2. Assess the view that privatisation can have little impact on the behaviour of previously nationalised industries, since a state monopoly is simply replaced by a private one.

3. 'Attempting to learn how to make decisions is an exercise in futility. All the most important decisions are made by people with little time and even less information, acting on instinct.' Discuss.

4. Critically assess the relevance of the 'as if' principle used to justify the reliance on profit maximisation as the working objective of the modern business corporation.

5. 'The fitting of mathematical trend curves is by far the easiest and cheapest method of forecasting long-run changes in product demand, and is likely to be just as reliable as any alternative method. ' Discuss.

6. An engineering firm has applied for patents on two new products and has just learned that only one application has been successful. Compare and contrast the optimal pricing and promotional strategies for each of these new products.

8. 'Despite the theoretical advantages of the discounting procedure, capital investment was either justified in terms of some "need to have" case presented by lower management or on the basis of some elementary payback period calculations." Discuss this conclusion from an empirical survey of investment decision-making.

9. Explain the inability of economic theory to find satisfactory solutions to the theoretical problem of price and output decision-making in oligopolistic markets.

10. 'Advertising in the modern economy has entered the state of persuasion as distinct from proclamation or iteration' (Turner). Discuss this view of advertising in relation to its role in the modern firm, and explain the determination of an optimal advertising budget.

11. Analyse the effects of an increase in both wage rates and labour productivity on the costs of the firm.r