Discuss Whether the Objective of Firms in the Transport Sector Should Always Be That of Profit Maximisation

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Discuss whether the objective of firms in the transport sector should always be that of profit maximisation [20] Profit maximisation is a business objective whereby the difference of costs and revenue is maximised. Using this theory, a firm would produce where Marginal Revenue is equal to Marginal Cost. Any point beyond this, MC will exceed MR, meaning a reduction in profit levels per product sold, yet still making a profit. The firm will increase its prices at MC=MR as they level of demand will allow them too, creating supernormal profit. Profit maximisation will provide more profit to reinvest into future investment schemes improving dynamic efficiency. It can be beneficial to a business as it will allow them to gain greater economies of scale, as they have more flexibility when investing in new technology. Improved investment will result in greater quality products, and an opportunity to increase production. Increasing profit levels will improve moral of shareholders, as they will be reaping rewards of greater shares value. The problem is that companies are generally not run by the shareholders and managers are much more likely to pursue other aims, such as revenue maximising as to cover themselves. As managers have different purposes to the shareholders, this is classed as the principal agent problem. There are several alternatives a business can take to achieve objectives. A profit satisficing objective can be an alternative to make stakeholders happy, bringing in just enough profit to maintain moral. This however can be difficult for a firm as views often clash between what the shareholders want and what consumers want. The coach industry in the UK is one which adopts profit satisficing. Even though there is still normal profit to be made, it is a low demanded industry so the firm has to be careful not to over value the product as so

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