? This is a lesson plan to illustrate the concept of market share and market power through a linked article on the Microsoft Corporation. The plan helps students learn about how companies achieve and utilize large market share in a competitive environment. It asks students to review the case of Microsoft relative to other monopolies in the US.
? Since this is an Economics website, the article focuses on ?the calculation problem,? i.e. determining the optimal size of a specific firm through market prices.
? The actual lesson plan provides background information on ?setting the lesson,? as well as the Microsoft example, along with several others. There are also suggested questions that can be asked of students, including some that require additional research.
Type of Material:
Lesson plan
Technical Requirements:
Web Browser only
Identify Major Learning Goals:
As stated by the author: ? Explain the concept of market share and what it means to competitors in business and to consumers ? Explain why measures of market share are often somewhat arbitrary ? Identify different concepts of "monopoly" and evaluate their usefulness ? Discuss reasons why large-scale production may be an advantage or a disadvantage to a business firm
Target Student Population:
Undergraduate students in a broad array of business classes
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Basic understanding of general economic theory and monopolies.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
? The author provides a succinct summary of the Justice Department?s prosecution of the Microsoft Corporation for alleged anti-trust violations. The timely nature of the topic should hold the interest of undergraduate students.
? The quality of the questions posed by the author demonstrates a strong insight into the topic. The author is able to summarize the complex issues of monopolies and market share, and ground the theory soundly with rich examples. Students would benefit from ?seeing? the power of market share in the business cases provided.
Concerns:
? Students must possess an extremely broad base of economic history and general knowledge to completely understand all of the various examples (Microsoft, cable TV, platinum products, Standard Oil, railroads, etc). Perhaps the author could use fewer examples to integrate the various concepts.
? The lesson plan refers to another set of lesson plans offered by this provider, but there is no direct link back to that material.
? Since the information is two years old, it may be perceived as somewhat dated.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
? The module can be used in courses such as economics, marketing ethics, or general business. Market share is an important issue throughout all areas of business making this module very useful ? The concepts being discussed are provided at the beginning of the lesson plan. ? Learning objectives are well articulated and easy to understand. ? The quality of the questions provided is excellent and opens a wide range of topics for class discussion.
? Information about Microsoft and some questions for discussion are provided in ?Setting the Lesson.?
Concerns:
? The module seems better suited as a lecture outline than an actual class activity. While the author does a good job of infusing questions throughout the lecture to stimulate student thought,
more detailed answers to each question would assist the novice instructor to work through this module. Perhaps the author could provide the instructor with insights into how to lead the students through the actual answers to these questions. Based on the experiences of the author, ?talking points? could be provided which would assist the instructor to avoid potential discussion pitfalls.
? It would be helpful if the four objectives of the lesson corresponded to the five steps of the module. Linkages between the five steps remain unclear. For example, step three could be omitted and the exercise would continue unabated.
? The author glazes over the ?calculation problem.? More information about this problem would be helpful.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
? The module was not designed to be interactive, so as a lesson plan it stands alone.
? Dividing the lesson into smaller, more usable section is effective. This allows the instructor to refocus the material or even return to the module in another class period.
? The discussion questions are insightful and are ready for classroom use.
Concerns:
? Step five is confusing without referencing an additional article not provided in the module. In its current state, step five is not possible to complete without the additional lesson plan cited. It would be quite useful to include a link to the lesson plan that walks students through the calculation problem.
? Sometimes the subtopics become unclear by the diversity of questions posed. It would be very easy for the students to become distracted by tangential issues and miss the intended lesson on market share.
? The conclusion should re-enforce the learning objectives. Instead, it tends to open even more topics for discussion.
Creative Commons:
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