Week 1 The Changing Role of Managerial Accounting in a Dynamic Business Environment
Topics
Decision Making
Capacity and Capacity Costs
Managerial Accounting and the Value Chain
Cost Management System
Ethical Climate of Business
UVI Online ACC 5100 Accounting – 3
Outcomes
Compute the flow of costs through manufacturing cycles and the determination of product (or service) cost.
Discuss the impact of flow of costs and product cost on decision making.
Use commonly used tools for performance evaluation (e.g., ROI, residual income).
Discuss the impact of performance evaluation on decision making.
Prepare and explain the flow of cash as relating to operating, investing, and financing activities, free cash flow, and the impact that it has on decision making.
Learning Resources
eBook: Managerial accounting: Creating value in a dynamic business environment. Chapter 1 The Changing Role of Managerial Accounting in a Dynamic Business Environment
Introduction – Text
Complete these Assignments
Discussion 1.1 Selection of the Firm for the Research Paper
Assignment 1.1 McGraw Hill Connect Week 1
DISCUSSION 1.1 IDENTIFICATION OF FIRM FOR RESEARCH PAPER 5.1
Review the requirements for the Research Paper 5.1.
Submit for approval the firm you wish to use for the research paper. Provide a brief explanation (up to 100 words) of why you selected this firm. Include the URL for the firm’s website.
You must receive instructor approval of the firm before proceeding with work on Research Paper 5.1. The firm choice needs to be made by Sunday of week 1.
Please review other students’ submissions as duplicate firms will not be accepted.
Full credit awarded for students who submit request for company that complies with the description above. -25% for each day past Sunday that the company is not submitted. If not approved by the end of week 1, students will receive a score of zero for this board.
Only the initial post is required for this discussion. You are welcome to comment on your classmates’ selection of the firm but this is not a requirement.
GRADING CRITERIA
Submission of non-duplicated firm with a brief explanation (100%)
ACC 5100 Accounting
Research Paper 5.1 (500 points)
In Week 5 you will submit a research paper. The research paper will be graded on both content and format and will represent 25% of the final course grade. The topic will be submitted in Week 1 and approved by your instructor in order to move forward with the research paper.
Topic
Prepare an 8-10 pages paper on the firm of your choice that is operating in the international business environment. The 8 – 10 pages requirement does not include appendices, title page, table of contents, abstract, references, and bibliography. The minimum is 8 full pages of written material. Any paper not at 8 full pages will earn a maximum percentage of 60%.
This paper should be prepared consistent with the current APA Manual and will have a minimum of ten different references (No Wiki’s or Pedia’s). Some of the bibliography and references will most likely come from the source documents, e.g., annual reports, and financial statements of the firm you have chosen. As such this reduces the need for peer reviewed sources. However, peer reviewed sources are still important and should be listed in the bibliography/reference section(s) and cited in the paper as appropriate. The paper must be in Times New Roman 12pt font. Graphs and charts that take up more than ¼ of a page should not be in the body of the paper and put as an appendix and referenced in the body of the paper. This paper is due the last day of Week 5.
Required Sections of Research Paper
Section I Introduction: This serves as an introduction to the Research Paper. Provide an overview of the research design of the paper. Introduce the various topics that will be addressed in the research paper. Identify the method(s) that will be used to collect the data for the topics and how that data will be evaluated.
Section II The Firm: There will be a brief discussion of the firm to include its principle goods and services, market share, geographic locations where it operates, and major competitors.
Section III Activity Based Costing: Evaluate and discuss whether the firm could benefit by using Activity Based Costing (ABC). The discussion should include what factor(s) influenced your decision, the ramifications of implementing ABC in the international business environment, and how you would structure the distribution of costs using ABC for your firm.
Section IV Standard Costs: Evaluate and discuss whether the firm could benefit by using standard costs. The discussion should include what factor(s) influenced your decision, the ramifications of costs, quantity, and variances, and the ramifications of using standard costs in the international business environment.
Section V Future Plans: Evaluate and discuss how the firm could benefit by analyzing future projects in terms relevant costs. This discussion should include the firm’s future plans, such as, expansion, consolidation, and downsizing and how relevant costs could be used in the decision making.
Section VI Summary and Conclusions: Summary and conclusion(s). The discussion should provide a brief summary of the previous sections, and the conclusions you have reached.
Grading Criteria
● Section I Introduction (10%)
● Section II The Firm (15%)
● Section III Activity Based Costing (15%)
● Section IV Standard Costs (15%)
● Section V Future Plans (15%)
● Section VI Summary and Conclusions (15%)
● APA style (10%)
● Language, Grammar, Spelling (5%)
● Length requirement (8 – 10 pages) (Less than 8 pages the grade will be reduced to 60% of earned grade)
Assignment 1.1 McGraw Hill Connect Week 1
question 1
Dave Nelson recently retired at age 48, courtesy of the numerous stock options he had been granted while president of WowzaShops, an Internet start-up company. He soon moved to Montana to follow his dream of living in the mountains. Nelson, always the entrepreneur, began a sporting-goods store shortly after relocating. The single store soon grew to a chain of four outlets throughout the sparsely populated state. As Nelson put it, “I can’t believe how fast we’ve expanded. It’s basically uncontrolled growth—growth that has occurred in spite of what we’ve done.”
