Answer the following from the Problems Appendix in the back of your textbook on pp. 325-326, and upload your answers through Blackboard: I will be doing a plagiarizing check on the assignment. 

•   Chapter 1: Questions 1, 2, and 4
   
•   Chapter 2: Questions 1, 2, and 4
  Your completed Homework assignment should be at least three to four pages in length. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. All references and citations used must be in APA style.
   
• Chapter 1 Explain the economic problem of scarce resources and unlimited wants
• 1). What determines whether or not a resource is scarce? Why is the concept of scarcity important to the definition of economics?
• 2). (Rational Self-Interest) Discuss the impact of rational self-interest on each of the following decisions: 
• a. Whether to attend college full time or enter the work force full time
• b. Whether to buy a textbook or a used one. 
• c. Whether to attend a local college or an out-of-town college. 
• (Describe the forces that shape economics choices. )
• 4). (Marginal Analysis) The owner of a small pizzeria is deciding whether to increase the radius of delivery area by one mile. What considerations must be taken into account if such a decisions is to increase profitability. 
• Chapter 2. Describe the relationship between choice and opportunity cost.
• 1).  (Sunk Cost and Choice ) Suppose you to a restaurant and buy an expensive meal. Halfway through, despite feeing quite full, you decide to clean your plate. After all, You think, you paid for the meal so you are going to all of it. What’ wrong with this thinking?
• 2). (Opportunity Cost and Choice) You can spend spring break either at home for 80$ prepay for five days or go to Florida for the week. If you stay home, Your expense will total about $100. If you go to Florida, the airfare, hotel, food, and miscellaneous expenses will total about $700. What’s your opportunity cost of going to Florida. 
• (Explain how comparative advantage, specialization, and exchange affect economic outcomes (output)
• 4). (Specialization) Provide some examples of specialized markets of retail outlets. What makes the Web so conducive to specialization? 

Distinguish between reliability and character-based trust. Why is character-based trust critical in collaborative relationships? 

Respond  each post(3) 100 word minimum and please answer each one in order.

Jermaine1

Reliability trust is essentially what the words mean, being trusted to be reliable.  In short, it is the understanding or perception that the manufacturer or company is able and willing to perform as agreed or promised.  If you cannot believe that a supply chain is able to perform, they will lose their credibility and be deemed incapable and perceived as unreliable.  The supplier will be unworthy of a trusting relationship.  For example, in my career we deal with a couple of commercial carriers.  We inspect their performance frequently and if they do not perform as expected, we write them up and file a grievance.  When it is time to renew service agreements, these grievances will be brought to the table.

Character based trust is pretty much exactly what the words mean, based on the character of the manufacturer or company.  In short, it is the ability to have the best intentions and welfare of the participants in mind based on their leadership, philosophy and culture traits.  This trust is based on the understanding that the supplier will not act without considering the impact of those actions on the participants.  We have many systems in the military that are based on this type of trust. 

Trust, both reliability and character based are important in supply chain relationships between the manufacturer or company and the participants or partners.  Character base trust is critical in collaboration relationships because it is the type of trust that has a personnel touch to it.  Everyone involved is looking out for the welfare and best interests of everyone else.  All participants have a somewhat loyal feeling and stake involved.  It is much stronger than just being reliable.

Maurice2

Reliability – based trust is grounded in an organization’s perception of a potential partner’s actual behavior and operating performance. Character –based trust is based in an organization’s culture, leadership, and philosophy. Because it is clear that reliability-based trust is necessary to the formation of collaborative relationships in supply chains, but it is not a sufficient condition. For example, a partner who frequently threatens to punish and consistently follows through with that punishment can be said to have reliability. It is not likely, however, to be trusted in character. Trust clearly develops over time and repeated interactions among organization. In particular, character-based trust evolves when partners perceive that each acts fairly and equitably with the others. Notions of character- based trust are especially relevant when one supply chain partner is clearly more powerful than the others.

Laura3

According to Dictionary.com reliability is the ability to be relied on or depended on, as for accuracy, honesty, or achievement. Character-based trust are features and traits that show trustworthiness and the person will have follow through on what they have set out for. The difference to me seems that character-based trust is an actual person and they have the ability to follow through because of their reliability.  Reliability may also come from the business itself and may be harder to pull the business out of a hole, because they cannot always start with a clean slate, like an individual.

Character –based trust is based in an organization’s culture, leadership, and philosophy. Character-based trust is critical in collaborative relationships because you want to be able to trust on someone that is reliable and trustworthy to get certain tasks completed. Also, this person has to be a somewhat outgoing personality that can form relationships quite easily. With simple gestures like making eye contact, and shaking hands. As the relationship grows in time this person in fact will become trustworthy or will not.  

When both Character-based trust and reliability are combined in a person or a few people in a supply chain it will help the business grow, I think that this is mostly due to there being a high need for communication and follow through during the supply chain processes, especially when all involved are not in the same area. When all members of the chain “team” have something to lose or something to gain he members will work harder to stay reliable and keep the processes moving forwards.