Description
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is the creation of a research analysis. Every day, consumers make millions of decisions that impact the marketplace and influence firms' decisions. Firms use economic concepts, models, and other "tools" of economics to help determine pricing, output, and profit maximization. As an MBA student of economics, you can apply the "tools" of economics to microeconomic and macroeconomic data to create recommendations for how firms can maximize revenue, profit and market share.
Assignment Steps
Resources: Tutorial help on Excel® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products.
Scenario: Imagine you are a business consultant to a firm of your choice. You have been asked to analyze, advise, and create recommendations on how the firm can ensure its future success in its current market.
Work with your instructor to choose a firm that matches the following criteria: a publicly-traded company operating in the U.S. market. Note: A publicly-traded company is a private-sector firm owned by its shareholders/stock holders.
Prepare a minimum 1,050-word analysis of economic data and business data to explain how the core economic principles impact the sustainability of the firm and what actions the firm can take to ensure success.
Address the following:
- Identify the market structure your chosen firm operates in, analyze your chosen firm's current market share, and identify the firm's local/global competitors. Analyze the barriers to entry in this market to illustrate the potential for new competition and its impact on your firm's future in the market. Hints: Be sure you review the barriers to entry discussed in the course text. You might consider presenting the data graphically.
- Identify and explain trends in current macroeconomic indicators for last three years including:
- Current stage of the business cycle.
- Real gross domestic product (GDP).
- Inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI).
- Unemployment rate.
- Federal funds rate.
- Current rate for borrowing funds such as the so-called "prime rate." Note: A requirement of the Week 1 Influence of Economics on Household Decision Making report was to gather data on the CPI, GDP, and interest rates, so you should consider reviewing the feedback you received on the Week 1 report.
- Evaluate trends in demand over last three years and explain their impact on the industry and the firm. Include quarterly (last two quarters) and annual sales (last three years) figures for the product your firm sells. Create business strategies by analyzing information and data related to the demand for and supply of your firm's product(s) to support your recommendation for the firm's actions. Remember to include a graphical representation of the data and information used in your analysis.
- Examine available, current data and information, such as pricing and the availability of substitutes, and explain how you could determine the price elasticity of demand for your firm's product. Assess how the price elasticity of demand impacts the firm's pricing decisions and revenue growth.
- Apply the concepts of variable and fixed costs to your firm for informing its output decisions. For instance, analyze how different kinds of costs (labor, research and development, raw materials) affect the firm's level of output.
- Based on the data gathered and analysis performed for this report write a conclusion in which you:
- Create business strategies, including price and non-price strategies, based on your market structure to ensure the market share and potential market expansions and explore global opportunities for your business in a dynamic business environment and provide recommendations.
- Develop a recommendation for how the firm can manage its future production by synthesizing the macroeconomic and microeconomic data presented.
- Propose how the firm's position within the market and among its competitors will allow it to take your recommended action.
- Recommend strategies for the firm to sustain its success going forward by evaluating the findings from demand trends, price elasticity, current stage of the business cycle, and government policies.
Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed references and a minimum of two government economic data sources/references.
Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines.
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Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: RESEARCH ANALYSIS
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Research Analysis
Name
Institution
Date
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
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Introduction
For this discussion on research analysis, I will discuss Apple Inc. which is a good
example of a publicly traded corporation in America. Apple Inc. is a consumer Electronics
Company based in the United States which designs, produces and sells computer software,
mobile phones, and personal computer. The well-known products of Apple Company include;
the iPod, iPhone, iPad and Macintosh series of computers. The Apple Software is usually found
on Mac OS X operating system, iWork suite, Final Cut Studio, iLife suite and iTunes media
browser. Apple Inc. was founded in April 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the State of
California.
The market structure
Apple Inc. operates in two different market structures; monopolistic competition and
oligopoly. Oligopoly market structure is a type of market structure which is usually controlled by
limited competitors (Baldwin & Scott, 2013). Companies in this type of market structure
maintain a position in the market because it is expensive and hard to enter into the market. To be
specific, Apple Inc. is in the oligopoly market in the smartphones OS firms. In the market, there
are three main competitive operating systems. The there include; the Apple’s iOS, Microsoft
window phones, and Android owned by Google. These operating systems are very competitive
in the world and they improve their features continuously so as to retain their competitors thus
forming the oligopoly market. Additionally, Apple Inc. is in the monopolistic competition
market in branded computers. In this type of market structure, there are no competitors thus
making Apple’s iMac and MacBook enjoy the monopoly in the market.
Market share
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
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The total market share of Apple Inc. in the US implies the percentage sales of Apple’s
products within the United States market. For example, the iPhone 8 hit the market running. The
sales of iPhone series represent 40.5% increase in the sales of smartphones from 33.5% thus
giving an increase of 7% points for a period of one year.
Market competitors
Apple Inc. deals with a range of products and services worldwide. This exposes the
company to stiff competition in various industries ranging from personal computers to
entertainment systems to mobile payment systems. In the personal computers market, Apple
Company faces competition from Lenovo, Acer, Dell, and Hp (Grant, 2016). The operating
systems produced by Microsoft has remained to be the favorite to many consumers though Apple
Company has been following their customers who report a high satisfaction with the Apple’s OS.
In mobile computers, Samsung, Google, Nokia, and Asus has remained to be main competitors
to Apple Company. The iPod changed the Apple’s business model and stimulated the whol...