Fundamentals Of Cost Accounting (6th Edition)
6th Edition
ISBN: 9781259969478
Author: WILLIAM LANEN, Shannon Anderson, Michael Maher
Publisher: McGraw Hill Education
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Videos
Textbook Question
Chapter 12, Problem 32E
Management
A Fortune 500 company that we shall call “Heavy” is a manufacturer of machinery and engines. This company is headquartered in a small city in the midwestern region of the United States. This company’s products have a well-respected brand name and receive a premium price in the market. The unionized work force is well paid and does quality work.
This company faces challenges from foreign companies that pay lower wages and have more modern and more efficient production equipment. Consequently, it is seeking ways to cut costs without reducing quality.
The company recently introduced a profit-sharing arrangement whereby workers receive a share of profits in profitable years. The workers gave up a wage increase to obtain this profit-sharing arrangement.
Required
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of giving the workers a profit-sharing bonus instead of a wage increase.
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution
Students have asked these similar questions
CASE STUDY
Cucumber Ltd is a company, based in Manchester UK and established in 2005, that produces smart phones. It is a relatively small company, with a highly skilled work force. Despite the global recession, the company is still profitable due to its excellent products and reputation for customer service
The company has six key departments – Marketing, Customer Support, Finance, Manufacturing, Research and Development, and HR.
The company Mission statement is to be “Recognised by customers and employees as a progressive, high quality, supplier of innovative mobile products at affordable prices”
Key financial targets
The CEO, Mr Armstrong, has recently had a formal strategy meeting with his fellow directors to confirm the Mission Statement, and they have agreed that the financial targets for each of the next three years should be a Return on Capital Employed of 18% and a profit before tax of £5m.
“With a £150 selling price per unit and a £100 variable cost per unit, we…
Transfer Pricing and Ethical Issues
Paterson Company, a US -based company, manufactures and sells electronic components worldwide. Virtually all its manufacturing takes place in the United States. The company has marketing divisions throughout Europe, including France. Debbie Kishimoto, manager of this division, was hired from a competitor 3 years ago. Debbie, recently informed of a price increase in one of the major product lines, requested a meeting with Jeff Philips, marketing vice president. Their conversation follows:
Debbie: "Jeff, I simply don't understand why the price of our main product has increased from $5 to $5.50 per unit. We negotiated an agreement earlier in the year with our manufacturing division in Philadelphia for a price of $5.00 for the entire year. I called the manager of that division. He said that the original price was still acceptable - that the increase was a directive from headquarters. That's why I wanted to meet with you. I need some…
"Companies with labor incentive manufacturing processes are most likely to benefit from sending manufacturing operations overseas because the bulk of potential cost savings relate to labor costs".Question: Prepare an analysis showing whether a product line or other business segment should be added or dropped. Note: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Electronics)
Chapter 12 Solutions
Fundamentals Of Cost Accounting (6th Edition)
Ch. 12 - What does decentralization mean in the context of...Ch. 12 - Why is performance measurement an important...Ch. 12 - Prob. 3RQCh. 12 - What does dysfunctional decision making refer to?Ch. 12 - Prob. 5RQCh. 12 - What are the five basic kinds of decentralized...Ch. 12 - What is goal congruence? How is it different from...Ch. 12 - Prob. 8RQCh. 12 - What is relative performance evaluation?Ch. 12 - Prob. 10RQ
Ch. 12 - Prob. 11RQCh. 12 - Prob. 12RQCh. 12 - The management control system collects information...Ch. 12 - Salespeople are often paid a commission based on...Ch. 12 - Prob. 15CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 16CADQCh. 12 - On December 30, a manager determines that income...Ch. 12 - Prob. 18CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 19CADQCh. 12 - The manager of an operating department just...Ch. 12 - In the previous chapters, we considered different...Ch. 12 - A company has a bonus plan that states that...Ch. 12 - Prob. 23CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 24CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 25CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 26CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 27CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 28CADQCh. 12 - Prob. 29ECh. 12 - Evaluating Management Control SystemsEthical...Ch. 12 - Prob. 31ECh. 12 - Management Control Systems and Incentives A...Ch. 12 - Prob. 33ECh. 12 - Prob. 34ECh. 12 - Prob. 35ECh. 12 - Alternative Allocation Bases: Service Bartolo...Ch. 12 - Prob. 37ECh. 12 - Single versus Dual Rates: Ethical Considerations A...Ch. 12 - Single versus Dual Rates
Using the data for the...Ch. 12 - Alternative Allocation Bases Thompson Aeronautics...Ch. 12 - Tone at the Top, Ethics Once upon a time, a major...Ch. 12 - Prob. 42ECh. 12 - Prob. 43ECh. 12 - Internal Controls Commonly in many organizations,...Ch. 12 - Evaluating Management Control Systems SPG Company...Ch. 12 - Analyze Performance Report for Decentralized...Ch. 12 - Divisional Performance Measurement: Behavioral...Ch. 12 - Prob. 48PCh. 12 - Prob. 49PCh. 12 - Cost Allocations: Comparison of Dual and Single...Ch. 12 - Cost Allocation for Travel Reimbursement Your...Ch. 12 - Incentives, Illegal Activities, and Ethics An...
