Help me answer 2.8 and 2.9 please.

taxable income. Problems 2.8-2.12 rolate to Strategic Planning. Core Competencies, and Outsourcing .. 2.8 Claudia Pragram Technologies, Inc., has narrowed its choice of outsourcing provider to two firms located in dif- ferent countries. Pragram wants to decide which one of the two countries is the better choice, based on risk-avoidance criteria. She has polled her executives and established four crite- ria. The resulting ratings for the two countries are presented in the table below, where 1 is a lower risk and 3 is a higher risk. ENGLAND CANADA 3 2 SELECTION CRITERION Price of service from outsourcer Nearness of facilities to client Level of technology History of successful outsourcing 3 1 1 3 1 2 2.9 The executives have determined four criteria weightings: Price, with a weight of 0.1; Nearness, with 0.6; Technology, with 0.2; and History, with 0.1. a) Using the factor-rating method, which country would you select? b) Double each of the weights used in part (a) (to 0.2, 1.2, 0.4, and 0.2, respectively). What effect does this have on your answer? Why? Px Ranga Ramascsh is the operations manager for a firm that is trying to decide which one of four countries it should research for possible outsourcing providers. The first step is to select a country based on cultural risk factors, which are criti- cal to eventual business success with the provider. Ranga has reviewed outsourcing provider directories and found that the four countries in the table that follows have an ample number of providers from which they can choose. To aid in the country selection step, he has enlisted the aid of a cultural expert, John Wang, who has provided ratings of the various criteria in the table. The resulting ratings are on a 1 to 10 scale, where I is a low risk and 10 is a high risk. John has also determined six criteria weightings: Trust, with a weight of 0.4; Quality, with 0.2; Religious, with 0.1; Individualism, with 0.1; Time, with 0.1; and Uncertainty, with 0.1. Using the factor-rating method, which country should Ranga select? PX