City Farm Insurance has collection centers across the country to speed up collections. The company also makes its disbursements from remote disbursement centers so the firm's checks will take longer to clear the bank. Collection time has been reduced by two and one-half days and disbursement time increased by one and one-half days because of these policies. Excess funds are being invested in short-term instruments yielding 5 percent per annum.

a. If City Farm has $4.90 million per day in collections and $3.90 million per day in disbursements, how many dollars has the cash management system freed up?

b. How much can City Farm earn in dollars per year on short-term investments made possible by the freed-up cash?

Aztic inc., a manufacturer of sports goods, plans to expand its operations to various other countries. during market research, it avoids countries where the dominant population is mostly rural. in this case, aztic inc. is assessing the of the countries

Richardson hired j.c. flood company, a plumbing contractor, to correct a stoppage in the sewer line of her house. the plumbing company's 'snake' device, used to clear the line leading to the main sewer, became caught in the underground line. to release it, the company excavated a portion of the sewer line in richardson's backyard. in the process, the company discovered numerous leaks in a rusty, defective water pipe that ran parallel with the sewer line. to meet public regulations, the water pipe, of a type no longer approved for such service, had to be replaced either then or later, when the yard would have to be excavated again. the plumbing company proceeded to repair the water pipe. though richardson inspected the company's work daily and did not express any objection to the extra work involved in replacing the water pipe, she refused to pay any part of the total bill after the company completed the entire operation. j.c. flood company then sued richardson for the costs of labor and material it had furnished. (c) for what, if anything, should richardson be liable? explain."

Consider two similar industries, portal crane manufacturing (pcm) and forklift manufacturing (flm). the pcm industry has exactly three incumbents with annual sales of $800 million, $200 million and $100 million, respectively. the flm industry has also exactly three incumbents, with annual sales of $500 million, $450 million and $400 million, respectively. which industry is more likely to experience a higher level of rivalry?