Imagine you have some workers and some handheld computers that you can use to take inventory at a warehouse. There are diminishing returns to taking inventory. If one worker uses one computer, he can inventory 100 items per hour. Two workers sharing a computer can together inventory 150 items per hour. Three workers sharing a computer can together inventory 160 items per hour. And four or more workers sharing a computer can together inventory fewer than 160 items per hour. Computers cost $100 each and you must pay each worker $25 per hour. If you assign one worker per computer, what is the cost of inventorying a single item? What if you assign two workers per computer? Three? How many workers per computer should you assign if you wish to minimize the cost of inventorying a single item?

Jameson manages a well-known cell phone company. this company has been voted as having the best cell-phone service. consumers appreciate the fact that they can call from almost anywhere in the world and the service still gets through. jameson knows that the company's product far surpasses that of the competition. one thing has been bothering him, though. in order to put so many resources into ensuring the best service, jameson has cut back on employees at the firm's customer call center. recently, consumers have begun complaining about long wait times when they call in with a problem or concern. although its cell phone service is still considered one of the best, customer satisfaction with the firm's customer service has plummeted. jameson does not understand why consumers are getting so upset. he believes the exceptional cell phone service more than makes up for long waiting periods and other issues with its customer service. "after all," he says, "they can't have it all. if i invest more in customer service, that means less investment on ensuring the quality of our product offering."refer to scenario. jameson has asked you, a marketing consultant, to give him advice. he cannot understand how a cell-phone company with the best product offering in the cell-phone service industry could get such low satisfaction ratings simply because the customer service is not up to par. you suggest that jameson has a narrowly defined view of the company's product offering. you tell jameson that successful marketers should define their products as what they

Vulcan flyovers offers scenic overflights of mount st. helens, the volcano in washington state that explosively erupted in 1982. data concerning the company’s operations in july appear below: vulcan flyovers operating data for the month ended july 31 actual results flexible budget planning budget flights (q) 56 56 54 revenue ($350.00q) $ 16,500 $ 19,600 $ 18,900 expenses: wages and salaries ($3,300 + $91.00q) 8,354 8,396 8,214 fuel ($31.00q) 1,904 1,736 1,674 airport fees ($870 + $35.00q) 2,730 2,830 2,760 aircraft depreciation ($11.00q) 616 616 594 office expenses ($240 + $1.00q) 464 296 294 total expense 14,068 13,874 13,536 net operating income $ 2,432 $ 5,726 $ 5,364 the company measures its activity in terms of flights. customers can buy individual tickets for overflights or hire an entire plane for an overflight at a discount. required: 1. prepare a flexible budget performance report for july that includes revenue and spending variances and activity variances.

Mae jong corp. issues $1,000,000 of 10% bonds payable which may be converted into 10,000 shares of $2 par value ordinary shares. the market rate of interest on similar bonds is 12%. interest is payable annually on december 31, and the bonds were issued for total proceeds of $1,000,000. in accounting for these bonds, mae jong corp. will: (a) first assign a value to the equity component, then determine the liability component. (b) assign no value to the equity component since the conversion privilege is not separable from the bond.(c) first assign a value to the liability component based on the face amount of the bond.(d) use the “with-and-without” method to value the compound instrument.