You have your choice of two investment accounts. Investment A is a five-year annuity that features end-of-month $2,500 payments and has an interest rate of 11.5 percent compounded monthly. Investment B is a 10.5 percent continuously compounded lump sum investment, also good for five years. How much would you need to invest in B today for it to be worth as much as investment A five years from now

Google started as one of many internet search engines, amazon started as an online book seller, and ebay began as a site where people could sell used personal items in auctions. these firms have grown to be so large and dominant that they are facing antitrust scrutiny from competition regulators in the us and elsewhere. did these online giants grow by fairly beating competition, or did they use unfair advantages? are there any clouds on the horizon for these firms -- could they face diseconomies of scale or diseconomies of scope as they continue to grow? if so, what factors may limit their continued growth?

You are the manager of a large crude-oil refinery. as part of the refining process, a certain heat exchanger (operated at high temperatures and with abrasive material flowing through it) must be replaced every year. the replacement and downtime cost in the first year is $165 comma 000. this cost is expected to increase due to inflation at a rate of 7% per year for six years (i.e. until the eoy 7), at which time this particular heat exchanger will no longer be needed. if the company's cost of capital is 15% per year, how much could you afford to spend for a higher quality heat exchanger so that these annual replacement and downtime costs could be eliminated?

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.