history of banking online has always stressed convenience for the customer as well as security. Today, we can not only enjoy secure banking transactions online, but we can have our paycheck automatically deposited into our bank account and have it available that day, instead of waiting until the check clears. In addition to getting automatic deposits, online banking transactions also include automatic bill paying. Instead of having to write a check to pay our bills, we can have the bills that we pay each month automatically deducted from our banking account each month. Internet banking is not just concentrated on our checking account. We can also use internet banking to get a loan. There are some online banks that will offer us every service that a land bank will offer only they exist only online. Our own bank also, most likely, encourages online banking and offers free features such as checking to savings account deposits, automatic bill paying, automatic deposit and home equity loans all with the click of a mouse! Debt management is essential when structuring your finances. Internet banking is the way of the future. Years ago, we had to go to the bank when they were open and wait in a long line to perform a transaction. Today, we can bank from our home without having to wait a second and best of all, online banking is free. With the rapid development of internet, E-commerce and E-Banking are ready to play a significant function in the near future in Bangladesh. The innovative opportunities should be reachable by both large and small companies. But the right commercial and legal system is vital for the constructive augmentation of E-commerce in our country, which is the immaturity level. To ensure optimistic impact of E-banking, information structure, cyber laws and skilled manpower along with environmental facilities are immediately needed. Now-a-days e-banking is a topic of paramount importance. Exploring the available literature it has been found that no in-depth work has been done on the topic till now. But there is a vital nexus between e- banking and economic development in the present era of globalization. So working on the topic is essential for the greater interest of people. In fact, the work has enormous justification from theoretical and practical view points. Review of related literature: Mr.  Mizanur Rahman finds that in Bangladesh, the expansion of e-banking is beset with several infrastructural, institutional, and regulatory constraints such as inadequate availability of reliable and secure telecommunication infrastructure, absence of a backbone network connecting the whole country, poor ICT penetration in the banking sector, lack of skilled manpower and training facilities, absence of supportive policies, guidelines, rules and regulations relating to e-transactions and the like. Despite the constraints, efforts by the Bangladesh Bank in modernizing the country’s payment system and commitment by the government in building Digital Bangladesh’ have brought competition among the scheduled banks to improve banking services and rapidly adopt e-banking on a wider scale. This note provides a critical overview on development of e-banking in Bangladesh and future prospects for better understanding the issue that includes concept of e-banking, present status of scheduled banks in adopting e-banking services, and prospects of e-banking in Bangladesh on the basis of current trend in developing the ICT infrastructure in the country as well as ICT penetration in the banking sector that follows some policy suggestions for BB, Govt. f Bangladesh and scheduled banks so that optimum benefit through c-banking may be obtained. A well functioning e-banking network dependant on availability of a backbone network is connecting the whole country reliable and secure information infrastructure including telecommunication infrastructure; ICT penetration in the banking sector; skilled operational personnel; and legal and regulatory framework. The government, Bangladesh Bank and scheduled banks are related to these issues. Therefore, both individual and joint efforts are needed to overcome the constraints in promoting e-banking in the country. Syed Abdulla Al Mamun and Mst. Nusrat Sharmin had a study on Management Information Systems (MIS) of a Bank. They said that an effective management information system provides users with accurate, timely and relevant information to support organization functions, decision making, communication, coordination, control, analysis and visualization. Thus it provides tremendous economic values of the various industries, particularly banking industry. SCB is a multinational bank. It plays a crucial role in the banking industry in Bangladesh. This paper is a modest attempt to find out the overall management and operational areas of SCB and the role of Management Information Systems (MIS) in its different functional areas. The study shows that SCB uses computer based MIS in every sphere of its management and operation. It continuously up-to-date its information systems installing real time technology to enhance its operational effectiveness as well as to meet the