Farmers pantry products inc. and market grocers llc dispute a term in their contract. if farmers pantry and market grocers have a long-standing business relationship that they would like to continue, they may prefer to settle their dispute through mediation because
1. the case will be heard by a jury.
2. the dispute will eventually go to trial.
3. the process is not adversarial.
4. the resolution of the dispute will be decided an expert.

Symantec corp., located in cupertino, california, is one of the world's largest producers of security and systems management software. the company's consolidated balance sheets for the 2009 and 2008 fiscal years included the following ($ in thousands): current assets: receivables, less allowances of $21,766 in 2009 and $24,089 in 2008 $ 838,010 $ 758,700 a disclosure note accompanying the financial statements reported the following ($ in thousands): year ended 2009 2008 (in thousands) trade accounts receivable, net: receivables $ 859,776 $ 782,789 less: allowance for doubtful accounts (8,938) (8,990) less: reserve for product returns (12,828) (15,099) trade accounts receivable, net: $ 838,010 $ 758,700 assume that the company reported bad debt expense in 2009 of $2,000 and had products returned for credit totaling $3,230 (sales price). net sales for 2009 were $6,174,800 (all numbers in thousands).required: what is the amount of accounts receivable due from customers at the end of 2009 and 2008? what amount of accounts receivable did symentec write off during 2009? what is the amount of symentec’s gross sales for the 2009 fiscal year? assuming that all sales are made on a credit basis, what is the amount of cash symentec collected from customers during the 2009 fiscal year?

Grant, inc., acquired 30% of south co.’s voting stock for $200,000 on january 2, year 1, and did not elect the fair value option. the price equaled the carrying amount and the fair value of the interest purchased in south’s net assets. grant’s 30% interest in south gave grant the ability to exercise significant influence over south’s operating and financial policies. during year 1, south earned $80,000 and paid dividends of $50,000. south reported earnings of $100,000 for the 6 months ended june 30, year 2, and $200,000 for the year ended december 31, year 2. on july 1, year 2, grant sold half of its stock in south for $150,000 cash. south paid dividends of $60,000 on october 1, year 2. before income taxes, what amount should grant include in its year 1 income statement as a result of the investment?

Consider two similar industries, portal crane manufacturing (pcm) and forklift manufacturing (flm). the pcm industry has exactly three incumbents with annual sales of $800 million, $200 million and $100 million, respectively. the flm industry has also exactly three incumbents, with annual sales of $500 million, $450 million and $400 million, respectively. which industry is more likely to experience a higher level of rivalry?