Economics Assignment-
- This course will rely, in part, on the use of the case-study method to develop an understanding of the interconnection between the course’s key theoretical concepts, and of the process of translating those theories into practice.
- Submission of a written report is required. This project supports analytical and critical thinking, as well as project management and communication skills.
- Each group will present its case study solutions during Week 12’s class. Each group will be allowed 10 minutes to present, followed by 5 minutes for questions from the class.
- The presentation component will be worth 5% and the written component will be worth 25%.
- All group members are expected to participate in the presentation and to contribute to the written component. Participation will be assessed and individual grade will be computed.
- The written report should be between 12 – 15 pages, excluding any diagrams, tables, and references, double- spaced excluding the list of references (Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1″ margins). The report should clearly describe any assumptions and calculations that have been made.
- Question: Set in 1999, this case allows students to put themselves in the positions of both Airbus and Boeing as Boeing considered how to respond to Airbus’s decision to announce its plans to proceed or not with the $10 billion development of the world’s first commercial superjumbo jet, the Airbus A3XX. Boeing was considering a development effort to stretch its 747 jumbo jet into a larger superjumbo version, the 747-X. At the time, the two companies’ widely available 20-year forecasts for jumbo- and superjumbo-jet demand were particularly divergent. In light of this very public agreement to disagree, Boeing could pursue several alternatives, all of which were related to Airbus’s decision about whether or not to develop the A3XX. This case presents an opportunity for students to make a real downstream decision. It was prepared as a final exam for an introductory decision analysis course involving subjective probability assessment, decision tree modeling, simulation, real options, and game theory. In the analysis of this case, a student is expected to utilize ideas from all five of these areas.