ever changing customer needs. The modem computer based management information system of SCB significantly contributes to its tremendous business performance ensuring real time ommunication in every step of its operation. As a result, SCB, a successful multinational bank operating in Bangladesh, countries to find new and better ways to put technology to its operation and customers’ best use. Moreover, it manages the business risks associated with its technology and investment properly. So the findings of the study can be a good lesson for the local banks and other financial institutions to adopt and manage the modem computer based management information systems. Shihab Uddin Khan wrote an article on security aspects of E-banking: Biometric Technology. He found that an appreciation of the factors that securities encompass is important to understand security for Electronic Banking and related applications. For example, take a simple illustration of Bank Vault, as most would consider a bank vault highly secure. It draws its security from number of factors. The vault is built of strong material and is located in a secure building that offers considerable physical security. Access to the vault is controlled by a sophisticated door and locking mechanism that would require special technical skills and expensive equipment and reasonable time to breach. The physical and technical characteristics of the vault mean that it would take considerable time and resources to breach it. Since both building and vault are protected through automated alarms, attempting to breach the vault carries significant risk of being caught. The likelihood of an attempt on vault is very low. Further, any deposits held in the bank are not actually in the vault so that even if a robbery occurs, there is no loss of the deposits. Thus, the vault has low expected loss. Despite all these factors, from time to time, a bank vault is breached, even then they are widely considered to be secure. Credit card is another such example as most consumers use credit cards and are reasonably comfortable in using these plastic cards. These are considered acceptably secured. The cards and card numbers contain some elements of technical and physical security and few cards contain a picture of the legitimate credit card holder and bear the holder’s signature. Credit card companies deploy sophisticated mechanisms such as analyzing spending patterns to detect fraud. While forging a single credit card may not require much of the organization’s resources, forging and using many cards which may generate a large loss require considerable resources. The credit card holder is protected from loss by laws which limit the holder’s financial obligation losses. Credit card fraud is widespread and a card issuer is certain to encounter fraud, even though the instance of fraud is low compared to the total number of transactions. From a user’s perspective, there are so many cards with widespread use that the likelihood of an individual encountering a problem is very small. Further, the lack of data and message security on the Internet has also become a serious problem due to the increasing number of merchants trying to spur commerce on the global network. For instance, credit card numbers in their plain text form, create a risk when transmitted across the Internet where the possibility of the number falling into the wrong hands is relatively high. Just the thought of â€Å"sniffer† programs which collect credit card numbers, en masse, is enough to keep merchants away from on-line shopping. In short, the lack of business transaction security is widely acknowledged as a major impediment to spread E-commerce. Historically, computer security was provided by the use of account passwords and limited physical access to a facility to bonafide users. As users began to dial in from their PCs and terminals at home, these measures are being considered insufficient. With the advent of remote users on inter-networks for conducting commercial transactions on mobile computers and through wireless technologies, simple password schemes are not sufficient to prevent attacks from sophisticated hackers. However, there are certain peculiarities to the issue of security. The first issue is that security is never absolute. The bank vault though can be breached but is still considered secured. The second peculiarity of security is that there is an economic trade-off among the cost of security, expectation of loss, and the cost of breaching security. From the perspective of an organization, a rupee spent on security is justified when it reduces the expected loss by more than a rupee. When security spending reaches the point where the cost of additional security exceeds the incremental loss reduction, then it offers no more value protection and security is considered adequate. From other perspective, security is adequate when the expected yield is less than the cost of breaching security. For rational asset holders and opponents, the notions are equivalent. The characteristics that define security are two viz. securities are never absolute and security adequacy is an economic decision.

