| Course | MT460 Management Strategy and Policy |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion board post |
| Length | About 440 words, 2 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 discussion post |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT460 Unit 1
The $1.50 Hot Dog Stays: An MT460 Unit 1 Discussion Post on a Price a Retailer Refuses to Raise
MT460 · Unit 1 Discussion Board Post
Posted by [Student Name]
The classmate is composite; the company facts and the sources cited are real.
Initial Post
The decision I chose is one Costco keeps making by not acting: its food court hot dog and soda combo has cost $1.50 since 1985, and the price stayed there in September 2024 when the company raised its basic annual membership fee from $60 to $65.
Read side by side, the two facts are one policy. Costco's annual report shows membership fees of about $4.8 billion in fiscal 2024, roughly half of its operating income (Costco Wholesale Corporation, 2024). The company earns its profit mainly from fees, not from markups on what it sells, so it keeps prices visibly low and raises the fee members pay for access to them. The $1.50 combo is the most visible low price in the building. Raising it would save little and would tell every member that the deal they pay for is getting worse.
Costco raised the price of the membership and kept the price of the hot dog, because the fee pays for the hot dog's message.
What the refusal rules out is just as clear. When food costs rose sharply in 2022, many restaurant chains raised menu prices and treated food as a margin line. Costco gave up that option for its food court. Porter (1996) treats deliberate trade-offs, the things a firm declines to do, as what keeps a position from being copied; a competitor that copied the cheap hot dog without the membership model would simply lose money on it.
Still, I am not sure the price is pure strategy. A price that has not moved in four decades may also be a symbol that has become too costly to abandon, since any change would be national news. Is the $1.50 combo still a deliberate choice, or a commitment Costco can no longer escape?
Reply to Malik
Malik, your post on In-N-Out's refusal to franchise fits the same pattern of a decision that closes an option. By owning every location, In-N-Out gives up the fast growth franchising would allow, and in return it controls quality, keeps a short menu and grows only where its own distribution can reach fresh ingredients. Like Costco's hot dog, the refusal is visible to customers and costly to reverse. I wonder whether you see it as protecting quality or protecting family control. The two would lead to different predictions if the company ever changed hands.
References
Costco Wholesale Corporation. (2024). Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 1, 2024. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 61-78.
The Purdue Global MT460 Unit 1 instructions
The first MT460 board asks for a decision a company made not to do something, and what that refusal reveals about its strategy. State the decision in the opening sentence rather than starting with company history. Support it with facts a reader can check, such as an annual report or a public announcement. Explain what the refusal protects and what option it closes, since a choice not to act is strategic only if a real alternative was given up. A concept from the reading, often Porter on trade-offs, should explain why the refusal makes the firm's position harder to copy. A question at the end can test whether the refusal is still a choice or has become a constraint. Sections commonly expect a post under 400 words and a shorter response. The reply should identify what option the classmate's company closed and what it protects.
Inside the MT460 Unit 1 example
The post opens with the decision in one sentence: the combo stayed at $1.50 when the fee rose. A paragraph sets the two facts side by side and cites the 2024 annual report on membership fees, under a highlighted line that the fee pays for the hot dog's message. The next paragraph names the option given up, food court margins during the 2022 cost surge, and uses Porter's argument that trade-offs make a position hard to copy, noting that a rival copying the price without the membership model would lose money. The post then questions its own argument, asking whether a price frozen for four decades is a choice or a symbol too costly to drop. The reply to Malik reads In-N-Out's refusal to franchise the same way and asks whether it protects quality or family control.
Reading the MT460 Unit 1 grading rubric
Instructors grading an opening MT460 post look first for a clearly stated decision and evidence that it is a real choice. Posts that describe a company's success without naming what it chose not to do miss the prompt. Credit goes to linking the refusal to the firm's business model with checkable facts, such as revenue sources from an annual report. Naming the option closed shows strategic thinking, because the course treats strategy as choice among alternatives. Applying a concept, usually trade-offs, to explain why the refusal is hard to imitate earns analysis marks. A question that challenges the post's own interpretation is often noted favorably. A response scores when it asks what the classmate's firm gave up, in those words. Two sources, one company document and one strategy reading, are the usual expectation.
Common MT460 Unit 1 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The commonest Unit 1 weakness is a post about something a company did, such as launching a product, rather than something it declined to do. Another is describing a famous low price as good marketing without connecting it to how the company makes money. Students often skip the option closed, so the reader cannot tell what was given up. Facts are frequently stated without a source a classmate could check. Endings tend to praise the company. Replies often agree that the classmate's example is interesting. Before posting, write one sentence beginning with the words the company chose not to, and another beginning with the words this means it cannot. If either sentence is hard to finish, the example may not be a strategic refusal.
Get an MT460 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Name the company your Unit 1 thread concerns, or request a suggested firm, and attach the discussion instructions and rubric. You receive a composite post naming one recent refusal, the evidence for it and the option it closes, with a model reply attached. The first custom sample costs nothing and typically lands within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT460 Unit 1 questions, answered
Does the MT460 Unit 1 company have to be the one I analyze all term?
Not always. Some sections ask for a familiar company in the opening thread and assign the term's company later; others want the course company from the first unit. If the choice is yours, a public firm with filings and press releases makes the rest of the term easier, since every later framework needs evidence you can cite.
What counts as a decision not to do something?
A choice the firm could plausibly have made and publicly declined: a price left unchanged when costs rose, a market not entered, a product line dropped, a franchise model refused. Routine omissions do not count, because nobody expected them. The strongest examples come with a date and a source, so a classmate can see the decision was real and recent.
How long should the reply to a classmate be?
Typically 100 to 150 words, though prompts vary and your instructions govern. What earns credit is substance: a reply applying a test the classmate skipped, such as asking what their company's refusal costs or whether it is recent, reads as engagement. Agreement plus a second example of the same idea rarely does.
Where can I find a free MT460 Unit 1 sample paper?
This page carries the complete MT460 Unit 1 post on Costco keeping its $1.50 hot dog combo while raising membership fees, with a reply about In-N-Out.
What does the refusal rule out in the MT460 Unit 1 sample?
Using the food court as a profit line, the move many restaurant chains made when food costs rose in 2022, which would weaken members' sense of the deal.