Week Two Team Reflection Louis Blackshear, LaQthia Cooks, Jennifer DeWitt, Lisa Mariella, Tharthur Myers Economics ECO/561 Version 7 Ron Merchant September 10, 2012 Week Two Team Reflection Simplicity is achieved and true knowledge of business practices are obtained through the rigors of understanding terms and concepts such as: production levels, cost maximization, fixed and variable costs, opportunity costs, revenue and total costs curves, etc. These terms not only provide a basis for business operation, they also provide a competitive edge for the determined entrepreneur who seeks to understand the anatomy of business and its language. In hindsight, week two discussed many of the terms above and allowed team …show more content…
Lisa noted that when both curves were straightened to make a line, the point at which both lines intersected was the breakeven point. Everything above this intersection represents the profit margin. Business managers can use this quick analysis to make educated economic decisions. Sunk Cost The Sunk Cost video required significant thought as far as understanding the concept of realizing loss in a project or an endeavor. It demonstrated that once one has made a decision to pursue a project that doesn’t yield the desired outcome, it is not beneficial to waste time sulking about the loss but rather, one should move on to one that is more likely to be successful at achieving the desired results. Team “B” members stated that often emotional attachment is tied to a specific endeavor and sometimes becomes the driving force behind the commitment to see things through. However, LaQthia provided an anecdote from a previous place of employment where she demonstrated that sunk cost actually diminishes profits and that it’s better to move forward with better choices rather than seeing a sunk cost through to completion. Production Possibilities Production possibilities are very important to consider. Jennifer struggled with one of the critical business pieces of understanding that the production possibility curve displays the tradeoffs a company would need to
One of the critical lessons I’ve learned in life, and it extends beyond the workplace, is the importance of knowing the fundamentals. This may seem old-fashioned or trite in the days of instant on-line information, but mastery of the fundamentals will always make getting the desired results easier. This is especially true in business; business fundamentals serve as the foundation for all business pathways. Every business requires the mastery of four basic, yet important, concepts to function and compete: capital, marketing, leadership, and people. In the world of business, these fundamentals are configured and reconfigured over and over again to satisfy the goals of successful organizations.
Because time is saved and used efficiently as much as possible, there is also the considerable savings on costs. It should be noted that costs incurred in any business organization come from the operations of the business, maintenance, and most of all, the production of the products and service. Hence, when all of these are
The stages that teams normally go through range from forming to disbanding. the stages cannot always be clearly identified: this is likely to be the case if a team operates for a few days or if a team has changes in its membership. In the first case, there may be little ‘storming’ and in the latter there may be a considerable amount of it.
In this written assignment, I am going to explain the difference between implicit and explicit costs. Also, I will provide two examples of when an explicit cost is different from an implicit cost. In addition, I will explain the difference between accounting and economic profit and provide two examples of when they differ.Finally, I will explain the difference between economies and diseconomies of scale and provide examples of when an actual firm might benefit from economies of scale or be harmed by diseconomies of scale.
The article, “How self-justification indirectly drives escalation of commitment - a motivational perspective”, examines different influences on decision-making. It demonstrates that people possess the need for self-justification and that self-justification drives the escalation of commitment. Steinkuhler, Mahlendorf, & Brettel (2014) argue that the escalation of commitment phenomenon results from indirect cognitive processes such as selective perception sunk cost, and over-optimism ( p.66). The article also details various studies conducted to validate findings on how cognitive processes further propel the escalation of commitment effect. This paper summarizes the Steinkuhler, Mahlendorf, & Brettel findings. It also provides a more detailed example of how a major product launch from Mattel ended in failure in part because of selective perception.
