hired by a firm to get legal, though not necessarily ethical, information about competitive firms. hired by a firm's management to prove to the courts that competitors are using unfair pricing practices. hired by a customer to report on illegal or unethical practices that are regularly taking place at a particular establishment. who pose as customers to check on availability and pricing of a firm's products or services and on the quality of the customer service. hired by law firms to check on the safety of their clients' products and the credibility of their advertising

The leading producer of cell phone backup batteries, jumpstart, has achieved great success because they produce high-quality battery backups that are not too expensive. even so, another company that produces lower-quality batteries at the same price has also achieved some success, but not as much as jumpstart. also, in general, the price of backup batteries has declined because of economies of scale and learning. in addition, jumpstart has added complementary assets, such as a carrying case. considering all of these factors, the backup battery industry is most likely in the introduction stage. growth stage. shakeout stage. maturity stage.

Which of the following differentiates cost accounting and financial accounting? a. the primary users of cost accounting are the investors, whereas the primary users of financial accounting are the managers. b. cost accounting measures only the financial information related to the costs of acquiring fixed assets in an organization, whereas financial accounting measures financial and nonfinancial information of a company's business transactions. c. cost accounting measures information related to the costs of acquiring or using resources in an organization, whereas financial accounting measures a financial position of a company to investors, banks, and external parties. d. cost accounting deals with product design, production, and marketing strategies, whereas financial accounting deals mainly with pricing of the products.

Factors like the unemployment rate, the stock market, global trade, economic policy, and the economic situation of other countries have no influence on the financial status of individuals. question 1 options: true false