Although centralization and decentralization are commonly discussed in the context of business organizations and distinct, often “far-flung” subunits, the concepts are also applicable within a single building! Consider that, in the 1970s, most hospitals began shifting from centralized nursing stations to decentralized stations that were close to patients’ rooms. This trend was thought to make it easier for nurses to attend to patients and to maintain their charts. a. Why did the shift from centralized stations to decentralized stations take place? b. What problems could be created by the decentralized nurse stations that did not exist when centralized stations were more common?
> What is a scarce resource? Why is an organization’s most scarce resource likely to change from time to time?
> Compute the answers to each of the following independent situations. a. Orlando Ray sells liquid and spray mouthwash in a sales mix of 1:2, respectively. The liquid mouthwash has a contribution margin of $10 per unit; the spray’s CM is $5 per unit. Annua
> What is outsourcing? Why is the practice heatedly debated in the United States?
> What are opportunity costs and why are they often the most difficult costs to analyze in decision making?
> How does the passage of time affect the set of costs that is relevant to a decision?
> What is segment margin? How is segment margin used in the quantitative analysis of a decision to drop or keep a product line?
> What is a special order decision? Under what circumstances would a company refuse to accept a special order?
> Define and explain the relationship between margin of safety and degree of operating leverage.
> A multiproduct company has a sales mix of nine widgees to three squigees. Widgees have a contribution margin ratio of 45 percent, and squigees have a contribution margin ratio of 80 percent. If the sales mix changes to six widgees to six squigees, will t
> How is the “bag” assumption used in CVP analysis for a multiproduct firm? What additional assumption must be made in multiproduct CVP analysis that doesn’t pertain to a single-product CVP situation?
> Why is CVP analysis generally used as a short-run tool? Would CVP ever be appropriate as a long-run model?
> What is the contribution margin ratio? How is it used to calculate the break-even point?
> A friend of yours, attending another university, states she learned that CVP is a short-run-oriented model and is, therefore, of limited usefulness. Your professor, however, has often discussed CVP in presentations about long-run planning to your cost ac
> How is “break-even point” defined? What are the differences among the formula, graph, and income statement approaches for computing breakeven?
> What information provided by a variable costing income statement is used in computing the break-even point? Is this information on an absorption costing income statement? Explain your answer.
> How is the accounting rate of return computed? How does this rate differ from the discount rate and the internal rate of return? Appendix 2: Accounting Rate of Return The accounting rate of return (ARR) measures the rate of earnings obtained on the aver
> Wayne Coyle, the controller of PEI Potato Co., is disillusioned with the company’s system of evaluating the performance of divisional profit centers and their managers. The present system focuses on a comparison of budgeted to actual income from operatio
> Many domestic companies have chosen to “offshore” their production operations to countries with lower wage rates. Some of the countries being used have been accused of allowing sweatshops, child labor, and polluting conditions that would not be allowed d
> Assume you are the newly appointed CFO of an international engineering services firm. As one of your first assignments you need to appoint a new controller for the branch of your firm located in Buenos Aires. You have identified an assistant controller i
> Family Fun Vehicle Co. (FFV), a subsidiary of Drummondville Automotive, manufactures go-carts and other recreational vehicles. Family recreational centers that feature go-cart tracks, miniature golf, batting cages, paint ball wars, and arcade games have
> Anthem Manufacturing has just initiated a formula bonus plan that rewards plant managers for various achievements. One of the current criteria for bonuses is the improvement of asset turnover. The plant manager of the Eastern Plant asked Sam Jensen, his
> A recent survey of U.S. chief financial officers provides compelling evidence that managers are willing to take extraordinary measures to achieve financial earnings targets. For example, the survey found 26 percent were willing to sacrifice some long-ter
