Durable ceramics, inc., provides inexpensive ceramic tile to builders of institutional buildings such as schools, prisons, and public administration buildings. it has always competed on a cost leadership basis. most of its products are purchased by a few commercial construction firms, so it is fairly dependent on these construction firms for selling its product. durable ceramic's next most-efficient competitor, cost-less ceramics, inc., earns average returns, whereas durable earns above-average returns. the commercial construction firms are putting pressure on durable to reduce its prices. if durable reduces its prices below those of cost-less's prices, it is likely that:

Beswick company your team is allocated a project involving a major client, the beswick company. although the organization has many clients, this client, and project, is the largest source of revenue and affects the work of several other teams in the organization. the project requires continuous involvement with the client, so any problems with the client are immediately felt by others in the organization. jamie, a member of your team, is the only person in the company with whom this client is willing to deal. it can be said that jamie has:

Jennifer purchased a house in a brand new development in the outskirts of town. when her house was built, the nearest fire department was nearly 20 miles away. as her neighborhood developed, the density of the community called for a new fire department 1.5 miles away. what effect will the new fire station have on her homeowners insurance premium? a. a new fire department will be more demanding on local taxes. her annual premium will go up. b. the location of a fire department has no bearing on the value of her house. her annual premium will stay the same. c. the new fire department will reduce the risk of financial loss in her home. her annual premium should decrease. d. with a fire department so close (less than 5 miles), financial risk on jennifer’s home practically disappears. she will not need to pay insurance anymore.

Richardson hired j.c. flood company, a plumbing contractor, to correct a stoppage in the sewer line of her house. the plumbing company's 'snake' device, used to clear the line leading to the main sewer, became caught in the underground line. to release it, the company excavated a portion of the sewer line in richardson's backyard. in the process, the company discovered numerous leaks in a rusty, defective water pipe that ran parallel with the sewer line. to meet public regulations, the water pipe, of a type no longer approved for such service, had to be replaced either then or later, when the yard would have to be excavated again. the plumbing company proceeded to repair the water pipe. though richardson inspected the company's work daily and did not express any objection to the extra work involved in replacing the water pipe, she refused to pay any part of the total bill after the company completed the entire operation. j.c. flood company then sued richardson for the costs of labor and material it had furnished. (c) for what, if anything, should richardson be liable? explain."