Operating Leverage: John Diaz is the president of Pacific Refrigeration. The company has 2,000 employees and manufactures and sells a variety of refrigeration units for commercial use. Recently, the company experienced large losses due to a downturn in the econ- omy and a subsequent decline in sales. John thinks the losses were particularly large because his company has too many fixed costs.

a. Expand on Johns thought. How are the large losses related to fixed costs?