decisions, especially about pricing. constrained by the need to customize its products and marketing and business strategies. Match the correct idea and action to each of the categories of expansion, profitability, or growth. Match each of the options above to the items below. Core competencies enable a firm to reduce the costs of value creation and/or to create perceived value in such a way that premium pricing is possible. The firm will benefit by basing each value creation activity it performs at that location where economic, political, and cultural conditions are most conducive. Managers must assess transportation costs, trade barriers, and political and economic risks to determine the best location for each value creation activity. Over time, labor learns the most efficient way to perform particular tasks by repetition. When a task is complex and involves more steps, there is more that can be learned, and each time a step is performed more efficiently, costs will be decreased. Economies of scale come from spreading fixed costs over larger volumes, servicing large markets, and working with global sources of supply. Mature multinational enterprises have been successful, but skills to lower costs of production and enhance perceived value may come from other lons. Managers must have a way to identify new and good ideas and skills and provide incentives to share and experiment with these ideas