1. A beverage company is considering whether to discontinue its line of grape soda. What factors will affect the company's decision? What is a qualitative factor? Which of the factors you listed are qualitative?
2. What factors would be relevant to a restaurant that is considering whether to make its own dinner rolls or to purchase dinner rolls from a local bakery?
3. How would outsourcing change a company's cost structure? How might this change in cost structure help or harm a company's competitive position?
4. What is an opportunity cost? List possible opportunity costs associated with a make-or-buy decision.
5. What undesirable result can arise from allocating common fixed costs to product lines?
6. Why could a manager be justified in ignoring fixed costs when making a decision about a special order? When would fixed costs be relevant when making a decision about a special order?
7. What is the difference between segment margin and contribution margin? When would each be used?
8. Do joint costs affect a sell as is or process further decision? Why or why not?
9. How can "make-or-buy" concepts be applied to decisions at a service organization? What types of make-or-buy decisions might a service organization face?
10. Oscar Company builds outdoor furniture using a variety of woods and plastics. What is a constraint? List at least four possible constraints at Oscar Company.
11. Do an Internet search on the terms carbon offset and carbon footprint. What is a carbon footprint? What is a carbon offset? Why would carbon offsets be of interest to a company?
What are some companies that offer (sell) carbon offsets?
12. A computer manufacturer is considering outsourcing its technical support call center to India. Its current technical support call center is located in Dellroy, Ohio. The current call center is one of the top employers in Dellroy and employs about 10% of the townspeople in Dellroy. The town has experienced high unemployment rates in the past two decades, and often the call employees are the sole breadwinners in their households. If the technical support call center were to be moved to India, the company would be able to pay about 50% less per hour than it currently pays in Dellroy, Ohio. From a triple-bottom-line perspective (people, planet, and profit), what factors are relevant to the company's decision to outsource its technical support call center? Be sure to discuss both quantitative and qualitative factors.