Distribution channel expert Bernard LaLonde once said, "American management's philosophy has been: If you're smart enough to make it, aggressive enough to sell it—then any dummy can get it there. Now we're paying for [that philosophy]." Briefly discuss the distribution problems managers with this philosophy likely encounter.

Examine the following book-value balance sheet for university products inc. the preferred stock currently sells for $30 per share and pays a dividend of $3 a share. the common stock sells for $16 per share and has a beta of 0.9. there are 2 million common shares outstanding. the market risk premium is 9%, the risk-free rate is 5%, and the firm’s tax rate is 40%. book-value balance sheet (figures in $ millions) assets liabilities and net worth cash and short-term securities $ 2.0 bonds, coupon = 6%, paid annually (maturity = 10 years, current yield to maturity = 8%) $ 5.0 accounts receivable 3.0 preferred stock (par value $15 per share) 3.0 inventories 7.0 common stock (par value $0.20) 0.4 plant and equipment 21.0 additional paid-in stockholders’ equity 13.6 retained earnings 11.0 total $ 33.0 total $ 33.0 a. what is the market debt-to-value ratio of the firm? (do not round intermediate calculations. enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) b. what is university’s wacc? (do not round intermediate calculations. enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.)

Hank itzek manufactures and sells homemade wine, and he wants to develop a standard cost per gallon. the following are required for production of a 70-gallon batch. 2,700 ounces of grape concentrate at $0.04 per ounce 77 pounds of granulated sugar at $0.43 per pound 133 lemons at $0.79 each 350 yeast tablets at $0.24 each 350 nutrient tablets at $0.14 each 2,500 ounces of water at $0.001 per ounce hank estimates that 4% of the grape concentrate is wasted, 9% of the sugar is lost, and 32% of the lemons cannot be used. compute the standard cost of the ingredients for one gallon of wine. (round intermediate calculations and final answer to 2 decimal places, e. g.

Why is the type of product sold in an industry an important characteristic? a firm that can differentiate its product from that of rivals may be able to charge a higher price for a superior product. a firm that sells intangible goods is usually considered a monopoly. service industries cannot differentiate their products, which makes it easy for new firms to enter the industry. expensive products are usually sold by perfectly competitive firms.