In recent years, there has been a growing attempt to measure the performance of health care providers. the federal government has published data on how hospitals compare to acceptable clinical standards with regard to treatment of pneumonia. explain how these data may affect the consumer decision-making process.

In december of 2004, the company you own entered into a 20-year contract with a grain supplier for daily deliveries of grain to its hot dog bun manufacturing facility. the contract called for "10,000 pounds of grain" to be delivered to the facility at the price of $100,000 per day. until february 2017, the supplier provided processed grain which could easily be used in your manufacturing process. however, no longer wanting to absorb the cost of having the grain processed, the supplier began delivering whole grain. the supplier is arguing that the contract does not specify the type of grain that would be supplied and that it has not breached the contract. your company is arguing that the supplier has an onsite processing plant and processed grain was implicit to the terms of the contract. over the remaining term of the contract, reshipping and having the grain processed would cost your company approximately $10,000,000, opposed to a cost of around $1,000,000 to the supplier. after speaking with in-house counsel, it was estimated that litigation would cost the company several million dollars and last for years. weighing the costs of litigation, along with possible ambiguity in the contract, what are three options you could take to resolve the dispute? which would be the best option for your business and why?

Parks corporation is considering an investment proposal in which a working capital investment of $10,000 would be required. the investment would provide cash inflows of $2,000 per year for six years. the working capital would be released for use elsewhere when the project is completed. if the company's discount rate is 10%, the investment's net present value is closest to (ignore income taxes) ?

Cadbury has a chocolate factory in dunedin, new zealand. for easter, it makes two kinds of “easter eggs”: milk chocolate and dark chocolate. it cycles between producing milk and dark chocolate eggs. the table below provides data on these two products. demand (lbs per hour) milk: 500 dark: 200 switchover time (minutes) milk: 60 dark: 30 production rate per hour milk: 800 dark: 800 for example, it takes 30 minutes to switch production from milk to dark chocolate. demand for milk chocolate is higher (500lbs per hour versus 200 lbs per hour), but the line produces them at the same rate (when operating): 800 lbs per hour. a : suppose cadbury produces 2,334lbs milk chocolate and 1,652 lbs of dark chocolate in each cycle. what would be the maximum inventory (lbs) of milk chocolate? b : how many lbs of milk and dark chocolate should be produced with each cycle so as to satisfy demand while minimizing inventory?