Mason is the head of an automobile firm. The firm has two manufacturing units, one located in a city and the other located in a town. The manufacturing unit located in the town requires maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supplies to enable a smooth running of the manufacturing process. Mason delegates this task to an external consultant who buys necessary goods and services on behalf of the firm. In this case, the external consultant acts as a

Garrett is an executive vice president at samm hardware. he researches a proposal by a larger company, maximum hardware, to combine the two companies. by analyzing past performance, conducting focus groups, and interviewing maximum employees, garrett concludes that maximum has poor profit margins, sells shoddy merchandise, and treats customers poorly. what actions should garrett and samm hardware take? a. turn down the acquisition offer and prepare to resist a hostile takeover. b. attempt a friendly merger and use managerial hubris to improve results at maximum. c. welcome the acquisition and use knowledge transfer to impart sam hardware's management practices. d. do nothing; the two companies cannot combine without samm hardware's explicit consent.