Introduction to Game Theory Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Game Theory Essay Nobel Prize Citation, 1994: Game theory is a mathematical method for analysing strategic interaction. Problem What is strategic interaction? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 2 / 18 An Example of a Game | Flat Tire Two SMU students, Al and Bob, very con dent about their midterm exam performance in ECON 206, decided to attend a party the weekend before the nal exam. The party was so good that they overslept the whole Sunday. Instead of taking the nal unprepared on Monday, they pleaded the professor to give them a make-up exam. Their excuse was a at tire without a spare and any help. The professor, surprisingly, agreed. On Tuesday morning, the professor placed them in separated rooms and handed them the test. The test had just one question: Which tire? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 3 / 18 The GPA Rat Race All of you are now enrolled in ECON 206 that will be graded on a curve. No matter how well you do in absolute terms, only 33. 3% of the students will get As, and only 33. 3% of the students will get Bs. Therefore, you must work hard, not just in absolute terms, but relative to how hard your classmates work. All of you are smart enough to recognize this, and after the rst lecture you all hold a secrete meeting where all of you agree not to work too hard. What will happen in the end? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 4 / 18 Why Are Professors So Mean? Many professors have rigid rules not to give makeup exams and NEVER to accept late homework assignments. Students might think the professors are so hardhearted to behave in this way. The truth is. Most professors are actually very kindhearted (for example. ) They are willing to give their students every reasonable break and accept every reasonable excuse But most professors also know that this is a slippery slope (for example, ) | if they set very exible rules, what may happen? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 5 / 18 Another Example | Strategic Interactions vs. Individual Decision Problems Underlying story: two students (Alice and Bob) are taking a course together. There are three e ort levels for each student: work hard (utility = 5), work sometimes (utility = 2), shirk (utility = 0). Consider the following two grade schemes. Grade Scheme A: A students nal grade only depends on her own e ort level | if a student works hard, she will get an A for sure (utility = 10); if she works sometimes, she will get a passing grade (utility = 5); while if the student shirks, she will fail the course for sure (utility = 0). Individual Decision Problem E ort Level Utility Disutility Net Work Hard 10 5 Work Sometimes 5 2 Shirk 0 0 (Singapore Management University)

A Community for Everyone :: Internet Cyberspace Web Essays

A Community for Everyone The Net is not one thing. Its like asking: Are women comfortable in bars? Thatss a silly question. Which woman? Which bar?(171). Amy Bruckman, founder of MediaMoo, a virtual community using text, compares Internet communities with bars. She talks about how different people are comfortable in different bars just as certain people are interested in certain online communities. Just because one person does not like one bar does not mean that the bar should be shut down. That person should simply not go to that particular bar. He or she should find another bar. In Finding Ones Own in Cyberspace, Amy Bruckman proves that the Internet does offer or can possibly offer an online community that can fit anyones needs. Diversity is the internets greatest strength. Communities can be as exclusive online as they are in real life. Anyone can have an effect on his or her community, whether by starting a community up or just by having an input. Anyone can find a community online. To start off, the in ternets greatest asset is its diversity. A person can find just about anything he or she wants on the Net, including an accepting community. The internet is unbelievably vast and diverse. It may take a little time but Bruckman argues, If you keep an open mind, however, you may come across something good(172). As will be gone into later, people need to stop focusing on the negatives and concentrate on the positive aspects and possibilities in order to appreciate what the internet has to offer. Now, finding a particular Website should be becoming simpler than ever. With new online architecture, it is becoming more and more easy to find these sites: Depending on choice of background color and texture, type styles, and special fade-in effects, for instance, a Web page can feel playful or gloomy, futuristic or old-fashioned, serious or fun, grown-up or child-centered(178). Online communities are making it simple to identify with them. In some cases, a person would not even have to read t he text in order to know if he or she has found the community he or she is looking for. He or she would just need to look at background or images. For instance, if someone were looking for information on soccer, the website would show a picture of a soccer ball and the person would immediately know that the website is soccer related.

