Nantucket marine supply is a wholesaler for a large variety of boating and fishing equipment. the company’s controller, alan denney, has recently completed a cost study of the firm’s material-handling department. the activity measure (independent variable) used in the study was hundreds of pounds of equipment loaded or unloaded at the company’s loading dock. denney compiled the following data.

units of activity
month (hundreds of pounds of
equipment loaded or unloaded) material-handling
department costs
january 1,800 $ 11,700
february 1,600 11,300
march 1,300 11,250
april 1,000 10,200
may 2,200 11,100
june 2,400 12,550
july 2,000 12,000
august 1,800 11,400
september 2,600 12,120
october 1,100 11,050
november 1,200 11,350
december 1,400 11,350

required:
5.
estimate the material-handling department’s cost behavior using the high-low method. use an equation to express the results of this estimation method. (round coefficient of x to 2 decimal places.)

Long-distance providers are becoming increasingly concerned about certain activities within their industry. various companies come together voluntarily to implement new standards of social responsibility that members must abide by. what seems to be the primary motivation in this case for an increased interest in social responsibility? - because corporations are creations of society, they are responsible for giving back to the communities in which they operate.- these companies have realized it is in their best interest to increase their social responsibility before they are once again subject to stricter regulations.- these companies are using social responsibility as a means to increase their profitability, both short term and long term.- long-distance providers have started taking pride in their industry and its record for social responsibility.- they feel a responsibility to their stockholders, employees, the government, investors, and society as a whole.

Aprice ceiling is “binding” if the price ceiling is set below the equilibrium price. suppose that the equilibrium price is $5. if a price ceiling is set at $6, this will not affect the market in any way since $5 remains a legally allowable price (since $5 < $6). a price ceiling of $6 is called a “non-binding” price ceiling. on the other hand, if the price ceiling is set at $4, the price ceiling is “binding” because the natural equilibrium price is $5 but that is no longer allowed. what happens when there is a binding price ceiling? at a price below the equilibrium price, quantity demanded exceeds quantity supplied. there is a shortage. normally, price increases eliminate shortages by increasing quantity supplied and decreasing quantity demanded. in this case, however, price increases are not allowed past the price ceiling. we therefore predict that the observed market price will be right at the price ceiling and there will be a permanent shortage. the observed quantity bought and sold will be dictated by the quantity supplied at the price ceiling. although consumers would like to buy more, there are no more units for sale

Why should managers invest any excess cash