Oligopoly is the ideal market structure because it allows society to Essay

Oligopoly is the ideal market structure because it allows society to benefit from the efficiency gains of both competition and monopoly - Essay Example The range within which each oligopolist can independently influence prices is, however, narrower than where there is a pure monopoly, for he has to take into account not only the availability of substitutes (as does a pure monopolist as well), but also the likely actions of his principal competitors in his own market. In all circumstances price changes are likely to affect adversely the interests of certain participants in the market. Increases in price naturally are harmful to consumers, while decreases injure the interests of producers and of some traders. In monopoly and oligopoly situations the power of firms to influence prices, coupled with a high degree of dependence on these firms, tends to provoke allegations that all price changes are deliberately engineered to injure certain interests. Consumers, producers or rival traders may consider that they have been specially and deliberately injured by the actions of the monopolist or oligopolists, and may ascribe market changes to their intentional activities. Plausibility is lent to these views because in these situations the firms can undoubtedly influence the market; indeed, they cannot help doing so. It is therefore impossible conclusively or convincingly to refute allegations of profiteering, of destructive underselling to eliminate partic ular competitors, of deliberate depression of producer prices, or of wasteful inflation of costs. 1 An important and distinctive characteristic of oligopoly is the realization by each firm that its fortunes depend very closely upon the actions of the others in the same market. Their behaviour is necessarily influenced by the realization of mutual interdependence. Each firm appreciates that in initiating price changes it must expect the other firms to react to these changes, and that in assessing the net effects of a price change it must take account of the probable reaction of others. In deciding on price changes each firm considers not only the general market situation and its own financial and stock position, but also the probable conduct of its principal competitors. Firms recognizing their mutual interdependence may find it convenient and profitable to co-ordinate their policies and to act together, and co-operation is made easier because the numbers are comparatively small. An oligopolistic situation is frequently accompanied by market sharing arrangements between a number of producers or firms. This is particularly likely in the supply of standardized products or services, where these price-fixing agreements may be effective and stable even without formal market-sharing arrangements; banking and shipping provide familiar examples in the United States, in Britain and in Western Europe. Where the product is largely unstandardized, agreements are less often concluded, and, moreover, tend to be unstable; the motor industry seems to be a convenient example. Co-operation is, however, by no means the inevitable outcome of oligopoly. Individual firms may decide to try their strength and to enlarge their share in the market by active competition. Moreover, when new entry is

Effective Team and Performance Management Essay - 5

Effective Team and Performance Management - Essay Example 362). Therefore, an organization must always look for ways of bringing together all the departments to ensure that the specific goals and objectives are achieved. According to Furnham et al, (1993, p. 245-257), in an organization setting, the sources of conflict are varied. Many conflicts are related to psychological factors such as wrong attitudes towards accomplishing given tasks. Some members will normally not co-operate in various areas of an organization due to psychological factors that they pose. Some members may also have emotional problems which will be expressed at most times while the employees are working together. For example, some may show signs of ranging temper, some resentment while others become indifferent during moments of team work. They may not be able to bring forth their ideas with ease, hindering team work. There are also several behavioral practices that work contrary to team work (Kaplan & Miller 1987, p. 346-360). For example, some members may withdraw fro m the team, others choosing to choose the team members that they would want to work with. This will obviously hinder cooperation in the organization. Leadership plays a key role in the achievement of team work within the corporate world. A leader is any individual who is able to influence the employees towards a specific direction. Leadership may come from any level or department within an organizations setting (Kaplan & Miller 1987, p. 346-360). It is important that appropriate leadership is given, so that all the employees move towards the same direction. In this report, I reflect on various activities that have we have undertaken as a group, in the bid to learn more on the topic of team work. I use the tasks to understand how well team work can be accomplished within an organization. The outcomes of the teamwork within our group indicate the issues that surround cooperation and cohesion within the organizations. Reflection of various the tasks undertaken During our class work, we were called upon to take various tasks as groups. They would either be seminar activities or weekly activities. One of these activities included the egg flying contest. In this case, I and other team members were called upon to use all the resources that were available to ensure that an egg would not breaking after being dropped from a height of 2 meters. Several resources were availed to us, which included: six straws, one balloon, three elastic buds six cotton buds, and four papers; each one and a half centimeters. The task ahead was to be able to put our minds together and see how the materials available to us were of use. The team members had to use the resources ahead of them with a lot of care. The resources were limited, yet the given task had to be accomplished. There was need for the team to give way for a leader, one who everybody would listen to and who would give direction on how exactly to use the materials to accomplish the task ahead. In such a moment, most members f eared to fail, they wanted to be correct and perform the task to success. Therefore, a strong leader, one who would take into considerate the task ahead was needed. Our next exercise involved investigation of Cambridge crime. In this case, the team was supposed to investigate a crime scene that had happened in the nearby location. The accurate information in such a scenario was of great