Horizontal boundaries of the firm. Horizontal boundaries of the firm 2022-10-15

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The horizontal boundaries of a firm refer to the range of products or services that the firm produces or offers to its customers. Decisions about the horizontal boundaries of a firm can have significant impacts on the firm's operations and performance.

One important consideration when determining the horizontal boundaries of a firm is the extent to which the firm is vertically integrated. Vertical integration refers to the degree to which a firm controls different stages of the production process for a particular product or service. For example, a firm that is vertically integrated in the automobile industry might control everything from the mining of raw materials to the assembly of the final product.

There are several advantages to vertical integration. It can allow a firm to better control the quality of its products, reduce its dependence on external suppliers, and capture a larger share of the value created in the production process. However, vertical integration can also be costly, as it requires the firm to invest in additional capacity and expertise.

Another factor to consider when determining the horizontal boundaries of a firm is the level of differentiation in the market. Differentiation refers to the extent to which a firm's products or services are perceived as distinct from those of its competitors. Firms that differentiate their offerings may be able to command higher prices and enjoy stronger customer loyalty. However, differentiation can also be costly, as it requires the firm to invest in research and development, marketing, and other activities to create and communicate the unique value of its products or services.

In addition to vertical integration and differentiation, other factors that can influence the horizontal boundaries of a firm include the economies of scale and scope that the firm can achieve, the availability of complementary assets, and the regulatory environment in which the firm operates.

Ultimately, the horizontal boundaries of a firm are shaped by a combination of internal and external factors, and the optimal boundaries will depend on the specific circumstances of the firm and the industry in which it operates.

Horizontal Boundaries of the Firm

horizontal boundaries of the firm

They imply lower unit costs for each output than if produced separately. Problems of information flow and coordination derive from the fact that, as the company grows bigger and bigger, either each division becomes bigger or the number of divisions increases. For instance, doubling the size of a plane or container ship does not require doubling the costs associated with the crew, the fuel. As a matter of fact, some inputs make a proportionately lower contribution to total costs when used more intensively. This isn't a good sign of growing, the company needs to make sure that when the company is growing and increasing productivitym the business doesn't add extra departments and slowing down the growth instead of increasing. They derive from the fact that managers and employees become more efficient in the production process as time passes by. The overall performance of diversified firms lags behind more focused companies.

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Week 2

horizontal boundaries of the firm

What are vertical boundaries? In the long run AC curve can be attributed to many thing but mostly because we are spreading the cost of quazi fixed cost over more units of output. The market for corporate control keeps managers focused on the goals of shareholders. Economies of scope exist when the cost of production of two goods combined is lower than the production of the two goods separately. The exploitation of economies of scale or scope increases the complexity of the firm. They are present when in the production of one good the input is underused. An activity that is characterized by economies of scale has a long-run average total cost that declines with the size of the operation economies of scale are different from short-run capacity utilization.

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Horizontal Boundaries of The Firm Flashcards

horizontal boundaries of the firm

Managers who undertake unprofitable acquisitions will find their firms' actual share prices fall: -If a manager overpays for a new acquisition above what is justified by scope economies, then the firm share price will fall. What is the difference between horizontal and vertical alignment? Other problems come with monitoring coordination problems and managing the performance of working by tying performance to pay. . Learning economies do not directly expand the firm, but they contribute to its success. Webvan once shipped groceries from its Chicago warehouse to suburbs throughout Chicagoland.

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Horizontal Boundaries of the Firm Flashcards

horizontal boundaries of the firm

In week 3, we discuss about horizontal boundaries of the firm which define how much of the total product market the firm serves scale and what variety of related products the firm offers scope. The Slope as a Measure of Learning Benefits 13. Vertical and Horizontal Difference In the vertical structure, decisions are made at the top and flow down first to middle management, then to supervisors and ultimately down to the workers. An equilibrium user set maintains the same number of users. .

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Chapter 2: Horizontal Boundaries of the Firm Flashcards

horizontal boundaries of the firm

These firms are called conglomerates. Division of Labor Increased productivity of variable inputs due to specialization As markets increase in size, economies of scale enables specialization 8. What are three sources of economies of scale? In reality diversified firms under-invest in their strongest divisions. It refers to the specialization of productive activities, such as when a financial analyst specializes in the analysis of start-up biotech companies. Managers may diversify because they enjoy running larger firms. The horizontal boundaries identify the quantity and the varieties of products a firm produces. In case you are interested to learn Spanish and find work opportunities abroad, go to.

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Horizontal boundaries of the firm

horizontal boundaries of the firm

Managers may pursue unrelated acquisitions in order to increase their compensation since executives in larger firms earn higher salaries. This means that top managers become overloaded by information and the flow of information from the top to the bottom of the firm is slower. What is a boundary of a firm? Economies of scope result from physically combining inputs to form outputs that produce two or more related outputs within the same firm. Benefits: - Market firms can achieve economies of scale o Market firms may possess proprietary information or patents that enable them to produce at lower cost. The indivisible input can be physical, human, organizational or abstract i.

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What are horizontal boundaries of a firm?

horizontal boundaries of the firm

Parabola see slide 46 from ch. In the short run, the portion of the SR AC curve would be downward sloping because we are spreading the fixed costs over more units of output, but that's not economies of scale. The slide is prepared for Economics of Strategy class in Prasetiya Mulya Business School. The determinants of the horizontal boundaries of the firm are economies of scale, of scope and learning economies. Spreading resources too thin Firms often rely on few key inputs whose cannot be easily replicated 3. The demand for each user and nonuser has no tendency to change.

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Horizontal Boundaries Of A Firm [6ngeyx0jqjlv]

horizontal boundaries of the firm

In order to avoid this problem, managers can decide to decentralize decisions, but that would lead to less coordination across divisions of the firm. Thus these inputs were indivisible FCs. Diversification is costly, especially when one firm acquires another. Such specialization often requires upfront investments that should be treated as fixed costs — for example, the analyst must do considerable research on the biotech industry before having the credibility to compete for clients. The easiest example is the production of a steel metal box.

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horizontal boundaries of the firm

Horizontal Boundaries of the firm Economies of Scale Economies of Scope Firms Strategy 3. Employees become more familiar and efficient in carrying out their tasks while managers become better at allocating resources and in scheduling the production process. Product life cycle model combined with an internal capital market, with the firm serving as a banker. Cube-square rule Applies whenever output is proportional to the volume of the production of the vessel but costs are proportional to the surface area of the vessel 11. Influence costs arise from the attempt to relocate quasi-rents within the organization.

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horizontal boundaries of the firm

Learning economies are present where costs fall with experience. Economics of Density Cost savings that arise within a transportation network due to a greater geographic density of customers Hub-and-spoke networks 9. They derive, as the economies of scale, form the indivisibility in input use. Common sources of economies of scale are purchasing bulk buying of materials through long-term contracts , managerial increasing the specialization of managers , financial obtaining lower-interest charges when borrowing from banks and having access to a greater range of financial instruments , marketing spreading …. Economies of scale arise because of invisibility in input use. The production process exhibits economies of scope if the total cost of producing two different products is lower when they are produced by a single firm instead of two separate firms.

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