Knowledge Booster
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, accounting and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- Paterson Company, a U.S.-based company, manufactures and sells electronic components worldwide. Virtually all its manufacturing takes place in the United States. The company has marketing divisions throughout Europe, including France. Debbie Kishimoto, manager of this division, was hired from a competitor 3 years ago. Debbie, recently informed of a price increase in one of the major product lines, requested a meeting with Jeff Phillips, marketing vice president. Their conversation follows. Debbie: Jeff, I simply dont understand why the price of our main product has increased from 5.00 to 5.50 per unit. We negotiated an agreement earlier in the year with our manufacturing division in Philadelphia for a price of 5.00 for the entire year. I called the manager of that division. He said that the original price was still acceptablethat the increase was a directive from headquarters. Thats why I wanted to meet with you. I need some explanations. When I was hired, I was told that pricing decisions were made by the divisions. This directive interferes with this decentralized philosophy and will lower my divisions profits. Given current market conditions, there is no way we can pass on the cost increase. Profits for my division will drop at least 600,000 if this price is maintained. I think a midyear increase of this magnitude is unfair to my division. Jeff: Under normal operating conditions, headquarters would not interfere with divisional decisions. But as a company, we are having some problems. What you just told me is exactly why the price of your product has been increased. We want the profits of all our European marketing divisions to drop. Debbie: What do you mean that you want the profits to drop? That doesnt make any sense. Arent we in business to make money? Jeff: Debbie, what you lack is corporate perspective. We are in business to make money, and thats why we want European profits to decrease. Our U.S. divisions are not doing well this year. Projections show significant losses. At the same time, projections for European operations show good profitability. By increasing the cost of key products transferred to Europeto your division, for examplewe increase revenues and profits in the United States. By decreasing your profits, we avoid paying taxes in France. With losses on other U.S. operations to offset the corresponding increase in domestic profits, we avoid paying taxes in the United States as well. The net effect is a much-needed increase in our cash flow. Besides, you know how hard it is in some of these European countries to transfer out capital. This is a clean way of doing it. Debbie: Im not so sure that its clean. I cant imagine the tax laws permitting this type of scheme. There is another problem, too. You know that the companys bonus plans are tied to a divisions profits. This plan could cost all of the European managers a lot of money. Jeff: Debbie, you have no reason to worry about the effect on your bonusor on our evaluation of your performance. Corporate management has already taken steps to ensure no loss of compensation. The plan is to compute what income would have been if the old price had prevailed and base bonuses on that figure. Ill meet with the other divisional managers and explain the situation to them as well. Debbie: The bonus adjustment seems fair, although I wonder if the reasons for the drop in profits will be remembered in a couple of years when Im being considered for promotion. Anyway, I still have some strong ethical concerns about this. How does this scheme relate to the tax laws? Jeff: We will be in technical compliance with the tax laws. In the United States, Section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code governs this type of transaction. The key to this law, as well as most European laws, is evidence of an arms-length price. Since youre a distributor, we can use the resale price method to determine such a price. Essentially, the arms-length price for the transferred good is backed into by starting with the price at which you sell the product and then adjusting that price for the markup and other legitimate differences, such as tariffs and transportation. Debbie: If I were a French tax auditor, I would wonder why the markup dropped from last year to this year. Are we being good citizens and meeting the fiscal responsibilities imposed on us by each country in which we operate? Jeff: Well, a French tax auditor might wonder about the drop in markup. But, the markup is still within reason, and we can make a good argument for increased costs. In fact, weve already instructed the managers of our manufacturing divisions to legitimately reassign as many costs as they can to the European product lines. So far, they have been very successful. I think our records will support the increase that you are receiving. You really do not need to be concerned with the tax authorities. Our tax department assures me that this has been carefully researchedits unlikely that a tax audit will create any difficulties. Itll all be legal and above board. Weve done this several times in the past with total success. Required: 1. Do you think that the tax-minimization scheme described to Debbie Kishimoto is in harmony with the ethical behavior that should be displayed by top corporate executives? Why or why not? What would you do if you were Debbie? 