Maximizing Profits in Market Structures free essay sample

Profits in Market Structures Market Structures are described as a particular relationship between the buyers and the sellers of goods and services in a specific market (Mathias, 2000). Three different types of market structures are competitive markets, monopolies, and oligopolies. Each of these market structures has a particular set of characteristics that identify it and separate it from the others. These categories are also separated by the way they each use pricing and output to calculate and maximize their profits. We will write a custom essay sample on Maximizing Profits in Market Structures or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another difference between these three categories is the presence of barriers, which may be present to encourage current companies to exit, as well as new comers to enter that market. Also, each of these three structures has a different effect on the economy, some having more control on the market than others. With all these differences the specific market structures all have one thing in common, they all rely on supply and demand to determine how to maximize their profits. Competitive markets have two primary characteristics that separate it from other market structures. The first characteristic is that, within a competitive market, there are a large number of buyers and sellers. Second is that the product being sold is the same among all companies, making the products completely interchangeable. These factors make the market competitive by insuring that no single buyer or seller can control the market price. Therefore, in order for companies within a competitive market to maximize profits, they must maintain an equilibrium between the price charged for a product and quantity that they produce. This means that a company must take the price being charged for a product and subtract the cost of making the product to figure out where they are equal. As the price of a product in a competitive market is controlled by the market as a whole, the seller must adjust its output to maintain maximum profits. This is important because the company’s revenue is in direct correlation with the price, so if the price goes up $1. 00 per unit then the revenue also will go up the same amount. For example, if a product has a fixed cost of $1. 0, and the variable cost of $3. 00 and the product sells for $5. 00 then the company has to adjust its output to balance that amount, so that it does not cost over $5. 00 for each product sold. One factor that can affect the output of a product, is the lack of barriers that are present for anyone wanting to begin or exit a company. If the amount of sellers change but the demand does not then current companies will need to decrease the output or risk the price dropping below the profitable levels. The competitive markets can have a positive impact on the economy because the competition helps control the cost of products. If there was little or no competition, then companies would have the ability to raise prices as high as they wanted to, especially in the case of items that are necessities (Mankiw, 2007). The characteristics of a monopoly are first, that there is only one company selling a product and there are no substitutions. Second, there is no competition, the product is exclusive to one company. Third, in a monopoly the company completely controls the pricing of its products and can charge as much as they believe a customer will pay (Mathias, 2000). In contrast to a competitive market, a monopoly can chose what to charge for its product. However, the price must be set according to what consumers are willing to pay, while still maintaining a profitable level of production. It is important to control the output of product so, the price must be set to where the company will still be able to sell a large amount of product while maximizing its profits . There are substantial barriers to entering a market that has a monopoly. One barrier is the inability to compete in the market that is controlled by one company. A small business starting out in completion with a large monopoly would incur substantial costs to begin production and they would have to increase their prices to make a profit. This could also be a problem if the monopoly holds the rights to the raw materials that it takes to make a product. Therefore, entering a market that is controlled by a monopoly is very difficult. However, it is possible for a market to be controlled by a small number of companies, similar to the way that a monopoly controls a market. The economic impact that monopolies have can be outrageous prices or limited availability of goods and services to many people (Mankiw, 2007). An Oligopoly is when a limited number of companies control a specific market, with little competition (Mathias, 2000). Some characteristics of an oligopoly are that the companies all make the same or similar items, so they are substitutable, and there are only a few companies that produce this good. As there are a limited amount of producers these oligopolies are also able to set the price of their goods, using things like advertisements and warranties for competition between businesses. Because there are only a few companies making a product the members of an oligopoly have to control the production of their goods in order to control the pricing. If one of the companies decides to increase production then there will be an abundance of supply without the necessary increase in demand. This means that the cost of the product will have to go down to try to increase demand. These companies have to maintain a steady level of output in order to maintain price, giving them the best profits. The companies that are in this small circle of businesses, try very hard to erect barriers in front of anyone who may think about entering their market. By stopping the emergence of new companies the oligopolies can continue to control the market. The affect that oligopolies have on the economy is the ability to control pricing and supply of products, similar to the impact that a monopoly has (Mankiw, 2007). In conclusion, each market structure plays a role in the economy with the focus of these companies centering on profits. They monopoly can be beneficial if the lowest price for consumers comes from having only on producer but in many cases a monopoly means high prices and limited supply. An oligopoly does have less control over pricing only because they are sharing the demand and antitrust laws prevent them from gathering together as one monopoly, to maximize profit. The competitive market is the most economically friendly market because it has to compete to get customers and this helps keep prices affordable and does not limit the availability of goods to the public.

