3. Review the information in Concepts & Connections 4.1 concerning Boll & Branch's average costs of producing and selling a king-sized sheet set, and compare this with the representative value chain depicted in Figure 4.1@. Then answer the following questions: L04-32 (a) Which of the company's costs correspond to the primary value chain activities depicted in Figure 4.1 ? (b) Which of the company's costs correspond to the support activities described in Figure 4.10? (c) What value chain activities might be important in securing or maintaining Boll & Branch's competitive advantage? Explain your answer. A king-size set of sheets from Boll & Branch is made from 6 meters of fabric, requiring 11 kilograms of raw cotton Raw Cotton $ 28.16 12.00 9.50 Spinning/Weaving/Dyeing Cutting/Sewing/Finishing Material Transportation Factory Fee Cost of Goods 3.00 15.80 $ 68.46 5.48 Inspection Fees Ocean Freight/Insurance 4.55 Import Duties 8.22 Warehouse/Packing 8.50 15.15 Packaging Customer Shipping 14.00 Promotions/Donations 30.00 Total Cost $ 154.38 Boll & Brand Markup About 60% Boll & Brand Retail $ 250.00 Customer Shipping 14.00 Promotions/Donations 30.00 Total Cost $ 154.38 Boll & Brand Markup About 60% $ 250.00 Boll & Brand Retail Price Gross Margin $ 95.62 Search All M FIGURE 4.1 A Representative Company Value Chain Primary Activities and Costs Supply Chain Manage- ment Operations Distribution Sales and Marketing Service Profit Margin Product R&D. Technology, and Systems Development Support Activities and Costs Human Resources Management General Administration PRIMARY ACTIVITIES Supply Chain Management-Activities, costs, and assets associated with purchasing fuel, energy, raw materials, parts and components, merchandise, and consumable items from vendors receiving, storing, and disseminating inputs from suppliers; inspection and inventory management Operations Activities, costs, and assets associated with converting inputs into final product form (production, assembly. packaging, equipment maintenance, facilities, operations, quality assurance, environmental protection) Distribution-Activities. costs, and assets dealing with physically distributing the product to buyers (finished goods warehousing, order processing, order picking and packing, shipping, delivery vehicle operations, establishing and maintaining a network of dealers and distributors) Sales and Marketing Activities, costs, and assets related to sales force efforts, advertising and promotion market research and planning, and dealer/distributor support. Service-Activities, costs, and assets associated with providing assistance to buyers, such as installation, spare parts delivery, maintenance and repair, technical assistance, buyer inquiries, and complaints PRIMARY ACTIVITIES Supply Chain Management-Activities, costs, and assets associated with purchasing fuel, energy, raw materials, parts and components, merchandise, and consumable items from vendors, recelving, storing, and disseminating inputs from suppliers, inspection and inventory management. Operations-Activities, costs, and assets associated with converting inputs into final product form (production, assembly packaging, equipment maintenance, facilities, operations, quality assurance, environmental protection) Distribution-Activities, costs, and assets dealing with physically distributing the product to buyers (finished goods warehousing, order processing, order picking and packing, shipping, delivery vehicle operations, establishing and maintaining a network of dealers and distributors) Sales and Marketing-Activities, costs, and assets related to salesforce efforts, advertising and promotion, market research and planning and dealer/distributor support. Service-Activities, costs, and assets associated with providing assistance to buyers, such as installation, spare parts delivery, maintenance and repair, technical assistance, buyer inquiries, and complaints SUPPORT ACTIVITIES Product R&D, Technology, and Systems Development-Activities, costs, and assets relating to product R&D, process R&D process design improvement, equipment design, computer software development, telecommunications systems, computer-assisted design and engineering, database capabilities, and development of computerized support systems. Human Resources Management-Activities, costs, and assets associated with the recruitment, hiring, training, development, and compensation of all types of personnel, labor relations activities, and development of knowledge-based skills and core competencies. General Administration-Activities, costs, and assets relating to general management, accounting and finance, legal and regulatory affairs, safety and security, management information systems, forming strategic alliances and collaborating with strategic partners, and other "overhead" functions