Using the Six Sigma approach (DMAIC), provide an example situation that uses the five-step plan, and determine three or four challenges you may encounter using this approach. Provide specific examples using additional sources, if necessary, to support your rationale.

Oceanside marine company manufactures special metallic materials and decorative fittings for luxury yachts that require highly skilled labor. oceanside uses standard costs to prepare its flexible budget. for the first quarter of the year, direct materials and direct labor standards for one of their popular products were as follows: direct materials: 2 pound per unit; $ 11 per pound direct labor: 2 hours per unit; $ 19 per hour oceanside produced 2 comma 000 units during the quarter. at the end of the quarter, an examination of the direct materials records showed that the company used 7 comma 500 pounds of direct materials and actual total materials costs were $ 98 comma 100. what is the direct materials cost variance? (round any intermediate calculations to the nearest cent, and your final answer to the nearest dollar.)

The martinez legal firm (mlf) recently acquired a smaller competitor, miller and associates, which specializes in issues not previously covered by mlf, such as land use and intellectual property cases. given the increase in the firm's size and complexity, it is likely that its internal transaction costs willa. decrease. b. increase. c. become external transaction costs. d. be eliminated.

One of the growers is excited by this advancement because now he can sell more crops, which he believes will increase revenue in this market. as an economics student, you can use elasticities to determine whether this change in price will lead to an increase or decrease in total revenue in this market. using the midpoint method, the price elasticity of demand for soybeans between the prices of $5 and $4 per bushel is , which means demand is between these two points. therefore, you would tell the grower that his claim is because total revenue will as a result of the technological advancement.