A. Determine the trade-offs of implementing an ERP system in the company versus buying best-of-breed software and using middleware to integrate.
b. What are the potential impacts of such an implementation on the company’s suppliers and customers?
c. If the company chose to stay with the system it currently has, what are some potential consequences that can occur in the future?
d. Based on the business nature of the company, the industry, and the current environment, what would you recommend doing?

Symantec corp., located in cupertino, california, is one of the world's largest producers of security and systems management software. the company's consolidated balance sheets for the 2009 and 2008 fiscal years included the following ($ in thousands): current assets: receivables, less allowances of $21,766 in 2009 and $24,089 in 2008 $ 838,010 $ 758,700 a disclosure note accompanying the financial statements reported the following ($ in thousands): year ended 2009 2008 (in thousands) trade accounts receivable, net: receivables $ 859,776 $ 782,789 less: allowance for doubtful accounts (8,938) (8,990) less: reserve for product returns (12,828) (15,099) trade accounts receivable, net: $ 838,010 $ 758,700 assume that the company reported bad debt expense in 2009 of $2,000 and had products returned for credit totaling $3,230 (sales price). net sales for 2009 were $6,174,800 (all numbers in thousands).required: what is the amount of accounts receivable due from customers at the end of 2009 and 2008? what amount of accounts receivable did symentec write off during 2009? what is the amount of symentec’s gross sales for the 2009 fiscal year? assuming that all sales are made on a credit basis, what is the amount of cash symentec collected from customers during the 2009 fiscal year?

In december of 2004, the company you own entered into a 20-year contract with a grain supplier for daily deliveries of grain to its hot dog bun manufacturing facility. the contract called for "10,000 pounds of grain" to be delivered to the facility at the price of $100,000 per day. until february 2017, the supplier provided processed grain which could easily be used in your manufacturing process. however, no longer wanting to absorb the cost of having the grain processed, the supplier began delivering whole grain. the supplier is arguing that the contract does not specify the type of grain that would be supplied and that it has not breached the contract. your company is arguing that the supplier has an onsite processing plant and processed grain was implicit to the terms of the contract. over the remaining term of the contract, reshipping and having the grain processed would cost your company approximately $10,000,000, opposed to a cost of around $1,000,000 to the supplier. after speaking with in-house counsel, it was estimated that litigation would cost the company several million dollars and last for years. weighing the costs of litigation, along with possible ambiguity in the contract, what are three options you could take to resolve the dispute? which would be the best option for your business and why?

The quinoa seed is in high demand in wealthier countries such as the u.s. and japan. approximately 97% of all quinoa production comes from small farmers in bolivia and peru who farm at high elevations—8,000 feet or higher. the seed is considered highly nutritious. mostly grown and harvested in bolivia and peru, and sold to markets in other countries, the seed is now considered an important for these nations. the governments of bolivia and peru are hopeful that this product will increase the quality of life of their farmers.