Theory of Profit Maximization

Description
Describing about theory of profit maximization, Baumoul Sales Revenue Maximizing Model and Willamson Model of Managerial Discretion.

Theory of Profit Maximization

Main Propositions of the Model
• Firm is a unit that transforms valued inputs to outputs given the state of Technology. • Firm strives towards the goal of profit maximization. • Market conditions for firm to operate are given. • While choosing alternatives firm chooses the one which helps it to maximize profits. • Primary concern is to analyze the changes in the prices and quantities of input and output.

Assumptions of the theory
• The firm has a single goal of profit maximization • The firm acts rationally to attain this goal • The firm is a single ownership one.

The Model
• Generation of profit over the time period being analyzed. • Two time periods : Short run and long run • There might be a conflict in profit maximization under two terms might exist. Examples are: • Higher profits in the short run may in the long run induce worker to demand high wages. • Maximization of profit in the short run may give an impression of a exploitative firm, this would affect long term profits. • A firm trying to build up reputation might earn long term profits. • Firms can’t have independent periods.

Determination of Profit Maximizing Output & Price
First Marginal Condition:

? ? TR ? TC
?? ?TR ?TC Condtion1 : ? ? ?0 ?X ?X ?X ?TR ?TC or : ? ?X ?X MR ? MC

The second derivative of the production function is negative

? ? ? (TR) ? (TC ) Condtion 2 : ? ? ?0 ?X ?X ?X ? (TR) ? (TC ) or : ? ?X ?X MR ? MC
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

This Implies the slope of MR curve is less than the slope of MC curve.

Profits

Revenue and Cost

Q1 Q1 Q2 Q2 Q3 Q3 K2

K1

?
TC

TR

Critique of the NC Model

• Insufficiently realistic • Based on oudated view of competition 1. Organizational goals • Max. of profits or ??? 2. Rationality ?? 3. Perfect information ?? 4. Decision making ??

• The emphasis of the neoclassical theories is that they miss dynamics • The entrepreneur is the personification of the firm, plays an unimportant role in the long run. • Price competition is the only form of rivalry • Schumpeter (1942) and the Austrian school give the enterpreneur a central role within a more dynamic model of competition

Separaton of Ownership from Control
• Two implications: – Increasing organizational complexity meant that it was impossible for the large firms to be managed solely by the owner • Teams of managers • Functional divisions – Impractical for the enterpreneur to finance solely by personal resources • Presence of capital markets

• Baumoul Sales Revenue Maximizing Model • The oligopolistic firms aim at maximizing their sales revenue. • Financial institution judge the health of a firm by the rate of growth of sales revenue. • There is a evidence that slack earnings of top management is correlated with firms sales than its profits. • Increase in Sales revenue provides over time provides prestige to the top management, profit go to shareholders. • Growing salaries keeps a healthy personnel policy. • Managers prefer a steady performance with satisfactory profits. • Large growing sales maintaining or increasing the share of a firm increases competitive power.

Baumol’s Sales Revenue Maximization

• Maximize sales revenue subject to minimum profit constraint • Why sales revenue and not profits??
– Sales are good general indicator of organizational performance – Executive power, influence, status tend to be linked to the sales performance – Lenders tend to rely on sales data

Assumptions of the Model

• Goal of the firm is sales maximization subject to minimum profit constraint. • Advertisement is the major instrument of the firm. • Production cost are independent of advertising • Advertising creates favorable condition for the product • Price of the product is assumed constant

Sales Maximization Model
MR = 0 where

Q = 50
MR = MC where Q = 40

Managerial Theories of the firm

• • • •

Ownership and control are divorced Managers have a primary role Maximize managerial Objectives Managerial utility is a combination of salary, status, power, growth and job security. • Managerial theories have been classified as :
– Sales revenue maximization model – Managerial Utility Model – Growth Maximization Model

Willamson Model of Managerial Discretion

• Managers are free to pursue their own self interest once they have achieved a level of profit that will pay satisfactory dividends to shareholders and still ensure growth. • Self interest depends on many other things besides salary • Incase Goodwill of the firm serves their own ends and ambitions the managers would be concerned else would bypass it.

Assumptions
• Market is not perfectly competitive • Ownership and management are divorced • Minimum profit constraint imposed on managers by the capital market.

The Model
• There are a set of factors that give rise to management satisfaction. • Managers at their own discretion pursue policies which maximize their own utility rather than maximizing profit. • Managerial Satisfaction depends on : prestige, status, responsibility, dominance, professional excellence, salary etc. • Williamson introduces a concept of expense preference: which is defined as satisfaction which managers derive from certain type of expenses. • Expenses are thereby pecuniary and non-pecuniary

Model
• Expense here is measured with the aid of three variables
– A. Additional expenditure on staff – B. Managerial Emoluments – C. Discretionary Investment

• U= f(S,M,Id)

Criticism
• Managers take up projects that appeal to him but which may not be in the best interest of firm in terms of profit generation. • Profit deemed as scientific progress may not be economically efficient.

Growth Maximization Model • Rate of growth and potential of growth are yardsticks to measure corporate success • Growth can be financed from retained earnings or from market borrowing or both • Internal Financing is preferred to growth through borrowed funds • Internal funds grow only through profit maximization. • Decision to maximize growth is also the decision to maximize profit.

Marris
• Executive are limited by the need for management to protect itself from dismissal or takeover in the event of failure. • Like Williamson he believes that management and ownership are different. • Um= f(salaries, power, status, job security) • Uo= f( profits, market share, output, capital and public esteem) • These two variables are correlated with size of the firm.

• Variables that measure size are listed as : capital , output, revenue and market share. • Marris defines them in terms of corporate capital. • Corporate capital “ sum total of book value of assets, inventory, and short term assets including cash revenue. • Managers and owners aim to maximize the rate of growth of size rather than absolute size. • Rate of growth has a positive effect on the prospects of promotion of managers, and also keeps the shareholders satisfied.

• Rate of growth has two constraints: – Sure limit in the rate of managerial expansion – Voluntary slowing down process from the desire of job security. • Marris proposes concept of financial constraint (a), determines the risk attitude of top management. risk loving prefers high a and risk averting a lower a. a is the weighted average of the three: • Liquidity Ratio (a1) = Liquid Assets/Total Assets • Leverage Ratio (a2) = Value of Debts/Total Assets • Profit Retention Ratio (a3) = Retained Profits/Total Profits

The Model
• Max g= gd=gc
• Where – Max g: Maximum Balanced growth – Gd=growth rate of demand of products – GC= growth rate of capital supply



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