Chemco International is a large firm that has operations in numerous countries and many product lines. However, the underlying manufacturing processes in the various factories have many factors in common.
Accordingly, Chemco has assembled a team of 25 chemical engineers and process specialists. Any division could call on this team for help with improving their process.
The team would then charge the division a predetermined amount. Chemco expects the central research facility to recover its costs but not make a profit.

Required:
a. Should Chemco evaluate the central research group as a cost or profit center? What benefits and problems do you see with this choice?
b. What would be a good way to evaluate the performance of the central research group?