Office Automation, Inc., developed a proposal for introducing a new computerized office system that will standardize the electronic archiving of invoices for a particular company. Contained in the proposal is a list of activities that must be accomplished to complete the new office system project. Use the following relevant information about the activities: Immediate Time (weeks) Cost ($1000s)
Activity Description Predecessor(s) Normal Crash Normal Crash
A Plan needs — 12 8 30 110
B Order equipment A 8 6 120 150
C Install equipment B 10 7 100 160
D Set up training lab A 7 6 40 50
E Conduct training course D 10 8 50 75
F Test system C, E 3 3 60

a. Develop a project network.
b. Develop an activity schedule.
c. What are the critical activities, and what is the expected project completion time?
d. Assume that the company wants to complete the project in six months or 26 weeks. What crashing decisions do you recommend to meet the desired completion time at the least possible cost? Work through the network and attempt to make the crashing decisions by inspection.
e. Develop an activity schedule for the crashed project.
f. What added project cost is required to meet the six-month completion time?

Reliable electric is a regulated public utility, and it is expected to provide steady dividend growth of 5% per year for the indefinite future. its last dividend was $6 per share; the stock sold for $50 per share just after the dividend was paid. what is the company’s cost of equity? (do not round intermediate calculations. enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.)

Zachary company produces commercial gardening equipment. since production is highly automated, the company allocates its overhead costs to product lines using activity-based costing. the costs and cost drivers associated with the four overhead activity cost pools follow: activities unit level batch level product level facility level cost $ 64,800 $ 27,730 $ 15,000 $ 154,000 cost driver 2,400 labor hrs. 47 setups percentage of use 11,000 units production of 780 sets of cutting shears, one of the company’s 20 products, took 240 labor hours and 7 setups and consumed 15 percent of the product-sustaining activities. required: (a) had the company used labor hours as a company wide allocation base, how much overhead would it have allocated to the cutting shears? (b) how much overhead is allocated to the cutting shears using activity-based costing? (c) compute the overhead cost per unit for cutting shears first using activity-based costing and then using direct labor hours for allocation if 780 units are produced. if direct product costs are $150 and the product is priced at 30 percent above cost for what price would the product sell under each allocation system? (d) assuming that activity-based costing provides a more accurate estimate of cost, indicate whether the cutting shears would be over- or underpriced if direct labor hours are used as an allocation base. explain how over-or undercosting can affect vaulker's profitability. (e) comment on the validity of using the allocated facility-level cost in the pricing decision. should other costs be considered in a cost- plus pricing decision? if so, which ones? what costs would you include if you were trying to decide whether to accept a special order?

Creation landscaping has 1,000 bonds outstanding that are selling for $1,280 each. the company also has 2,000 shares of preferred stock outstanding, currently priced at $27.20 a share. the common stock is priced at $37.00 a share and there are 28,000 shares outstanding. what is the weight of the debt as it relates to the firm's weighted average cost of capital?