Beacon Incorporated Owns a Chain of Retail Stores

question 90

Essay

Beacon Incorporated owns a chain of retail stores. During December of 2009, a customer slipped in a doorway of its Virginia store and broke his ribs. He is suing Beacon for $200,000 for negligence. Beacon's legal counsel believes that it is remote that Beacon will lose its defense of the lawsuit because the doorway recently was rebuilt with all-weather traction stripping and a sign on the door warned customers that the doorway was slippery when icy. On December 30, 2009, before considering the effects of this lawsuit, Beacon's current assets, total assets, current liabilities, and total liabilities were $420,000, $840,000, $100,000, and $300,000, respectively. After this event is properly accounted for, calculate Beacon's debt/asset ratio on December 31, 2009.

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Definitions:

Positive Reinforcement

A process in behavior analysis that involves the introduction of a favorable stimulus following a desired behavior.

Shaping

A method in behavioral psychology where successive approximations of a target behavior are reinforced until the desired behavior is achieved.

Successive Approximations

A technique used in behaviorist psychology, involving the reinforcement of behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior.

Operant Conditioning

A method of behavior modification where the intensity of an action is influenced by positive or negative reinforcement.