In the first half of 2011, automobile sales in the United States were lower than they were in the first half of 2010. The decrease in auto sales impacts GDP because new automobiles are counted as when purchased by households and when purchased by businesses

The wall street journal reported that walmart stores inc. is planning to lay off 2,300 employees at its sam's club warehouse unit. approximately half of the layoffs will be hourly employees (the wall street journal, january 25-26, 2014). suppose the following data represent the percentage of hourly employees laid off for 15 sam's club stores. 55 56 44 43 44 56 60 62 57 45 36 38 50 69 65 (a) compute the mean and median percentage of hourly employees being laid off at these stores. (b) compute the first and third quartiles. (c) compute the range and interquartile range. (d) compute the variance and standard deviation. (e) do the data contain any outliers? (f) based on the sample data, does it appear that walmart is meeting its goal for reducing the number of hourly employees?

When cell phones were first entering the market, they were relatively large and reception was undependable. all cell phones were essentially the same. but as the technology developed, many competitors entered, introducing features unique to their phones. today, cell phones are only a small fraction of the size and weight of their predecessors. consumers can buy cell phones with color screens, cameras, internet access, daily planners, or voice activation (and any combination of these features). the history of the cell phone demonstrates what marketing trend?

Garrett is an executive vice president at samm hardware. he researches a proposal by a larger company, maximum hardware, to combine the two companies. by analyzing past performance, conducting focus groups, and interviewing maximum employees, garrett concludes that maximum has poor profit margins, sells shoddy merchandise, and treats customers poorly. what actions should garrett and samm hardware take? a. turn down the acquisition offer and prepare to resist a hostile takeover. b. attempt a friendly merger and use managerial hubris to improve results at maximum. c. welcome the acquisition and use knowledge transfer to impart sam hardware's management practices. d. do nothing; the two companies cannot combine without samm hardware's explicit consent.