2. Apparently, the tax department of Paterson Company has been strongly involved in developing the tax-minimization scheme. Assume that the accountants responsible for the decision are CMAs and members of the IMA, subject to the IMA standards of ethical conduct. Review the IMA standards for ethical conduct in Chapter 1. Are any of these standards being violated by the accountants in Patersons tax department? If so, identify them. What should these tax accountants do if requested to develop a questionable taxminimization scheme?arrow_forwardSuppy chain management The following is an excerpt from an article discussing supplier relationships with the Big Three North American automakers. The Big Three select suppliers on the basis of lowest price and annual price reductions, said Neil De Koker, president of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association. They look globally for the lowest parts prices from the lowest cost countries, De Koker said. There is little trust and respect. Collaboration is missing Japanese automakers want long-term supplier relationships. They select suppliers as a person would a mate. The Big Three are quick to beat down prices with methods such as electronic auctions or rebidding work to a competitor. The Japanese are equally tough on price but are committed to maintaining supplier continuity. They work with you to arrive at a competitive price, and they are willing to pay because they want long-term partnering, said Carl Code, a vice president at Ernie Green Industries. They [Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM)] want suppliers to make enough money to stay in business, grow, and bring them innovation The Big Three's supply chain model is not much different from the one set by Henry Ford. In 1913, he set up the system of independent supplier firms operating at arm's length on short-term contracts. One consequence of the Big Three's low-price-at-all-costs mentality is that suppliers are reluctant to offer them their cutting-edge technology out of fear the contract will be resourced before the research and development costs are recouped. Source: Robert Sherefkin and Amy Wilson, Suppliers Prefer Japanese Business Model," Rubber Plastics News, March 17, 2003, Vol. 24, No. 11. A. Contrast the Japanese supply chain model with that of the Big Three. B. Why might a supplier prefer the Japanese model? C. What benefits might accrue to the Big Three by adopting the Japanese supply chain practices?arrow_forwardBulldogs Inc. wants to enter the global market. Which one may not be the reason in such decision? Production efficiency in other countries may result to economies and synergies that are favorable to the company To seek technologies not yet present in the home country To broaden market and increase shareholder value Essential materials and labor rates may be more expensive in other countriesarrow_forward
- Lean Principles The chief executive officer (CEO) of Cobalt Inc. just read an article written by a business professor at Harvard University describing the benefits of the lean philosophy. The CEO issued the following statement after reading the article: This company will become a lean manufacturing company. Presently, we have too much inventory. To become lean, we need to eliminate the excess inventory. Therefore, I want all employees to begin reducing inventories until we make products “just-in-time. ” Thank you for your cooperation. a. Lean manufacturing is ____. Identify the statement that suits the above situation. A philosophy that focuses on reducing time, cost, poor quality and uncertainty from a process. An inventory reduction method. Producing based on the sales. Improving productivity ignoring the quality and other aspects. b. A CEO of a company suddenly commands that the company will become lean manufacturing company due to increased inventory. Identify the statement…arrow_forward"Companies with labor incentive manufacturing processes are most likely to benefit from sending manufacturing operations overseas because the bulk of potential cost savings relate to labor costs".Question: Prepare an analysis showing whether a product line or other business segment should be added or dropped.(Note: Samsung Manufacturing)arrow_forwardAssessing going concern Columbia Metal Fabricators (CMF) makes steel components for the construction industry. It specializes in extreme precision manufacturing where tolerances are measured in distances of less than one millimeter. Its products are used in revolving restaurants, automatic doors, and similar construction components. In the past, the majority of its sales have been to international construction companies, particularly in the Middle East. A drop in the price of oil has slowed construction in the Middle East, and the extremely expensive buildings requiring high-precision steel components are becoming less popular. In addition, some of the technology used by CMF has been copied by companies in Southeast Asia, resulting in extreme price competition in this section of the construction industry for the first time. CMF is highly leveraged. Two years ago, the company borrowed a large sum of money to fund the purchase of new office headquarters and the latest laser-cutting…arrow_forward