> San Francisco Sea Salt’s controller prepared the following cash flow statements (in thousands of dollars) for the past two years, the current year (2010), and the upcoming year (2011): After preparation of the budgeted cash flow statem
> A group of prospective investors has asked for your help in understanding the comparative advantages and disadvantages of starting a company that is either labor intensive or, in contrast, one that uses significant cutting-edge technology and is therefor
> In 2010, the lead story in your college newspaper reports the details of the hiring of the current football coach. The previous football coach was fired for failing to win games and attract fans. In his last season, his record was 1 win and 11 losses. Th
> Relative to worker compensation, no topic is more hotly debated than the minimum wage law. Using concepts from this chapter, prepare a report in which you explain why increases in the minimum wage are not desirable and how alternative mechanisms could be
> In September 2010, Lyon Precision Corporation (LPC) decided to launch an expansion plan for some product lines. To finance this expansion, the firm has decided to issue $400,000,000 of new common stock in November 2010. Historically, the firm’s innovativ
> Chesterville Manufacturing makes a variety of glass products having both commercial and household applications. One of its newest divisions, ColOptics, manufactures fiber optic cable and other high-tech products. Recent annual operating results (in milli
> For each of the following items, indicate two performance measurements that could be obtained from a cost management system. Classify each item into one of the four balanced scorecard perspectives. a. Quality b. Cost c. Production line flexibility d. Peo
> Terry Travers is the manufacturing supervisor of the Aurora Manufacturing Company, which produces a variety of plastic products. Some of these products are standard items that are listed in the company’s catalog, whereas others are made to customer speci
> The Mergers & Acquisitions Division (M&A) of Global Financial Services is evaluated by corporate management based on a comparison of budgeted and actual pre-tax income. For 2010, M&A’s budgeted income statement was as follows: Sales ……………………………………………$ 36
> Cardiff Sports sells footballs and shoulder pads. For 2010, company management budgeted the following: At the end of 2010, management was told that actual sales of footballs were 21,000 units and the sales price variance was $63,000 unfavorable. Sales o
> Many companies provide on-site child care facilities for employees’ children. In some situations, this service is provided free of charge; in other situations, employees are charged, usually on a sliding scale basis relative to pay, for such services. a.
> Organizational spending on outsourced contact centers (previously referred to as call centers) continues to increase. Contact centers are critical to organizational success because these units often have primary responsibility for interactions with custo
> Tennessee Tonic makes a high-energy protein drink. The selling price per gallon is $7.20, and variable cost of production is $4.32. Total fixed cost per year is $316,600. The company is currently selling 125,000 gallons per year. a. What is the margin of
> The accounting department at Kerrville College has decided to offer a three-day ethics workshop for local CPAs in March 2010. Rose Morris, a tenured professor, will supervise the seminar’s planning process and has submitted the followin
> Swimmingly Corp. buys raw fish, cooks and processes it, and then cans it in single-portion containers. The canned fish is sold to several wholesalers, who specialize in providing food to school lunch programs in the northwest United States and western Ca
> To respond to increased competition and a reduction in profitability, the nationwide law firm of O’Brien New & Cave recently instituted a responsibility accounting system. One of the several responsibility centers established was th
> Hippolito Inc. manufactures industrial tools and has annual sales of approximately $3.5 million with no evidence of cyclical demand. R&D is very important to Hippolito because its market share expands only in response to product innovation. The compa
> APAs are determined in advance of the time in which they are used. Discuss problems that may be generated in a recessionary business climate for companies that have preapproved APAs.
