Which of the following actions can enable companies to gain a cost competitive advantage?
a. removing frills from products
b. increasing marginal customers
c. eliminating reverse engineering efforts
d. developing additional exclusive functional departments

The gilbert instrument corporation is considering replacing the wood steamer it currently uses to shape guitar sides. the steamer has 6 years of remaining life. if kept, the steamer will have depreciaiton expenses of $650 for five years and $325 for the sixthyear. its current book value is $3,575, and it can be sold on an internet auction site for$4,150 at this time. if the old steamer is not replaced, it can be sold for $800 at the endof its useful life. gilbert is considering purchasing the side steamer 3000, a higher-end steamer, whichcosts $12,000 and has an estimated useful life of 6 years with an estimated salvage value of$1,500. this steamer falls into the macrs 5-year class, so the applicable depreciationrates are 20.00%, 32.00%, 19.20%, 11.52%, 11.52%, and 5.76%. the new steamer is fasterand allows for an output expansion, so sales would rise by $2,000 per year; the newmachine's much greater efficiency would reduce operating expenses by $1,900 per year. to support the greater sales, the new machine would require that inventories increase by$2,900, but accounts payable would simultaneously increase by $700. gilbert's marginalfederal-plus-state tax rate is 40%, and its wacc is 15%.a. should it replace the old steamer? b. npv of replace = $2,083.51

Jimmy's delicatessen sells large tins of tom tucker's toffee. the deli uses a periodic review system, checking inventory levels every 88 days, at which time an order is placed for more tins. order lead time is 22 days. daily demand is a constant 1515 tins, so average demand during the reorder period and order lead time (1010 days) is 150150 tins. draw a sawtooth diagram. assume that the beginning inventory level is equal to the restocking level and the desired service level is 99.9%. what is the safety stock level? (hint: look at the formula for calculating restocking level.) what is the average inventory level? the safety stock level is average inventory level is __chart: time (10,20,30), tins (0,150) lines touching both axisthe safety stock level is 0 tinsthe average inventory level is 75 tins

When the benefit of one particular use of a resource is greater than the opportunity cost, then that resource is which of the following? a. not scarce b. being used efficiently c. a normal good d. non-excludable