Why is it important to understand the competition your business faces?

Case in point 2.4 attaway airlines, part two back at attaway airlines, the morning meeting ended with no agreement between dan esposito and molly kinnon. in fact, a new issue arose. molly now says that the new accounting system is entitled to the highest priority because the federal government soon will require the reporting of certain types of company-paid health insurance premiums. because the current system will not handle this report, she insists that the entire accounting system is a nondiscretionary project. as you might expect, dan is upset. can part of a project be nondiscretionary? what issues need to be discussed? the committee meets again tomorrow, and the members will look to you, as the it director, for guidance.

Steele bicycle manufacturing company currently produces the handlebars used in manufacturing its bicycles, which are high-quality racing bikes with limited sales. steele produces and sells only 10,000 bikes each year. due to the low volume of activity, steele is unable to obtain the economies of scale that larger producers achieve. for example, steele could buy the handlebars for $31 each: they cost $34 each to make. the following is a detailed breakdown of current production costs: after seeing these figures, steele's president remarked that it would be foolish for the company to continue to produce the handlebars at $34 each when it can buy them for $31 each. calculate the total relevant cost. do you agree with the president's conclusion?

Suppose that xtel currently is selling at $40 per share. you buy 500 shares using $15,000 of your own money, borrowing the remainder of the purchase price from your broker. the rate on the margin loan is 8%. a. what is the percentage increase in the net worth of your brokerage account if the price of xtel immediately changes to (a) $44; (b) $40; (c) $36? (leave no cells blank - be certain to enter "0" wherever required. negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. round your answers to 2 decimal places.) b. if the maintenance margin is 25%, how low can xtel’s price fall before you get a margin call? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.) c. how would your answer to requirement 2 would change if you had financed the initial purchase with only $10,000 of your own money? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.) d. what is the rate of return on your margined position (assuming again that you invest $15,000 of your own money) if xtel is selling after one year at (a) $44; (b) $40; (c) $36? (negative values should be indicated by a minus sign. round your answers to 2 decimal places.) e. continue to assume that a year has passed. how low can xtel’s price fall before you get a margin call? (round your answer to 2 decimal places.)