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Should the City of Ravenna outsource its income tax department?

The City of Ravenna in Ohio has an income tax on its residents of 2%.  For many years, the City had its own income tax department with two employees who processed all of the tax returns from residents.  The annual cost of that income tax department was most recently estimated to be $173,000 (“Ravenna will […]

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What impact do lower fuel costs and other changes have on American Airline’s break even point?

American Airlines Group (AAL), the world’s biggest airline, has been reporting record profits in recent quarters.  United Continental Holdings and Southwest Airlines also reported record profits. Part of what has contributed to the record profits has been the decline in the cost of oil. The price of oil has fallen during 2014; we are spending […]

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How should the French grocer, Intermarché, set prices for ugly produce?

At least one third of fresh produce is discarded, according to estimates from the United Nations Environment Programme (see “Students from France, Mexico and United Kingdom Recognized for Taking up Fight against Food Waste,” United Nations Environment Programme, December 16, 2014, http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2814&ArticleID=11110&l=en .) Some of the produce is discarded because it is less than perfect […]

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How does the change in selling price impact the break even point for Amazon’s Fire Phone?

In July of 2014, Amazon came out with a smartphone, the Amazon Fire phone.  The phone sports 3-D visuals and is tightly integrated into the Amazon ecosystem.  For example, the Firefly feature can scan and recognize over 70 million products that the consumer is able to purchase or look up immediately from his or her […]

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How does the use of a robotic shopping assistant impact the breakeven point and operating leverage at Lowe’s?

Lowe’s, a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement stores, is introducing a robotic shopping assistant into its Orchard Supply Hardware store in San Jose, California.  The robot, called OSHbot, will greet customers and assist customers in finding products.  In addition, the robot has one large screen on the front and one on the back.  The […]

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Should the original cost of the planes for Afghanistan’s air force purchased by the U.S. Air Force influence its decision to scrap those planes?

The U.S. Air Force recently destroyed 16 transport planes (refurbished G222 planes) that it had purchased for $486 million in 2011.  These transport planes were to be used by Afghanistan’s air force but were abandoned due to persistent high maintenance costs.  An Afghanistan company paid $0.06 per pound for the scrap, or a total of […]

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How should the cost of national advertising by Whole Foods impact the performance report (and segment margin) for each store?

Whole Foods Market, Inc., is a supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas, with 381 stores in the US (it also has stores in the UK and Canada.)  Whole Foods specializes in natural and organic food and has annual sales of $13 billion. In October 2014, Whole Foods rolled out its first national advertising campaign in […]

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How does outfitting AMC movie theaters with recliners affect the company’s break even point and operating leverage?

  AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is spending millions of dollars to install recliner-seating in its theaters. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is outfitting about 1,800 of its nearly 3,000 auditoriums with recliners for a total cost of about $600 million. The recliners will remove up to two-thirds of the seating capacity in each theater, due to […]

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How does cost cutting at Best Buy impact its ROI?

Best Buy is struggling to thrive (and some would say it is even struggling to survive) as it competes with online giant Amazon.com. According to a recent article in Forbes, one way Best Buy is aiming to improve its financial outlook is to cut its cost of goods sold through supply chain efficiency gains. Questions […]

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How does automated technology in fast food restaurants change the cost structure, break even, and degree of operating leverage?

Change is rapidly occurring in the restaurant industry due to a combination of higher labor costs, increased technological capabilities, and other factors. Protesters across the world are calling for fast food restaurants to raise their wages, arguing that the current wages paid to workers are not enough to survive on. Various states and cities have […]

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