Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Economics

CHAPTER 14: Material Requirements Planning (MRP)

Independent vs. Dependent Demand

Independent Demand

Finished goods, such as computers, have independent demand, meaning their demand is uncertain and influenced by external factors.

Dependent Demand

Components of finished products, like computer parts, have dependent demand, meaning their demand is certain and directly related to the demand for the finished product.

What is Material Requirements Planning (MRP)?

Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is a dependent demand technique that uses a bill-of-material, inventory data, expected receipts, and a master production schedule to determine the materials and components needed to produce finished goods.

Benefits of MRP

• Better response to customer orders
• Faster

Ch 31: Balance of Payments

The balance of payments is a systematic record of all economic transactions between residents and non-residents of a country over a period. It is categorized into:

• Goods and Services (Trade Balance): This is the most significant component.

NX = NCO + Reserve Asset

Vehicle currency: $, Yen, Euro, Yuan

Real Exchange Rate: P / (P*e), where an increase in the Real Interest Rate (RIR) leads to a decrease in Net Capital Outflow (NCO), and a decrease in RIR leads to an increase in Net Exports (NX).

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): This theory suggests that the nominal exchange rate is determined by the equation RER = P / (P*e) = 1.

Problem: The existence of non-tradable goods.

Arbitrage: Risk-free investment that leads to the Law

Value Chain

Primary Activities

These activities relate directly to the physical creation, sale, maintenance, and support of a product or service.

• Inbound Logistics: All processes related to receiving, storing, and distributing inputs internally.
• Operations: Transformation activities that change inputs into outputs sold to customers. This is where operational systems create value.
• Outbound Logistics: Activities that deliver your product or service to your customer, including collection, storage, and distribution systems. These can be internal or external to your organization.
• Marketing and Sales: Processes used to persuade clients to purchase from you instead of competitors. The benefits you offer and how well you communicate them are sources of value.

Essential Accounting Terms and Principles

Basic Accounting Concepts

Accounting: The information system that identifies, records, and communicates the economic events of an organization to interested users.

Assets: Resources a business owns.

Auditing: The examination of financial statements by a certified public accountant in order to express an opinion as to the fairness of presentation.

Balance Sheet: A financial statement that reports the assets, liabilities, and owner's equity at a specific date.

Bookkeeping: A part of the accounting process that involves only the recording of economic events.

International Accounting Standards

Convergence: The process of reducing the differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS.

Business Structures

Corporation: A business...

Chapter 7: Business Accounting

What are Accounts and Why are They Necessary?

Accounts are financial records of a firm's transactions that are kept up to date by accountants, who are qualified professionals responsible for keeping accurate accounts and producing the final accounts.

Every end of the year, final accounts must be produced, which give details of:

• Profits and losses made
• Current value of the business
• Other financial results

Limited companies are bound by law to publish these accounts, but not other businesses.

Financial Documents Involved in Buying and Selling

Accountants use various documents that are used for buying and selling over the year for their final accounts. They can help the accountant to:

• Keep records of what the firm bought and

Pricing Strategies: Supply and Competition Factors

Pricing Strategies Based on Supply

Cost-Based Pricing and Production Orientation

• Focuses only on company costs and desired profit margin.
• Associated risks: Production orientation and marketing myopia.

Product Mix Pricing Strategies

Setting prices across an entire product line or related products:

• Product Line Pricing: Setting prices across an entire product line.
• Optional Product Pricing: Pricing optional or accessory products sold with the main product.
• Captive Product Pricing: Pricing products that must be used with the main product (e.g., printer ink or razor blades).
• By-Product Pricing: Pricing low-value by-products to efficiently dispose of them.
• Product Bundle Pricing: Pricing bundles of products

Sources of Entrepreneurial Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas are complex situations involving apparent conflicts between moral imperatives, where adhering to one may transgress another.

Internal and External Pressures

These pressures can create internal conflicts for entrepreneurs.

Shifting Societal Values

Changes in societal values, mores, and norms can also contribute to ethical dilemmas.

Ethical Code of Conduct

An ethical code of conduct is a statement of ethical practices or guidelines to which an enterprise adheres.

Organizational Barriers to Ethical Behavior

1. Systems: Resistance to established systems can lead to individuals creating their own methods, potentially bypassing ethical guidelines.
2. Structures: Dissatisfaction with the company structure can lead

Factors Affecting Supply

Costs in Supplying Goods to the Market

• Price of raw materials
• Wage rates

Improvements in Technology

Makes it cheaper to produce goods.

Taxes and Subsidies

Higher taxes mean higher costs.

Climate (for Agricultural Products)

Supply of crops depends on weather.

Impact of Supply on Market Price and Sales

If supply falls, the market price will rise, sales will fall, and the supply curve will shift to the left. If supply rises, the market price will fall, sales will rise, and the supply curve will shift to the right.

Elasticity of Supply

Elasticity of supply measures how easily and quickly supply can change when prices change. This depends on how quickly products can be produced and supplied, which is often slow for agricultural products....

Chapter 1 & Chapter 2

◦The production possibilities curve shows the maximum quantity of goods and services that can be produced when the existing resources are used fully and efficiently.

Chapter 3

Demand Curve/ Supply Curve

1. Movement along the curve (Change of Quantity Demanded/ Quantity Supplied): Price of this product (Demand Law / Supply Law)

• Demand is the amount of a product that people are willing and able to purchase at each possible price during a given period of time.
• The quantity demanded is the amount of a product that people are willing and able to purchase at one, specific price.

Law of Demand

As price of a good rises, consumers buy less. As price of a good falls, consumers buy more. Depicts the inverse quantity-price relationship...