Parker Pen

Parker Pen: An Adventure in Globalization pg. 547 1. -This is the history of the failure of an international marketing strategy. Which were the reasons? Analyze the 4 P’s. (Price, Product, Place, Promotion) Being one of the largest pen industries in the world, Parker Pen was a failure for having international marketing strategy. This is due to the fact that Parker wanted its products to fall under the concept of standardization. He called this the â€Å"Janesville strategy†. Under promotion, Parker Pen wanted his pens to follow the mission of â€Å"one look, one voice†, meaning all Parker products would be sold and re-produced the same way in all countries the company would make partnership with overseas. As a result, all packaging and advertising would mirror the original Parker Pens in all participating countries. The problems which would arise from this is that standardization may not cater to different countries, who may have an interest for specific supply of pens. For example, locations such as France and Italy are fond of expensive fountain pens. Consequently, promotion strategies would lead to the decisions with regards to the distribution of products. Parker wanted all his pens to focus on a common positioning, which meant that the same types of pens would be allocated to its specified locations. The problem here is that the target markets values and interests are different across different markets, and cannot be dealt with similarly. Parker failed to realize that that you cannot use the same tactics on all individuals because each individual is unique in their own way. On the same note, this reduces the level of customization and personal preference. This also reduces customer consideration and individuals do not feel there is a sense of providing customer satisfaction. For the product, Parker pens lose its value in the pen industry for providing individuals with the writing instruments they need and have a value in. The Janesville strategy was a failure also due to the fact of pricing barriers. As stated in the article, Parker produced low-cost pens, which were not functional and were unable to do what they were intended to do. Leading up to this was a large controversy on the goodwill of the company in comparison to their actual products. Parker pen was a known as a company of quality, yet with this new global strategy, they failed to reduce costs yet at the same time satisfy the needs of customers. 2. -What role do people play in implementing any strategic decision? Analyze the role of Mr. Peterson, Mr. Smith and Mr. Parker. During the crisis of Parker pen, there were many roles being played. Mr. Peterson worked at reducing costs by laying off employees to reducing the product line to 100. He believed that entering into the global industry, it would require a single â€Å"world class agency†. Both Mr. Peterson and Mr. Smith decided that Parker pens needed to target the low-end of the market, meaning low cost pens would need to be produced. This would also result in the pens being in lower quality and standards than the original Parker pens. Mr. Smith, being promoted as the new president of the Parker pen company, planned to develop the Vector on the high scale and a disposable pen named the Itala on the low scale. Mr. Smith wanted Parker pens to take on markets of the pen industry that has never been done by any other company before. He decided that this would be the success of the company in entering into the global markets. For the company, this was a large risk as green ventures are unknown are this may cause a large fall in profits and sales. Mr. Smith also researched on the sales of Parker pens and discovered that the company had only a small share in the pen industry as most of its profits were coming from pens selling for less than three dollars. Mr. Smith decided that a change was needed, therefore pushed for the promotion of high scale to low scale products. Under the management of Mr. Peterson and Mr. Smith, 400 company managers were trained to market Parker products the same way in all locations. On the other hand, Mr. Parker was a believer of new product development, turning Parker pens into a company producing over 500 lines of products. His thoughts on the development of the global market were contrary to the ideas of Mr. Peterson and Mr. Smith. 3. -Was it a good idea for Parker Pen to produce and sell a wide range of pens from high-cost to low-cost? Why? It was not a good alternative for Parker Pen to produce and sell pens ranging from high-cost to low-cost. Parker pens are known for the quality in writing instruments and changing their production process by purchasing reduced quality materials will diminish the goodwill of the company. The first decision of determining if a company should globalize consist of the following items: knowing the company and its strength and weaknesses, knowing the product and its selling points, knowing the home market, knowing the target market and its background, and being able to leaves one’s predetermined values, beliefs, and propositions. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration. Contrarily, the concept of having a wide range of products can be a success if adequate research was done to understand each markets’ values. In low growth developing countries, the most viable option may be to sell low cost pens because individuals may not have the ability to afford prestigious ones. 4. -If customers from different places are buying similar products, do you think it is possible to approach different markets with the same advertising theme? Why? Customers from different places may have values in buying similar products, but it is not possible to approach different markets with the same advertising theme. The reason for this is that you need to custom to each market. You need to change your advertising strategies according to the values of that particular location. For example, some locations may want to feel a personal message directed towards them in order to attract them while others may want advertising to be assertive and straightforward without any underlying messages. By assisting distribution to extensive research, Parker Pens can gain a larger understanding of each markets’ needs when dealing with promotional planning and marketing strategies. In other words, Parker Pen took on the concept of Ethnocentrism and Geocentrism, which means that the use of strategies are the same for all countries worldwide as it is in the home country. This may be both beneficial and detrimental for a company’s marketing process. Looking at standardization versus adaptation, a potential starting point for Parker Pen could be standardization; however, a company must also know when to make a change. Subsequently, adaption and modification of products would need to be implemented in order to maintain brand recognition in a global society. 5. -Which had been your recommendation for the international marketing plan of Parker Pen in 1982? Since Parker pens was previously established as an industry of high quality writing instruments. With a product line of 500, the company should have done more research and evaluation of each international target market before pushing their products into that particular country. Since Parker Pen is a company of no direct foreign marketing, in determining which products should be distributed can be handed to an expert and advisor who will perform that research. Market selection is done using secondary data from previous companies who may have been successful in international markets. Another option is to use precedence to determine whether the company will survive in the global industry. In the Strategic Decisions in International Expansion model, Parker Pen did not go through the decisions of determining whether the company was export ready and what modes of entry the company would enter by. There was a lack of strategy implemented on the marketing mix and how the company were to distribute their resources. For Parker Pen, there was an overuse of self-reference criterion, where both Mr. Peterson and Mr. Smith believed that a high volume of low-costing pens would perform well in locations overseas. This was a failure to realize differences and be able to put down one’s own values and accept the values of customers and the target market. Consequently, there was a lack of evaluation and knowing thy target. Segmentation variables are those that involve the demographics of each individual. In high developing countries, there may be a larger group of young individuals who are looking for affordable working pens to get them through the day at school, while in high business and technology based environments, individuals may value higher-priced pens because it produces an image of respect and status.

