A firm's core competencies, integrated with an understanding of the results of studying the conditions in the external environment, should: a. increase the firm's market share. b. drive the selection of strategies. c. guarantee profits. d. lead to a first-mover advantage.

The table shows the demand and supply schedules for magazines. complete the following sentences. the equilibrium price of a magazine is $ 4 and the equilibrium quantity is 150 magazines a week. price (dollars per magazine) quantity demanded quantity supplied (magazines per week) 3.00 160 138 3.50 155 144 4.00 150 150 4.50 145 156 5.00 140 161 now a fall in the price of a newspaper decreases the quantity demanded by 11 magazines a week at each price. at the original equilibrium price, a occurs. to return to equilibrium, the price of a magazine a. surplus; rises b. shortage; rises c. shortage; falls d. surplus; falls as the market returns to equilibrium, the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied a. decreases; increases b. decreases; decreases c. increases; decreases d. increases; increases the new equilibrium price is $ nothing a magazine.

Following is a list of various costs incurred in producing replacement automobile parts. with respect to the production and sale of these auto parts, classify each cost as either variable costs, fixed costs, or mixed costs. 1. oil used in manufacturing equipment 2. plastic 3. property taxes, $165,000 per year on factory building and equipment 4. salary of plant manager 5. cost of labor for hourly workers 6. packaging 7. factory cleaning costs, $6,000 per month 8. metal 9. rent on warehouse, $10,000 per month plus $25 per square foot of storage used 10. property insurance premiums, $3,600 per month plus $0.01 for each dollar of property over $1,200,000 11. straight-line depreciation on the production equipment 12. hourly wages of machine operators 13. electricity costs, $0.20 per kilowatt-hour 14. computer chip (purchased from a vendor) 15. pension cost, $1.00 per employee hour on the job

Why do you think the compensation plans differ at the two firms? in particular, why do you think kaufmann’s pays commissions to salespeople, while parkleigh does not? why does parkleigh offer employees discounts on purchases, while kaufmann’s does not?