Staples closed 48 of its North American stores in 2016 and will close another 70 in 2017. The firm has expanded its e-commerce, and has focused on buying small business-to-business service providers beyond office supplies companies that employ 10 to 200 employees. It has added 1,000 people to its sales force.

a. Which of Staples’ decisions described in the news clip is a short-run decision and which is a long-run decision?

b. Why is Staples’ long-run decision riskier than its short-run decision?