- Saifi halwa is running a successful business in Nizwa. They are supplying halwa to different suppliers in Dakhliya Region. They want to be economical and efficient in their business. It means they have to Decrease non-productive work within the organization Increase non-productive activities within the organization Decrease production of the product Increase production without considering the quantityarrow_forwardAnalyze Horsepower Hookup, Inc. Horsepower Hookup, Inc., is a large automobile company that specializes in the production of high-powered trucks. The company is determining cost allocations for purposes of performance evaluation. A portion of company bonuses depends on divisions achieving cost management goals. This necessitates highly accurate support department cost allocation. Management has also stated that it has the means to implement as complex a method as necessary. The general manager over the Mid-Size D wants to get a good idea of what factors are driving the costs of the support departments in order to make accurate cost allocations, so finding accurate support department cost drivers is important. Support department costs include Janitorial (163,100) and Security (285,400). The Janitorial costs vary depending on the number of vehicles produced, increasing with larger production volumes. Security costs are fixed based on the size of the lot, and do not change with respect to how many vehicles are in the lot or warehouse. Joint costs involved in producing the trucks before the split-off point where the various makes, models, and colors are produced are 946,000 for the period. All makes, models, and colors sell at relatively similar margins, but the sports models and metallic colors are normally more difficult to produce during the joint production process. a. Which support department cost allocation method (direct, sequential, or reciprocal services) should be used to allocate support department cost? b. What driver would be best for allocating Janitorial costs? c. What driver would be best for allocating Security costs? d. If Janitorial costs were to be allocated based on square footage, and Security costs based on asset value, what percentage of each support departments costs would be allocated to each production department using the sequential method (allocating Security costs first) given the following: e. Should Janitorial and Security costs be considered when evaluating the performance of cost management employees? f. What joint cost allocation method should be used for performance evaluation purposes?arrow_forwardSuspicious Acquisition of Data, Ethical Issues Bill Lewis, manager of the Thomas Electronics Division, called a meeting with his controller, Brindon Peterson, and his marketing manager, Patty Fritz. The following is a transcript of the conversation that took place during the meeting: Bill: Brindon, the variable costing system that you developed has proved to be a big plus for our division. Our success in winning bids has increased, and as a result our revenues have increased by 25%. However, if we intend to meet this years profit targets, we are going to need something extraam I right, Patty? Patty: Absolutely. While we have been able to win more bids, we still are losing too many, particularly to our major competitor, Kilborn Electronics. If we knew more about their bidding strategy, we could be more successful at competing with them. Brindon: Would knowing their variable costs help? Patty: Certainly. It would give me their minimum price. With that knowledge, Im sure that we could find a way to beat them on several jobs, particularly on those jobs where we are at least as efficient. It would also help us to identify where we are not cost competitive. With this information, we might be able to find ways to increase our efficiency. Brindon: Well, I have good news. Ive been talking with Carl Penobscot, Kilborns assistant controller. Carl doesnt feel appreciated by Kilborn and wants to make a change. He could easily fit into our team here. Plus, Carl has been preparing for a job switch by quietly copying Kilborns accounting files and records. Hes already given me some data that reveal bids that Kilborn made on several jobs. If we can come to a satisfactory agreement with Carl, hell bring the rest of the information with him. Well easily be able to figure out Kilborns prospective bids and find ways to beat them. Besides, I could use another accountant on my staff. Bill, would you authorize my immediate hiring of Carl with a favorable compensation package? Bill: I know that you need more staff, Brindon, but is this the right thing to do? It sounds like Carl is stealing those files, and surely Kilborn considers this information confidential. I have real ethical and legal concerns about this. Why dont we meet with Laurie, our attorney, and determine any legal problems? Required: 1. Is Carls behavior ethical? What would Kilborn think? 2. Is Bill correct in supposing that there are ethical and/or legal problems involved with the hiring of Carl? (Reread the section on corporate codes of conduct in Chapter 1.) What would you do if you were Bill? Explain.arrow_forward
- In The Trouble with Outsourcing, a Schumpeter column in The Economist, there is a statement of advice to companies, who outsource products or services: they need to think harder about what is their core business, and what is peripheral. What types of problems do you think they are talking about? In your answer, present at least five (5) problems that companies should consider when outsourcing products or services.arrow_forwardConsider the following conversation between Gary Means, manager of a division that produces industrial machinery, and his controller, Donna Simpson, a certified management accountant and certified public accountant: Gary: Donna, we have a real problem. Our operating cash is too low, and we are in desperate need of a loan. As you know, our financial position is marginal, and we need to show as much income as possibleand our assets need bolstering as well. Donna: I understand the problem, but I dont see what can be done at this point. This is the last week of the fiscal year, and it looks like well report income just slightly above breakeven. Gary: I know all this. What we need is some creative accounting. I have an idea that might help us, and I wanted to see if you would go along with it. We have 200 partially finished machines in process, about 