Has developed capabilities to compete in the “fast fashion” portion of the clothing market, including quickly copying runway fashions; vertical integration from design to point of sale; flexible, just-in-time manufacturing systems; and a time to market for new items of just three weeks compared to an industry average of nine months. these are all characteristics of what business level strategy?

Amachine purchased three years ago for $720,000 has a current book value using straight-line depreciation of $400,000: its operating expenses are $60,000 per year. a replacement machine would cost $480,000, have a useful life of nine years, and would require $26,000 per year in operating expenses. it has an expected salvage value of $130,000 after nine years. the current disposal value of the old machine is $170,000: if it is kept 9 more years, its residual value would be $20,000. calculate the total costs in keeping the old machine and purchase a new machine. should the old machine be replaced?

The textbook defines ethics as “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group,” and specifically as the standards one uses to decide what their conduct should be. to what extent do you believe that what happened at bp (british petrolium) is as much a breakdown in the company’s ethical systems as it is in its safety systems, and how would you defend your conclusion?

Anew firm is developing its business plan. it will require $615,000 of assets, and it projects $450,000 of sales and $355,000 of operating costs for the first year. management is reasonably sure of these numbers because of contracts with its customers and suppliers. it can borrow at a rate of 7.5%, but the bank requires it to have a tie of at least 4.0, and if the tie falls below this level the bank will call in the loan and the firm will go bankrupt. what is the maximum debt ratio the firm can use? (hint: find the maximum dollars of interest, then the debt that produces that interest, and then the related debt ratio.)a. 41.94%b. 44.15%c. 46.47%d. 48.92%e. 51.49%