The Thomas Cook travel agency has experienced financial setbacks due to the Iraq war, the SARS epidemic, and unusually hot weather in Europe. A situational analysis would conclude that its setbacks were due to:

A. threats in its external environment
B. opportunities in its environmental environment
C. weaknesses in its external environment
D. the absence of strengths in its internal environment
E. weaknesses in its internal environment

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?