General Mills conducted research on a "new, improved" version of their cereal, TRIX. Consumer taste tests showed the new version was preferred over the old TRIX, but the new version was a failure when it was introduced. It was noted that the research was flawed in that the new version of TRIX was compared with the old TRIX, a choice that consumers in the marketplace would not have. The correct research should have compared the new TRIX with competitor brands. This example illustrates:

Norton manufacturing expects to produce 2,900 units in january and 3,600 units in february. norton budgets $20 per unit for direct materials. indirect materials are insignificant and not considered for budgeting purposes. the balance in the raw materials inventory account (all direct materials) on january 1 is $38,650. norton desires the ending balance in raw materials inventory to be 10% of the next month's direct materials needed for production. desired ending balance for february is $51,100. what is the cost of budgeted purchases of direct materials needed for january? $58,000 $65,200 $26,550 $25,150

Shrieves casting company is considering adding a new line to its product mix, and the capital budgeting analysis is being conducted by sidney johnson, a recently graduated mba. the production line would be set up in unused space in the main plant. the machinery’s invoice price would be approximately $200,000, another $10,000 in shipping charges would be required, and it would cost an additional $30,000 to install the equipment. the machinery has an economic life of 4 years, and shrieves has obtained a special tax ruling that places the equipment in the macrs 3-year class. the machinery is expected to have a salvage value of $25,000 after 4 years of use. the new line would generate incremental sales of 1,250 units per year for 4 years at an incremental cost of $100 per unit in the first year, excluding depreciation. each unit can be sold for $200 in the first year. the sales price and cost are both expected to increase by 3% per year due to inflation. further, to handle the new line, the firm’s net working capital would have to increase by an amount equal to 12% of sales revenues. the firm’s tax rate is 40%, and its overall weighted average cost of capital, which is the risk-adjusted cost of capital for an average project (r), is 10%. define “incremental cash flow.” (1) should you subtract interest expense or dividends when calculating project cash flow?

The role of the credit department includes: a. evaluating customers' credit applications to determine whether they meet the company's approval standards. b. approving all credit applications in order to avoid losing sales. c. collecting cash from customers. d. following unwritten approval standards for processing customers' credit applications.