APPLIED MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS Research Questions Paper

APPLIED MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS Questions - Research Paper Example c) Mathematical formulae for production system of The Village Inn Y1 a11 a12 a13 a14 X1 Y2 = a21 a22 a23 a24 x X2 Y3 a31 a32 a33 a34 X3 X4 It could be assumed that, Y1 = buttermilk pancakes Y2 = Skillets Y3 = Crepes Thus, X1 = Milk, X2 = Butter, X3 = Wheat and X4 = Eggs Lastly, aij are the weights that are associated with each input for the production of each item and, their values range between 0 and 1; i, j = 1 ... 4 d) According to the Law of Diminishing Returns, the productivity of a factor with other factors remaining unchanged tends to diminish over time. In the above example, if any of the components are added in excess of the rest, they cannot help in producing an extra unit of output, so that increase in quantity only diminishes its productivity. Answer to Question 2 a) A department store generally deals with a large number of items under a single roof and simultaneously has to employ a large number of salespersons. In this case, productivity of each employee implies the add itional number of commodities that the person is able to sale over time. In order to calculate the average productivity per employee thus, it is necessary to calculate the gross sales that the company made and divide it with the total number of transactions. b) Technical efficiency implies the efficiency with which inputs could be converted into output. Normally, the greater the volume of output that could be created with a given volume of input, higher is the efficiency of the concerned firm. In retail stores, this could be implies by the speed with which the sales are taking place. An ideal method to measure the same could be through estimating the number of days that a commodity stays in the inventory shelf. If the number of days is found to be higher than the average, technical efficiency of the company might be regarded as falling and vice-versa. Moreover, greater the technical efficiency is, lower is the per unit production cost incurred and greater is the profit generated. c) Economic efficiency is the extent to which the retail store can compromise their shelf space occupied by one commodity with that of another. In order to optimise the same, it is very important for them to be informed about the commodities which are highly demanded compared to those which are not. In case that they are able to make the substitution successfully, i.e., there is Pareto Optimality, the average cost of the company falls and its profit rises. Answer to Question 3 In the present case, the retired couple have to capture a part of the market that is largely served by the nearby chain restaurant. However, the difference between the two is that while the couple plans to establish a lunch-only restaurant, the nearby chain is a full-fledged one. Thus, the strategy that they must be adopting should be that like an oligopolistic market, where their strategies should be highly dependent upon the ones being adopted by the existing players of the industry. Four economic factors that they need to consider while determining their pricing strategy are – Firstly, the market is characterised by another major player who is already experiencing the advantage of being a first mover. Generally, in an oligopolistic