1. Materials management, also known as logistics, can contribute to the value chain by:

a. Leveraging qualified employees

b. positioning the company's products with increased utility so they are willing to pay a higher price.

c. lowering the cost of procurement, production and distribution to create more profit.

d. incentivizing employees to be more productive through a profit-sharing compensation program.

2. Candace is the research and development manager at a pharmaceutical company. The firm is in the process of developing a new heart medication that could be more effective than existing treatments for several heart conditions. To ensure the company's profitability after the new medication is cleared by the FDA by protecting this identified valuable resource, Candace should:

a. work with the sales and marketing team to include all of the medication's chemical components in the sales literature.

b. recruit additional research and development team members from a competitor's lab to attempt to imitate their heart medication research.

c. supervise the filing of appropriate patent paperwork for the new medication to protect the company's intellectual property.

d. fire all of the researchers who have been working on the new heart medication research.

3. Compare the identified resources for each of the following four companies. Which company's resource could be considered valuable, rare, inimitable and organized?

a. Nike's swoosh logo

b. Coca Cola's aluminum can

c. Delta Airlines' flights to and from Chicago O'Hare Airport

d. Charles Schwab's online trading software