> Des Moines Industries consists of eight divisions that are evaluated as profit centers. All transfers between divisions are made at market price. I-O-WoW, a division of Des Moines, sells approximately 20 percent of its output externally. The remaining 80
> Rowling Inc. is a decentralized company, and each investment center has its own sales force and production facilities. Top management uses return on investment (income divided by assets) for performance evaluation. Potter Division has just been awarded a
> Eekaydo Inc. is organized on a divisional basis with considerable vertical integration. Mary Sue Oehlke is the new controller of the CarryOn! Division of Eekaydo. CarryOn! Division makes a variety of leather products, including a portfolio. Product sales
> Tobias & Barfield LLC has three revenue departments: litigation (Lit.), family practice (FP), and legal consulting (LC). In addition, the company has two support departments, administration and EDP. Administration costs are allocated to the three rev
> The president of Charlottetown Inc. has given the managers of the company’s three decentralized divisions (O’Leary, Alberton, and Summerside) the authority to decide whether to sell externally or internally at a transfer price the division managers deter
> Racine Tire Co. manufactures tires for all-terrain vehicles. The tires sell for $60 and variable cost per tire is $30; monthly fixed cost is $450,000. a. What is the break-even point in units and sales dollars? b. If Ronnie Rice, the company’s CEO, wants
> Because of a monumental error committed by its purchasing department, Corner Grocery ordered 5,000 heads of lettuce rather than the 1,000 that should have been ordered. The company paid $0.65 per head for the lettuce. Although management is confident tha
> Cookie Delight Company has two divisions: Plain Cookies and Decorated Cookies. Lars Linden is the manager of Plain Cookies Division and Theresa Davis is the manager of Decorated Cookies Division. Company president Marie Strauss wants to develop a transfe
> Worldly Traveler’s Roll-Em-On Division makes computer bags. The bags are sold to another internal division, SkyWheels, for inclusion in a luggage set and to external buyers. During the month just ended, SkyWheels acquired 4,000 bags from the Roll-Em-On D
> Ludmilla Corp. has two divisions: Engine and Mobile Systems. The Engine Division produces engines used by both the Mobile Systems Division and a variety of external industrial customers. External sales orders are generally produced in 50-unit lots. Using
> In each of the following cases, the Speaker Division can sell all of its production of audio speakers externally or some internally to the Sound System Division and the remainder to outside customers. The Speaker Division’s production c
> Kensington Corporation is a diversified manufacturing company with corporate headquarters in Easton, Massachusetts. The three operating divisions are Kennedy Division, Consumer Products Division, and Outerspace Products Division. Much of Kennedy Division
> Management at C. Pier Press has decided to allocate costs of the paper’s two support departments (administration and human resources) to the two revenue-generating departments (advertising and circulation). Administration costs are to b
> Leyh Management Co. classifies its operations into three departments: commercial sales, residential sales, and property management. The owner, Ellen Leyh, wants to know the full cost of operating each department. Direct departmental costs and several all
> Management of Shreveport Community Hospital has decided to allocate the budgeted costs of its three support departments (administration, public relations, and maintenance) to its three operating programs (surgery, in-patient care, and out-patient service
> Folsom Fashions sells a line of women’s dresses. Folsom’s performance report for November 2010 is shown below. The company uses a flexible budget to analyze its performance and measure the effect on operating income of
> Sid Simon wants to cash in on the increased demand for ethanol. Accordingly he purchased a corn farm in Iowa. Simon believes his corn crop can be sold to an ethanol plant for $4.80 per bushel. Variable cost associated with growing and selling a bushel of
> Kessla Taub manages the marketing department at Electronic Village. Company management has been concerned about the sales of three products and has informed Taub that, regardless of other sales, her performance in 2010 will be evaluated on whether she ha
> A large U.S. corporation participates in a highly competitive industry. Company management has decided that decentralization will best allow the company to meet the competition and achieve profit goals. Each responsibility center manager is evaluated on
> Laura Thompson, newly appointed controller of Allied Networking Services Inc. (ANSI), a rapidly growing company, has just been asked to serve as lead facilitator of a team charged with designing a cost management system (CMS) at ANSI. Also serving on the
