Labor Markets
LABOUR MARKETS Introduction1 Our aim in this is to employ simple economic principles in an attempt to explain why different people earn different salaries. We'll discuss the human capital model, which emphasizes the importance of differences in personal characteristics. But our focus will be on why people with similar personal characteristics often earn sharply different incomes. Among the factors we will consider are labour unions, winner-take-all markets, discrimination, and the effect of nonwage conditions of employment. A labor force is the total number of employed and un-employed people in the economy. It is one of the important inputs used in production of a good or a service. It comprises of people's physical and mental talents and efforts. Wage and Salary Determination in Competitive Labour Markets2 Each specific category of labor has a demand curve and a supply curve. These curves intersect to determine both the equilibrium wage and the equilibrium quantity of employment for each category of labor. This equilibrium principle helps us to understand how wages will differ among workers with different levels of productive ability. For example, an increase in the demand for a specific category of labor will generally increase both the equilibrium wage and the equilibrium quantity of employment in that category. Similarly, an increase in the supply of labor to a given
The quality of the product that is being made is very important to a company what ever they are making.
The quality of the product that is being made is very important to a company what ever they are making. The quality of the product that is being made is very important to a company what ever they are making. The higher the quality if a product the more the company can charge for that product. If the company makes a low quality produced that is not very good people will not buy it, also if people can find a similar product at a lower price and higher quality they will buy that. When a business makes a product they must decide on the following things: · what is the lowest level of quality that is acceptable for the product? · who is responsible for the quality control · a method of quality control that will be used that dose not effect the cost to severally What is the BSI? The BSI (British Standards Insatiate) is responsible for setting standards that products must be made to. They set standards for very product that is made, this means that products are made to a high standard. When a product complies with the BSI standards it is given a kite mark, this tells the consumer that product meets their standards. Methods of quality control Methods of quality control Traditional TMQ (Total quality management) Description In this method of quality control, the quality is checked at the end of chain of production. In this method it left to one person to check the
Process control at Polaroid.
PROCESS CONTROL AT POLAROID (A) SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Project Greenlight: Polaroid's R2 factory at Waltham, Massachusetts manufactures integral film. Project Greenlight, an initiative to make quality control process more effective, has been introduced at the R2 building of Polaroid during the first six months of 1985. The Project aims to reduce quality-monitoring costs while maintaining or even improving upon the present level of product quality. The conceptualizers of the Project, George Murray and Joe O Leary, hoped to devise a method to make quality control process more effective, beyond merely reducing the number of samples taken. Project Greenlight had three key elements. * Statistical process control principles would be adopted: processes in control and capable of producing within specifications would produce more consistent quality. * Production operators would be given the process control tools that the process-engineering technicians had been using and, in conjunction with sampling, would be expected to make disposition decisions themselves. * Quality control auditors would concentrate on training operators and operationalizing specifications on new products. Project Greenlight is an effort to shift the film production plant from a traditional Quality Control inspection mentality to a worker based process control mentality. Responsibility for quality
Pest Report for M&S
.0 Terms of Reference In this report I am going to carry out a PEST analysis on a UK based business. The business I have to carry out the analysis on is Marks and Spencer. This report is due 10th March 2008. I will submit both a paper and electronic copy of my work. I have also included recommendations at the back of the assignment that I think Marks and Spencer could incorporate in to there business. I have used different procedures to carry out this PEST report on Marks and Spencer. Firstly I have used my own inside knowledge. As an employee of Marks and Spencer I have carried out extensive training about the organisation and the way it works. So some of the knowledge I gained from doing this I have included in the report. I have also gained some of my research from the Marks and Spencer website. (www.marksandspencer.com) from this site there is internal links to different parts of the website that contains useful information. These are listed in the bibliography at the back of the report. In a way you could also say I have visited the organisation by working there. I have also received information from the managers of Marks and Spencer. To help make some problems clear, I rung my boss and asked her to explain what these problems actually meant. (Books) 2.0 Findings Within 3.0 there is four different parts, listed 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. They are shown below. 3.1
Explore the characteristics of "natural monopoly", and by doing so, relate it to the comparison between competition and monopoly.
I. INTRODUCTION The intention of this paper is to explore the characteristics of "natural monopoly", and by doing so, this will then relate to the comparison between competition and monopoly. Since there are both pros and cons in monopoly and competition, in which situation will customers be better off? One of the major purposes of this paper is to better understand what natural monopoly is and how consumer welfare can be maximised. Before going into such detail, I think it makes sense to commence by briefly explaining what "economies of scale" is and how it brings about "natural monopoly". To be precise and concise, these occur when mass production of a good results in lower average cost. We shall see how it can be related to natural monopoly later in the content. Throughout this paper, I will derive my argument basing on several authors' publications, namely Estrin and Laidler, Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Miller. Journal of Economic Education will be reviewed for reference as well. II. ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND NATURAL MONOPOLY A) Economies of Scale The term "economies of scale" refers to a situation where the cost of producing a good or service decreases as the volume of production increases. The converse situation in which the cost of producing a good or service increases as the volume of production increases is known as diseconomies of scale. Economies of scale tend
Automobile Production and Ford.
