Which best describes the purpose of market research?

The leading producer of cell phone backup batteries, jumpstart, has achieved great success because they produce high-quality battery backups that are not too expensive. even so, another company that produces lower-quality batteries at the same price has also achieved some success, but not as much as jumpstart. also, in general, the price of backup batteries has declined because of economies of scale and learning. in addition, jumpstart has added complementary assets, such as a carrying case. considering all of these factors, the backup battery industry is most likely in the introduction stage. growth stage. shakeout stage. maturity stage.

If a firm plans to issue new stock, flotation costs (investment bankers' fees) should not be ignored. there are two approaches to use to account for flotation costs. the first approach is to add the sum of flotation costs for the debt, preferred, and common stock and add them to the initial investment cost. because the investment cost is increased, the project's expected return is reduced so it may not meet the firm's hurdle rate for acceptance of the project. the second approach involves adjusting the cost of common equity as follows: . the difference between the flotation-adjusted cost of equity and the cost of equity calculated without the flotation adjustment represents the flotation cost adjustment. quantitative problem: barton industries expects next year's annual dividend, d1, to be $1.90 and it expects dividends to grow at a constant rate g = 4.3%. the firm's current common stock price, p0, is $22.00. if it needs to issue new common stock, the firm will encounter a 6% flotation cost, f. assume that the cost of equity calculated without the flotation adjustment is 12% and the cost of old common equity is 11.5%. what is the flotation cost adjustment that must be added to its cost of retaine

You are chairman of the board of a successful technology firm. there is a nominal federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent, yet the effective tax rate of the typical corporation is about 12.6%. your firm has been clever with use of transfer pricing and keeping money abroad and has barely paid any taxes over the last 5 years; during this same time period, profits were $28 billion. one member of the board feels that it is un-american to use various accounting strategies in order to avoid paying taxes. others feel that these are legal loopholes and corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to minimize taxes. one board member quoted what the ceo of exxon once said: “i’m not a u.s. company and i don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the u.s.” what are the alternatives? what are your recommendations? why do you recommend this course of action?