Business Strategy: A Comprehensive Guide to Competitive Advantage
1. Corporate vs. Business Strategy
Corporate Strategy: Defines what products/services to produce and where to compete to maximize long-run profitability.
Business Strategy: Outlines how to compete to create unique value (competitive advantage) by either:
- Providing services consumers value more highly (differentiation)
- Providing similar products at a lower cost (cost leadership)
Strategy: Identifies broad decisions, has a long-term focus, and establishes clear goals.
Tactic: Employs specific actions, has
Read MoreElasticity, Costs, and Market Structures in Economics
Elasticity
Elasticity measures how much the quantity demanded or supplied of a good changes in response to a change in price or other factors.
Price Elasticity of Demand
Price elasticity of demand measures how responsive quantity demanded is to a change in price. It is defined as:
Ed = (% change in quantity) / (% change in price) (Absolute value)
- Inelastic: Ed < 1 (Not responsive to price changes)
- Elastic: Ed > 1 (Responsive to price changes)
- Unit Elastic: Ed = 1 (Percentage change in quantity demanded
The Spanish Stock Exchange: A Comprehensive Guide
Origins and Evolution
The Exchange was founded in the Middle Ages in Bruges, at the Wohdelwase house. Shares date back to the early eighteenth century. The first law was published in Paris in 1727. The stock exchange evolved with the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century as companies began to interact more frequently.
Key Dates in Spanish Stock Exchange History:
- 1891: Bilbao Stock Exchange
- 1915: Barcelona Stock Exchange
- 1970: Valencia Stock Exchange
- 1983: Madrid Stock Exchange
The approval of
Read MoreEconomic Impact of War & the Great Depression: A Historical Analysis
1. Economic Problems of Peace
1.1 Immediate Effects of War
The Great War had devastating effects on the global economy. European continents were weakened, negatively impacting population, production, and causing the breakdown of national cooperation. By 1918, countless men had lost their lives on the battlefield, while others suffered severe wounds. Commodity prices increased, currencies tripled in price and suffered deflation, and countries became indebted to the U.S. due to war loans.
Signed peace
Read MorePerfect Competition, Monopoly, and Monopolistic Competition: A Market Structure Overview
Perfect Competition
Definition
Perfect competition is a market structure characterized by a large number of buyers and sellers offering similar products. There is free entry and exit for both buyers and sellers, and no control or regulation over prices.
Market Conditions
A perfectly competitive market, also known as a “perfect market,” requires the following conditions:
- Product homogeneity
- Unrestricted mobility of resources
- Total clearance of products
- Large number of buyers and sellers
- Free competition
- Information
Costa Rica’s Economic Crisis and Recovery: 1980s-1990s
Costa Rica’s Economic Crisis (1980s)
Debt and Deficit Crisis (Mid-1970s)
Costa Rica’s external and internal debt and deficit grew rapidly in the mid-1970s, leading to a severe economic crisis. The country faced the following challenges:
- GDP declined to 50% of its previous levels.
- Inflation rose to 65% in 1981 and exceeded 82% by 1982.
- Unemployment skyrocketed.
- Agricultural and industrial production fell drastically.
- The currency (colón) fluctuated against the dollar, dropping from 8.60 to 60.00 colones