Afirm pursuing a best-cost provider strategy multiple choice seeks to offer more value-adding features than the industry’s low-cost providers and lower prices than those pursuing differentiation. tries to have the best cost (as compared to its rivals) for each activity in the industry's value chain. achieves competitive advantage because its operating activities are ""best-in-class"" or ""best-in-world."" follows a hybrid strategy based upon superior resources and a narrow market niche. seeks a ""middle of the road"" strategic approach that attempts to satisfy the product or service needs of consumers with average household incomes.

Fortress international, a large conglomerate, procures a few component parts from external suppliers and also manufactures some of the key raw materials in its own subsidiaries. aside from this, the company does not solely depend on outside distributors to reach its customers. in fact, it has its own retail stores to distribute its products. in this scenario, which of the following alternatives to vertical integration is fortress international applying? a. concentric integration b. taper integration c. horizontal integration d. conglomerate integration

1. revising for conciseness - eliminating flabby expressions,limiting long lead-ins, and dropping unnecessary fillerstime is money in any business environment. people want information communicated quickly and clearly. to make your writing more concise and understandable, avoid flabby expressions, long lead-ins, and unnecessary fillers. your audience will appreciate your brevity.1. if your writing contains a flabby expression like in view of the fact that, replace it with the word because / although / probably .for each of the following two sentences, choose the best revision.2. i am sending you this letter to inform you that we have experienced an unexpected surprise within our expense sheet, but we are positively certain we will solve it.1) we need to inform you that we have experienced an unexpected surprise with our expense sheet, but we are midway to an end result.2) we have identified a problem with our expense sheet, but we will solve it.3) i am sending you this letter to inform you that we have a problem with our expense sheet, but we are positively certain we have a solution.3. it is the user who should contact the center.1) everyone knows that it is the user who should contact the center.2) the user should contact the center.3) if there is a problem, the user should contact the center.read the following passage, and then answer the question.[1] you scheduled seven conference calls for this morning between 10 and 11 a.m. [2] generally, the company limits the number of conference calls to three per hour. [3] i’m letting you know that in the future, we should be more careful about scheduling.4. which revision limits the long lead-in in sentence 3? 1) in the future, we should be more careful about scheduling.2) i’m letting you know so that in the future we are more careful about scheduling calls.3) so that you know in the future, we should be more careful about scheduling.

Draw a flowchart for a process of interest to you, such as a quick oil-change service, a factory process you might have worked in, ordering a pizza, renting a car or truck, buying products on the internet, or applying for an automobile loan. identify the points where something (people, information) waits for service or is held in work-in-process inventory, the estimated time to accomplish each activity in the process, and the total flow time. evaluate how well the process worked and what might be done to improve it.