2.2 Assignment: Totaling Costs ? Getting Started Production and cost are the fundamental building blocks

2.2 Assignment: Totaling Costs

Getting Started

Production and cost are the fundamental building blocks on the supply side of the market. In this assignment you will learn how to calculate costs and construct cost schedules.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

• Describe the determinants of a firm’s output and costs in the long run.
• Use cost relationships to predict a firm’s profit-maximizing decisions.

Resources

• Textbook: Economics for Managers
• File: Ch05.ppt
• Media: Costs of Production

Background Information

In this assignment you will learn how to calculate costs and construct cost schedules for a small business.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read Chapter 5, “Production and Cost Analysis in the Short Run,” in Economics for Managers. As you read, think about what it costs you to do some basic task.
3. Download and review the Ch05.ppt PowerPoint file.
4. View the media: Costs of Production. This lecture presentation covers output and costs in the short run, deriving long-run average cost and firm profit maximization.
5. Assess data (in the table below) related to a small lawn mowing business.
   1. Angela hires students at $40 a day to mow lawns.
   2. Regardless of the number of students she hires, Angela leases five lawn mowers for $200 a day.
   3. The following table gives the daily output:
      Labor 
      (students per day)Total Product
      (lawns cut per day)0012024437049451146120
6. Write a one- to two-page paper that addresses the following. Be sure to show your calculations.
   1. Construct the average fixed cost, average variable cost, and average total cost schedules.
   2. Construct the marginal cost schedule.
   3. Check that the gap between total cost and total variable cost is the same at all output levels. Explain why this relationship is so important and demonstrate clear insightful and critical thinking.
7. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to our instructor by the end of the workshop.

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2.3 Discussion: Economies of Scale

Getting Started

You will examine production and cost issues in the long run, where all inputs in a production process are variable, using a case study.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

• Interpret a long-run production function in which all inputs can be varied and possibly substituted for each other.
• Explain how production and cost analysis is used in management decision making.

Resources

• Textbook: Economics for Managers
• Video: COVID-19

Background Information

This information and activity build on the short-run production and cost issues covered in the previous workshop.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Read Chapter 6 and review Chapter 5 in Economics for Managers. As you read, think about the goods and services that your organization produces and what their production costs might be.
3. Utilizing the following link, COVID-19, explain how COVID-19 procedures have inhibited firms’ achievement of economies of scale, essentially hastening the onset of diseconomies of scale. First, explain how attempts at dealing with COVID-19 have resulted in less demand for a cadre of services such as airline travel, restaurants, barber shops, salons, and theme parks. Focus on the notion of “less quantity of output” and how that would inhibit the achievement of economies of scale. Secondly, explain what firms like the above are doing trying to save their businesses as they deal with the pandemic. Are these attempts at saving their businesses being successful? What would it take to rebuild economies of scale and the associated benefits? Explain.
4. Your initial response should be 400 to 600 words in length and include two academic sources that are properly cited.  It is due by the end of the fourth day of the workshop.
5. Now conduct a critical analysis of a posting by two of your classmates by the end of the workshop.
   1. The topic of your discussion response should be your classmate’s posting and should be written as if you were reviewing his/her posting in an academic journal. Your discussion response should, therefore, answer the following questions as applicable:
      1. Were your classmate's arguments articulate and logical? Were the facts correct?
      2. Was the interpretation your classmate provided reasonable and consistent with experts in the field? Was your classmate consistent with both the substance and intent of his/her references?
   2. The focus for your critical analysis is not whether or not you agree with your classmate, but how well his/her position was presented. Each response should be at least 200 words in length and cite two academic sources.  Please strive to make your discussion responses ones that cause iron to sharpen iron.

https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/How-COVID-19-is-reversing-economies-of-scale?gko=84025

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2.4 Assignment: Turnitin-Market Structure Organization

Getting Started

In this assignment you will learn about market structures (the environments in which firms operate) and study the four different market structures.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

• Evaluate different market structures, including their similarities and differences.
• Categorize firms into the appropriate market structure.

Resources

• Textbook: Economics for Managers
• Media: Perfect Competition
• Media: Different Market Structures
• Media: John Deere
• Media: Chick-Fil-A
• Media: Duke Energy
• Media: Facebook
• File: Market Structure Table.docx

