COURSE #: MECN 430

SECTION:  61 & 81

COURSE NAME: MICROECONOMIC ANALYSIS

INSTRUCTOR:  DE BONDT

CASEPACK (YES or NO?) : YES

FIRST ASSIGNMENT: NONE

1.  TEXT  --   REQUIRED  or  RECOMMENDED?: REQUIRED

AUTHOR: BESANKO & BRAEUTIGAN

PUBLISHER: WILEY & SON

TITLE: MICROECONOMICS

ED./DATE: LATEST ED

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TITLE:

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COURSE #:

MECN 441

SECTION:

61, 62

COURSE NAME: Competitive Strategy and Industrial Structure

INSTRUCTOR: Besanko

CASEPACK: YES

FIRST ASSIGNMENT: Please complete first assignment that is in the case packet or posted to my web site (after March 1)

1.  TEXT  --   REQUIRED  or  RECOMMENDED?: NO TEXTBOOK

AUTHOR:

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ED./DATE:

2.  TEXT  --   REQUIRED  or  RECOMMENDED?:

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Quarter:  Spring

Year: 2001-2002

Course #:  MECN441

Section: 81

Course Name: Economics of Competition

Instructor: James Dana

Casepack (YES or NO?)

Yes

Please note that part of this assignment is to be turned in at our first class!  See details below.

All Week 1 course materials, including the cases, the discussion questions, and this first assignment, are available online at

https://courses.northwestern.edu/courses/406060043/

Please note that if you are not registered for this course this course page will only be accessible for the first week of the Spring term.

Readings:

 

Morton, “Why Economics Has Been Fruitful for Strategy”

Gorham, J. “Viking Raider,” Forbes, (April 30, 2001).

Optional investing.  The Economist. 8 Jan. 1994:  76.

Besanko, D. and Dana, J..  Note on Decision Trees.

Besanko, D., “Review Notes: Economic Concepts of Cost and the Theory of Perfectly Competitive Markets” (Kellogg School of Management)

Case:  ValuJet

Discussion questions for ValuJet (these are clearer than the questions in the case packet).

Despite ValuJet’s accident and subsequent transformation, the company’s initial business model is a rich environment for studying strategic commitments.

Here are some questions you should consider as you prepare the case.

1. What elements of ValuJet’s strategy created value for ValuJet’s consumers?

2. What elements of ValuJet’s strategy did not create value for ValuJet’s consumers? 

3. W hat elements of ValuJet’s strategy increased Delta’s incentive to price aggressively?

4. What elements of ValuJet’s strategy decreased Delta’s incentive to price aggressively?

5. What is the logic of combining the different aspects of ValuJet’s strategy?

Case: The Oil Tanker Shipping Industry in 1983, (HBS 9-384-034).

Oil Tankers discussion questions

1. Exhibit 5 of the case illustrates the spot prices of tanker services between 1964 and

1982. You can see from this figure that prices fluctuate greatly from year to year.

What explains why this industry goes through such extreme “boom-and-bust” cycles?

2. In the mid-1970s, the price at which a supertanker would earn zero economic profit

was about Worldscale 80. Yet, between 1974 and 1978, prices for supertanker

services was below this level. Moreover, as Exhibit 8 shows, throughout this period

even as late as 1979 or 1980, there was excess capacity in this industry. Why didn’t

more capacity exit the industry during the period in which firms were unable to cover

their cost of capital? Does this reflect irrationality on the part of industry participants?

3. What is the long-run average profit potential of this industry for an independent ship

owner? What are the stabilizing forces working against profit?

4. What does it take to “win” in the oil tanker business? That is, what distinguishes

independent owners, such as Aristotle Onassis or Y.K. Pao, who were able to amass

enormous fortunes over many years in this business, from the hundreds of other ship

owners who did not generate such wealth? In other words, what did Onassis or Pao

have going for them that average performers in this business did not have?

Assignment:

Please read the syllabus.

Please be prepared to discuss the questions in this case packet preceding the ValuJet case.

Please be prepared to discuss the questions in this case packet preceding the Oil Tanker Shipping Industry case.

Weekly Assignment (to be turned in):

Read the exercise, “Scrapping an Oil Tanker.” Please complete all parts of the exercise. You may use Excel and Treeplan to do this assignment but it is not required.

Turn in a written answer to the question “Should you accept the offer from World Wide Shipping? Why or why not?”

1.  TEXT  -- RECOMMENDED

Author: BB Besanko, D., D. Dranove, and M. Shanley. 

Publisher: Wiley

Title: The Economics of Strategy

Date/Edition: Second

 

COURSE #: MEC446

SECTION:  61 & 81

COURSE NAME: PRICING STRATEGIES

INSTRUCTOR:  VOHRA

CASEPACK (YES or NO?): YES

FIRST ASSIGNMENT: NONE

1.  TEXT  --   REQUIRED  or  RECOMMENDED?:

AUTHOR:

PUBLISHER:

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ED./DATE:

2.  TEXT  --   REQUIRED  or  RECOMMENDED?:

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COURSE #:MECN450

SECTION:  81

COURSE NAME: MACROECONOMIC ANALYSIS

INSTRUCTOR:  BENISHAY

CASEPACK (YES or NO?) : YES

FIRST ASSIGNMENT: READ CHAPTER1, SUPPLEMENT CHAPTERS 1 &2 AND HOMEWORK #1 AT THE END OF THE CASE PACKET.

1.  TEXT  --   REQUIRED  or  RECOMMENDED?: NONE

AUTHOR:

PUBLISHER: WEST

TITLE:

ED./DATE:

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