A grocery store chain makes a decision to limit its size and scope by offering only what it considers to be the best product in each food category, reducing the options available to its customers. It employs and recruits a highly paid team of tasters who travel the world evaluating foods to introduce on its shelves. It has attracted a team with an excellent track record of identifying top sellers and earned a reputation for delivering high-quality goods. This is an example of:

a. a distinctive competency.
b. intellectual property.
c. a basic factor of production.
d. a poorly organized resource.

5. profit maximization and shutting down in the short run suppose that the market for polos is a competitive market. the following graph shows the daily cost curves of a firm operating in this market. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 price (dollars per polo) quantity (thousands of polos) mc atc avc for each price in the following table, calculate the firm's optimal quantity of units to produce, and determine the profit or loss if it produces at that quantity, using the data from the previous graph to identify its total variable cost. assume that if the firm is indifferent between producing and shutting down, it will produce. (hint: you can select the purple points [diamond symbols] on the previous graph to see precise information on average variable cost.) price quantity total revenue fixed cost variable cost profit (dollars per polo) (polos) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) 12.50 135,000 27.50 135,000 45.00 135,000 if the firm shuts down, it must incur its fixed costs (fc) in the short run. in this case, the firm's fixed cost is $135,000 per day. in other words, if it shuts down, the firm would suffer losses of $135,000 per day until its fixed costs end (such as the expiration of a building lease). this firm's shutdown price—that is, the price below which it is optimal for the firm to shut down—is per polo.

Choose the statement that is incorrect. a. search activity occurs only in markets where there is a shortage. b. when a price is regulated and there is a shortage, search activity increases. c. the time spent looking for someone with whom to do business is called search activity. d. the opportunity cost of a good is equal to its price plus the value of the search time spent finding the good.

Four key marketing decision variables are price (p), advertising (a), transportation (t), and product quality (q). consumer demand (d) is influenced by these variables. the simplest model for describing demand in terms of these variables is: d = k – pp + aa + tt + qq where k, p, a, t, and q are constants. discuss the assumptions of this model. specifically, how does each variable affect demand? how do the variables influence each other? what limitations might this model have? how can it be improved?