Which of these is not one of the primary objectives of an operations and supply chain strategy?
a. to support the development of core competencies in the firm's operations and supply chains.
b. to management choose the right mix of structural and infrastructural elements, based on a clear understanding of the performance dimensions valued by customers and the trade-offs involved.
c. to ensure that the firm's structural and infrastructural choices are strategically aligned with the firm's business strategy.
d. to align structural and infrastructural elements to convert order winners into order qualifiers as determined by the mission statement.

"in my opinion, we ought to stop making our own drums and accept that outside supplier's offer," said wim niewindt, managing director of antilles refining, n. v., of aruba. "at a price of $21 per drum, we would be paying $4.70 less than it costs us to manufacture the drums in our own plant. since we use 70,000 drums a year, that would be an annual cost savings of $329,000." antilles refining's current cost to manufacture one drum is given below (based on 70,000 drums per year):

Costco wholesale corporation operates membership warehouses selling food, appliances, consumer electronics, apparel and other household goods at 471 locations across the u. s. as well as in canada, mexico and puerto rico. as of its fiscal year-end 2005, costco had approximately 21.2 million members. selected fiscal-year information from the company's balance sheets follows. ($ millions). selected balance sheet data 2005 2004 merchandise inventories $4,015 $3,644 deferred membership income (liability) 501 454 (a) during fiscal 2005, costco collected $1,120 cash for membership fees. use the financial statement effectstemplate to record the cash collected for membership fees. (b) in 2005, costco recorded $46,347 million in merchandise costs (that is, cost of goods sold). record thistransaction in the financial statement effects template. (c) determine the value of merchandise that costco purchased during fiscal-year 2005. use the financial statementeffects template to record these merchandise purchases. assume all of costco's purchases are on credit.

Amazon inc. does not currently pay a dividend. analysts expect amazon to commence paying annual dividends in three years. the first dividend is expected to be $2 per share. dividends are expected to grow from that point at an annual rate of 4% in perpetuity. investors expect a 12% return from the stock. what should the price of the stock be today?