Performance objective: (a) Identify and describe two aspects of firms' credit policy. (b) Identify one difference in the credit policies of different firms and explain why this difference may be important to consumers. (c) Can a firm's credit policy hurt it? Explain. (d) Explain why many large firms (e.g., Sears and GM) have their own financial subsidiary. (e) Will sales by firms through the Internet shopping networks increase much, once a safe, well-functioning, standardized, easy-to-use system has been developed for credit purchases? Explain.