Please answer questions 8b, 9b.i, 9b.ii, 10b, 11

TIGER TOY COMPANY After receiving his M.A. in Chemistry, with a specialty in plastics, Ben Morris joined the plastics division of a major chemical firm. His wife, Nancy, had managed the toy department of Danforth's, a large department store in Kansas City, before their marriage in 1980. As a hobby, Mrs. Morris designed and Mr. Morris produced certain toy items that they gave to their friends on Christmas, birthdays, and other occasions. These toys were very well received, and a number of the Morris's friends asked to buy additional ones that they could use as gifts. Mrs. Morris's successor in Danforth's toy department also urged them to produce additional quantities to be marketed through the store In the summer of 1990, the Ben and Nancy decided to devote their full time to the commercial production of toys, and, on January 1, 1991, the Tiger Toy Company, named after their pet cat, commenced operations. The initial plans were well laid. Sales during the first year totaled one million dollars, and by 2001 they had grown to $10.5 million. The annual sales for the firm's first 11 years, together with certain other operating statistics, are represented in Table 1 Total toy industry sales are quite stable, but because of fads and fashions, individual firms experience considerably more instability than the industry does as a whole. Tiger Toy, for example, "missed the market" in 1996 and 1999, when its new designs were not especially well received, and sales dropped significantly during both these years. Sales instability presents a financial planning problem in the toy industry, and this problem is heightened by the seasonal nature of the business. About 80 percent of all sales are made during the months of September and October, when stores are stocking up for the Christmas season, but collections are not generally made until January and February, when stores have received their Christmas receipts and are able to meet their obligations to the toy manufacturers. Toy manufacturers have a choice of production techniques. They can either produce heavily during the April to September period in anticipation of the Christmas sales, or they can follow a practice of level production during the year, storing output produced during the off-season period. The advantages of uniform production are that plant capacity, and thus fixed-assets requirements, is reduced and better personnel can be obtained because of the full- time employment. Seasonal production, on the other hand, reduces the danger of obsolescence due to style changes, decreases the storage problem, and reduces the need for financing to carry off-season inventories. Tiger Toy has been following a seasonal production pattern, producing about 70 percent of its output during the April through September period and 30 percent during the remainder of the year TIGER TOY COMPANY After receiving his M.A. in Chemistry, with a specialty in plastics, Ben Morris joined the plastics division of a major chemical firm. His wife, Nancy, had managed the toy department of Danforth's, a large department store in Kansas City, before their marriage in 1980. As a hobby, Mrs. Morris designed and Mr. Morris produced certain toy items that they gave to their friends on Christmas, birthdays, and other occasions. These toys were very well received, and a number of the Morris's friends asked to buy additional ones that they could use as gifts. Mrs. Morris's successor in Danforth's toy department also urged them to produce additional quantities to be marketed through the store In the summer of 1990, the Ben and Nancy decided to devote their full time to the commercial production of toys, and, on January 1, 1991, the Tiger Toy Company, named after their pet cat, commenced operations. The initial plans were well laid. Sales during the first year totaled one million dollars, and by 2001 they had grown to $10.5 million. The annual sales for the firm's first 11 years, together with certain other operating statistics, are represented in Table 1 Total toy industry sales are quite stable, but because of fads and fashions, individual firms experience considerably more instability than the industry does as a whole. Tiger Toy, for example, "missed the market" in 1996 and 1999, when its new designs were not especially well received, and sales dropped significantly during both these years. Sales instability presents a financial planning problem in the toy industry, and this problem is heightened by the seasonal nature of the business. About 80 percent of all sales are made during the months of September and October, when stores are stocking up for the Christmas season, but collections are not generally made until January and February, when stores have received their Christmas receipts and are able to meet their obligations to the toy manufacturers. Toy manufacturers have a choice of production techniques. They can either produce heavily during the April to September period in anticipation of the Christmas sales, or they can follow a practice of level production during the year, storing output produced during the off-season period. The advantages of uniform production are that plant capacity, and thus fixed-assets requirements, is reduced and better personnel can be obtained because of the full- time employment. Seasonal production, on the other hand, reduces the danger of obsolescence due to style changes, decreases the storage problem, and reduces the need for financing to carry off-season inventories. Tiger Toy has been following a seasonal production pattern, producing about 70 percent of its output during the April through September period and 30 percent during the remainder of the year