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Dell Computers

Dell Computers
Economics for Managerial Decision Making
ECO 533
July 28, 2004

Executive Summary

Although the idea of electronic commerce (E-Commerce) has been around for several years, it is slowly moving up the ranks in terms of how both consumers and businesses conduct business. Electronic commerce is the paperless exchange of business information using electronic data interchange (EDI), e-mail, electronic bulletin boards, fax transmissions, and electronic funds transfer. It refers to Internet shopping, online stock and bond transactions, the downloading and selling of "soft merchandise" (software, documents, graphics, music, etc.), and business-to-business transactions (http://www.businesstown.com/internet/ecomm-definition.asp).
This paper focuses on e-commerce as it pertains to Dell's "direct model" of business. The topic of discussion will then turn to Dell's direct selling medium as the new and improved "economic trend" in our changing world of technology as we know it. Lastly, this paper will analyze product pricing, cost component, market structure, as well as macroeconomic forecasting all with regard to the products and services offered by Dell Computer.
Utility in Customer Service

Evidence indicates that consumers can fulfill specific wants with succeeding units of a commodity but that each added unit provides less utility than the last unit purchased. A product is considered to be of utility if it has the capability of satisfying some kind of a want or desire. In other words, utility is want-satisfying power (McConnell-Brue p. 395). Dell Computer is able to provide utility to consumers by focusing on what is considered crucial to a company's success and overall productivity – customer service.

Dell's Internet strategy is based on three principles - convenience of use, reduced costs, and good customer experience. It is convenient because it allows customers to be effectively connected to the company seven days a week, 24 hours a...