Artificial Intelligence Essays - Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence Essays - Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence Recently, the media has spent an increasing amount of broadcast time on new technology. The focus of high-tech media has been aimed at the flurry of advances concerning artificial intelligence (AI). What is artificial intelligence and what is the media talking about? Are these technologies beneficial to our society or mere novelties among business and marketing professionals? Medical facilities, police departments, and manufacturing plants have all been changed by AI but how? These questions and many others are the concern of the general public brought about by the lack of education concerning rapidly advancing computer technology. Artificial intelligence is defined as the ability of a machine to think for itself. Scientists and theorists continue to debate if computers will actually be able to think for themselves at one point (Patterson 7). The generally accepted theory is that computers do and will think more in the future. AI has grown rapidly in the last ten years chiefly because of the advances in computer architecture. The term artificial intelligence was actually coined in 1956 by a group of scientists having their first meeting on the topic (Patterson 6). Early attempts at AI were neural networks modeled after the ones in the human brain. Success was minimal at best because of the lack of computer technology needed to calculate such large equations. AI is achieved using a number of different methods. The more popular implementations comprise neural networks, chaos engineering, fuzzy logic, knowledge based systems, and expert systems. Using any one of the aforementioned design structures requires a specialized computer system. For example, Anderson Consulting applies a knowledge based system to commercial loan officers using multimedia (Hedburg 121). Their system requires a fast IBM desktop computer. Other systems may require even more horsepower using exotic computers or workstations. Even more exotic is the software that is used. Since there are very few applications that are pre-written using AI, each company has to write it's own software for the solution to the problem. An easier way around this obstacle is to design an add-on. The company FuziWare makes several applications that act as an addition to a larger application. FuziCalc, FuziQuote, FuziCell, FuziChoice, and FuziCost are all products that are used as management decision support systems for other off-the shelf applications (Barron 111). In order to tell that AI is present we must be able to measure the intelligence being used. For a relative scale of reference, large supercomputers can only create a brain the size of a fly (Butler and Caudill 5). It is surprising what a computer can do with that intelligence once it has been put to work. Almost any scientific, business, or financial profession can benefit greatly from AI. The ability of the computer to analyze variables provides a great advantage to these fields. There are many ways that AI can be used to solve a problem. Virtually all of these methods require special hardware and software to use them. Unfortunately, that makes AI systems expensive. Consulting firms, companies that design computing solutions for their clients, have offset that cost with the quality of the system. Many new AI systems now give a special edge that is needed to beat the competition. Created by Lotfi Zadeh almost thirty years ago, fuzzy logic is a mathematical system that deals with imprecise descriptions, such as new, nice, or large (Schmuller 14). This concept was also inspired from biological roots. The inherent vagueness in everyday life motivates fuzzy logic systems (Schmuller 8). In contrast to the usual yes and no answers, this type of system can distinguish the shades in-between. In Los Angeles a fuzzy logic system is used to analyze input from several cameras located at different intersections (Barron 114). This system provides a smart light that can decide whether a traffic light should be changed more often or remain green longer. In order for these smart lights to work the system assigns a value to an input and analyzes all the inputs at once. Those inputs that have the highest value get the highest amount of attention. For example, here is how a fuzzy logic system might evaluate water temperature. If the water is cold, it assigns a value of zero. If it is hot the system will assign the value of one. But if the next sample is lukewarm it has the capability to decide upon a value of 0.6 (Schmuller 14). The varying degrees of warmness or coldness are shown through the values assigned to it.

