Common Inventory System Problems & Solution Essay

Symptoms: Preoccupation with the forecast within the execution time frame. Typically, companies begin altering their forecast management processes when addressing supply chain performance. But this is unwise without understanding the nature of your demand and the root causes of forecast errors. When forecast accuracy is overemphasized, fill rates and inventory turns don’t improve, even when forecast accuracy does. No measure of customer service or inventory turns. Customers must be satisfied on an ongoing basis for a company to achieve long-term sustainability. Yet, inventory managers often have no idea how well customers’ needs are being met. Similarly, without knowing how quickly inventory moves through the value-creation-and-delivery system, a company won’t be able to manage inventory levels. Daily planning is based on a back order report. This is an entirely reactive model. Today’s fast-paced marketplace requires proactive inventory planning to meet current demand. Customers will switch to a competitor if their needs are consistently unmet in the time frame they dictate. Solutions: Mandatory tracking of fill rate and inventory turns for all product lines. Product managers should know these measures at all times. Fill rate should be measured daily, while inventory-turn measures will vary based on sales and production cycles. The important thing is that managers are both tracking and working to improve these rates. Develop realistic forecast-error measures. Developing realistic measures for how much forecast error you can tolerate without a SKU stock-out is essential. Typically, companies estimate plus or minus 10 for this measure, which equals about two days worth of inventory-a miniscule amount considering that companies often have weeks or months worth of inventory. Effective forecast management and inventory planning require accurate data, so accurate forecast error measures are a must. Mistake No. 2: Having unqualified employees manage inventory Symptoms: A sentiment that â€Å"our business is different because (fill in the blank).† Every company has inventory planning challenges, such as variable demand. No business is so different that it would not benefit from strategic  inventory management. Decentralized inventory management. If warehouse managers, office clerks, and other employees without specific inventory-management training are making inventory-management decisions, then it is certain that wasteful inventory is piling up throughout the system. Usually, this model reflects a company with no clear goals or strategy for inventory planning. Lack of formal training program or professional peer interaction. Inventory management is a professional skill that requires upfront and ongoing education. Emphasizing â€Å"buying† over planning. Buyers make purchases, but planners make strategic decisions to meet goals. Thinking of inventory planning from a purely â€Å"buying† point of view means opportunities for improvement and financial benefits will be overlooked—daily. Solutions: Recognize that inventory management requires professional job skills, and hire and train accordingly. Just as a company with hundreds of thousands of free dollars on its balance sheet would hire professional investment advisers, a company with hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory should have professional inventory managers. Assign accountability for inventory management. Often, companies can’t answer the question, â€Å"Who is in charge of making sure inventory levels support strategic goals?† If no one is, then these inventory planning goals will never be met. TOP 5 SOLUTIONS: 1. Use reorder points on inventory items to keep purchasing streamlined and inventory manageable. Reorder points (otherwise known as min. and max. levels) are the best method for making sure you have the right amount of inventory in your warehouse at all times. If you have too little inventory you could lose out on sales, but if you have too much your cash is tied up in inventory that will not be sold. One of the biggest problems many companies have is managing their cash. A quick way to solve that from an inventory standpoint is by making sure you have set the appropriate reorder points for your business. 2. Spend money on specialized training for mission-critical software. Companies with a lot of inventory spend thousands of dollars on software they need in order to manage and track their items as  they move all over the world. This software manages millions of dollars’ worth of assets. After spending so much money on software, some companies don’t want to spend a f ew thousand dollars extra to buy the specialized training they need to implement the software. This is a big mistake because this software won’t do you any good if you don’t spend a little bit more to learn how to use it. If you try to learn your software on your own you may suffer for months before you learn the basics of how it works. 3. Rearrange the warehouse to set up for picking efficiencies. Sometimes trainers see mistakes that are so obvious you would think they’d be corrected immediately, but warehouse managers may be too distracted to notice them. We often see 100,000-square-foot warehouses that are organized inefficiently. These companies could save themselves large sums of money by making a few changes to where they place their inventory. The items that you sell the most or send out the most should be right next to the shipping dock. This keeps your employees from having to walk all the way across the warehouse to pick them up every time you are going to send them out. As companies grow, sometimes they just randomly put things where there is sp ace. This works for a little while, but as you grow you need to think about efficiency because the minutes that your employees spend driving around the forklift cost you money. 4. Take time to get to know your technology so that you can use all the functionality. Rarely will a company use all of the functionality their software provides. Most of the time there is more that the software can do for you that you haven’t explored. Software companies always hear from their customers about which features they want added to the software when a lot of the time the features are already there. The more features that you use in the software the more effective you can be in managing your inventory. You should either assign someone within the company to learn the software functionality or pay someone to come in and teach it to you. 5. Stop doing yearly physical inventories and move to a more regular, smaller cycle counting and reconciling routine. Businesses used to shut down for a day to a week each year to go into their warehouse and physically count everything to make sure that it matched the information in their software. This practice is mostly outdated because of the amount of time and money it takes. Doing these checks in smaller, more regular cycles keeps a company from having to shut down. We recommend picking one section each day to check  your product levels against the information from your inventory software.

