ROI, Rl, DuPont method, investment decisions, balanced scorecard. News Report Group has two major divisions: Print and Internet. Summary financial data (in millions) for 2016 and 2017 are as follows:
The two division managers’ annual bonuses are based on division ROI (defined as operating income divided by total assets). If a division reports an increase in ROI from the previous year, its management is automatically eligible for a bonus; however, the management of a division reporting a decline in ROI has to present an explanation to the News Report Group board and is unlikely to get any bonus. Carol Mays, manager of the Print division, is considering a proposal to invest $2,580 million in a new computerized news reporting and printing system. It is estimated that the new system’s state-of-the-art graphics and ability to quickly incorporate late-breaking news into papers will increase 2018 division operating income by $360 million. News Report Group uses a 10% required rate of
- 1. Use the DuPont method of profitability analysis to explain differences in 2017 ROIs between the two divisions. Use 2017 total assets as the investment base.
- 2. Why might Mays be less than enthusiastic about accepting the investment proposal for the new system despite her belief in the benefits of the new technology?
- 3. John Mendenhall, CEO of News Report Group, is considering a proposal to base division executive compensation on division RI.
- a. Compute the 2017 RI of each division.
- b. Would adoption of an RI measure reduce Mays’s reluctance to adopt the new computerized system investment proposal?
- 4. Mendenhall is concerned that the focus on annual ROI could have an adverse long-run effect on News Report Group’s customers. What other measurements, if any, do you recommend that Mendenhall use? Explain briefly.
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COST ACCOUNTING
- Divisional performance analysis and evaluation The vice president of operations of Free Ride Bike Company is evaluating the performance of two divisions organized as investment centers. Invested assets and condensed income statement data for the past year for each division are as follows: Instructions 1. Prepare condensed divisional income statements for the year ended December 31, 20Y7, assuming that there were no support department allocations. 2. Using the DuPont formula for return on investment, determine the profit margin, investment turnover, and return on investment for each division. Round percentages and the investment turnover to one decimal place. 3. If managements minimum acceptable return on investment is 10%, determine the residual income for each division. 4. Discuss the evaluation of the two divisions, using the performance measures determined in parts (1), (2), and (3).arrow_forwardCommunication The Norse Division of Gridiron Concepts Inc. experienced significant revenue and profit growth from 20Y4 to 20Y6 as shown in the following divisional income statements: There are no support department allocations, and the division operates as an investment center that must maintain a 15% return on invested assets. Determine the profit margin, investment turnover, and return on investment for the Norse Division for 20Y420Y6. Based on your computations, write a brief memo to the president of Gridiron Concepts Inc., Knute Holz, evaluating the divisions performance.arrow_forwardForchen, Inc., provided the following information for two of its divisions for last year: Required: 1. For the Small Appliances Division, calculate: a. Average operating assets b. Margin c. Turnover d. Return on investment (ROI) 2. For the Cleaning Products Division, calculate: a. Average operating assets b. Margin c. Turnover d. Return on investment (ROI) 3. What if operating income for the Small Appliances Division was 2,000,000? How would that affect average operating assets? Margin? Turnover? ROI? Calculate any changed ratios (round to four significant digits).arrow_forward
- 72 Inc. has developed a balanced scorecard with the following performance metrics: Total sales Employee turnover Market share Number of shipping errors Median training hours per employee Number of new customers Relative to the metric customer satisfaction ratings, which of these performance metrics are leading indicators and which are lagging indicators?arrow_forwardThe condensed income statement for the Consumer Products Division of Tri-State Industries Inc. is as follows (assuming no support department allocations): The manager of the Consumer Products Division is considering ways to increase the return on investment. a. Using the DuPont formula for return on investment, determine the profit margin, investment turnover, and return on investment of the Consumer Products Division, assuming that 143,750,000 of assets have been invested in the Consumer Products Division. b. If expenses could be reduced by 3,450,000 without decreasing sales, what would be the impact on the profit margin, investment turnover, and return on investment for the Consumer Products Division?arrow_forwardProfit center responsibility reporting for a service company Red Line Railroad Inc. has three regional divisions organized as profit centers. The chief executive officer (CEO) evaluates divisional performance, using operating income as a percent of revenues. The following quarterly income and expense accounts were