Jordan Ross
Economics in a Changing World
Mr. Bloom
11/22/11
Food Court Reflection
My group chose our 5th restaurant for reasons besides profit. Even though Hunan Wok, Taco Villa, Bennie’s, and Pasta Place gave the student government more profit, they did not adhere to the best health and environmental standards. Although our first four restaurants were based on profits, our 5th served as our healthy choice aimed toward meeting the needs of the health conscious, vegetarian, and environment friendly students.
We decided that as the student government, we wanted the most profit to help the school at large. However, as the process went on our goals changed ever so slightly. We did not choose two of the top five most profitable restaurants for one main reason. We did not choose the Wildcats Den because we, the student government, did not receive any of the profits. For this same reason, we decided not to include the Consumer Science Kitchen despite its positive influence on the student body.
We chose Sally’s for other reasons besides its green and healthy principles. Luckily, Sally’s did not face any scarcity issues. The average demand for Sally’s at the best price delivered the most profit, only behind the two restaurants that did not give the student government any profit. These opportunity costs lead my group to believe that Sally’s was the most profitable and healthy choice in this situation. The marginal decision making skills needed in based on the trade offs presented in the different restaurants. We chose Sally’s because it gave us benefits that we felt overcame its deficits. The health aspects, along with the student government’s direct gain of the profit were considered its benefits. While its overall 7th highest total profit, and higher price of labor and ingredients revealed its deficits. A high demand, along with a more than “healthy” supply, translated into a successful profit. Since people demanded the salad, and Sally’s was able to supply it, Sally’s was the best choice for our 5th restaurant.
Overall as a team, I felt that my group did our best work in trying to achieve a vey difficult goal. The work was divided up evenly, and an equal amount of effort was put forth toward the project. We stayed connected via First Class, a Google Document, and in class. Our time spent working on the project out of class was also productive and effective. I trusted my teammates as much as they trusted me. I did feel however, that during the presentation we became nervous as the first group in front of the panel, and our presentation reflected our anxiety. Yet, I think our main issue in terms of our performance, lay in the medium of operation. While it seems to have benefits, overall, the Prezi program only thwarted our attempts at conveying our economic knowledge. Most of the actual work was spent trying to figure out the best way to present economic understanding on a sub-par project platform. I am not blaming our poor presentation on the technology, but the program itself did nothing to help, if not hurt our grade. In conclusion, I enjoyed the project because it challenged my economic knowledge, and made me strive to convey my comprehension in the Prezi format. I just wish that the outcome had been more successful.