Introduction to Social Sciences

Topic of study – Sociologist and Psychologist â€Å"Do people from deferent background Influence they choice of school they go to? † This topic Is derived from the article, which states: â€Å"What we are seeing Is that the students who are going to some of the more brand-name schools, they're all coming from a certain background†¦ Expanded financial help for students who are keen to enter top independent schools but are put off for fear they cannot afford it or fit in. This might be of interest to both sociologist and psychologist, looking at the activities/ behavior of small groups at ground level, both will then examine whether what is mound on small scale applies on large scale. 1. 1 Sociologist Approach For sociologist, the question they might ask could be: â€Å"How did this social idea comes about? ‘ Sociologists study the social norms and values, and also social processes like formation of power and status relationship. In this case, they may be int erested to find out how come most students that are enrolled In elite schools are from better background.The social function for hilling practice might derive from schooling. It might be believed that students that graduated from an elite school have higher neighborhood school. This would then drive the parents who have adequate financial ability to enroll their children into a better school so that their child may have a better chance of getting employed in the future. As a result, students from better background will end up in top independent school as their parents can afford to put them through the education. 1. 2 Psychologist Approach As for psychologist, they may ask: â€Å"How do groups influence human behavior? They are interested in how it will develop one's belief system. In this case, it is said that students from better background are enrolled in top schools. That being said, what ill happen if a student from normal background were to be awarded with study grant to be e nrolled in the elite school? If students from top schools are mostly from better background, they will start thinking that because they come from better background, they are entitled to go into this school. Consequently, will a student from normal background choose to enroll into the elite school, if given study grant?There could be fear of being ostracizes and not being able to fit in due to the differences. While both disciplines are concerned on the same topic, the emphasis on sociology is the individual in interaction with others. On the other hand, psychology focuses on the individual, which explains human behavior. 2. Topic of study – Political Scientist and Economist â€Å"How effective is introducing niche program able to accommodate multiple pathway of success? † This might be of interest to both political scientist and economist as it both consists of decision making.The topic is derived from the article that mentioned: â€Å"†¦ Opportunity arises becau se we have been committed to this philosophy of many alternative ways of success. † 2. 1 Political Scientist Approach For political scientist, they study on who gets what, when and how. In short, they decide how the society should operate. They analyses the forms the institution takes and the process that emerge. Political scientists look at how the policy introduced will impact the situation. In this topic, the policy is introduced and time is taken to find out how effective is the proposed policy. . 2 Economist Approach For an economist, usually it decides on how to allocate scarce resources, deciding what to produce, how and for whom. In this case, they will be interested to know if the policy introduced will affect the labor market. With the program introduced, will it eve any significant impact on how the distribution, production, and consumption of might be an increase in new businesses emerging from graduates since the school they attended focuses on personal interest a nd competencies, rather than academic standing of school.On the other hand, there is also a concern whether Singapore will have enough Jobs to support the increase in graduates. 3. Social Science Discipline, Chosen Topic of Study and Hypothesis The social science discipline chosen to discuss in this essay will be sociology and the selected above topic: â€Å"Do people from different background influence they choice of school they go to? † 3. 1 Hypothesis With this topic, the hypothesis formed is: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of selecting top school†. 3. Variables They key variables are â€Å"better background†, â€Å"type of students† and â€Å"choice of top school† Independent variable, which can be changed during the study, is â€Å"Background†. Different type of background can be chosen to study anytime. Background is chosen as it can affect the type of school a student enrolls into. Having a better background means student can afford to study in independent school. Dependent variable, which would be measured and counted in the study is â€Å"Choice of top school†. Choice of top school means the results of what the student chosen.Will a student from better background choose to enroll into a normal school because of the extra-curriculum offered or will the student choose a top independent school because he/she knows that they can afford it? This is the variable that is observed during the study. Controlled variable, which is not changed throughout the study, is â€Å"type of students†. The same type of students (graduating students who is at the stage of choosing their schools) is used for this study. It will not be fair if the students used are of different age group as they may have different maturity level in their way of thinking.Choosing the same age group of graduating students to study on the choice of school chosen to enrolled into will be the most desirabl e. 4. Developing Research Design This is the stage after hypothesis is formed. Decisions must be made about how best to obtain the data through research methods. By personalizing variables, questioned are asked to covert them into a form which is measurable or testable. In this topic, we are discussing about: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of school†.Do student has siblings or friends in the school they are enrolled in? – This is to measure if the choice is affected by other factors such as peers. How many students enrolled in top independent schools come from better background? -This is to measure the past and existing patterns, whether the social structure is built in a way that it influences them to choose the school because ‘it's the way. 4. 