Three Reasons Companies Move Jobs Either to or from the USA Assignment

Three Reasons Companies Move Jobs Either to or from the USA - Assignment Example The USA, being the world’s biggest economy, does not operate in isolation and effectively companies have moved jobs out and into the country. Conversely, there are different reasons for companies to move jobs out and into the country. While the key reasons for companies moving jobs out of the USA range from labor arbitrage and avoidance bureaucratic regulations, companies moving jobs into the country cite high inflation on wages as the main reason of moving their plants and operations back to the country. This expose therefore elucidates three reasons companies move jobs either from or to the USA. One of the reasons that companies move their jobs overseas, especially the manufacturing processes, is to take advantage of lower wages abroad especially in poor countries. Labor arbitrage is the process of taking advantage of lower wages in any type of business operation (â€Å"Moving back to America†). China is one of the countries that offer cheap labor and essentially companies from the USA move their manufacturing plants to the country in order to lower the cost of production and improve their profit margins. A study conducted in 2002 to determine the manufacturing industry’s compensation of workers in China, showed that factories in China labor compensated their employees 64 cents an hour. In comparison, the same study found out that a similar compensation in the USA job market stood at $21.11. In this case, companies with manufacturing plants in the USA would want to take advantage of the low labor wages in China and in other countries offering cheap labor. It is crucial to note that companies expect to have a high return on investment (ROI). In effect, one way to ensure that they achieved this objective is through a reduction in the cost of operation. Therefore, cheap labor ensured that the cost of operation remained low and therefore companies achieved the objective of having a high return on investment. However, the USA job market does not offer cheap labor, as most companies would like. While the study only covered the hourly-wages only, a further study with scanty data available in China indicated that this figure of 64 cents rose to $1.06 when considering other benefits and insurance (â€Å"Just How Cheap is Chinese Labor?†). This figure is still relatively low in comparison to the USA labor and explained company’s preference for the Chinese labor marke t. Labor arbitrage might be the main reason that American based companies cut their workforce in the country in order to expand abroad in the 2000s. In this regard, the Chinese job market witnessed 260% additional jobs by America based companies that translated into 943,900 jobs since 1999 to 2009 (Wessel). In this case, it is imperative to point out that cheap labor might be the key reason that attracted these multinationals to the Chinese job market. To prove this point, these US based multinationals decreased their job levels in Germany by 2% while jobs in the UK and France labor markets increased by 8% and 2% respectively (Wessel). It is crucial to note that, the same study that showed the average labor wages for china as $1.03 showed that he same wages paid to a factory worker in these three countries averaged $14.22 (â€Å"Just How Cheap Is Chinese Labor Market?†). The availability of cheap labor is not the only reason that makes USA based