provided from the trial balance as of December 31: The company operates three support departments: Shareholder Relations, Customer Support, and Legal. The Shareholder Relations Department conducts a variety of services for shareholders of the company. The Customer Support Department is the companys point of contact for new service, complaints, and requests for repair. The department believes that the number of customer contacts is a cost driver for this work. The Legal Department provides legal services for division management. The department believes that the number of hours billed is a cost driver for this work. The following additional information has been gathered: Instructions 1. Prepare quarterly income statements showing operating income for the three divisions. Use three column headings: East, West, and Central. 2. Identify the most successful division according to the profit margin. Round to the nearest whole percent. 3. Provide a recommendation to the CEO for a better method for evaluating the performance of the divisions. In your recommendation, identify the major weakness of the present method.arrow_forward
- From the following list of performance measures, label each one as Financial, Customer, Internal Business Processes, or Learning and Growth: Percentage of on-time deliveries Employee turnover ratio Revenue from new products Number of new customers Percentage of compensation based on team performance Percentage of products returned Operating income Time taken to replace defective productsarrow_forwardClassify each of the following performance measures into the balanced scorecard perspective to which it relates: financial perspective, internal operations perspective, learning and growth perspective, or customer perspective. A. Employee satisfaction surveys B. Units of waste per production process, uniformity of products and inventory control C. Number of energy-efficient bulbs replaced D. Management training course certificates awarded E. Divisional profit F. Number of customer referralsarrow_forwardEvaluate the two departments for Moxie Products. Compare the years performance of the two departments in terms of ROI and RI. Which department has created the most wealth for Moxie shareholders in the past year?arrow_forward
- Kanye Achebe just became the operations manager of Weston Transportation. Weston transports large crates for online companies and transports containers overseas. Kanye would like to evaluate each divisional manager on a basis similar to segmental reporting required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) financial statements contained in annual reports. These data include a presentation of net sales, operating profit and loss before and after taxes, total identifiable assets, and depreciation for segment reported. Kanye thinks that evaluating business division managers by the same criteria as the total company is appropriate. A. Explain why you think the chief financial officer (CFO) disagrees and tells Kanye that publicly reporting information might demotivate managers. B. For better evaluation of the managers, what type of information should Kanye propose that the CFO might accept?arrow_forwardThe three divisions of Yummy Foods are Snack Goods, Cereal, and Frozen Foods. The divisions are structured as investment centers. The following responsibility reports were prepared for the three divisions for the prior year: a. Which division is making the best use of invested assets and should be given priority for future capital investments? b. b. Assuming that the minimum acceptable return on new projects is 19%, would all investments that produce a return in excess of 19% be accepted by the divisions? Explain. c. c. Identify opportunities for improving the companys financial performance.arrow_forwardCoulson and Company is a large retail business that has a firm-wide balanced scorecard. Recently, management has discussed the need for the balanced scorecard to be more relevant to each individual department of the company. Specifically, management wants to come up with unique scorecards for its Public Relations and Inventory Management departments. For both departments, management recognizes that properly and efficiently training employees is important. For these purposes, management gathers data on the median training hours per employee and new employee performance review ratings. For the Inventory Management Department, management is focused on reducing stockouts (running out of certain inventory items) and keeping accurate inventory counts. For these purposes, the company tracks the number of back orders and discrepancies between the physical and record counts of inventory, respectively. For the Public Relations Department, management is focused on improving the publics CSR image of the company and attracting new customers. Management measures these objectives using Forbes CSR Rating of Coulson and Company and the number of new customers, respectively. a. Identify the term for Coulson and Companys plan to create unique balanced scorecards for its individual departments. b. Draw the unique balanced scorecards of each department. Identify the departments common and unique measures, and include all the elements of the balanced scorecard that you can in your drawings, given the information provided.arrow_forward
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