Diseconomies of Scale, and the Law of Diminishing Return

Diseconomies of Scale, and the Law of Diminishing Return Compared to other markets, why do economists consider perfect competition to be the most efficient market structure? Perfect competition is the most efficient market structure because, in the long run, each firm in the market will be producing at its minimum average cost, or per-unit. This means that consumers get desired goods and services at the lowest possible prices, and also that the firms are economizing on societys scarce resources to the greatest extent possible. What is the difference between the concepts of diseconomies of scale, and the law of diminishing return? (4 marks) Law of diminishing return occurs in the short-run when one factor is fixed. If the variable factor of production is increased, there comes a point where it will become less productive and therefore there will eventually be a decreasing marginal and then average product. When long-run average total cost rises as output increases, there are said to be diseconomies of scale. a. Sally owns a ceiling fan company. Last year, she sold 1000 ceiling fans at $50 each, and each fan cost her $20. Before going into the ceiling fan business, she worked as a fan-dancer at $25,000 a year. She used her own money to buy the fans by withdrawing the money from her savings account where it was earning five percent annual interest. Calculate Sallys economic profit and her accounting profit. Should Sally continue with her ceiling fan business? Explain. (6 marks) If her economic profit is at least zero, Sally should stay in business. Her TR = $50,000 and her total accounting cost is $20,000, for an accounting profit of $30,000. She forgoes interest on savings of $20,000 (.05) = $1,000 as well as forgone earnings of $25,000. This leaves $4,000 in economic profit, so she should stay in business. Bob Edwards owns a bagel shop. Bob hires an economist who assesses the shape of the bagel shops average total cost (ATC) curve as a function of the number of bagels produced. The results indicate a U-shaped average total cost curve. Bobs economist explains that ATC is U-shaped for two reasons. The first reason is the existence of diminishing marginal product, which causes it to rise. What is the second reason? Explain your answer. Assume that the marginal cost curve is linear. (4 marks) Average fixed cost always declines as output rises because fixed cost is being spread over a larger number of units, thus causing the average total cost curve to fall. a. Provide two circumstances in which monopoly may offer efficiency advantages over competition. (4 marks) A monopolist might be better positioned to exploit economies of scale leasing to an equilibrium which gives a higher output and a lower price than under competitive conditions. As firms are able to earn abnormal profits in the long run there may be a faster rate of technological development that will reduce costs and produce better quality products for consumers. This is because the monopolist will invest profits into research and development to promote dynamic efficiency. Explain the practice of tying and discuss why it is controversial. (5 marks) Tying is the practice of bundling goods for sale. It is controversial because it is perceived as a tool for expanding the market power of firms by forcing consumers to purchase additional products. However, economists are skeptical that a buyers willingness to pay increases just because to products are bundled together. In other words, simply bundling two products together doesnt necessarily add any value. It is more accurately believed to be a form of price discrimination. Describe the source of tension between cooperation and self-interest in a market characterized by oligopoly. Use an example of an actual cartel arrangement to demonstrate why this tension creates instability in cartels. (5 marks) The source of the tension exists because total profits are maximized when oligopolists cooperate on price and quantity by operating as a monopolist. However, individual profits can be gained by individuals cheating on their cooperative agreement. This is why cooperative agreements among members of a cartel are inherently unstable. a. If the average total cost curve is falling, what is necessarily true of the marginal cost curve? If the average total cost curve is rising, what is necessarily true of the marginal cost curve? (5 marks) When average total cost curve is falling it is necessarily above the marginal cost curve. If the average total cost curve is rising, it is necessarily below the marginal cost curve. Describe the difference between average revenue and marginal revenue. Why are both of these revenue measures important to a profit-maximizing firm? (5 marks) Average revenue is total revenue divided by the amount of output. Marginal revenue is the change in total revenue from the sale of each additional unit of output. Marginal revenue is used to determine the profit-maximizing level of production and average revenue is used to help determine the level of profits. Describe the process by which the market for capital and the market for land reach equilibrium. As part of your description, elaborate on the role of the stock of the resource versus the flow of services from the resource. (6 marks) Equilibrium in the markets for land and capital are governed by the value of marginal product for these factors relative to their supply. One difference between these markets and the market for labor is the distinction between rental value (flow) and purchase price (stock). This difference is reconciled by noting that in efficient markets, the purchase price should reflect the value of the stream of services provided by the land or capital (or the sum of rental values appropriately discounted). a. List and explain two conditions necessary for firms to be able to successfully practice price discrimination. (2 marks) Differences in price elasticity of demand between markets: There must be a different price elasticity of demand from each group of consumers. The firm is then