Johnson electronics sells electrical and electronic components through catalogs. catalogs are updated and printed twice every year. each printing run incurs a fixed cost of $5,000, which involves catalog design cost and printing setup cost. the variable production cost is $5 per catalog. the half-year demand for catalogs is estimated to be normally distributed with a mean of 8,000 and standard deviation of 3,000. data indicate that, on average, each customer ordering a catalog generates a profit of $35 from sales. how many catalogs should be printed?

You work as the sales manager for a company that sells office supplies to businesses of all sizes. because the profit margins are razor-thin, you need to ensure that you are getting the very best prices on paper, pencils, pens, post-it notes, and other office supplies from the manufacturers. when reviewing the quarterly profit statement, you realize that your costs are higher than they should be, and you trace the higher costs back to an employee who has been lax about getting competitive bids to ensure the lowest prices. when you conduct your research to determine the reason for the higher costs, and take action to bring those costs back down, in which of the key management processes are you taking part?