Benchmarking: allows industry participants to develop industry-wide standards. synchronizes the business processes of customers, suppliers, and trading partners. compares the efficiency and effectiveness of your business processes against strict standards. is used to measure the speed and responsiveness of information technology. coordinates the value chains of independent firms to enable them to collectively produce a product or service.

Jennifer purchased a house in a brand new development in the outskirts of town. when her house was built, the nearest fire department was nearly 20 miles away. as her neighborhood developed, the density of the community called for a new fire department 1.5 miles away. what effect will the new fire station have on her homeowners insurance premium? a. a new fire department will be more demanding on local taxes. her annual premium will go up. b. the location of a fire department has no bearing on the value of her house. her annual premium will stay the same. c. the new fire department will reduce the risk of financial loss in her home. her annual premium should decrease. d. with a fire department so close (less than 5 miles), financial risk on jennifer’s home practically disappears. she will not need to pay insurance anymore.

Sauer food company has decided to buy a new computer system with an expected life of three years. the cost is $440,000. the company can borrow $440,000 for three years at 14 percent annual interest or for one year at 12 percent annual interest. assume interest is paid in full at the end of each year. a. how much would sauer food company save in interest over the three-year life of the computer system if the one-year loan is utilized and the loan is rolled over (reborrowed) each year at the same 12 percent rate? compare this to the 14 percent three-year loan.

Emery pharmaceutical uses an unstable chemical compound that must be kept in an environment where both temperature and humidity can be controlled. emery uses 825 pounds per month of the chemical, estimates the holding cost to be 50% of the purchase price (because of spoilage), and estimates order costs to be $48 per order. the cost schedules of two suppliers are as follows: vendor 1 vendor 2 quantity price/lb quantity price/lb 1-499 $17 1-399 $17.10 500-999 $16.75 400-799 $16.85 1000+ $16.50 800-1199 $16.60 1200+ $16.25 (a) what is the economic order quantity for each supplier? (b) what quantity should be ordered and which supplier should be used? (c) the total cost for the most economic order sire is $