Open-ended questions 1. Consider companies A and B. If A sells a product to B, and the cost of this product makes up a significant portion of B's cost of goods sold (COGS), then B is strongly incentivized to be highly informed about A's costs and alternatives to buying from A's. This information can contribute to B having buyer power avoiding the need to "send itself flowers." Do you agree/disagree with the statement above? Provide an example from the Crown Cork and Seal case to support/refute the statement 2. The physical office supply stores industry has been struggling for the past years. Here are some stylized facts: The annual growth rate of the industry -4.4% (average 2010-2017) Industry margins have dropped from 3.1% (2010) to 1.8% (2017) Staples and Office Depot together account for 75% (2017) of total revenue in sales made in physical retail stores, down from 87% (2010) The percentage of purchases made online has increased from 7.5% (2010) to 21% (2017) The use of office productivity services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, for storage, collaboration, computing services has increased by about 25 times from 2010 to 2017. The percentage of offices that allow employees to work from home or offering flexible hours has increased by 40% from 2010 to 2017. Use Porter's five forces to analyze and compare the industry's external environment in 2010 relative to 2017. Use the analysis to explain the challenges of physical stores 3. To increase the value captured, the firm should identify activities that raise costs more than the activities that increase willingness to pay (WTP) and eliminate these activities. Do you agree/disagree with the statement above (use theory/frameworks to justify your position)? Provide an example. 4. What may explain the high degree of concentration in the semiconductor industry? Choose a fragmented industry and explain in what ways it is different from the semiconductor industry and why