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

Panera bread is a chain of cafes serving sandwiches, soups, and freshly baked breads. the company began in 1981 with stores primarily located along the east coast of the united states. since then, the firm has expanded to over 1,300 locations throughout the united states and canada. the firm has strong earnings and has been designated by business week as a "significant growth company." panera bread executives are considering the idea of expanding globally by opening cafes in asia through a franchising strategy. which of the following, if true, supports the argument that panera bread should expand into asia through franchising? a: the panera bread menu changes rapidly, and each cafe's artisan bread bakers receive regular training on new recipes. b: panera bread executives want fast access to the asian market without a significant investment of capital. c: panera bread executives want to test the asian market with a short-term commitment that allows them to make quick profits. d: the panera bread mission is to make excellent bread available to customers around the world.

You are the manager of the packaging department in a cookie factory. (obviously, the packaging employees cannot eat the cookies that are transferred in during the period.) after your employees insert cookies into colorful packages (step 1) for display on store shelves, the packages of cookies are then boxed using cardboard cartons (step 2) for shipment to stores. each unit of product is represented by a carton of packaged cookies. the packaging department began the period with 1,000 units of cookies. during the period, 5,000 units of cookies were transferred in from the baking department and 5,500 units of cookies were transferred out to the finished goods department. the number of units of cookies in the ending inventory of the packaging department equals:

On january 1, 2017, pharoah company issued 10-year, $2,020,000 face value, 6% bonds, at par. each $1,000 bond is convertible into 16 shares of pharoah common stock. pharoah’s net income in 2017 was $317,000, and its tax rate was 40%. the company had 97,000 shares of common stock outstanding throughout 2017. none of the bonds were converted in 2017. (a) compute diluted earnings per share for 2017. (round answer to 2 decimal places, e.g. $2.55.) diluted earnings per share