2. Alternative types of projects Consider the following case: Piper is an analyst for American Investor Holdings LLC (AIH). She is evaluating capital budgeting proposals for AIH's client, Marshall Manufacturing. The first step is to classify the capital investment proposals. To assist Piper, read the description of the projects in the box below and indicate wheth they should be classified as mutually exclusive, contingent, or independent projects. Marshall Manufacturing will either (1) acquire the patent and manufacturing information for an essential component currently made by a small supplier, or (2) significantly expand its own research and development and manufacturing departments to quickly develop and make a similar component. These projects should be classified as: Mutually exclusive projects Independent projects Contingent projects While taking a break, Piper confides to you that she sometimes gets confused about the differences between mutually exclusive, independent, and contingent projects. Help Piper understand these differences by reviewing the choices below and selecting the response that best explains the differences between a mutually exclusive and an independent project. A mutually exclusive project is one whose acceptance precludes the acceptance of one or more other projects, whereas an independent project is one whose acceptance (or rejection) has no effect on the acceptance or rejection of the other projects. An independent project is one whose acceptance precludes the acceptance of one or more other projects, whereas a mutually exclusive project is one whose acceptance (or rejection) has no effect on the acceptance or rejection of the firm's other projects. A mutually exclusive project is one whose acceptance precludes the acceptance of one or more other projects, whereas an independent project is one whose acceptance is dependent on the adoption of one or more other projects. A mutually exclusive project is one made necessary by increased consumer demand, whereas an independent project is one made necessary by the need to reduce costs