Management should have established priority goals, focused on the critical processes, and trimmed the costs associated with those processes. In essence, organizations must understand the critical activities that drive costs in order to trim those costs. Preferably, the Division should have identified two or three of the absolutely critical process areas, identified two or three drivers for those areas, and focused solely on those drivers initially. Such a prioritization would have achieved better focus on driving down cost elements such as labor, material, and overhead, thus allowing for more efficient and effective modification of product cost structures that
For business enterprises and entrepreneurs, the first major challenge is usually that of developing and establishing a successful new venture. However, the ability of these entrepreneurs to establish a new venture is dependent on some basic necessary skills. These skills include the ability to identify a market need and the capability to develop a product and/or service that could satisfy the need. When the entrepreneurs successfully conduct these essential things, the business enterprise is likely to experience rapid growth. Notably, the success of the business enterprises usually creates the next set of challenges and problems to survival of the business venture. However, for a business venture to continue surviving and be successful in its operations there is need to continually plan for the long-term success of the business enterprise.
Implementation: The costs of the recent changes have been internalized but additional cost in financing might be needed to stay with the current business configuration. Also, opportunity costs of funds taken away to build up inventory levels might accumulate in the future and opportunity costs
In today’s modern world of businesses and corporations, there is a common goal shared throughout every industry: increase profits. With increases in technology and developing methods, businesses have come far lengths in increasing their profits, or operating income. Controlling costs is the key to a successful operation. Executives and managerial departments are using what they know about costs to create business strategies. By gathering information on market demand and combining it with a marketing strategy that focuses on higher margin products, companies are able to continue and increase profits and survive.
When creating a business model there are ample decisions and choices to make and consider. Those decisions directly correlate to how successful the business can become as well as the effectiveness of the company 's growth. Bad business models can destroy a company and damage its reputation. As consumers, we see this frequently with the weekly closings. Some as brutal as the destruction of Enron, and other company breakdowns as simple as the monthly closings of JCPenney 's which has led to 2,250 layoffs. So consequently, you can observe and benefit from the use of efficient business plans or view and examine the damage and destruction done by inefficient business plans. Through thorough research, we will examine two methods that can help a company achieve a proficient business plan. The use of process selection, and the choices made when implementing your facility layout can directly contribute to the success rate of your business.
Through using SimVenture for the past 7 weeks I have gained an insight into the mind of an entrepreneur. Before playing this game I had never experienced any sort of business whether in real life or in a game-like situation. This game takes you through a variety of scenarios that occur in an everyday business world including finance, organisation and marketing. Depending on the scenario the computer business would be at different stages in their life. We would go into each scenario with tasks and targets to meet using the information we had been taught in the lecture. From setting up a business in SimVenture I have found the three most important lessons to be; the importance of organisation in a business and understanding individual’s strengths and weaknesses, the significance of operations within a business and lastly how essential finance is when creating and running a business. Throughout this reflective summary I will analyse the significance of these lessons and the silks I have learnt. In addition I will describe how they have helped me strengthen my knowledge which will help me in my future.
There are many different and liable responses to this question. Many argue against the notion of teamwork in today's corporations. Others argue that top management alone should control every aspect of operations. While few argue that lower level employees should solely be responsible for decision making within their groups. Throughout this paper I am going to express the opinions of different CEOs and corporate leaders. Finally, I will express my own opinions about the positive and negative aspects of teamwork.
Companies that are just starting out come from nowhere and overtake companies that have been in existence easily because the new company enjoys a cost advantage because it has a better way of managing costs from the procurement of materials down to the delivery of produced goods to the customer. Competition and unpredictable economic situations are causing the need for better cost management and reduction to be the top concern for company managers. Cost and profit in business are a major part of what determines a company’s financial position and the ability of it to remain a going concern. To be profitable companies must not only earn revenues, but also control costs. If the costs are too high, profit margin will be low making it difficult for a company to succeed against its competitors. Since management is concerned with profitability, which measures business performance, especially in a manufacturing company, the need for higher sales will arise and this will bring about the need to increase production capacity, which in turn increases in cost. Brumbaug (2008) was of the opinion that corporate bodies should watch the cost and the profit will take care of itself. This means that cost should be controlled rather than trying to use cost reduction methods that may also lead to the reduction in the quality of the product. Cost control is an essential aspect in every organization and if neglected will negatively
- to get a quick insight into the buildup of costs and the relationships with profits: Return on Investment (ROI)