ISO 9000 :

a. is more important for large global firms than small firms with domestic markets.

b. measures how companies have improved their environmental footprint.

c. is challenging to earn but is rewarding from a marketing viewpoint.

d. reflects an international excellence in quality management standards.

Suppose that in an economy the structural unemployment rate is 2.2 percent, the natural unemployment rate is 5.3 percent, and the cyclical unemployment rate is 2 percent. the frictional unemployment rate is percent and the actual unemployment rate (in this economy) is percent.

Zachary company produces commercial gardening equipment. since production is highly automated, the company allocates its overhead costs to product lines using activity-based costing. the costs and cost drivers associated with the four overhead activity cost pools follow: activities unit level batch level product level facility level cost $ 64,800 $ 27,730 $ 15,000 $ 154,000 cost driver 2,400 labor hrs. 47 setups percentage of use 11,000 units production of 780 sets of cutting shears, one of the company’s 20 products, took 240 labor hours and 7 setups and consumed 15 percent of the product-sustaining activities. required: (a) had the company used labor hours as a company wide allocation base, how much overhead would it have allocated to the cutting shears? (b) how much overhead is allocated to the cutting shears using activity-based costing? (c) compute the overhead cost per unit for cutting shears first using activity-based costing and then using direct labor hours for allocation if 780 units are produced. if direct product costs are $150 and the product is priced at 30 percent above cost for what price would the product sell under each allocation system? (d) assuming that activity-based costing provides a more accurate estimate of cost, indicate whether the cutting shears would be over- or underpriced if direct labor hours are used as an allocation base. explain how over-or undercosting can affect vaulker's profitability. (e) comment on the validity of using the allocated facility-level cost in the pricing decision. should other costs be considered in a cost- plus pricing decision? if so, which ones? what costs would you include if you were trying to decide whether to accept a special order?

Consumers who participate in the sharing economy seem willing to interact with total strangers. despite safety and privacy concerns, what do you think is the long-term outlook for this change in the way we think about interacting with people whom we don't know? how can businesses to diminish worries some people may have about these practices?