Questions: HBR Case - Wendy's Chili 1. Is the cost of the ground beef a joint cost? A common cost? 2. Are hamburgers and chili joint products? Is chili a by-product of hamburgers? 3. Does the cost of chili vary with the seasons? If so, should the price vary accordingly? 4. How should management's perception of the hamburger sales-chili sales relationship affect Wendy's costing procedure? a. If chili sales are believed to be eroding hamburger sales? b. If chili sales are believed to be increasing hamburger sales? 5. When ground beef prices increase, does the cost of making Wendy's chili increase? If so, should Wendy's increase the selling price of its chili? 6. How should Wendy's go about deciding on the sales price for chili? 7. Do increased chili sales make hamburger sales more profitable? 8. Can any method of allocating the cost of the ground beef result in cost data useful for product profitability purposes? 9. What factors contributed the most to the difficult period experienced by the company during the 1980's? 10. What factors led to the company's improved performance during the 1990's? 11. What is the most important thing Wendy's needs to do now that Dave Thomas is gone