When writing a recommendation report using an indirect strategy, how should you present alternative solutions? a. Begin with the least likely to succeed, and then present the most promising alternative last.
b. Begin With the most likely to succeed, and then present the least promising alternative last.

Blue computers, a major pc manufacturer in the united states, currently has plants in kentucky and pennsylvania. the kentucky plant has a capacity of 1 million units a year and the pennsylvania plant has a capacity of 1.5 million units a year. the firm divides the united states into five markets: northeast, southeast, midwest, south, and west. each pc sells for $1,000. the firm anticipates a 50 perc~nt growth in demand (in each region) this year (after which demand will stabilize) and wants to build a plant with a capacity of 1.5 million units per year to accommodate the growth. potential sites being considered are in north carolina and california. currently the firm pays federal, state, and local taxes on the income from each plant. federal taxes are 20 percent of income, and all state and local taxes are 7 percent of income in each state. north carolina has offered to reduce taxes for the next 10 years from 7 percent to 2 percent. blue computers would like to take the tax break into consideration when planning its network. consider income over the next 10 years in your analysis. assume that all costs remain unchanged over the 10 years. use a discount factor of 0.1 for your analysis. annual fixed costs, production and shipping costs per unit, and current regional demand (before the 50 percent growth) are shown in table 5-13. (a) if blue computers sets an objective of minimizing total fixed and variable costs, where should they build the new plant? how should the network be structured? (b) if blue computers sets an objective of maximizing after-tax profits, where should they build the new plant? how should the network be structured? variable production and shipping cost ($/unit) annual fixed cost northeast southeast midwest south west (million$) kentucky 185 180 175 175 200 150 pennsylvania 170 190 180 200 220 200 n. carolina 180 180 185 185 215 150 california 220 220 195 195 175 150 demand ('000 units/month) 700 400 400 300 600

Which of the following is true concerning the 5/5 lapse rule? a) the 5/5 lapse rule deems that a taxable gift has been made where a power to withdraw in excess of $5,000 or five percent of the trust assets is lapsed by the powerholder. b) the 5/5 lapse rule only comes into play with a single beneficiary trust. c) amounts that lapse under the 5/5 lapse rule qualify for the annual exclusion. d) gifts over the 5/5 lapse rule do not have to be disclosed on a gift tax return.

2. the external environment (connect)choose whether each example belongs in the general, task, or internal environment.exampleenvironmenta worldwide recession task environment / general environment / internal environmentlocal mothers asking their community grocery store to carry no-salt cheerios-type cereal for their babies task environment / general environment / internal environmentchoose the phrase that best completes the following sentence.the relationship between the task environment and the general environment is best described as: a one-way system: changes in the task environment affect the general environment, but changes in the general environment do not affect the task environment.an open system: changes in the task environment affect the general environment, and changes in the general environment affect the task environment.a one-way system: changes in the general environment affect the task environment, but changes in the task environment do not affect the general environment.a closed system: changes in the general environment do not affect the task environment, and changes in the task environment do not affect the general environment.©bloomberg via getty imagesmanagement in the newsin april 2010, the explosion of british petroleum’s (bp) deepwater horizon oil drilling rig and the accompanying oil spill dramatically changed the external environment in which all oil companies operate. the explosion released more oil than any other accidental spill in history and had a huge impact on the waters and surrounding communities of the gulf coast. the conditions that led to the spill, the attempts to stop the spill, and the clean-up and aftermath of the spill prompted debates in the u.s. senate, concern on wall street, and attention from companies all over the world.match each oil spill event with a specific dimension of the general environment.eventgeneral environment dimensionbp stock prices falling 25% during the first month after the oil spill oil seeping into pelican nesting grounds, which will place the brown pelican back on the endangered species list people moving from louisiana to oklahoma to avoid the effects of the spill