Examples of Plural Tantum in English

Plurale tantum is a  noun that appears only in the plural and doesnt ordinarily have a singular form (for example, jeans, pajamas, tweezers, shears, and scissors). Also known as a lexical plural. Plural:  pluralia tantum. Jeans, scissors, trousers, and glasses are great examples of plural tantum  nouns in the English language. Singular Tantum A noun that appears only in the singular form--such as dirt--is known as singulare tantum. Etymology of Plural Tantum Latin  for plural only Examples and Observations Richard Lederer [in Crazy English, 1990] asks, Doesnt it seem just a little loopy that we can make amends but never just one amend; that no matter how carefully we comb through the annals of history, we can never discover just one annal; that we can never pull a shenanigan, be in a doldrum, or get a jitter, a willy, a delerium tremen, a jimjam, or a heebie-jeebie? Lederer is alluding to pluralia tantum: Nouns that are always plural. Because they are not the result of pluralizing a singular, the complete plural form, -s and all, has to be stored in memory. Pluralia tantum in a sense are irregular regulars, and indeed they are happy to appear inside compounds: almsgiver (not almgiver), arms race (not arm race), blues rocker (not blue rocker), clothesbrush, Humanities department, jeans maker, newsmaker, oddsmaker, painstaking.(Steven Pinker, Words and Rules. Basic Books, 1999) Items of Clothing Lets take a look at other pluralia tantum in the pants/trousers family:(Mark Liberman, Language Log, Feb. 15, 2007) Outergarments: pants (orig. pantaloons), trousers, slacks, breeches/britches, bloomers, jeans, dungarees, bell bottoms, chinos, tights, shorts, trunks, Bermudas (extended to brand names: Levis, 501s, Wranglers, Calvins)Undergarments: underpants, long johns, skivvies, drawers, panties, knickers, boxers, briefs, undies, tighty-whities (extended to brand names: BVDs, Fruit of the Looms, Jockeys) How to Turn Lexical Plurals Into Count Nouns Nouns for articles of dress consisting of two parts are also treated as plural: [A] Where ​are my trousers?[B] They are in the bedroom where you put them. But such plural nouns can be turned into ordinary count nouns by means of a pair of or pairs of: I need to buy a new pair of trousers.How many pairs of blue jeans do you have? (Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik, A Communicative Grammar of English, 3rd ed. Routledge, 2013) Lexical Concepts, Not Linguistic Classes The definitional property of having no singular turns out to be shallow and sometimes accidental, often (as in English) practically impossible to define and circumscribe. The state of affairs resembles the status of the mass-count distinction. . . . While they remain necessary as descriptive concepts, mass and count cannot be defined as grammatical properties of lexical items outside of a context, as Borer (2005) cogently shows. In the same way, I think, pluralia and singularia tantum are indispensable descriptive concepts, but they are not genuine linguistic classes. Therefore, we cannot build a notion of lexical plurals around that of pluralia tantum.(Paolo Acquaviva, Lexical Plurals: A Morphosemantic Approach. Oxford University Press, 2008)