ECON 352: FINAL ESSAYS: DUE BY DECEMBER 05, 2017, 5: SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: FOLLOW STRICTLY - DO NOT USE FILE SHARE OR CANVAS- ATTACH WORD DOCS...

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ECON 352: FINAL ESSAYS: DUE BY

DECEMBER 05, 2017, 5:30 P.M.

(Required Readings - check your CANVAS

module identified by assignment date; you

may wish to browse through a few

optional

readings).

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

FOLLOW STRICTLY

-

DO NOT USE

FILE SHARE

OR

CANVAS

- ATTACH

WORD DOCS

USING YOUR

UNIVERSITY MAIL AND MINE-COPY

YOUR 2 ESSAYS INTO THE BODY O

THE MAIL AFTER ATTACHING

THEM ()

Subject Line OF E-MAIL: Last Name-First

Name-Last 4 Digits of ID-Econ 352-TWO

FINAL ESSAYS

PLEASE READ THE MOTIVATION FOR

THESE ESSAYS AT THE END OF THE

ASSIGNMENT*

ESSAY 1:

30-Point Essay (1000-1200

words- NO QUOTES):

Header: BUSINESS

STRATEGY: FOCUS: COSTS, FIRM AND

MARKET STRUCTURE

(a)

Sub-HEADER: SUSTAINABLE

DOMINANCE

: Review "All Strategy

is Local" and

Discuss

the

Varieties

of Competitive Advantage

with a

focus on

Sustainable Competitive

Advantage

and

Sustainable

Dominance

, as illustrated in the

retail sector by Wal-Mart.

(b)

Sub-HEADER: MARKET POWER in

RETAIL:

Now read "Amazon vs. Wal-

Mart" and discuss the reasons

behind Amazon's rise.

(c)

Sub-HEADER: OPINION

: Finally, at

the end of the essay, discuss what

YOU THINK OF THE POSSIBILITY of

maintaining sustainable dominance

in the future retail markets.

ESSAY 2:

20-Point Essay (500-800

words):

Header: MANAGERIAL

DECISION MAKING: FOCUS ON RISK

AND RATIONALITY

:

(a)

Sub-HEADER: CHOICE and

RATIONALITY

: The behavioral

economist Robert Frank speaks of

the bounded nature of rationality in

his 2008 interview (

Challenge

2008)

and discusses the

axiom of the

independence of irrelevant

alternatives

in rational choice theory.

Using the examples he uses, discuss

this topic in your own words.

(b)

Sub-HEADER: PROBABILITY and

RISK:

Discuss Daniel Kahneman's

Mckinsey interview, and the message

he delivers in regards to the risk

involved in using inside information

(one of the persistent problems in

decision theory - with numerous

recent examples, including the

Financial Crash of 2008).

(c)

Sub-

HEADER: OPINION

: What do

you think of the property of

transitivity in choice theory (Chapter

5) and methodologies of risk

assessment (Chapter 15) in the

context of these readings. How can

we improve the ways we assess risk,

or think about choices we make?

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: FOLLOW

STRICTLY -

DO NOT USE FILE SHARE

OR

CANVAS

- ATTACH SINGLE

WORD

DOCUMENT

USING YOUR UNIVERSITY

MAIL AND MINE-COPY YOUR 2 ESSAYS

INTO THE BODY O THE MAIL AFTER

ATTACHING THEM.

Subject Line OF E-MAIL: Last Name-First

Name-Last 4 Digits of ID-Econ 352-TWO

FINAL ESSAYS

CITATION AND STYLE

Citation: Quotes ought to be limited.

However, if you must use them in Essay 2-

(please limit) they must be sourced in the

following fashion.

<example:

"Swiss private insurers are required to offer

coverage to all citizens, regardless of age or

medical history. And those people, in turn, are

obligated to buy health insurance." (AUTHOR

LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, NAME OF

ARTICLE IN ITALICS

, DATE, IF

AVAILABLE

).>

Style: Double spaced, with headers (there

are 3 for each essay). Any standard style

such as APA, Chicago etc. will work.

*MOTIVATION

INTRODUCTION TO FINAL WRITING

ASSIGNMENTS

ESSAY 1:

This exercise, focuses the students

attention on the 'REAL WORLD.' Amazon has a huge

presence in the State of Washington and ties the

state's economy to the world, as does many other

multinational companies that call greater Seattle

their home. Over the past 20 years in particular,

Globalization and Technology have transformed the

economy of Washington State, and it is imperative to

engage with that reality in an applied course such as

this by applying the concepts learned in class (Sunk

and Fixed Costs (Ch. 8, 9), Economies of Scale (Ch. 9),

Cross-Price Elasticity and Market Power (Ch. 10, 12),

to the firms and sectors prospective managers and

employees may be working in.

ESSAY 2:

You must have discovered by now, that

the entire structure of the text is predicated on

assumptions about

human rationality

. These

assumptions are particularly important for the

development of the concepts related to Chapter 3

(Optimization and the Methodology (Marginal

Analysis, with a focus on Costs and Benefits, that is

used to arrive at

Decision Rules, which are important

for efficient management, or managerial economics

)

and all that follows after that.

The notions of rationality (introduced in Chapter 5) is

common to most Managerial Economics texts used

for instruction at this level, and intertwines with the

concepts of mathematical expectations (Chapter 15).

These notions are critical for the development of

models of behavior and business strategy, and are

used extensively in the Managerial Economics

literature.

Due to the sheer fact that we are living through a

time of unforeseen (by most) and prolonged

economic crisis (since 2008) it is important to study

the text critically and the reading, discussion and

writing opportunity is designed to do just that.