Western States Supply, Inc. (WSS), consists of three divisions—California, Northwest, and Southwest—that operate as if they were independent companies. Each division has its own sales force and production facilities. Each division manager is responsible for sales, cost of operations, acquisition and financing of divisional assets, and
Southwest has just been awarded a contract for a product that uses a component manufactured by outside suppliers as well as by Northwest, which is operating well below capacity. Southwest used a cost figure of $37 for the component in preparing its bid for the new product. Northwest supplied this cost figure in response to Southwest’s request for the
Northwest’s regular selling price for the component that Southwest needs is $65. Northwest’s management indicated that it could supply Southwest the required quantities of the component at the regular selling price less variable selling and distribution expenses. Southwest management responded by offering to pay standard variable manufacturing cost plus 25 percent.
The two divisions have been unable to agree on a transfer price. Corporate management has never established a transfer price policy. The corporate controller suggested a price equal to the standard full manufacturing cost (that is, no selling and distribution expenses) plus a 20 percent markup. The two division managers rejected this price because each considered it grossly unfair.
The unit cost structure for the Northwest component and the suggested prices follow
Required
- a. Discuss the effect that each of the proposed prices could have on the attitude of Northwest’s management toward intracompany business.
- b. Is the negotiation of a price between Northwest and Southwest a satisfactory method to solve the transfer price problem? Explain your answer.
- c. Should WSS’s corporate management become involved in this transfer price controversy? Explain your answer.
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Fundamentals Of Cost Accounting (6th Edition)
- Grate Care Company specializes in producing products for personal grooming. The company operates six divisions, including the Hair Products Division. Each division is treated as an investment center. Managers are evaluated and rewarded on the basis of ROI performance. Only those managers who produce the best ROIs are selected to receive bonuses and to fill higher-level managerial positions. Fred Olsen, manager of the Hair Products Division, has always been one of the top performers. For the past two years, Freds division has produced the largest ROI; last year, the division earned an operating income of 2.56 million and employed average operating assets valued at 16 million. Fred is pleased with his divisions performance and has been told that if the division does well this year, he will be in line for a headquarters position. For the coming year, Freds division has been promised new capital totaling 1.5 million. Any of the capital not invested by the division will be invested to earn the companys required rate of return (9 percent). After some careful investigation, the marketing and engineering staff recommended that the division invest in equipment that could be used to produce a crimping and waving iron, a product currently not produced by the division. The cost of the equipment was estimated at 1.2 million. The divisions marketing manager estimated operating earnings from the new line to be 156,000 per year. After receiving the proposal and reviewing the potential effects, Fred turned it down. He then wrote a memo to corporate headquarters, indicating that his division would not be able to employ the capital in any new projects within the next eight to 10 months. He did note, however, that he was confident that his marketing and engineering staff would have a project ready by the end of the year. At that time, he would like to have access to the capital. Required: 1. 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The Commercial Products division deals exclusively in sales of industrial products and supplies to business organizations. The Consumer Products division sells nonindustrial products to private consumers. Both divisions have dedicated inventory warehouses at their respective locations in Hatfield and Palo Alto. Because of the dissimilar nature of the commercial and consumer division product lines, they do not share customers or vendors. Currently Mega Supply uses a centralized database, which is located at their Corporate Division in Tulsa. Some relevant database tables and attributes are presented in the figure designated Problem 1. When customers contact their respective sales division, the sales clerk logs into the corporate database, checks credit, determines product availability, and creates a sales invoice. The corporate office typically bills the customer within 3 or 4 days and extends terms of net 30. 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