A capacity cushion is the amount of inventory that a firm maintains to handle sudden increases in demand or temporary loss of production capacity

Which of the following strategies should manufacturers follow during the maturity stage of a

product's life cycle? A) In order to maintain efficient distribution and encourage channel participation, firms should offer uniform trade discounts across all distribution channels. B) Firms should differentiate their offerings from those of competitors and avoid "price wars" with competitors. C) The pricing objectives during the maturity stage of a product life cycle should be market skimming. D) During the maturity stage, the distributions strategy should move from being intensive(many channels) to selective (only a few channels).

The procurement cycle occurs at the

A) customer/retailer interface. B) retailer/distributor interface. C) distributor/manufacturer interface. D) manufacturer/supplier interface.