Learning Team Reflection

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Week 2 Learning Team Reflection Team A agrees, this week introduced new concepts and understanding. Week two the main objectives we focused on were production and cost analysis. We discuss the relationship between the number of inputs and the law of diminishing marginal productivity, and analyze the relationship between productivity and the cost of production. We collectively discussed the objectives and illustrated the topic we feel comfortable with, any topics we struggled with and how these topics relate to application in our field. Colander (2010) explains the role of the firm in production and how firms strive to maximize profits through maximizing productivity and minimizing costs. Reality indicates firms predominantly operate smoothest when firms find the most efficient balance between productivity and cost. To accomplish this firms make short run and long run decisions. Long run decisions include consideration of all possible techniques because all factors of production are variable. In contrast, short run decisions include constraints because fewer factors of production are variable (Colander, 2010). One variable short run factor of production is labor (workers). Managers analyze production tables illustrating average productivity (output per worker) and marginal productivity (the extra quantity of output derived from one additional worker) in contrast with marginal and average total costs. Productivity and cost graph shapes mirror one another. As such, managers easily identify relationships between the two categories. If marginal productivity is greater than average productivity then average productivity is rising, and vice versa. If marginal cost is greater than average total cost then average total cost is rising, and vice versa (Colander, 2010). The graphical data allow managers to identify quickly the minimum efficient level of
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