able to charge a higher price to the group with a more price inelastic demand and a relatively lower price to the group with a more elastic demand. By adopting such a strategy, the firm can increase its total revenue and profits. To profit maximize, the firm will seek to set marginal revenue = to marginal cost in each separate (segmented) market. Barriers to prevent consumers switching from one supplier to another: The firm must be able to prevent market seepage or consumer switching defined as a process whereby consumers who have purchased a good or service at a lower price are able to re-sell it to those consumers who would have normally paid the expensive price. This can be done in a number of ways, and is probably easier to achieve with the provision of a unique service such as a haircut rather than with the exchange of tangible goods. Seepage might be prevented by selling a product to consumers at unique and different points in time for example with the use of time specific airline tickets that cannot be resold under any circumstances. Explain how each of the following industries practices price discrimination: (6 marks) restaurant Restaurants sometimes have childrens menus. It can be profitable if adults who come to restaurants with children are, on the average, more sensitive to prices on menus than adults who come to restaurants without children. Children often do not value restaurant food and service, and often waste a large part of their food. Parents know this and do not want to pay a lot for their childs meal. If restaurants treat children like adults, the restaurants may lose customers as families switch to fast-food restaurants. If this explanation is correct, then restaurants price discriminate. airline Airlines charge different prices for seats on the same plane, depending on when the ticket was purchased, how long the traveler will be staying at the destination, etc. Of course, the cost of operating the plane is independent of these variables. Hairdresser A hairdresser may charge a lower price to children than to adults. The reason they do this is that they believe children to have a differing elasticity of demand to adults. In other words, the price needed to maximize revenue from children is not the same as the price needed to maximize revenue from adults. By charging different prices they will maximize revenue from both groups Calculate the total revenue without price discrimination as well as with price discrimination, and complete the table with your calculations. (4 marks) Price Qd TR TR (with perfect price discrimination) 30 0 22 10 220 220 14 16 224 304 10 24 240 464 7 38 266 562 Briefly describe the characteristics of each of the following market types. Give an example of each market type. (8 marks) pure competition The goods being offered for sale must all be the same. The buyers and sellers must be so numerous that no single buyer or seller influences the market price. Buyers and sellers are price takers. An example would be the wheat market. Monopoly A monopoly is a market in which there is only one seller and the seller sets the price of the product, given the demand curve for that product. An example would be a local cable television company. Oligopoly An oligopoly is a market in which there are only a few sellers, and the sellers do not always compete aggressively. An example would be airline routes. monopolistic competition Monopolistic competition is a market containing many sellers offering slightly different products. Because the products are not the same, sellers have some ability to set price. An example would be the software industry. Use the graph below to explain why a profit-maximizing monopolistically competitive firm must operate at excess capacity. Why is a perfectly competitive firm not subject to the same constraint? (6 marks) Competitive firms do not face downward-sloping demand. The graph shows the firm choosing a level of production in which the intersection of marginal revenue and marginal cost occurs at an output level where average total cost is decreasing. This profit-maximizing output level is less than the efficient scale (minimum of average total cost) and therefore the firm is said to be operating at excess capacity. If the monopolist depicted in the graph below sets a price of $10 and sells 100 units, the corresponding marginal revenue is $5 and marginal cost $3. What recommendation regarding price and quantity would you give this monopolist? Explain your answer. (6 marks) Since MR exceeds MC, recommend an increase in output. Greater sales will require a price reduction. So reduce P below $10 and increase Q above 100. The marketing division of a firm has measured demand for its product and reports that it is Q = 24 P, where Q is units and P is price per unit in dollars. The cost is given in the table below. Complete the table and determine the profit-maximizing level of output for this firm. (6 marks) As indicated in the table below, the optimal output is Q = 5, where MR = MC = 5.80. Output Total Cost Price Revenue Profit 0 10 24 0 -10 1 18 22 22 4 2 20 20 40 20 3 22 18 54 32 4 25 16 64 30 5 29 14 70 41 6 34 12 72 38 7 40 10 70 30 8 48 8 64 16 Define the following terms and explain their importance to the study of economics. (9 marks) barriers to entry Barriers to entry make it difficult or impossible for other firms to enter an industry, thus allowing monopoly to continue to exist. Some examples of barriers include legal restriction on entry, patents, control of scarce resources, large sunk costs, technical superiority, and economies of scale. Patent A patent is a government-granted legal monopoly given to the inventor of a new product or process. During the life of the patent, the firm has a protected monopoly position. Thus, it serves as a barrier to entry. natural monopoly A natural monopoly is an industry in which advantages of large-scale production make it possible for a single firm to produce the entire output of the market at lower average cost than a number of firms each producing a smaller quantity. Most natural monopolies are regulated utilities.