2 Research Methods To test and bolster hypothesis formed, there will be research carried out and the 2 hat will be discussed here will be Survey and Secondary Data Research. 4. . 1 Sur vey Research This method is used for establishing facts and subjects of research will be a statistically valid sample of a population. A series of questions will be asked to collect the data needed. Questionnaires will be designed in a way that does not lead the subject. No. Question What is the top factor in mind when choosing a school? (a) Affordability (c)Friends/siblings state: 2. (b) Vicinity (d) Rank of school Others, please If given a choice to enroll in any school, will an elite school be your choice? (a) Yes (b) No For both answers, please explain why: 3.Do you think it is important to be in a school you feel socially accepted? (a) Yes Once these questions are designed, the next step is to survey the sample population. This survey can only be used at the point of time when the student is preparing to enroll 4. 2. 2 Secondary Data Research This method of research gathers relevant information on one's research topic. One will be able to discover what other researchers have wr itten related to that topic and what research methods they have used. It can also be used to obtain other research studies/methods backup or contradict one's findings.As extracted from Ministry of Education Singapore Preliminary Replies, it shows that there is higher percentage of students from better background in top independent schools. With this backed up from a credible source, it supports the hypothesis that students from better background tend to be influenced and choose a top independent school. 5. Possible outcome of study This study shows that there is a possibility of social gap between the rich and poor in Singapore. Due to the influence that because students that comes from better background are choosing to enroll in brand-name schools, they think they are entitled to enter this school.This is a concern, as this social gap will also affect other factors such as the economic in Singapore. The income between rich and poor might widen, as the poor never got the chance to s tudy in a good school for a better Job in the future. Policymaking is vital in Singapore as it maintain order in a country. It is a good effort to introduce niche program in schools and taking steps to tear down any walls that may reinforce elitism in Singapore. Definitely, there will not be instant results shown on how effect a policy is but people must be willing to accept and give it time to work. Introduction to Social Sciences Topic of study – Sociologist and Psychologist â€Å"Do people from deferent background Influence they choice of school they go to? † This topic Is derived from the article, which states: â€Å"What we are seeing Is that the students who are going to some of the more brand-name schools, they're all coming from a certain background†¦ Expanded financial help for students who are keen to enter top independent schools but are put off for fear they cannot afford it or fit in. This might be of interest to both sociologist and psychologist, looking at the activities/ behavior of small groups at ground level, both will then examine whether what is mound on small scale applies on large scale. 1. 1 Sociologist Approach For sociologist, the question they might ask could be: â€Å"How did this social idea comes about? ‘ Sociologists study the social norms and values, and also social processes like formation of power and status relationship. In this case, they may be int erested to find out how come most students that are enrolled In elite schools are from better background.The social function for hilling practice might derive from schooling. It might be believed that students that graduated from an elite school have higher neighborhood school. This would then drive the parents who have adequate financial ability to enroll their children into a better school so that their child may have a better chance of getting employed in the future. As a result, students from better background will end up in top independent school as their parents can afford to put them through the education. 1. 2 Psychologist Approach As for psychologist, they may ask: â€Å"How do groups influence human behavior? They are interested in how it will develop one's belief system. In this case, it is said that students from better background are enrolled in top schools. That being said, what ill happen if a student from normal background were to be awarded with study grant to be e nrolled in the elite school? If students from top schools are mostly from better background, they will start thinking that because they come from better background, they are entitled to go into this school. Consequently, will a student from normal background choose to enroll into the elite school, if given study grant?There could be fear of being ostracizes and not being able to fit in due to the differences. While both disciplines are concerned on the same topic, the emphasis on sociology is the individual in interaction with others. On the other hand, psychology focuses on the individual, which explains human behavior. 2. Topic of study – Political Scientist and Economist â€Å"How effective is introducing niche program able to accommodate multiple pathway of success? † This might be of interest to both political scientist and economist as it both consists of decision making.The topic is derived from the article that mentioned: â€Å"†¦ Opportunity arises becau se we have been committed to this philosophy of many alternative ways of success. † 2. 