Identifying a business’s most valuable customers is a traditional use of customer relationship management. Some customers contribute more than others to a business’s long-term profitability— this is known as a customer’s “lifetime value.” Of course, businesses want to identify these customers and make every effort to keep them satisfied and loyal. Some people, however, think that businesses’ giving certain customers special treatment over others is unfair. For instance, a “VIP” customer may be more likely to talk to a real person when s/he calls the business, whereas a “regular” customer may be greeted by an automated answering service. These practices aren’t illegal, but are they unethical? What do you think?

The production manager of rordan corporation has submitted the following quarterly production forecast for the upcoming fiscal year: 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter units to be produced 10,800 8,500 7,100 11,200 each unit requires 0.25 direct labor-hours, and direct laborers are paid $20.00 per hour. required: 1. prepare the company’s direct labor budget for the upcoming fiscal year. assume that the direct labor workforce is adjusted each quarter to match the number of hours required to produce the forecasted number of units produced. 2. prepare the company’s direct labor budget for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming that the direct labor workforce is not adjusted each quarter. instead, assume that the company’s direct labor workforce consists of permanent employees who are guaranteed to be paid for at least 2,500 hours of work each quarter. if the number of required direct labor-hours is less than this number, the workers are paid for 2,500 hours anyway. any hours worked in excess of 2,500 hours in a quarter are paid at the rate of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate for direct labor.