The most common approaches to capability building include all of the following, except: developing capabilities internally. acquiring capabilities through mergers and acquisitions. accessing capabilities via collaborative partnerships. renewing capabilities to align with customer expectations. coaching average performers to improve their skills.

Exercise 18-15 sheffield appliance center is an experienced home appliance dealer. sheffield appliance center also offers a number of services for the home appliances that it sells. assume that sheffield appliance center sells ovens on a standalone basis. sheffield appliance center also sells installation services and maintenance services for ovens. however, sheffield appliance center does not offer installation or maintenance services to customers who buy ovens from other vendors. pricing for ovens is as follows. oven only $790 oven with installation service 850 oven with maintenance services 970 oven with installation and maintenance services 990 in each instance in which maintenance services are provided, the maintenance service is separately priced within the arrangement at $180. additionally, the incremental amount charged by sheffield appliance center for installation approximates the amount charged by independent third parties. ovens are sold subject to a general right of return. if a customer purchases an oven with installation and/or maintenance services, in the event sheffield appliance center does not complete the service satisfactorily, the customer is only entitled to a refund of the portion of the fee that exceeds $790. assume that a customer purchases an oven with both installation and maintenance services for $990. (b) indicate the amount of revenue that should be allocated to the oven, the installation, and to the maintenance contract.

Suppose you win a small lottery and have the choice of two ways to be paid: you can accept the money in a lump sum or in a series of payments over time. if you pick the lump sum, you get $2,950 today. if you pick payments over time, you get three payments: $1,000 today, $1,000 1 year from today, and $1,000 2 years from today. 1) at an interest rate of 6% per year, the winner would be better off accepting the (lump sum / payments over time), since it has the greater present value. 2) at an interest rate of 9% per year, the winner would be better off accepting the (lump sum / payments over time), since it has the greater present value. 3) years after you win the lottery, a friend in another country calls to ask your advice. by wild coincidence, she has just won another lottery with the same payout schemes. she must make a quick decision about whether to collect her money under the lump sum or the payments over time. what is the best advice to give your friend? a) the lump sum is always better. b) the payments over time are always better. c) it will depend on the interest rate; advise her to get a calculator. d) none of these answers is good advice.

Reliability and validity reliability and validity are two important considerations that must be made with any type of data collection. reliability refers to the ability to consistently produce a given result. in the context of psychological research, this would mean that any instruments or tools used to collect data do so in consistent, reproducible ways. unfortunately, being consistent in measurement does not necessarily mean that you have measured something correctly. to illustrate this concept, consider a kitchen scale that would be used to measure the weight of cereal that you eat in the morning. if the scale is not properly calibrated, it may consistently under- or overestimate the amount of cereal that’s being measured. while the scale is highly reliable in producing consistent results (e.g., the same amount of cereal poured onto the scale produces the same reading each time), those results are incorrect. this is where validity comes into play. validity refers to the extent to which a given instrument or tool accurately measures what it’s supposed to measure. while any valid measure is by necessity reliable, the reverse is not necessarily true. researchers strive to use instruments that are both highly reliable and valid.