1 Political Scientist Approach For political scientist, they study on who gets what, when and how. In short, they decide how the society should operate. They analyses the forms the institution takes and the process that emerge. Political scientists look at how the policy introduced will impact the situation. In this topic, the policy is introduced and time is taken to find out how effective is the proposed policy. . 2 Economist Approach For an economist, usually it decides on how to allocate scarce resources, deciding what to produce, how and for whom. In this case, they will be interested to know if the policy introduced will affect the labor market. With the program introduced, will it eve any significant impact on how the distribution, production, and consumption of might be an increase in new businesses emerging from graduates since the school they attended focuses on personal interest a nd competencies, rather than academic standing of school.On the other hand, there is also a concern whether Singapore will have enough Jobs to support the increase in graduates. 3. Social Science Discipline, Chosen Topic of Study and Hypothesis The social science discipline chosen to discuss in this essay will be sociology and the selected above topic: â€Å"Do people from different background influence they choice of school they go to? † 3. 1 Hypothesis With this topic, the hypothesis formed is: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of selecting top school†. 3. Variables They key variables are â€Å"better background†, â€Å"type of students† and â€Å"choice of top school† Independent variable, which can be changed during the study, is â€Å"Background†. Different type of background can be chosen to study anytime. Background is chosen as it can affect the type of school a student enrolls into. Having a better background means student can afford to study in independent school. Dependent variable, which would be measured and counted in the study is â€Å"Choice of top school†. Choice of top school means the results of what the student chosen.Will a student from better background choose to enroll into a normal school because of the extra-curriculum offered or will the student choose a top independent school because he/she knows that they can afford it? This is the variable that is observed during the study. Controlled variable, which is not changed throughout the study, is â€Å"type of students†. The same type of students (graduating students who is at the stage of choosing their schools) is used for this study. It will not be fair if the students used are of different age group as they may have different maturity level in their way of thinking.Choosing the same age group of graduating students to study on the choice of school chosen to enrolled into will be the most desirabl e. 4. Developing Research Design This is the stage after hypothesis is formed. Decisions must be made about how best to obtain the data through research methods. By personalizing variables, questioned are asked to covert them into a form which is measurable or testable. In this topic, we are discussing about: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of school†.Do student has siblings or friends in the school they are enrolled in? – This is to measure if the choice is affected by other factors such as peers. How many students enrolled in top independent schools come from better background? -This is to measure the past and existing patterns, whether the social structure is built in a way that it influences them to choose the school because ‘it's the way. 4. 2 Research Methods To test and bolster hypothesis formed, there will be research carried out and the 2 hat will be discussed here will be Survey and Secondary Data Research. 4. . 1 Sur vey Research This method is used for establishing facts and subjects of research will be a statistically valid sample of a population. A series of questions will be asked to collect the data needed. Questionnaires will be designed in a way that does not lead the subject. No. Question What is the top factor in mind when choosing a school? (a) Affordability (c)Friends/siblings state: 2. (b) Vicinity (d) Rank of school Others, please If given a choice to enroll in any school, will an elite school be your choice? (a) Yes (b) No For both answers, please explain why: 3.Do you think it is important to be in a school you feel socially accepted? (a) Yes Once these questions are designed, the next step is to survey the sample population. This survey can only be used at the point of time when the student is preparing to enroll 4. 2. 2 Secondary Data Research This method of research gathers relevant information on one's research topic. One will be able to discover what other researchers have wr itten related to that topic and what research methods they have used. It can also be used to obtain other research studies/methods backup or contradict one's findings.As extracted from Ministry of Education Singapore Preliminary Replies, it shows that there is higher percentage of students from better background in top independent schools. With this backed up from a credible source, it supports the hypothesis that students from better background tend to be influenced and choose a top independent school. 5. Possible outcome of study This study shows that there is a possibility of social gap between the rich and poor in Singapore. Due to the influence that because students that comes from better background are choosing to enroll in brand-name schools, they think they are entitled to enter this school.This is a concern, as this social gap will also affect other factors such as the economic in Singapore. The income between rich and poor might widen, as the poor never got the chance to s tudy in a good school for a better Job in the future. Policymaking is vital in Singapore as it maintain order in a country. It is a good effort to introduce niche program in schools and taking steps to tear down any walls that may reinforce elitism in Singapore. Definitely, there will not be instant results shown on how effect a policy is but people must be willing to accept and give it time to work.

