Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. I got a bit carried away in writing it so it is too wide to embed into the blog, which is why it is linked here instead.
The goal is to use the responses from the survey in our class discussion on Wednesday and then come up with whatever changes we will make in that session. I will aggregate the results Wednesday morning - probably around 9 AM. If you complete the survey before then, your views will be included in the aggregate results.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Getting Caught Up - Grades, Blog Posts, and Baseball
I have now enabled Moodle and put some data there that you might want to verify. First, on the left you should see a link to Grades. Click that. There should be 4 entries. The first is your alias. The other three are homework scores. Each submission is worth 10 points. You should also see a file near the top called Blog Participation Matrix. There should be an x for each post you have done.
If you believe there is a discrepancy, please let me know as soon as possible, so we can fix the problem.
When the midterm has been graded the scores will be entered into the Grades area in Moodle. After the sixth blog post I will also do grades and comments for those. Soon after, I'd like to meet with you to discuss your blogging and what you might do to improve things. Those meetings will occur outside regular class time and will need to be scheduled.
Monday is our review session. To makes that session worthwhile, you should come ready with your questions/issues. Of course, the midterm is Wednesday. It's written and photo copied. You really shouldn't need a calculator to do it, but you can bring one if it makes you feel more comfortable to do so. There is a blog post due this Thursday. The prompt for it has been posted, so if you'd like yo you can get it done early.
Finally I'm grateful that the Yankees made it to the next round and especially that yesterday's game started at 4 PM. I fell asleep in the middle of the game on Thursday. I hope I can make it through the ninth inning this evening.
If you believe there is a discrepancy, please let me know as soon as possible, so we can fix the problem.
When the midterm has been graded the scores will be entered into the Grades area in Moodle. After the sixth blog post I will also do grades and comments for those. Soon after, I'd like to meet with you to discuss your blogging and what you might do to improve things. Those meetings will occur outside regular class time and will need to be scheduled.
Monday is our review session. To makes that session worthwhile, you should come ready with your questions/issues. Of course, the midterm is Wednesday. It's written and photo copied. You really shouldn't need a calculator to do it, but you can bring one if it makes you feel more comfortable to do so. There is a blog post due this Thursday. The prompt for it has been posted, so if you'd like yo you can get it done early.
Finally I'm grateful that the Yankees made it to the next round and especially that yesterday's game started at 4 PM. I fell asleep in the middle of the game on Thursday. I hope I can make it through the ninth inning this evening.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Candidate essay questions for midterm 1
One of three questions below will be the essay question on the midterm. Of course you should prepare for the exam as you see fit, but I encourage you to work through an answer to each question so you are ready for the test.
By the way, the exam is closed book, closed notes. The only materials you're allowed are pen and pencil and a calculator.
A. This question concerns transaction costs. The underlying cause for the transaction costs are specific inputs so that finding alternative suppliers is difficult if not impossible. The input supplier then has the power to "hold up" the organization. There are multiple potential ways to manage transaction costs. Here we'll consider three:
(i) monitoring performance coupled with the appropriate carrots or sticks,
(ii) extrinsic reward for excellent performance via bonuses, and
(iii) intrinsic reward by giving the input supplier some control over organization goals and strategies to implement those goals.
Discuss the upside and the downside with each particular method. Provide an example of a circumstance where that method is the preferred one,
B. This question concerns transfer prices. Provide a working definition for what a transfer price is. In a for-profit organization how should ownership (shareholders) want the transfer price to be set? Explain why others in the organization might want the transfer price to be set differently. What transfer price would these others like to see? When service quality is jointly set with the transfer price, what service quality would ownership like to see? Explain why this is the case. Others may want a different service quality level. Explain how their preferred service quality level differs from what ownership wants.
C. This question concerns economic efficiency concepts. There is a partial equilibrium concept and a general equilibrium concept. Describe each of these. Do the two concepts always coincide? If not, under what additional assumptions do they coincide. Provide an argument for why we should expect efficient outcomes. Economic efficiency has been critiqued on several grounds. Explain some of these criticisms and provide settings where the particular critique appears valid.
By the way, the exam is closed book, closed notes. The only materials you're allowed are pen and pencil and a calculator.
A. This question concerns transaction costs. The underlying cause for the transaction costs are specific inputs so that finding alternative suppliers is difficult if not impossible. The input supplier then has the power to "hold up" the organization. There are multiple potential ways to manage transaction costs. Here we'll consider three:
(i) monitoring performance coupled with the appropriate carrots or sticks,
(ii) extrinsic reward for excellent performance via bonuses, and
(iii) intrinsic reward by giving the input supplier some control over organization goals and strategies to implement those goals.
Discuss the upside and the downside with each particular method. Provide an example of a circumstance where that method is the preferred one,
B. This question concerns transfer prices. Provide a working definition for what a transfer price is. In a for-profit organization how should ownership (shareholders) want the transfer price to be set? Explain why others in the organization might want the transfer price to be set differently. What transfer price would these others like to see? When service quality is jointly set with the transfer price, what service quality would ownership like to see? Explain why this is the case. Others may want a different service quality level. Explain how their preferred service quality level differs from what ownership wants.
C. This question concerns economic efficiency concepts. There is a partial equilibrium concept and a general equilibrium concept. Describe each of these. Do the two concepts always coincide? If not, under what additional assumptions do they coincide. Provide an argument for why we should expect efficient outcomes. Economic efficiency has been critiqued on several grounds. Explain some of these criticisms and provide settings where the particular critique appears valid.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Homework on Adverse Selection in Insurance Markets
The Excel workbook for this assignment is now available. I'm sorry for the delay. Please use the comments area for this post to ask questions about the homework.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Gift Exchange or Corruption
The essay is about using gifts in a business setting and when is it and when is it not an act of opportunism. At the time it was written, I intended the audience to be learning technologists from around the country, but I think it is written in a sufficiently general way as to be relevant to other types of organizations as well.
A Eulogy for Arthur Ochs Sulzberger
Sulzberger was the publisher of the NY Times. This piece makes him seem a saint. I'm sure he wasn't that. The piece is useful to us because it shows what attributes of senior management are prized by those who work under that management, particularly in news organizations.
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