Marek, a manager for a computer assembly department, has toured the assembly floor where employees are performing specialized tasks and noticed that employees seem to be bored and dissatisfied with their work. to promote satisfaction and retain employees' interest in their jobs, marek may do any of the following except
a) transfer everyone out of the department.
b) start job rotation.
c) institute job enlargement.
d) cross-train employees.

while setting up his new office, an attorney ordered thick, frieze carpets for the floor. however, the building inspector had him remove the expensive carpeting. the building inspector stated that according to federal regulations, the office must be wheelchair accessible as it is a public area. he further explained that since wheelchairs do not maneuver well in thick, frieze carpeting, the carpets had to be removed and be replaced with smooth-textured carpets that do not restrict wheelchair maneuverability. this scenario illustrates how a company is influenced by the component of its specific environment.

Acompany that makes shopping carts for supermarkets and other stores recently purchased some new equipment that reduces the labor content of the jobs needed to produce the shopping carts. prior to buying the new equipment, the company used 6 workers, who produced an average of 79 carts per hour. workers receive $16 per hour, and machine coast was $49 per hour. with the new equipment, it was possible to transfer one of the workers to another department, and equipment cost increased by $11 per hour while output increased by four carts per hour. a) compute the multifactor productivity (mfp) (labor plus equipment) under the prior to buying the new equipment. the mfp (carts/$) = (round to 4 decimal places). b) compute the productivity changes between the prior to and after buying the new equipment. the productivity growth = % (round to 2 decimal places)

Apopular low-cost airline, parson corp., has gone out of business. although the service and price provided by the airline was what customers wanted, the larger airlines were able to drive the low-cost airline out of business through an aggressive price war. which component of the competitive environment does this illustrate? a) threat of new entrants b)competitors c) economic factors d) customers d) regulators