Fire Safety and Dorm Polocies

The Ann Arbor Fire Department responded to the call at about 10:40 p. M. , but by that time the fire had already been contained by the hall's sprinkler system, officials said. No one was injured† (Caller, 2008). Here we see a fire related incident which took place at a residence hall in Michigan. Something as simple as a small electric fan could lead to large, costly damage. This incident relates to me because I made the decision to have a candle in my dorm room.An unlit candle to most would seem extremely harmless; however, there are many ways that it could put the people around it in danger. One way that a candle could cause a large problem would be if someone were to light it and have the smoke be caught by the smoke detector. Even if the owner did not light the candle, a roommate or friend that comes in the room while the owner is gone could easily light it. Furthermore, when a candle is lit and then in turn burned out smoke is released into the air. The smoke detectors ins talled in dorm rooms instantly trigger a sprinkler system which floods the room with water when smoke or ire is detected.When a room is flooded with water it affects the surrounding rooms as well. Rooms nearby will most likely have water damage as well which will definitely create a lot of unhappy residents. Not only will residents have to suffer from water damage in their rooms but they will also have to deal with temporary relocation. Students will most likely have to be moved into another dorm hall till the damage can be fixed. Unfortunately, no clean-up crew can replace textbooks, precious pictures or sentiments that could have been damaged from the flood of water or the fire.This is why residence halls have such a strict policy with fire related objects. Another way that candles can be of serious harm to those who surround it is through neglect. Say a resident decided to light a candle and then left it burning while they went to take a shower; a gust of wind from a closing door could easily cause a piece of paper on a desk to blow near it and catch fire and in turn begin to create a much larger fire from that. This is a simple scenario that shows how a simple candle on a desk could lead to a much larger problem.Another case where a residence hall fire caused severe damage was the Poland Hall Fire. â€Å"The fire began around 4:30 AM on January 19 when most students were asleep. It spread rapidly across three couches in the third floor lounge and approached temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit (81 5 degrees Celsius) in less than five minutes. Though no accelerate was used, the fire burned hot enough to melt the synthetic carpet of the hall, causing severe injuries to many of the students attempting to escape the conflagration by crawling on the floor to reach the stairs.Most students on the third floor evacuated in the thick smoke using the staircases; a few Jumped over 40 feet (12 meters) to the ground. Three students died. Aaron Karol and Frank Calibrator died of thermal injuries, and John Giant died due to smoke inhalation. Fifty-eight students and firefighters were injured, four seriously enough to require lengthy hospital stays and rehabilitation† (Fisher, 2000). This case goes to show how intensely and quickly a fire can affect its surroundings.Not only was the building in which the fire was started destroyed but lives were also lost along with it. Hearing about the severe damage that a building and its residents can have from a small starting fire really make you second guess your decisions. Although having a simple unlit candle can seem like it would cause no harm, in reality it could result in lives lost, buildings destroyed and families of lost or injured loved ones extreme heartache. I would never want to impose those heart aching feelings on anyone.I now realize that my decision to own a candle in a dorm room was a terrible one. I have also learned that I need to think of all the possible outcomes of what could happen as a result of my decision making. This simple write up has changed my outlook on decision making for the better. To receive respect you must give respect which is why you need to think out your sections before you make them. I do not want my room flooded any more than the next person does so I should partake in fire conscious decisions if my other fellow residents are going to as well.Rules are set for a reason and as much as we like to break them they are there for our safety and to prevent anything tragic from happening from one stupid mistake. Along with the fire safety rule the rule about noise policy is Just as important. The actions we make affect everyone around us and choosing to be loud during stud actions we make affect everyone around us and choosing to be loud during study ours can definitely affect your surrounding residents in a negative way.They may be studying for a big exam that will determine whether or not they pass the class and the noise that someo ne is making could affect how well they retain the information they are studying. In all noise is not as large off problem as fire safety is, but it definitely something that can negatively affect its surrounding community. I have thought through my decisions of owning a candle and being too loud in the dorm room and I realize that they are both incidents that could have been avoided if I would have thought out my consequences.If I would have known about the several cases where fires have been started from something so simple as a candle or fan I would have never made the decision to purchase one. This has been a great learning lesson for me and I now know to think my actions out before I make them.

