1. A certain marble quarry provides a unique type of marble that is richly colored and strikingly veined. It has been used for churches and public buildings throughout the world. The architect of a new headquarters for a prestigious Fortune 500 firm has specified the use of this marble, and this marble only, for this project. Which of the following statements is most likely to be true?
a. The cost of the marble will be expensive because of the bargaining power of the supplier.
b. The cost of the marble will be moderate because of the bargaining power of the buyer.
c. The cost of the marble will be moderate because of economies of scale.
d. The cost of the marble will be expensive because of the high strategic stakes involved.
2. Outsourcing is the:
a. spinning off of a value-creating activity to create a new firm.
b. selling of a value-creating activity to other firms.
c. purchase of a value-creating activity from an external supplier.
d. use of computers to obtain value-creating data from the Internet.