Mgta 05 - Provide an Example of a Country, or a Period of Time, When Planned Economics Was an Effective or Appropriate Way to Organise a Country’s Economy?

MGTA05 – Practice Short Answer Questions

4 SAQs of the type that I have asked, or could ask, on a final examination.

Practice Question 1 – from Chapter 3

Provide an example of a country, or a period of time, when planned economics                  4 marks

was an effective or appropriate way to organise a country’s economy?        

Purpose of the Question:

The purpose of this question is to have students demonstrate that they can apply theory to actual events. The textbook provides several examples, which were briefly discussed during the lectures.

Marking Guide

Award up to 2 marks for any example (probably one of the following) that includes 2 or 3 sentences of description that shows some historical knowledge.

Answer

The United States in the 1930s – During the “Great Depression” total production of manufactured goods fell by one third, and the unemployment rate rose to nearly 25%. In 1932 President Franklin Roosevelt came to office promising to end the depression and cut unemployment. Throughout the 1930s the Roosevelt administration created government agencies responsible for creating jobs, and producing products. The Works Progress Administration employed almost eight million people.  All of this was done according to government plan and direction. Between 1933 and 1937 the unemployment rate fell from 25% to 14%, and farm prices nearly doubled. To a large extent the US Government’s efforts proved successful at restoring jobs and prosperity

Europe during World War II - In the UK (and in some other European countries) between 1939-1945 most men and some women were liable to conscription (compulsory enlistment into state service, typically into the armed forces). The UK mobilised about 6 million troops. The percentage of the UK’s working population employed by the armed forces increased from 2% to 24%. By the end of World War II, more than 70% of economic activity in the United Kingdom originated with the Government. By imposing conscription and rationing the UK acquired the resources to successfully win a war. In 1945 Germany surrendered. By this measure, the government’s dominance of the economy and its rigid control over the factors of production can be judged a success.

China in 1940s – In China, when the Communists under Mao Tse-Tung came to power in 1949, the country’s economy had been devastated by three decades of civil war. Mines and factories had been damaged. China’s transportation, communication, and power systems had been destroyed. The chief goal of the Mao’s government was to restore the economy to normal working order. It moved quickly to make all mines, factories, transportation companies and banks into state-owned enterprises. The Government also took control of about half of all agricultural land.

Question 2 – from Chapter 4                                                              2 parts = 5 marks

Identify the degree of competition of the cell phone (service providers)                        1 mark

industry in Canada.  

Explain and justify your answer by identify at least four features of this degree

of competition, and relate these features to the cell phone industry in Canada             4 marks

Purpose of the Question:

The purpose of this question is to have students demonstrate that they can apply theory to a real industry. The textbook provides several examples, others were discussed in class.

Marking Guide

Award 1 mark for supplying the correct answer

Award up to 3 marks for supplying a relevant feature or characteristic of an oligopoly,

Award another 1 mark for relating relating those characteristics to the student’s knowledge of the cell phone industry in Canada.

Model Answer

The Canadian cell phone service industry is an oligopoly                                

6 (six) characteristics of an oligopoly include:        

• Small number of  suppliers (3 main players = Bell, Telus, Rogers)
• Each organistion is large        
• There are barriers to entry: large capital needs and economies of scale
• There are barriers to exit
• They observe each others’ competitive tactics closely and tend to match services and prices
• They each brand heavily and attempt to differentiate

Practice Question 3  - from Chapter 6                                                2 parts = 6 marks

The American Psychologist David McLelland developed the "needs motivation" theory. McLelland's theory suggests that every person possesses one of three basic motivational needs. According to Mclelland's theory, depending on which of these motivational needs each of us possess, we are likely to pursue a kind of career or work environment..

a) Identify each of the three basic human motivators identified by McLelland.                   3 marks

b) For each of the three motivational needs, suggest an example of a job or career

that might be pursued by someone who possess that type of motivational need.               3 marks

Purpose of this Question

We spent an entire lecture discussing the personality, psychological and demographic characteristics of entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this question is to have you demonstrate that you can apply some of the theoretical discussion of entrepreneurial personalities and characteristics to peoples’ actual career preferences and choices.

Model Answer

McLelland suggested that people are driven by: the need for power (nPow), the need for affiliation (nAff), and the need for achievement (nAch).