Laissez-faire: Supply and Demand and Demand Curve

TASK 1 Laissez-faire Laissez-faire is an economic environment in which transaction between private parties are free from tariffs, government subsidies, and enforced monopolies, with only enough government regulation sufficient to protect property rights against theft and aggression. The phrase laissez-faire is French and literally means â€Å"let them do†. But it broadly implies â€Å"let it be†, or â€Å"leave it alone†. A laissez-faire state and completely free market has never existed, though the degree of government regulation varies considerably. The basic characteristics of Laissez-faire economic systemFree competition The main body of the economic operation is for a large number of small private enterprises. Production and management strategies are made by private capitalists according to changing in market supply and demand. Private capitalists are free to participate or exit the economic activity of any of industries. The form of price is spontaneous in market. It shows the change of supply and demand, it can distribute the scarce resources to producers, and also distributes goods and services to consumers. Consumer rights Consumers are the main part of economic operation.Consumer rights show: private capitalists must be base on and consider the preferences of consumers in the coordination of production and management strategies. According to consumers in the market, the number of monetary voting (consumers use their own money to purchase their favorite products, it is also another form of voting), and understand the social consumption trends. Thus distributes human and material resources, financial resources, production and meet consumers demand to achieve the purpose of maximum profit. Consumers are the guidance of economic activity through the function of preference for certain goods and services.Protecting of government Laissez-faire economic activities and resource allocation by the market mechanism to promote, the country or the government's economic functions are restricted to the protection of free competition, protection of private property, set up some necessary public utilities and public facilities. The components are absence to function an idealized free market. The problems mainly in the following aspects: 1. The competition between enterprises is limited, and some may be a monopoly industries. In these cases, they will push up prices, up profits. 2.The lack of competition to promote efficient and profitable company†¦ 3. Power and wealth may not equal distribution. 4. Some of the company's behavior is harmful to the society. 5. Private enterprise will not produce some of the whole society to their own advantage but without the product. 6. The free market economy could lead to macroeconomic instability, may appear high unemployment and production of the decline of the recession and rising prices. TASK 2 Government intervention in the market can be used to achieve various economic objectives which may not be best achieved by the market.There are several policy instruments that the government can use. At one extreme, it can totally replace the market by providing goods and services itself. At the other extreme, it can merely seek to persuade producers, consumers or workers to act differently. Between the two extremes the government has a number of instruments, it can use to change the way of markets operating. These include taxes, subsidies, laws and regulatory bodies. Taxes and subsidies When there are imperfections in the market, social efficiency will not be achieved. Marginal social benefit will not equal marginal social cost.A different level of output would be more desirable. Taxes and subsidies can be used to correct these imperfections. Essentially the approach is to tax those goods or activities where the market produces too much, and subsidies those where the market produces too little. Taxes and subsidies correct externalities. Government imposes a tax equal to the marginal external cost, grant a subsidy equal to the marginal external benefit. Taxes and subsidies are to correct for monopoly. If the problem of monopoly that the government wishes to tackle is that of excessive profit, it can impose a lump-sum tax on the monopolist.A tax of a fixed absolute amount irrespective of how much the monopolist produces, or the price it charges. Advantages of taxes and subsidies It forces firms to take on board the full social costs and benefits of their actions. It is also adjustable according to the magnitude of the problem. What is more, by taxing firms for polluting, firms are encouraged to find cleaner ways of producing. Disadvantages of taxes and subsidies Infeasible use different tax and subsidy rates. Lack of knowledge. Laws prohibiting or regulating undesirable structures or behavior Laws are frequently used to correct market imperfections.Laws can be of those main types: those that prohibit or regulate behavior that imposes external cost s, those that prevent firms providing false or misleading information, and those that prevent or regulate monopolies and oligopolies. Advantages of legal restrictions When the danger is very great, it might be much safer to ban various practices altogether rather than to rely on taxes or on individuals attempting to assert their property rights through the civil courts. Disadvantages of legal restrictions The main problem is that restrictions tend to be a rather blunt weapon.Regulatory bodies Rather than using the blunt weapon of general legislation to ban or restrict various activities, a more â€Å"subtle† approach can be adopted. This involves the use of various regulatory bodies. Having identified possible cases where action might be required, the regulatory body would probably conduct an investigation and then prepare a report containing its findings and