Looking at the Numbers -- Dickeson

Gross profit is a general ledger term that includes a deduction for manufacturing expenses. Are we quibbling about inconsequential differences? No, we're simply recognizing profound changes that are occurring in other industries and in the thinking of modern management students.

Remarkable, isn't it, that materials costs for the upper quartile (198) and lower three-quartile (587) companies are so nearly identical? Just a half percentile less for the upper 198. Does this mean that all 785 companies, on average, priced their services at 2.8 times the cost of materials? This appears to be the case.