Background Information

A study of market structure integrates the demand and pricing materials with the production and cost issues from earlier workshops.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. In Economics for Managers, read:
   1. Chapter 7, pp. 170–178
   2. Chapter 8, pp. 196–210
   3. Chapter 9, pp. 230–237
3. Review the characteristics of the different market structures presented in Table 7.1 of Chapter 7 in Economics for Managers.
4. View the following media:
   1. Perfect Competition
   2. Different Market Structures
5. Below are four companies operating in the United States today. Using your knowledge of market structures, attempt to classify each of the companies as either perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, or monopoly. Provide rationale for each of your assessments and explain why you chose one particular market structure over another. Additional information is provided alongside each of the firms. Make sure you discuss the level of pricing power they exercise in the marketplace.
   1. John Deere
   2. Chick-Fil-A 
   3. Duke Energy – Cincinnati, Ohio Service Area 
   4. Facebook 
6. Download the Market Structure Table.docx file.
7. Using this file, evaluate each business:
   1. Fill in each box for all four firms. In the last row of the table, determine the market structure, or if it is a multi-divisional structure, the market structure for each of its major units for each of the four firms. Your answers should be thorough and demonstrate clear, insightful critical thinking.
   2. Immediately after the table, write a 400- to 600-word response that compares and contrasts the four firms. How are the firms the same and how do they differ? Provide a detailed response that shows clear, insightful thinking in your determination of the market structure of the firm.
8. Use proper spelling, grammar, and APA formatting. Cite at least two sources for each of the four firms.  These sources should be scholarly, peer-reviewed, or from a reputable periodical on business or the industry.
9. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to your instructor by the end of the workshop. (Turnitin enabled).

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2.1 Assignment: Reading and Remediation

Getting Started

Viewing the videos and practicing using the practice Excel file with its video can prepare you for the work needed on the research report for one data set.

In order to successfully complete this exercise, you should be able to:

• Review videos about statistics fundamentals.
• Practice with the Excel file provided.

Resources

• File: WS2Practice
• File: WS2Homework
• Video: Central Tendency and Variability
• Video: Z-Scores
• Video: Z-Scores and the Normal Curve
• Video: Histograms in Excel
• Video: Pie Charts using a summary table in Excel
• Video: Time Series
• Video: Pareto Chart
• Textbook: OpenIntro Statistics

Background Information

Providing background and descriptive statistics is like a literature review section of a dissertation. You review and communicate the central tendency and variation elements to the raw data. You present visual representations of the data to give meaning to the raw data.

Instructions

1. Watch the following Excel remediation videos:
   1. Histograms in Excel
   2. Pie Chart using a summary table in Excel
   3. Time Series
   4. Pareto Chart
2. An optional supplementary textbook is the OpenIntro Statistics, and you can read the concepts there.
3. Use the lab file WS2Practice to practice the Excel skills (includes an Excel hands-on video inside the spreadsheet as a link).
4. Use the file WS2Homework to demonstrate the Excel skills.
5. There are 60 points awarded for this exercise, 10 points for each problem.
6. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to your instructor by the end of the workshop.

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2.4 Assignment: Creating the Beginning Background Section

Getting Started

This week you will continue writing the background section for your research report and demonstrate your ability to create and interpret descriptive statistics (in tabular and graphical form) using the data from the data set you have chosen.

In order to successfully complete this assignment, you should be able to:

• Write the background section for one data set demonstrating your ability to create and interpret descriptive statistics (in tabular and graphical form) using the data from the data set you have chosen.

Resources

• Your most recent research report
• File: Research Report Patients

Background Information

This is one of the more detailed assignments in this course. You will write a background literature review, detailed statistics, and descriptive statistics in the form of tables and graphs for the data set. Normal distributions and probability can also be used as part of the descriptive statistics section, which the example report did not show. See videos and practice files for any remedial training on those topics.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Be sure to use your most recent version of your research report.
3. Study the Research Report Patients file.
4. Fill out the "Information and Literature Review" section of the Project Background including the literature review, descriptive statistics, and graphs associated with the data set chosen to write about. You are to demonstrate your ability to create and interpret descriptive statistics (in tabular and graphical form) using the data from the data set you have chosen.
5. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy of your report by the end of the workshop. Remember to keep the files since you will be adding to the research report throughout the course.

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2.5 Assignment: Ethical Considerations

Getting Started

Ethical statements and a biblical framework are important to add to your research report. Research reports must be reliable, reproducible, and valid.

In order to successfully complete this assignment, you should be able to:

• Apply a biblical perspective to the background section of one research report.

Resources

• Article: Virtuous Leaders & Organizations
• Your most recent Research Report

Background Information

Having sources to back up statements and raw data to back up statistics goes a long way to making your research believable and trusted. Doing a professional job on the background section sets up the analysis and summary sections of the report.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Be sure to use your most recent version of your research report.
3. Review the article Virtuous Leaders & Organizations from the Spring 2017 issue of The DeVoe Report to understand the virtuous business model.
4. Add two paragraphs to the research report just before the Descriptive Statistics section. It is marked with the heading Ethical Considerations from the Literature Review.
   1. One paragraph in the report should explain how the three sources required pertain to the research data set.
   2. One paragraph in the report should explain how the Virtuous Business Model can pertain to this research.
   3. Apply a biblical framework using Scripture references that match the research being done on the topic.
5. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy of your template by the end of the workshop. Remember to keep the files since you will be adding to the research report throughout the course.

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