recommendations. It might also have the power to enforce its decisions. The advantage of such bodies is that a case-by -case approach can be adopted and, as a result, the most appropriate solution adopted.However, investigations may be expensive and time consuming only a few cases may be examined, and offending firms may make various promises of good behavior which may not in fact be carried out owing to a lack of follow-up by the regulatory body. Price controls Price controls can be used either to raise prices above, or to reduce them below, the free-market level. Prices could be raised above the market equilibrium to support the incomes of certain supplier. Prices could be lowered in order to protect consumer’s interests. The direct provision of goods and servicesSocial justice, society may feel that these things should not be provided according to ability to pay. Rather they should be provided of right: an equal right based on need. Large positive externalities, people other than the consumer may benefit substantially. TASK 3 To avoid fluctuation of inflation, the related policies of gover nment are monetary policy, Fixed exchange rates, Gold standard, Wage and price controls, cost of living allowance. Monetary policy Central banks must be keeping their inter-lending rates at low levels. To target rate is around 2%-6% per year.Government can avoid inflation through setting interest rates. High interest rates and slow growth of the money supply are the traditional ways, central banks prevent inflation. Keeping the growth rate of money steadily, and using monetary policy to control it, increasing interest rate, slowing the rise in money supply. Encourage people to put money in the bank. To reduce the number of money circulation. According to Keynesian, reduces aggregate demand when the economic is expanding, and increases demand to keep inflation stable. Increase taxes or reduce government spending.Fixed exchange rates Under fixed exchange rates, a country's currency is tied in value to another single currency. This essentially means the inflation rate in the fixed exch ange rate country is determined by inflation rate of country. Fixed exchange rate prevents a government from using domestic monetary policy in order to keep economic stable. Gold standard The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold.The standard specifies how the gold backing would be implemented, including the amount of specie per currency unit. The gold standard was partially abandoned via the international adoption of the Bretton Woods System. Under this system all other major currencies were tied at fixed rates to the dollar, which itself was tied to gold at the rate of $35 per ounce. In the gold standard system, the internal value of currencies and external value in general is consistent, currency exchange between is stable and the exchange rate also have relatively solid foundation.Wage and price control Wage and price control is also called Income policy, Income policy mainly is to take wage price management policy, in order to prevent trade unions and the two groups monopoly enterprises still each other caused by the wages, prices take turns to the rising trend. Its purpose is to tries to control inflation and not lead to increased unemployment. Incomes policy based on the theory of main is pushed by cost inflation, because cost inflation is pushed by because of the rising cost of supply, especially wage increase, thus cause the price level to rise.Therefore, we must take inhibits the incomes policy, the form has the following kinds: sure wage-prices will, in order to limit wages-prices to rise. Base on compulsory measures, impose income tax policy. Cost of living allowance Keep the general level of commodity prices steady, strict control prices, the incomes of the workers and living allowance, reduce the cost of their life, so as to control income and the increased cost of products. The relationship between inflation and e mployment Demand-pull inflation When aggregate demand exceeds aggregate supply, will cause the general price level continued to rise.From Philips curve, we can understand that, when aggregate demand is greater than aggregate supply, in order to meet aggregate demand in the short term, we can increase aggregate output to provide more employment. TASK 4 Supply –Demand curve Supply Supply is to point to a producers in other conditions remain unchanged, at one time, ability and willingness to for a price to market with the amount of products. A supply schedule is a table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied. A supply curve is a graph that illustrates that relationship.The supply curve is supply table and supply the visualization expression, and demand form or demand function of handing over the equilibrium, is used to represent the market producers and demanders can constitute a trade goods quantity and price. The supply curve can with â€Å"curve† appeared, also can use the â€Å"straight† form. In theory, meet the supply curve only supply theorem can be tilted to the upper right. The determinants of supply follow: 1. Production costs, how much a good costs to be produced 2. Technology used in production, and/or technological advances 3. The price of related goods . Firms' expectations about future prices 5. Number of suppliers Demand Demand is to point to a consumer in other conditions remain unchanged, within certain time, ability and willingness to buy in a given price of the product quantity. The demand curve is demand form and demand function expression of visualization, and supply table or transfer the equilibrium of supply function, which is used to represent the market producers and demanders can constitute a trade goods quantity and price. The demand curve can with â€Å"curve† appeared, also can use the â€Å"straight† form.In theory, can meet the requirement