> In August 2007, Heelys, a Texas-based maker of wheeled shoes, reported quarterly profits that beat the street estimates by three cents per share. Upon receiving the news, the market price of Heelys dropped 48 percent. Why? Although the profit reported fo
> After graduating last year from an Ivy League university, Joe Tyler was hired as a stock analyst. Wanting to make his mark on the industry, Tyler issued a scathing report on a major discount department store retailer, Smart-Mart. The basis of his attack
> Ohio Steel produces steel products for a variety of customers. One division of the company is the Garage Door Division, created in the late 1940s. Since that time, this division’s principal products have been galvanized steel components used in garage do
> Companies sometimes experience difficult financial times —often so drastic that bankruptcy is declared. If a firm does not invest sufficient resources in its growth, then at some point it will experience diminishing revenues as its product revenues decli
> In 1993, Procter & Gamble (P&G) management tried to control costs by eliminating many of its brands’ coupons while increasing print advertising. Only a miniscule portion of the hundreds of billions of coupons distributed annually by P&G were ever redeeme
> You are the product manager at a silicone chip manufacturer. One of your products is a commodity chip that the electronics industry widely uses in cell phones, printers, digital cameras, and computers. As product manager, you have full profit responsibil
> New England Bottling was founded in the late 1800s and was owned by the same family until 1960 when the firm went public. Throughout its life as a public firm, the company has been continuously profitable and recorded slow, but steady, growth. Historical
> Mean Machine makes three types of electric scooters. The company’s total fixed cost is $1,080,000,000. Selling prices, variable cost, and sales percentages for each type of scooter follow: a. What is Mean Machine’s br
> Through its three sets of elements (motivational, informational, and reporting), a CMS focuses the attention of a given decision maker on the data and information that are crucial to that decision maker’s responsibilities in the organization. However, th
> The value of an oil and gas company is tied to two fundamental facts. The first is the amount of oil and gas the company is presently producing. This amount, along with unit prices, determines the revenue and cash inflow that the company generates. The s
> In many organizations, the operating budget is the primary control tool. The use of a budget to control activities is more appropriate in some circumstances than in others, and always a key criterion in evaluating the efficacy of a control is whether tha
> GetAhead provides personal training services for, and sells apparel products to, its clients. GetAhead also generates a limited amount of revenue from the sale of protein drinks. The net realizable value from drink sales is accounted for as a reduction i
> Fredericksburg Vegetable is a fruit packing business. The firm buys peaches by the truckload in season and separates them into three categories: premium, good, and fair. Premium peaches can be sold as is to supermarket chains and to specialty gift stor
> Refer to the information in Problem 4. a. Calculate the sales price per gallon for skim milk and cream. b. Using relative sales value, allocate the joint cost to the joint production. c. Calculate ending Finished Goods Inventory cost, Cost of Goods Sold,
> Refer to the information in Problem 3. a. Assume the net realizable values of the joint products are as follows: Soybean oil ……………………………………….$0.50 per pound Soybean meal ……………………………………$0.20 per pound Allocate the joint cost incurred in March on the bas
> Powisett Farms Dairy began operations at the start of May 2010. Powisett Farms operates a fleet of trucks to gather whole milk from local farmers. The whole milk is then separated into two joint products: skim milk and cream. Both products are sold at th
> Illinois Soybeans operates a processing plant in which soybeans are crushed to create soybean oil and soybean meal. The company purchases soybeans by the bushel (60 pounds). From each bushel, the normal yield is 11 pounds of soybean oil, 44 pounds of soy
> Throughout your college career, you have been employed on a part-time basis by the Center for Entrepreneurship of your business college. The Center for Entrepreneurship provides executive training and consulting for a fee to individuals and organizations
> Mel’s Male Accessories sells wallets and money clips. Historically, the firm’s sales have averaged three wallets for every money clip. Each wallet has an $8 contribution margin, and each money clip has a $6 contribution margin. Mel’s incurs fixed cost in
> Natural Beauty Corp. uses a joint process to make two main products: Forever perfume and Fantasy lotion. Production is organized in two sequential departments: Combining and Heating. The products do not become separate until they have been through the he