Although business has been profitable, the chain did have its share of problems. Store traffic was somewhat seasonal, with a slowdown occurring as winter approached. Nelson therefore added ski equipment and accessories to his product line. The need to finance required inventories, which seemed to be bulging, left cash balances at very low levels, occasionally giving rise to short-term bank loans.
Part of Nelson’s operation focused on canoe building and white-water rafting trips. Reports from the company’s financial accounting system seemed to indicate that these operations were losing money because of increasing costs, although Nelson could not be sure. “The traditional income statement is not too useful in assessing the problem,” he noted. “Also, my gut feeling is that we are not dealing with the best suppliers in terms of quality of goods, delivery reliability, and prices.” Additional complications were caused by an increasingly competitive marketplace, with many former customers now buying merchandise and booking river excursions via the Internet, often through businesses that advertised heavily in outdoor magazines.
Nelson’s background is marketing, and he appeared somewhat puzzled on how to proceed. The company’s chief financial officer (CFO) would be an obvious asset in terms of addressing these problems. Unfortunately, she knew her numbers but lacked key knowledge of general business operations. The same could be said for other executives who managed somewhat in “silos,” becoming experts in a narrow facet of the company but, in general, lacking a big-picture outlook for the firm.
REQUIRED:
Explain how the CFO and managerial accounting could assist Nelson in addressing the company’s problems.
Would a cross-functional team be useful here? Briefly discuss.
Many resources in the sporting-goods company would present significant capacity issues. List three such resources and describe their capacity issues in light of the company’s operations.
Evaluate the following statement and provide an example as applied to Nelson’s business: “Data analytics is the opposite of ‘gut feeling.’”
question 2
Given the following information, what is the cost of unused capacity? Cost of material supplied is $9,100; Cost of material used is $8,800; Cost of material used per shelf is $8.8; Cost of material supplied per shelf is $9.10.
$300.
$3,000.
$0.30.
$10,000.
THERE IS NO UNUSED CAPACITY.
question 3
Give an example of managerial accounting information that could help a manager make each of the following decisions.
The president of Budget Rent a Car is deciding whether to add luxury cars to the rental car fleet.
The production manager in a Volvo Trucks plant is deciding whether to have routine maintenance performed on a machine weekly or biweekly.
The manager of a Target store is deciding how many security personnel to employ for the purpose of reducing shoplifting.
The Miami-Dade County board of representatives is deciding whether to build an addition onto one of the county libraries.
question 4
Use the Internet to access the website for one of the following companies, or any other company of your choosing.
Univisionwww.univision.com
Expedia.comwww.expedia.com
Holland America Linewww.hollandamerica.com
Levi Strauss & Companywww.levistrauss.com
Nokiawww.nokia.com
Regal Entertainment Groupwww.regmovies.com
REQUIRED:
After perusing the company’s website, work as a group to
List three key activities you believe would be in the company’s value chain.
List three potential applications of data analytics in the company to help develop insights about the company’s customers.
Question 5
Urban Elite Apparel designs women’s clothing and accessories and sells them through retail outlets across the country. All of the company’s clothing lines are manufactured by contract manufacturers around the world. A division manager is responsible for each of the company’s retail divisions. Each division’s controller, assigned by the corporate controller’s office, manages the division’s accounting system and provides analysis of financial information for the division manager. The division manager evaluates the performance of the division controller and makes recommendations for salary increases and promotions. However, the final responsibility for promotion evaluation and salary increases rests with the corporate controller.
Each of Urban Elite Apparel’s divisions is responsible for product design, sales, pricing, operating expenses, and profit. However, corporate management exercises tight control over divisional financial operations. For example, all spending on equipment above a modest amount must be approved by corporate management. The method of financial reporting from the division to corporate headquarters provides further evidence of the degree of financial control. The division manager and the division controller submit to corporate headquarters their separate and independent commentary on the financial results of the division. Corporate management states that the division controller is there to provide an independent view of the division’s operations, not as a spy.
REQUIRED:
Discuss the arrangements for line and staff reporting in Urban Elite Apparel.
The division manager for Urban Elite Apparel has a “dual reporting” responsibility. The controller is responsible both to the division manager, who makes recommendations on salary and promotion, and to the corporate controller, who has the final say in such matters.Identify and discuss the factors that make the division controller’s role difficult in this type of situation.
Discuss the effect of the dual reporting relationship on the motivation of the divisional controller.
question6
Given the following information, what is the total cost of unused capacity? Cost of material supplied is $3,950; Cost of material used is $3,500; Cost of material used per cake is $3.5; Cost of material supplied per cake is $3.95.
$0.45.
$450.
$4,500.
$2,250.
THERE IS NO UNUSED CAPACITY.
Question 7
Use the Internet to access the website for one of the following companies, or any other company of your choosing.
Delta Air Lineswww.delta.com
Pepsicowww.pepsico.com
Procter & Gamblewww.pg.com
Applewww.apple.com
Walmartwww.walmart.com
REQUIRED:
Find the management discussion and analysis portion of the firm’s most recent online annual report. Then briefly discuss how managerial accounting can contribute to the company’s financial goals.