Truckmax had been extremely profitable, but the company has been hurt in recent years by competition and a failure to introduce new consumer products. in 2010, tom lopez became head of consumer products research (cpr) and began a number of product development projects. under his leadership, the group had good ideas that led to the introduction of several promising products. nevertheless, when 2011 financial results were reviewed, cpr’s report revealed largely unfavorable variances leading management to criticize lopez for poor cost control. management was quite concerned about cost control because profits were low, and the company’s cash budget indicated that additional borrow-ing would be required throughout 2010 to cover out-of-pocket costs. because of his inability to exert proper cost control, lopez was relieved of his responsibilities in 2012, and gabriella garcia became head of consumer products research. garcia vowed to improve the performance of cpr and scaled back cpr’s development activities to obtain favorable financial performance reports .by the end of 2013, the company had improved its market position, profitability, and cash po-sition. at this time, the board of directors promoted garcia to president, congratulating her for the contribution cpr made to the revitalization of the company, as well as her success in improving the financial performance of cpr. garcia assured the board that the company’s financial performance would improve even more in the future as she applied the same cost-reducing measures that had worked so well in cpr to the company as a whole.

a) for the purpose of evaluating financial performance, what responsibility center classification should be given to the consumer products research department? what unique problems are associated with evaluating the financial performance of this type of responsibility center?

b. compare the performances of lopez and garcia in the role as head of consumer products research. did garcia do a much better job, thereby making her deserving of the promotion? why or why not