Certain aspects of the CC$-2$ purchase decision were difficult to quantify. First, Matsuo was

unsure whether the tough collective$-$bargaining agreement his company had with the

employees$$ union would allow him to lay off operators of the semi$-$automated machines. Reassigning

the workers to other jobs might be easier, but the only positions needing to be

filled were unskilled jobs, which paid JPY$1300$ an hour. The extent of any labor savings

would depend on negotiations with the union. Second, Matsuo believed that the CC$-2$ would

result in even higher levels of product quality and lower scrap rates than the company was

now boasting. Due to ever$-$increasing competition, this outcome might prove to be of

enormous, but currently un$-$quantifiable, competitive importance. Finally, the CC$-2$ had a

theoretical maximum capacity that was $30\%$ higher than that of the four semi$-$automated

machines; but those machines were operating at only $70\%$ of capacity, and Matsuo was

unsure when added capacity would be needed. There was plenty of uncertainty about the

economic outlook in Japan, and the latest