Question: IBM must determine whether to mount a small or large advertising campaign during the coming year. IBM believes there is a 1/4 probability that its

IBM must determine whether to mount a small or large advertising campaign during the coming year. IBM believes there is a 1/4 probability that its rival, HP, will mount a small ad campaign, and a 3/4 probability that HP will mount a large ad campaign. At the end of the current year, IBMs market share and profits (in millions of dollars) will be as follows:

If both HP and IBM choose small ad campaigns, then IBM will have a 50% market share and a profit of $20 million dollars.

If both HP and IBM choose large ad campaigns, then IBM will have a 35% market share and a profit of $15 million dollars.

If HP chooses a small ad campaign and IBM chooses a large ad campaign, then IBM will have a 55% market share and a profit of $12 million dollars.

If HP chooses a large ad campaign and IBM chooses a small ad campaign, then IBM will have a 50% market share and a profit of $10 million dollars.

IBM has a utility function of

U(x,y) =.8 UX(x) + .4 UY(y)- 0.2 UX(x) UY(y), where:

x is market share (in %); UX(x)= (x/20)1/2, and

y is profit (in millions of dollars); UY(y)= ln(y)

Draw a decision tree, and find the strategy that maximizes IBMs expected utility.

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