A Review of Immidration Policy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Review of Immidration Policy - Research Paper Example America is affected by immigration and is the state with the largest number of immigrants. The government is working in outlining guiding principles that will control the immigration in the country. Immigration has both negatively and positively affected the country. America’s immigration policies are created to control the number of individuals coming in and out of the country. Immigration Preemption, Federal Plenary Power, Employer sanctions on Immigration and E-Verify are four subjects that highlight immigration policy in America. Immigration Preemption The problems regarding America’s immigration policy engage in criminalizing of immigration laws to dispirit the illegal passage of the boundary without the states permission. Immigrants in America that are unlawfully staying will face judgment for unlawfully existing in the country. The creation of the acts and laws are to discourage the individuals who are not documented and to stay in the country. It is predicted th at few states and local immigration policies will be preempted by INA. The state governments are allowed to determine whether a person is lawfully or unlawfully allowed in the country by the second provision of SB 1070. Exclusionary immigration laws were difficult to find the unlawful settler in America. Arizona laws use state and local officials such as local police administrator to search and hunt down the illegal immigrants. The state laws are using discriminatory way of making laws aim at the immigrants crossing the border. The conflict between the federal and state law is because of the effectiveness it has in regulating the undocumented settler. The state and localities are given the ability to suspend and arrest employers that employ the immigrant workers. The increasing problem that exists between the federal and state laws is because of nationalization clause and states. Laws that interfere and conflict with the federal immigration regulations and policies are under preempt ion doctrine. Hence, the challenges facing the two authoritative groups are caused on the effectiveness it has in controlling the illegal immigration. The constitution does not go into detail in distinguishing the federal and state laws in defining the laws. Immigration in America has raised many debates that concern the security and populace of the country (McKanders, 2011). State law that interferes with the constitution is not imposed in regulating illegal migration in the country. Federal law is capable to preempt the state law when it is necessary by the following steps; through obscuring clash preemption, articulating preemption, and obscuring turf preemption. Federal immigration and state laws find it difficult in defining the immigrant’s employment. The state of law has the responsibility in ruling the housing and service for the aliens. The government and the constitution explain and try to solve the conflicts between the federal and state laws. There are policies th at are formed to guide immigration of people across the border in America. The problems faced by the state, and the immigrants are watched out and solved by the federal. State laws are faced with the threat of being preempt. Immigration emphasizes also in overturning the state and federal laws. The congress was not allowed to replace and remove the state law from issuing out guidelines for immigrants in the city. Federal Plenary Power Federal law has matured from a foreign policy into

Case study on BMP DDB advertising company Essay

Case study on BMP DDB advertising company - Essay Example e consumers throughout the day, allows the researcher to identify why an individual's habits may vary according to unsystematic factors such as their mood, the time of day, and the weather. It critically shows the peculiarity in the customers’ behaviour that market researchers are desperately searching. For instance, a customer’s store purchase data may reveal that they buy foodstuffs, but cannot tell the combinations of the stuff the customer eats (Agbonifoh, 2002:97-116). The company’s first marketing research put ethnographic research into prospective. This approach was tested with a family group. The results obtained were then compared with more traditional approaches of profiling buyers. It was then established that the outcomes of the research revealed something about the buying behaviour of the family, using their lifestyle and buying patterns. The outstanding concern that the research needed to answer was whether this behaviour bore any authenticity (Bake r and Bass, 2003:90-210). The amount of data gathered by the researcher regarding the family’s behaviour, within the research period, depicted a lot about the family. However, the recorded information about the family, although exhaustive and often precise, did not completely capture the habits and information that comprise the personality of the family. The research identified that the family held high value of money than the average people. On the contrary, though the data on family properly suggested that they enjoy lavish goods like high-quality foods and foreign holidays, it could not reveal any presence of life factors that influenced their purchasing decisions. Moreover, the information about the family clearly showed that though the family liked quality foodstuffs, they diverse their purchases... This essay "Case study on BMP DDB advertising company" outlines the research of the consumers' behavior which was conducted by the BMP DDB advertising company. The amount of data gathered by the researcher regarding the family’s behaviour, within the research period, depicted a lot about the family. However, the recorded information about the family, although exhaustive and often precise, did not completely capture the habits and information that comprise the personality of the family. The research identified that the family held high value of money than the average people. On the contrary, though the data on family properly suggested that they enjoy lavish goods like high-quality foods and foreign holidays, it could not reveal any presence of life factors that influenced their purchasing decisions. Moreover, the information about the family clearly showed that though the family liked quality foodstuffs, they diverse their purchases between superstores and local discount shops (Baker and Bass, 2003:90-210). This suggested that the family also went shopping for products whose prices were discounted and cheaper. The family was able to show the researcher one of the products brought from the discount store. The family explained the reasons for such option, and the cost that could be incurred had they shopped from the supermarket. The family was able prided on their ability to hunt down bargains, and sometimes went shopping for luxurious goods when their financial muscle was adequate (Baker and Bass, 2003:90-210).

