$1.$ What recent changes have caused supply chain management to gain importance?

$2.$ Describe the differences between functional and innovative products.

$3.$ What are characteristics of efficient, responsive, risk$-$hedging, and agile supply chains? Can a supply chain be both efficient and responsive? Risk hedging and agile? Why or why not?

$4.$ With so much productive capacity and room for expansion in the United States, why would a company based in the United States choose to purchase items from a foreign firm? Discuss the pros and cons.

$5.$ As a supplier, which factors about a buyer $($your potential customer$)$ would you consider to be important in setting up a long$-$term relationship?

$6.$ Describe how outsourcing works. Why would a firm want to outsource?

$7.$ Have you ever purchased a product based on purchase price alone and were surprised by the eventual total cost of ownership $($TCO$),$ either in money or in time? Describe the situation.

$8.$ Why might managers resist buying a more expensive piece of equipment known to have a lower TCO than a less expensive item?

$9.$ Why is it desirable to increase a company$$s inventory turnover ratio?

$10.$ Research and compare the inventory turnover ratios of three large retailers: Walmart, Target, and Nordstrom. Use the same financial website for all three, and compare numbers from the same time frame. What do these ratios tell you? Are you surprised by what you found?