Automobile Production and Ford Most people think of Henry Ford as the man who invented the automobile, but his influence on the American society and economy was far greater and will last for all time. Ford changed the face of the nation and set the stage for the entrepreneurs of today. He helped develop the infrastructure for automobiles, including roads and gas stations. He set a minimum wage for his workers. He shortened the workday and, most importantly, he created a successful assembly line for automobile mass production, eliminating the primitive hand-built process. He helped to create this nation's middle class and acted to allow the workingman to realize some dreams. Although Ford was an autocrat, he believed firmly in the "little guy." The automotive industry is one of great historical importance worldwide. On a global scale the combustible engine serves a number of purposes. Generating power from a combination of fuel, air and fire, the engine can power just about anything from the most powerful trucks to modest lawnmowers. The concept of the combustible engine has changed very minimally throughout history. The innovations have come in the forms of new materials, technological advances and processes by which these engines could run more efficiently. In today's automobiles the technical aspects are countless, the crank start ignitions of yesterday were
Identify and discuss the factors which influence consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Describe and assess the different possible consumer responses to dissatisfaction. How should organisations respond to complaints?
Identify and discuss the factors which influence consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Describe and assess the different possible consumer responses to dissatisfaction. How should organisations respond to complaints? Introduction To answer this question effectively I intend to split it into three separate sections. In the first section I will discuss the different factors which influence consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction (CS/D). Due to the restrictive word limit I will be basing my arguments mainly around the three main traditional theories of CS/D, Expectancy Disconfirmation, Equity Theory and Attribution Theory as well as more recent research into the factors affecting CS/D. In the second section I will discuss the three main responses to dissatisfaction; take no action, private action such as avoiding the brand in the future and public action such as complaining to the business. Finally in the third section I will discuss the most effective ways for organisations to respond to customer complaints, including amongst others such measures as establishing a establishing a free-call consumer complaint hotline. Factors which influence consumer satisfaction / dissatisfaction Consumer satisfaction / dissatisfaction (CS/D) refers to an emotional response to an evaluation of a product or service consumption experience (Wilke, 1990). Expectancy Disconfirmation
Factors affecting price elasticity of demand.
I. INTRODUCTION "Economics is the study of how people allocate their limited resources to satisfy their unlimited wants" (MILLER, R.L., 2000, p.5). In other words, it is all about studying how people make choice (ESTRIN, S., LAIDER, D., 1995, p.1). In making choices, consumers show their preferences which maximises the level of satisfaction. The indifference curve analysis is used to depict customer's preferences graphically. This paper is meant to distinguish inferior good from normal good by using indifference curve analysis as well as illustrating how price elasticity of demand is different between these two types of goods. There are several things that I would like you to pay special attention to. First, to simplify work, it is assumed that there are only two goods for the consumers to choose from, namely food and clothing, to create their own basket of goods and services (bundle). Second, I am only concerned with the "goods" but not the "bads". That is, in my analysis, I will treat all goods as desirable. Third, throughout the analysis, whenever indifference curve is in regard, I will measure food on the horizontal axis and clothing on the vertical axis. Lastly, not all the figures here are drawn to scale. II. INDIFFERENCE CURVE ANALYSIS A) Indifference Map Since a certain level of satisfaction is resulted from consuming goods and consumers have the
2. Discuss and Evaluate the Importance of Two Individual Determinants At Each Stage of the Consumption Process For Marketing Manager’s Understanding of Consumer Behaviour.
2. DISCUSS AND EVALUATE THE IMPORTANCE OF TWO INDIVIDUAL DETERMINANTS AT EACH STAGE OF THE CONSUMPTION PROCESS FOR MARKETING MANAGER'S UNDERSTANDING OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR. Consumer behaviour is a very important study from a number of different points of view. From the perspective of marketing, the study of consumer behaviour is important in helping to forecast and understand consumer demand for products as well as brand differences. It is an important topic for business marketing managers because achieving marketing objectives depends on knowing, serving, and influencing consumers. So the study of consumer behaviour is heavily stimulated by the needs of the marketing function since knowledge of consumer behaviour is essential for marketing management. As illustrated in the diagram below, the consumption process consists of five stages; orientation, purchase, brand choice and product use and disposal. (website:http://terra.uow.edu.au/mark/mark101/13.ppt ) It is generally agreed that a consumers' buyer behaviour is influenced by four major factors; cultural, social, personal and psychological factors (Wells & Prensky 1996: 217). These factors cause consumers to develop product and brand preferences. Even though consumer analysts can't look into the eyes of consumers, they can analyse variables such as personality, values, and psychographics to predict the effects of
Referring to a company of your choice, discuss why an understanding of consumer behaviour is fundamental to effective marketing and how this knowledge of consumer behaviour is used for marketing decisions".
COURSE TITLE: BSC (HONS) DEGREE IN BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY UNIT TITLE: INTRODUTION TO PRINCIPLE OF MARKETING ASSIGNMENT: 1 UNIT LEADEER: RANIS CHENG STUDENTS NAME: TINUKE OLADUNJOYE DANIEL ROBINSON KRISHNA PATEL AVNI PATEL ASSIGNMENT TOPIC: "Referring to a company of your choice, discuss why an understanding of consumer behaviour is fundamental to effective marketing and how this knowledge of consumer behaviour is used for marketing decisions". INDEX PAGE INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 3 HOW CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IS FUNDAMENTAL TO EFFECTIVE MARKETING 5 HOW CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IS USE FOR MARKETING DECISIONS 8 CONCLUSION 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11 INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR "The "official" definition of consumer behaviour is "The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society" (Lars Perner, Ph.D., San Diego State University Imperial Valley Campus) Wikipedia.org/ define consumer behaviour as the "study of how people buy, what they buy, and why they buy. It is a subcategory of marketing that blends elements from psychology, marketing, and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups". Another source