Digital Forensic Methodology and Strategy

Digital Forensic Methodology and Strategy Introduction Digital forensic can be described as the cyber security mostly used to secure to identify, preserve, analyze and present digital data evidence in the manner it will be legally accepted   in any legal process. Digital forensic is mostly applied in recovering that involves investigation of materials on a digital media platform and network. (Britz, 2013 ) This forensic uses the method of scientific research  Ã‚   where the evidence is mostly grounded on the fields of forensic science. The certification of the forensic science requires a code of conduct of neutral and decent approaches to examinations.   This digital forensic has a good history since it was discovered by the original people who saw the need to protect the data in any digital gadget. It is estimated to be over 40 years old with the first gadget making the first show up around 1970. This was due to a demand made by the community to the court of law. The first claim was about finance which was done using a computer. The hackers used the computer to steal money hence there was a need to come up with a strategy.   The hacking does not only involve stealing but also getting access of the information from a computer without the authority from the owner. In 1980s, training courses for digital forensic were developed aimed at equipping the learner with the knowledge of forensics. Organizations such as Certified Fraud Examiners, High Technology Crime Investigational Associations (HTCIA) among other digital forensic companies were formed to deal with those frauds. (Britz, Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, 2010) Currently, there are so many courses in the universities to offer degrees in the fields such as computer forensics and also digital investigations. In those early days, forensic tools like MACE and Norton came up with the basic resurgence abilities such as unformat and undelete, the investigation was under individual stationed in a specific workstation. (Janczewski, 2010) Today some software have been formed to do the same and effectively. Government has come up with the standardization of the same as from 1984. On the same year, the FBI came up with a structured body, Computer Analysis Response Team (CART), assigned with the responsibility of examining the evidence as per the law. Digital forensic methodology Obtaining authorization for investigation. There first methods involve getting authority so as one can start the investigation. This is so because nobody can allow one to enter into another without permission, once the permission is granted, the investigations kick off. The person mandate to do the investigation must be experienced with the full knowledge of the forensic investigation and examining. The investigation will be carried out clearly and the fraud should be met and amended. The investigator also is expected to use the current methods of digital forensic due to rapid growth in the technology, meaning advanced methods should apply. Determining evidence locations After investigation, the investigator will provide the evidence locations. This means that the investigator will determine where the location at which the fraud has occurred, then go to those places and find out what might have happened. Different locations will contain different kinds of frauds; this will lead to different kinds of locations. (Dawson, 2015) Each evidence will also contain different measure of resolving it. Digital forensic differ from one country to another and the measure taken to deal with such frauds is still different. The evidence depending on the location   will also   entail different kind of data which will call for a specific way of investigating it. The location also will contain different kind of population which will mean that that population has a certain way of dealing with the forensic frauds. Determining and confirming techniques to find and interpret significant data In this method, the investigator is required to validate techniques to find and interpret significant data. There are so many techniques used to determine find data and consequently interpret the same data. Some techniques used are, histogram, random number generation, descriptive statistics and many others. When the data has been found, then it is interpreted using different methods. The forensic data will differ from one fraud to another and also from one location to the next.   The collected data which is well analyzed will give the best result. Summarize and provide explanation of conclusions After doing all what is required, the data summarized and the conclusion is provided. The investigator of the fraud makes the explanation and it should be correct without any mistake to avoid wrong conclusion. Depending on the nature of the fraud, the explanation given should provide a clear answer of what might have gone wrong. (Gladyshev, 2015) The data must be given correctly for the future reference if need be. As per the client, the explanation can be taken to the court of law alongside the sampled data as the evidence. The importance of using forensic tools to collect and analyze evidence. Many organizations have adopted forensic tools and have achieved many things. Forensic tools have collected protected and analyzed digital evidence and applied it where applicable. Can be in legal matters, disciplinary matters or even in employment tribunals. The forensic tools have been useful in the following circumstances; It has been useful in disputed transactions in an organization. Widely used in allegations pertaing to employee misconduct Used to show legal and regulatory compliance Widely used in a court of law to assist in law enforcement investigations Supporting insurance claims when a loss occurs in an organization. It is a tool to meet disclosure requirement in civil claims. Hashing in the context of digital forensics Hash values are used in cases of the electronic evidence.   Mostly used in the examination of process of computer forensics. The hash values are used to make sure that the original copy is not altered. During the process, an image is made of the original.   (Bossler, 2014) The original hard drive will be taken as a hash value also. The examination is done before the hash value is taken. In the case where the values are the same the copy is treated as the original while where the values are different, then the copy is put in a question. As the examination is concluded, a third value s commonly taken. The three hash values which include, original hard drive, imaged hard drive before the examination and imaged hard drive after the examination, must match. Again the hash values can be used in the court of law to validate evidences In another circumstances hash value can be used in discovery process. The discovery process where the hash value has been mostly applied is in court of law. How do you ensure that the evidence collected has not been tampered with (i.e., after collection)? Avoid contamination of the data- the specimen /data collected should be original and not contaminated with other materials. (DeFranco, 2014) Handle appropriately-make sure that the data collected is packed, stored and ferried correctly. Label accurately-the evidence collected should be labeled correctly to avoid confusion such that even if there can be any claim, it can be clearly produced. Ensure total security- the evidence which has been collected should be secure and tamper proof Maintain continuity-handling of the evidence should be recorded, also when the evidence pass from one person to another should also be recorded, this maintenance will ensure that the evidence is purely maintained. Why and how is this important to prove in a court of law? The collected data as per the explanation above is original. It can be proven in the court of law because there will be a full evidence that the evidence was well maintained. References Bossler, A. M. (2014). Cybercrime and digital forensics : an introduction. New York: Routledge. Britz, M. (2013 ). Computer forensics and cyber crime : an introduction . Boston: Pearson. Britz, M. (2010). Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime. Berlin: Springe. Dawson, M. (2015). New threats and countermeasures in digital crime and cyber terrorism . Hershey: An Imprint of IGI Globa. DeFranco, J. F. ( 2014). What every engineer should know about cyber security and digital forensics. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Gladyshev, P. (2015). Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime . Heidelberg: Springer. Janczewski, L. (2010). Cyber warfare and cyber terrorism. Hershey: Information Science Reference.

