A Macroeconomics Perspective

Scenario:
This course uses the CTU Professional Learning Model™ (CTU PLM) to teach students with hands-on, industry-related, problem-solving experiences that model the professional environment and encourage achievements that lead to student and employer success. The CTU PLM is founded on the idea that students learn best by working on real-world, professional projects related to their chosen career fields. By working this way, students develop the expertise to apply conceptual knowledge to get effective results. Through professional learning, students experience the complexity of real-world problems and learn to select an appropriate approach to a problem that has more than one solution. This method of learning is called Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL assumes that you will master content while solving a meaningful problem in each assignment.

Throughout the course, you will work with a scenario in which some basic, background information is provided about a company. (This information could apply to any company that provides products or services of this sort in general.) You have a role in the scenario; that is, you are part of the story. The dialogue in each assignment presents the problem that must be solved. It is up to you to respond to the problem and submit a deliverable that will be graded.
Refer to the following scenario as you progress through the PBL process.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Scenario: AutoEdge
AutoEdge is a leading national automotive supply company located in Detroit, Michigan. Founded by Jonathan McAlister in 1976, the company specializes in engines and transmission parts and has been supplying products to the three largest U.S.-based automakers for over 30 years. AutoEdge’s name is known by customers and leaders in the automotive industry for quality, dependability, and reliable products. In fact, despite the extra cost that is added to the automobiles, consumers appreciate the AutoEdge brand name and often make purchases because of it.
In 2005, AutoEdge’s board of directors decided that the company needed to make some drastic changes because of the high cost of labor, rigid American regulations, and increased competition from other engine and transmission part suppliers. Their solution was to gradually close all manufacturing operations in Detroit and begin outsourcing to a well-known factory in South Korea. The board reasoned that this change would allow the company to compete with the growing industry, meet the automotive manufacturing demands, and increase company profits. Some board members were skeptical about the move, however, because AutoEdge had built a reputation for high-quality, detailed craftsmanship, and they feared that transitioning the manufacturing operations overseas would cause quality to diminish.

For the next 5 years, this strategy proved successful. The company showed signs of financial growth and company profit.
However, in 2010, the company was found guilty of supplying products that failed quality tests. As a result, millions of automobiles had to be recalled. The recall was highly publicized, and the issue of poor quality products impacted negatively on American automotive companies. AutoEdge’s $51 per-share stock has fallen to $4 per share, and brand acceptance has come under scrutiny among even its most loyal customers. Although some economists blame these negative effects on the products, others believe that it had to do with the termination of AutoEdge’s Chief Executive Officer, Fred McFadden.
Lester Scholl, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has called an emergency meeting to discuss AutoEdge’s short-term and long-term
strategies. Among other things, they need to discuss the possibility of continuing production overseas or returning it to the United States. Lester and others on the board are well-known for being financially conservative and risk-averse. Because the American economy is experiencing high unemployment, low interest rates, low GDP, and low inflation, it might be sensible to make the change. To some extent, they believe that these macroeconomic factors can be used to their advantage. They realize the immediate challenges such as the brand damage, the growing competition, and the financial challenges the company is facing require immediate action. A new strategy must be formulated quickly to save the company from bankruptcy.
You have been hired by AutoEdge’s board of directors as a research analyst. Primarily, your job is to list and describe some of the legal, cultural, financial, and economic factors that AutoEdge needs to consider when deciding to either stay in South Korea or return to the United States. Because Fred McFadden was recently terminated, you will work directly with the board until a new CEO is named.
Topic: A Macroeconomics Perspective

Reading Task: Chapters 1 & 2

TEXT BOOK:

Title Edition Author Publisher ISBN
Managerial Economics: Economic Tools for Today’s Decision Makers
7 Keat, P. G., Young, P. K. Y., & Erfle, S. E. Pearson 9781269140782

Deliverable Length: Primary Task: 550 words;
Due Date: 4/8/2014 11:59:59 PM
Problem-based learning (PBL) is broken down into 3 phases: understanding the problem, exploring the available information, and resolving the problem. Each phase includes a series of steps, as follows:
1. Understand the problem.
o Meet the problem: Orient yourself to the problem.
o Determine what is known and what needs to be known or discovered.
o Define the problem statement: What exactly is the problem?
2. Explore the available information.
o Collect information from a variety of sources.
o Share and document information from discovery.
o Generate possible solutions for comparison and consideration.
3. Resolve the problem.
o Determine the solution that best fits.
o Present and justify the solution.
o Debrief the problem with a conclusion and the lessons that you learned.
Primary Task Response: Write 550 words that respond to the following with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.
Based on the description of PBL above, answer the following questions:
• What are your overall thoughts on PBL?
• What ideas and plans do you have about approaching each of the 3 main phases and related tasks?
• What are the pros and cons of PBL?

Phase Resources:
• Assessment: How Are You Smart?
Assessment: How Are You Smart?
• Assessments
Ageless Learner provides a learning style manual self-assessment from Marcia L. Conner that can be printed to score. Visual, auditory, and tactile and kinesthetic learning styles are covered. Learning Styles Assessment is at the top of the list on this page.
• How Your Learning Style Affects Your Use of Mnemonics.
This explanation of how the different learners use their learning style to remember content focuses on visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Click "Memory Improvement" in top-right navigation for memory aids.
• Kiplinger’s Economic Outlooks
This website provides a broad view of economic forecasting for business.
• Main Macroeconomic Indicators
This website provides a summary of the main macroeconomic indicators that affects an economy.
• National Association for Business Economics

This website is for members of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). Among other things, the website contains articles, publications, links, job listings, and other resources for business economists.
• The Vark Questionnaire: How Do I Learn Best?
When the learner completes this brief test, the assessment provides scores for each learning style and preferred style of the learner: visual, aural, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. This Web site provides bulleted lists per preferred learning style describing how to absorb information, how to study, and how to perform well on a test.
• What is Macroeconomics?
This brief video introduces fundamental topics in macroeconomics.
• What is the Role of GDP in Macroeconomics?
This Web page describes the role of gross domestic product (GDP) for a country.