If a company's actual results for revenues, net profits, EPS, and ROE turn out to be worse than projected, then the reason is usually because the company stocked out of branded inventory in several regions and thus lost sales and revenues and because it priced its branded footwear too far below the prices charged by rivals in several regions. some or many of the competitive efforts of rival firms in one or more geographic regions turned out to be stronger than anticipated by company managers (based on the entries for the Competitive Assumptions on the Internet Marketing and Wholesale marketing decision screens in the four geographic regions). company managers opted to compensate production workers more generously than they should have o the company cleared out too much of its inventory of branded pairs that were unsold from the prior year. managers did not operate the company's production facilities as efficiently as they thought they were doing, underestimated the amount that needed to be spent on brand advertising in several geographic regions to be competitive, and failed to bid aggressively to win contracts to supply private-label footwear to chain retailers. If managers want to boost a company's credit rating, then they need to take actions that will result in o a decline in the company's interest coverage ratio and a decline in the company's dividend payout ratio (so as to boost the cash the company keeps in the retained earnings account on its balance sheet) an increase in the company's current ratio and an increase in the company's free cash flow. an increase in the company's year-end cash balance and a decrease in the company's default risk ratio. an increase in the company's interest coverage ratio, an increase in the company's ROE, and a decrease in the company's dividend payout ratio. a higher company's interest coverage ratio, a decline in the company's debt-to-assets ratio, and an increase in the company's default risk ratio, UUUbbuuu