20% complete. That compares with the 1,000 units that we completed and sold during the year. When you computed the per-unit cost, you used 1,040 equivalent units, giving us a manufacturing cost of 1,500 per unit. That per-unit cost gives us cost of goods sold equal to 1.5 million and ending work in process worth 60,000. The presence of the work in process gives us a chance to improve our financial position. If we report the units in work in process as 80% complete, this will increase our equivalent units to 1,160. This, in turn, will decrease our unit cost to about 1,345 and cost of goods sold to 1.345 million. The value of our work in process will increase to 215,200. With those financial stats, the loan would be a cinch. Donna: Gary, I dont know. What youre suggesting is risky. It wouldnt take much auditing skill to catch this one. Gary: You dont have to worry about that. The auditors wont be here for at least 6 to 8 more weeks. By that time, we can have those partially completed units completed and sold. I can bury the labor cost by having some of our more loyal workers work overtime for some bonuses. The overtime will never be reported. And, as you know, bonuses come out of the corporate budget and are assigned to overheadnext years overhead. Donna, this will work. If we look good and get the loan to boot, corporate headquarters will treat us well. If we dont do this, we could lose our jobs. Required: 1. Should Donna agree to Garys proposal? Why or why not? To assist in deciding, review the corporate code of ethics standards described in Chapter 1. Do any apply? 2. Assume that Donna refuses to cooperate and that Gary accepts this decision and drops the matter. Does Donna have any obligation to report the divisional managers behavior to a superior? Explain. 3. Assume that Donna refuses to cooperate; however, Gary insists that the changes be made. Now what should she do? What would you do? 4. Suppose that Donna is 63 and that the prospects for employment elsewhere are bleak. Assume again that Gary insists that the changes be made. Donna also knows that his supervisor, the owner of the company, is his father-in-law. Under these circumstances, would your recommendations for Donna differ?arrow_forwardTypes of Responsibility Centers Consider each of the following independent scenarios: a. Terrin Belson, plant manager for the laser printer factory of Compugear Inc., brushed his hair back and sighed. December had been a bad month. Two machines had broken down, and some factory production workers (all on salary) were idled for part of the month. Materials prices increased, and insurance premiums on the factory increased. No way out of it; costs were going up. He hoped that the marketing vice president would be able to push through some price increases, but that really wasnt his department. b. Joanna Pauly was delighted to see that her ROI figures had increased for the third straight year. She was sure that her campaign to lower costs and use machinery more efficiently (enabling her factories to sell several older machines) was the reason why. Joanna planned to take full credit for the improvements at her semiannual performance review. c. Gil Rodriguez, sales manager for ComputerWorks, was not pleased with a memo from headquarters detailing the recent cost increases for the laser printer line. Headquarters suggested raising prices. Great, thought Gil, an increase in price will kill sales and revenue will go down. Why cant the plant shape up and cut costs like every other company in America is doing? Why turn this into my problem? d. Susan Whitehorse looked at the quarterly profit and loss statement with disgust. Revenue was down, and cost was upwhat a combination! Then she had an idea. If she cut back on maintenance of equipment and let a product engineer go, expenses would decreaseperhaps enough to reverse the trend in income. e. Shonna Lowry had just been hired to improve the fortunes of the Southern Division of ABC Inc. She met with top staff and hammered out a 3-year plan to improve the situation. A centerpiece of the plan is the retiring of obsolete equipment and the purchasing of state-of-the-art, computer-assisted machinery. The new machinery would take time for the workers to learn to use, but once that was done, waste would be virtually eliminated. Required: For each of the above independent scenarios, indicate the type of responsibility center involved (cost, revenue, profit, or investment).arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
Century 21 Accounting Multicolumn JournalAccountingISBN:9781337679503Author:GilbertsonPublisher:Cengage
Managerial AccountingAccountingISBN:9781337912020Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. TaylerPublisher:South-Western College Pub
Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...AccountingISBN:9781305970663Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. MowenPublisher:Cengage Learning
Accounting Information SystemsAccountingISBN:9781337619202Author:Hall, James A.Publisher:Cengage Learning,
Century 21 Accounting Multicolumn Journal
Accounting
ISBN:9781337679503
Author:Gilbertson
Publisher:Cengage
Managerial Accounting
Accounting
ISBN:9781337912020
Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. Tayler
Publisher:South-Western College Pub
Cornerstones of Cost Management (Cornerstones Ser...
Accounting
ISBN:9781305970663
Author:Don R. Hansen, Maryanne M. Mowen
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Accounting Information Systems
Accounting
ISBN:9781337619202
Author:Hall, James A.
Publisher:Cengage Learning,
Relevant Costing Explained; Author: Kaplan UK;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnsh3hlJAkI;License: Standard Youtube License