> Read Joseph McCafferty’s article entitled “Misgivings” in CFO.com ( January 2007); http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/8477078/c_8483311?f5singlepage&x51(lastaccessed 5/28/09). a. Discuss your thoughts about not-for-profits claiming to raise funds without inc
> Debra’s Diabetes Foundation was started by a family whose mother had died after suffering for many years with diabetes. A lecture that cost the foundation $360,000 was held on the fourth Tuesday in March, which is American Diabetes Alert Day. Advertiseme
> Choose a fairly common product that you believe would generate multiple by-products. a. Without doing any research, prepare a list of some items that you believe would be by-products from that product. b. After you have completed your list, use the Web t
> Choose a fairly common product that you believe would generate multiple by-products. a. Without doing any research, prepare a list of some items that you believe would be by-products from that product. b. After you have completed your list, use the Web
> Some waste, scrap, and by-product materials have little value. In fact, for many meat and poultry producers, animal waste represents a significant liability because it is considered hazardous and requires significant disposal costs. Some companies, such
> Buchan’s Junction Manufacturing Corporation uses a joint production process that produces three products at the split-off point. Joint production costs during March were $720,000. The company uses the sales-value method for allocating j
> DD’s Linens produces terrycloth products for hotels. The company buys fabric in 60-inch-wide bolts. In the first process, the fabric is set up, cut, and separated into pieces. Setup can be for either robes and beach towels, or bath towe
> During March 2010, the first month of operations, Oink Oink’s Pork Co. had the operating statistics shown in the following table. Costs of the joint process were direct material, $40,000; direct labor, $23,400; and overhead, $10,000. T
> Arguillo Inc. is a 5,000- acre farm that produces two products: Zilla and Corma. Zilla sells for $3.50 per bushel (assume that a bushel weighs 60 pounds). Without further processing, Corma sells for $30 per ton (a ton equals 2,000 pounds). If the Corma i
> Following are abbreviated income statements for two companies, Ainsley and Bard: Ainsley and Bard produce an identical product and both sell that product at $40. Both companies are searching for ways to increase operating income. Managers of both compan
> Tangy Fresh produces orange juice and orange marmalade from a joint process. Second-stage processing of the marmalade creates an orange pulp by-product that can be sold for $0.05 per gallon. Expenses to distribute pulp total $90. In May 2010, 140,000 pou
> Garrity Manufacturing has assembled the data appearing below pertaining to two products. Past experience has shown that the unavoidable fixed factory overhead included in the cost per machine hour averages $10. Direct labor is paid $18 per hour. Garrity
> Riedel Motors uses ten units of Part No. T305 each month in the production of large diesel engines. The cost to manufacture one unit of T305 is presented below: Direct material …………………………………………………………………...$ 2,000 Material handling (20% of direct material
> The officers of Bardwell Company are reviewing the profitability of the company’s four products and the potential effects of several proposals for varying the product mix. The following is an excerpt from the income statement and other
> Structural Steel Systems manufactures steel buildings for agricultural and home applications. Currently, managers are trying to decide between two alternatives regarding a major overhead door assembly for the company’s buildings. The alternatives are as
> Louisiana Luggage Components manufactures handles for suitcases and other luggage. Attaching each handle to the luggage requires, depending on the size of the luggage piece, between two and six standard fasteners, which the company has historically produ
> Tate Electronics manufactures computers and all required components. Its purchasing agent informed the company owner, Mervin Tate, that another the company had offered to supply keyboards for Tate computers at prices below the variable costs at which Tat
> Missouri River Energy Company provides electrical services to several rural counties in Nebraska and South Dakota. Its efficiency has been greatly affected by changes in technology. The company is currently considering the replacement of its main steam t
> Arizona Mechanical recently created a new product, a computer-controlled, laser-precise lathe, and Ohio Ornamental Metals is considering purchasing one. Ohio’s CFO received the following information from the accounting department regarding the company’s
> Louisville Jar Co. has processing plants in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Both plants use recycled glass to produce jars that a variety of food processors use in food canning. The jars sell for $10 per hundred units. Budgeted revenues and costs for the year