What is Special Education? Essay -- Education Educating Teaching Essay

Before covering the main idea behind how technology can enhance learning of special students, it is important to discuss what qualifies a student as ?special?. Special Education is identified as, ?the education of children who deviate socially, mentally, or physically from the average to such an extent that they require major modifications of usual school practices,? (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2005, p.1). According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, ?students with disabilities include those with mental retardation, hearing impairments, speech or language impairments, visual impairments, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities,? (Warger, 1999, p.1). Since there are so many different types of disabilities, each student needs to be assessed to determine the best type of learning environment for them (Ralabate, 2002, p. 13-14). This is a very important part of help ing special education students from the very beginning of their education. With the right leadership from teachers, and knowing what works best with teaching each unique student, they can reach their full potential in learning. Inclusion ?Children who learn together, learn to live together? (Renaissance Group, 1999, p.1). Resurfacing the issue of different teaching methods in Special Education, many schools educate students in an Inclusive environment. Inclusion refers to the placement and participation of students with special needs into a general education environment such as classrooms and extra curricular programs (Lewis & Doorlag, 1999, p.5). Many find the use of inclusion in schools very beneficial to both special and general education ... ....gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Thesaurus&_nfls=false This an online ERIC thesaurus defining assistive technology. ?Special education.? Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. 2005. This is an online encyclopedia definition of special education. Internet Resources Internet for Education. (2005). Retrieved on April 27, 2005 from http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/tutorial/education?sid=4740639&op=preview&manifestid=82&itemid=7126 This site contains information on the ways the internet can enhance education. Renaissance Group. (1999, October, 14). Inclusive Education. Retrieved April 20, 2005 from http://www.uni.edu/coe/inclusion/ . This site contains a lot of current information concerning the importance, philosophy, and future of education in an inclusive environment.