In this chapter, we have noted how businesses are dynamic and constantly looking to exploit new opportunities that involve changing the way they operate production. What might not have been a success for some firms does not mean to say that there are no other firms that will be able to benefit. This article shows how problems faced by one firm in making sufficient profits are not necessarily shared by other firms as the use of factor inputs is changed.    

Best Buy Fails to Break UK Market.

US electrical retailer, Best Buy, made an attempt to enter the UK electrical retail market in 2010. The retailer is known across the united states for its high-quality sales staff and discount prices and attempted to bring its business model to the crowded UK market which features the likes of Currys, Argos, Dixons, and Comet.

The plans to enter the UK market arose when Best Buy Inc. brought half of the Carphone Warehouse's retail interests. Plans were made to open up to 200 so-called 'Big-Box' stores throughout the UK within the first one opening in Thurrock, Essex in April 2010. However, facing strong competition a lack of brand recognition by UK consumers, and the rapid growth of online retailing from firms like Amazon, Best Buy found things difficult and by January 2012 a decision was made to close down its 11bricks and mortar retail operations following losses of around 62 million pounds.

The decision to close down was made after consideration was given to commit more capital to its operations in an attempt to secure the advantages of large-scale production - economies of scale. In the end, the cost of such an investment in relation to the expected benefits in a market which was challenging (given the economic situation in the UK, the income elasticity of demand for electrical goods in general, and the increasing use of online as the medium of choice for shoppers), meant that option was discounted.

The decision to close down operations will have been takin in the light of the expected costs of trying to maintain its presence on the high street and the future of the industry as a whole. it would not have been taken lightly as reports suggested closing down would cost Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse around 100 million pounds.

One option being considered was selling its stores to the UK's fourth-largest supermarket group by share, Morrisons. Morrisons was reported to have expressed interest in acquiring the stores, mostly in large out-of-town retail sites, for its Kiddicare brand of baby, infant, and small children's products such as toys, pushchairs, costs, and so on.

The reports caused interest in the markets and some surprise given the challenges that exist in that market for some of the reasons that Best Buy found life difficult. An increasing trend to purchase goods online and the economic climate had already seen retailers like Mothercare and its Early Learning Centre stores facing declining sales and profits. Kiddicare had been an almost exclusively online operation and so the decision by Morrisons to move into the bricks and mortar sector was seen as a high-risk move.

Questions:

1. For Morrisons, what is the difference between the short run and the long run in this case?

2. Explain some of the reasons why Best Buy made such losses in the UK given its global size.

3. How might Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy have gained economies of scale if they had 'committed new capital'?

4. Why might Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy 'incur a cost of as much as 100 million pounds' in closing down the stores?

5. If Mothercare is 'troubled' why might Morrisons believe it can succeed with Kiddicare?

Question 16

1. 16) The price elasticity of supply measures:

   		a. how much supply changes when price changes
   		b. how much demand changes when supply changes
   		c. how much quantity supplied changes when price changes
   		d. how much quantity demanded changes when quantity supplied changes

3 points

Question 17

1. 17) Which factor(s) increase supply?

   		a. firms see a decrease in their costs
   		b. firms can acquire a better technology
   		c. there are more firms in the market
   		d. all of the above

3 points

Question 18

1. 18) When there is excess supply in a market engaged in perfect competition:

   		a. price goes down and quantity demanded decreases and quantity supplied decreases
   		b. price goes up and quantity demanded decreases and quantity supplied decreases
   		c.price goes up and quantity demanded increases and quantity supplied increases
   		d. price goes down and quantity demanded increases and quantity supplied decreases

3 points

Question 19

1. 19) When there is excess demand in a market engaged in perfect competition:

   		a. price goes up and quantity supplied increases and quantity demanded decreases
   		b. price goes down and quantity supplied increases and quantity demanded increases
   		c. price goes up and quantity supplied increases and quantity demanded increases
   		d. price goes down and quantity supplied decreases and quantity demanded increases

3 points

Question 20

1. 20) Prices in a market are often considered "unfair". If a price ceiling is set in a market engaged in perfect competition:

   		a. a shortage of the product develops
   		b. a surplus of the product develops
   		c. everyone who wants to buy the product at the price ceiling can purchase it
   		d. it is efficient

Coastal Biotech is a San Diego company that currently leases data center space in a colocation facility in Kearney Mesa and has ten physical servers for its diagnostic test analysis business. The company is experiencing tremendous growth in business due to COVID-19 testing and needs to quickly expand its capacity 10x. Your CIO would like you to create a cloud architecture drawing that highlights the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) services necessary in order to meet the company's growing diagnostic testing needs. You do not need to worry about the actual biological material testing aspects of the company's business, so you should be focusing on the underlying IT infrastructure. The CIO has prepared the following technology requirements to help guide you:

2 Terabytes of object storage to start and a plan to scale up and down with business needs

2 Virtual Machines for Databases per Region

Container infrastructure that scales up and down with testing needs

Container management that is simple enough to be managed with the existing five person IT organization
Health data needs to be secured

All credentials need to be centrally managed and secured

The infrastructure needs to be deployed into two U.S. regions for business continuity purposes

discuss the impact that technology has on healthcare. Research at least one current (implemented or improved after 2017) piece of technology that is impacting healthcare. Discuss how that piece of technology is expected/improving health, decreasing costs, creating efficiencies etc. Identify any large health systems, organizations, etc., that may have employed that technology to improve healthcare.

HCM

2. Borgmann adopts a number of Heidegger’s criticisms about technology. But unlike Heidegger, Borgmann disagrees that we should try to go back to a pre-technological attitude to mitigate against the negative aspects of technology. He embraces technology as a part of the experience of focal things and practices. Explain the role technology plays in Borgmann that is different from Heidegger using an example.

Pick one Hype Cycle (Gartner publishes many Hype Cycle for variety of technology groups) that interests you the most. Pick the version that is quite recent, not too outdated. And pick one of the technology (sub-technology) plotted on that curve, and explain:

- Why does this sub-technology interest you? What can it do for you, or for your community, or for your world?