What happens to spending when the decider does not pay?

Taken from http://www.realclearhealth.com/articles/2017/03/27/the_root_cause_of_health_care_dysfunction_110514.html.

What is Domino's Strategy and Why is It Successful?

https://qz.com/938620/dominos-dpz-stock-has-outperformed-google-goog-facebook-fb-apple-aapl-and-amazon-amzn-this-decade/

IBM moves from telecommuting to co-locating

This article in qz.com discusses some of the costs and benefits of telecommuting and "co-locating". Co-locating = working together in the same office building. It raises several interesting questions in my mind.

1. Do the relative costs and benefits depend on the type of work?
2. How has the development of new forms of communication and interaction affected the relative costs and benefits?
3. Where is the equilibrium wage higher, in a telecommuting job or one that requires the employee to be in an office during work hours?

Let's predict

What would happen to GPAs if college funding increases when graduation and retention rates increase?

What would happen to the mix of majors offered if college funding increases when job placements and salaries of graduates increase?

What would happen to GAPs if college funding increases when job placements and salaries of graduates increase?

What would happen to the mix of majors offered if college funding increases when job placements and salaries of graduates increase?

States Challenge Public Universities to Prove They Are Worth Their Funding
by: Melissa Korn
Mar 13, 2017
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com

TOPICS: Education, Public Funding

SUMMARY: States such as Kentucky, Wisconsin and Arkansas have adopted, or are considering, funding models for higher education that allocate money based on outcomes like student graduation and retention rates.

CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students can discuss and evaluate whether states should tie their funding of public institutions to the institutions' educational outcomes.

QUESTIONS: 
1. (Introductory) Why are states shifting toward basing higher education funding on educational outcomes?

2. (Advanced) Just as salespeople are compensated by commission based on sales, should public university receive state funding based on educational outcomes such as job placements and salaries of their graduates?

3. (Advanced) If colleges and universities are funded according to educational outcomes, how could these institutions game the funding system? What type of funding system could encourage colleges and universities to push for appropriate educational outcomes without gaming the system?

Reviewed By: James Dearden, Lehigh University

The Bad News and the Really Bad News for Retailers Fighting Amazon.com

The Bad News and the Really Bad News for Retailers Fighting Amazon.com
by: Miriam Gottfried
Mar 06, 2017
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com

TOPICS: Competition, Strategy

SUMMARY: Amazon.com's ability to sustain its retail growth rate will determine the fate of the rest of the retail industry.

CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Students can examine the effect of Amazon's ascendance on the strategies and profits of other retailers. The article also alludes to the tradeoff between price and sales, which is due negatively sloped demand curves.

QUESTIONS: 
1. (Advanced) "Defending their turf against Amazon already comes at a steep cost. Wal-Mart managed to return to minimal sales growth in fiscal 2016, but operating margins fell to 4.7% from 5% the previous year. Conversely, Target Corp.'s operating margin climbed to 7.2%, but its sales tumbled." Does this statement imply a tradeoff between price and sales? If so, what is the source of the tradeoff?

2. (Introductory) Describe Amazon's growth rate of revenues. Are sales increasing at an increasing rate? Will the company's sales always increase at this rate?

3. (Advanced) What is the effect of the willingness of Amazon's investors to tolerate low profit margins on retailers' distribution strategies?

Reviewed By: James Dearden, Lehigh University

Screening Applications to Law School

Which screen works better for law students, the GRE or the LSAT? Harvard says they are equally good ways to identify students suitable for Harvard Law.

Digital Monitoring of Employees

This Marketplace story describes some of the ways that employees can use devices to monitor digitally what the employees are doing: http://www.marketplace.org/2017/02/22/world/meet-workplace-sensors-are-watching-you.

1. How could an employer assess digitally the traits of job applicants to determine which ones to hire?
2. How could an employer monitor digitally what employers are doing or producing to determine which ones to reward monetarily or to promote?