of the demand c urve can only theorem is right to tilt, so Veblen Goods and Giffen Goods are general demand curve is not those from left to right leaning items. The determinants of demand follow: 1. Income 2. Tastes and preferences 3. Prices of related goods and services 4. Consumers' expectations about future prices and incomes 5. Number of potential consumers Equilibrium Equilibrium is about the price-quantity curve, it means the quantity of supply is equal to the quantity of demand.In the market, when the price is given, the quantity of products that consumers demand is balanced by the quantity of products that producers supply. Demand curve shifts At each price point, greater quantity is demanded, the curve from D1 to D2, at the same time, the equilibrium price from P1 to P2, and the equilibrium quantity from Q1 to Q2. There is an increase in demand which has caused an increase in quantity. The increase can also come from changing tastes and incomes, price changes in complementary and substitut e goods, market expectation, and number of consumers.If the demand decreases, the situation is opposite, the demand D2 down to D1, the equilibrium price decreases, and the equilibrium quantity also decreases. The quantity supplied at each price is the same as before the demand shift, reflecting the fact that the supply curve has not shifted; but the equilibrium quantity and price are different as a result of the change in demand. Supply curve shifts When the supply of a product decreases, curve from S1 to S2, it makes the equilibrium price decreases from P1 to P2, but the equilibrium quantity increases from Q1 to Q2.If the quantity of supply decreases, the curve will from S2 to S1. The equilibrium price will increase and the equilibrium quantity will decrease as consumers move along the demand curve to the new higher price and associated lower quantity demanded. Partial equilibrium Partial equilibrium as the name suggests takes into consideration only a part of the market, ceteris p aribus to attain equilibrium. Partial equilibrium is based on a limited range of data, a standard example is the price of a single product, all other prices of the products in a fixed analysis.The supply and demand model is a local equilibrium model of economic balance, clear the market prices of the goods and some specific number won independence in other markets. In other words, the prices of all the alternative and complementary, and income level of consumer is constant. Partial equilibrium analysis testing these policy actions in the influence of creating balance in the industry or market only specific directly affected, ignore its effect in any other market or industry that they were small almost no influence. AD-AS model (Long-term equilibrium)AS is long-term total supply curve, it and potential output line entirely coincidence, when the total demand curve to AD, total demand curve and long-term total supply curve intersection of the decision's production for Y E, price level for P. When the total demand increased total demand curve from AD move up to the AD, total demand curve and long-term total supply curve intersection of the decision's production for Y E, price level for P, because Y = Y = Y *, so in the long run of total demand is growing only raised the price level, and won't change the production or income. TASK 5 Market Demand for Coffee Form of D0 Price| 1. | 0. 75| 0. 5| 0. 25| Quantity| 9| 11| 12| 14| Form of D1 (Price same as D0) Price| 1. 5| 0. 75| 0. 5| 0. 25| Quantity| 7| 8| 9| 10| Form of D1 (Quantity same as D0) Price| 0. 5| 0. 2| 0. 1| 0. 05| Quantity| 9| 11| 12| 14| If we define D0 is the initial demand curve. When demand decreases, D0 will leftward to D1. We can understand from above form, when D1 same as D0 in price, quantity of D1 is decreased; when D1 same as D0 in quantity, price of D1 is decreased. So the equlibrium of D1 is also decreased. ( the quantity and the price are decreased at the same time) Form of D2 (Price same as D0 ) Price| 1. 5| 0. 75| 0. 5| 0. 25|Quantity| 11| 13| 15| 17| Form of D2 (Quantity same as D0) Price| 3| 1. 5| 1| 0. 75| Quantity| 9| 11| 12| 14| If we define D0 is the initial demand curve. When demand increases, D0 will rightward to D2. We can understand from above form, when D2 same as D0 in price, quantity of D2 is increased; when D2 same as D0 in quantity, price of D2 is increased. So the equilibrium of D2 is also increased. (the quantity and the price are increased at the same time) Factors that affect the demand for coffee Consumer income. Generally speaking, in other conditions of constant, the higher the income of consumers, the more demand for commodities.So the quantity of coffee high income consumer demand is more than the quantity of coffee low income consumer demand. Consumer preferences. When consumers of some goods of preference increased, the demand for the goods number will increase. Instead, when of preference abate, demand will reduce the number. So the quantity of coffee demand that people like coffee is more than the quantity of coffee demand that people don’t like coffee. The price of related products. When the price of a commodity itself is fixed, but and it related to other commodity price change, this kind of goods is the number needs will also be changing. o a commodity demand and alternatives to price but change, namely substitutes the increase in the price of the commodities will cause the increase of demand, the price will reduce substitute caused the reduction of the demand for commodities. Reference of assignment Begg. D. and Ward. D. (2003) Economics for business. Boston: McGraw-Hill Economics for business. Press: FT Finance Abel, Andrew; Bernanke, Ben (2005). Macroeconomics (5th ed. ). Pearson Websites: http://www. conservapedia. com http://en. wikipedia. org

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