Suppose you are an economist working for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.

In each of the following cases you are given the task of determining whether the behavior warrants an antitrust investigation for possible illegal acts or is just an example of undesirable, but not illegal, tacit collusion. Explain your reasoning.

a. Two companies dominate the industry for industrial lasers. Several people sit on the boards of directors of both companies.

b. Three banks dominate the market for banking in a given state. Their profits have been going up recently as they add new fees for customer transactions. Advertising among the banks is fierce, and new branches are springing up in many locations.

c. The two oil companies that produce most of the petroleum for the western half of the United States have decided to forgo building their own pipelines and to share a common pipeline, the only means of transporting petroleum products to that market.

d. The two major companies that dominate the market for herbal supplements have each created a subsidiary that sells the same product as the parent company in large quantities but with a generic name.

e. The two largest credit card companies, Passport and OmniCard, have required all banks and retailers who accept their cards to agree to limit their use of rival credit cards.

“wonderful! not only did our salespeople do a good job in meeting the sales budget this year, but our production people did a good job in controlling costs as well,” said kim clark, president of martell company. “our $11,150 overall manufacturing cost variance is only 3% of the $1,536,000 standard cost of products made during the year. that’s well within the 3% parameter set by management for acceptable variances. it looks like everyone will be in line for a bonus this year.” the company produces and sells a single product. the standard cost card for the product follows: standard cost card—per unit direct materials, 4.00 feet at $4.00 per foot $ 16.00 direct labor, 1.1 direct labor-hours at $13 per direct labor-hour 14.30 variable overhead, 1.1 direct labor-hours at $2.40 per direct labor-hour 2.64 fixed overhead, 1.1 direct labor-hours at $6.50 per direct labor-hour 7.15 standard cost per unit $ 40.09the following additional information is available for the year just completed: a. the company manufactured 20,000 units of product during the year.b. a total of 77,000 feet of material was purchased during the year at a cost of $4.25 per foot. all of this material was used to manufacture the 20,000 units. there were no beginning or ending inventories for the year.c. the company worked 24,000 direct labor-hours during the year at a direct labor cost of $12.50 per hour.d. overhead is applied to products on the basis of standard direct labor-hours. data relating to manufacturing overhead costs follow: denominator activity level (direct labor-hours) 19,000 budgeted fixed overhead costs $ 123,500 actual variable overhead costs incurred $ 64,800 actual fixed overhead costs incurred $ 120,900required: 1. compute the materials price and quantity variances for the year. (round standard price and actual price to 2 decimal places. indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "f" for favorable, "u" for unfavorable, and "none" for no effect (i.e., zero 2. compute the labor rate and efficiency variances for the year. (round standard rate and actual rate to 2 decimal places. indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "f" for favorable, "u" for unfavorable, and "none" for no effect (i.e., zero 3. for manufacturing overhead compute: a. the variable overhead rate and efficiency variances for the year. (round standard rate and actual rate to 2 decimal places. indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "f" for favorable, "u" for unfavorable, and "none" for no effect (i.e., zero b. the fixed overhead budget and volume variances for the year. (indicate the effect of each variance by selecting "f" for favorable, "u" for unfavorable, and "none" for no effect (i.e., zero

This problem has been solved! see the answerchapter 19 problem #8. quality and financial control (connect, perform)part one: geometrica designs and builds domes and space frames for large buildings. while the company had developed quality standards over time to respond to different client problems and training needs, it lacked a unified quality system, and its global client base wanted assurance that geometrica met an established international standard for quality. which of the following was an appropriate step for this company to take? a) reform its accounting and financial reporting systems to comply with sarbanes-oxleyb) establish and document a quality management system to comply with iso 9000management at workyou are the new fleet manager at xpressship, a package delivery company. as your first project, your boss has asked that you to look into implementing an electronic monitoring system for the fleet of 2,000 trucks your company owns. a recent internal audit on maintenance and repair costs on the company’s vehicles revealed while maintenance was performed regularly on the trucks, mileage or use had not been taken into account. this resulted in approximately $20,000 of unneeded repairs. you know that telematics have been used by other companies with fleets of cars or trucks and it will allow your company to not only track mileage and use, but also part replacement needs, vehicle oil pressure, and drivers’ speed and real time location. tracking these items can reduce maintenance costs while improving efficiency. you find that a simple computer can be installed in each vehicle. when the drivers return at the end of the day, the telematics information from each vehicle will be uploaded to a master computer where a software program will generate a report with results on the variables you have selected.early one morning as you are getting a cup of coffee, a few drivers that have been with the company for many years approach you with some concerns. eldon, the most senior driver says, “i heard you’re installing some type of computer to track our driving. my buddy works over at parcel and post package delivery and he said they’ve got these computers, too. he said managers are writing people up and firing drivers for speeding or not wearing seat belts. are you going to do that to us, too? ”part two: as a manager, which of the following statements would be effective in maintaining a positive relationship with company drivers? check all that apply.a) at this time, xpressship will be using telematics to monitor maintenance and repair needs, not drivers’ motoring habitsb) although the company isn’t doing so now, when xpressship begins to monitor driver motoring habits, the company will encourage them to keep a separate daily log where they can document any unusual circumstancesc) while xpressship could monitor things like speed, location, and idle time, the company trusts their drivers and will not be using that data in disciplinary decisionsd) xpressship executives are happy with their technology and believe that implementation is ideal for your organization

Ummit record company is negotiating with two banks for a $157,000 loan. fidelity bank requires a compensating balance of 24 percent, discounts the loan, and wants to be paid back in four quarterly payments. southwest bank requires a compensating balance of 12 percent, does not discount the loan, but wants to be paid back in 12 monthly installments. the stated rate for both banks is 9 percent. compensating balances will be subtracted from the $157,000 in determining the available funds in part a. a-1. calculate the effective interest rate for fidelity bank and southwest bank. (do not round intermediate calculations. input your answers as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places.) a-2. which loan should summit accept? southwest bank fidelity bank b. recompute the effective cost of interest, assuming that summit ordinarily maintains $37,680 at each bank in deposits that will serve as compensating balances