...Questions for Individual Case Analysis: Case 1: Thomas Green 1. What is your analysis of Thomas Green’s actions and job performance in his first five months? What mistakes has he made? 2. What actions, if any, would you recommend for Thomas Green to take? (Be sure to explain WHY these are the actions he should take.) Case 2: Advanced Laser 1. What are the major issues in this case? What should Elizabeth Ryan do? 2. Assuming that Elizabeth Ryan decides to speak with Gretchen Moore, how should Ryan prepare for the meeting with Gretchen Moore? Case 3: Lee & Li 1. Who are the parties affected by this embezzlement? What was the magnitude of the harm to these parties? 2. After being informed about the embezzlement, what actions should Lee and Li take to ensure the firm survives? Be sure to discuss the actions in order of priority. Explain. Case 4: Overhead Reduction Task Force 1(a). If you were Larry Williams, what would you seek to accomplish in your noon meeting with Georgia Dixon? How would you approach her to increase the likelihood that you would achieve your purposes? (b) What would you seek to accomplish in the initial meeting of your task force? What would you do or say in the first few minutes of the first task force meeting to get the task force off to a good start? Consider the following after reading the case: Larry Williams convinces Dixon to come to the first meeting of the task force to "launch" the team. At that meeting, she emphasized...
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...Case 4: Overhead Reduction Task Force At one point or another, everyone has been placed in a group of people and assigned a task that needed to be accomplished. Many of these groups are simply that, a group. The task that many fail to see as the number one objective of the group is to foster a teamwork by actually transforming the group to a cohesive team. The idea sounds fairly simple and transparent, "If everyone works together, we have a team!" This could not be farther from the truth. Teamwork is not merely the ability to work together to get from point A to B. The Overhead Reduction Task Force is a case that exhibits this strong need to build a team in order to be the most effective in achieving goals. The group that has been assembled for Larry Williams to lead has many internal issues but also many opportunities for growth. To properly analyze this case, the initial meetings with both Georgia Dixon and the task force members needs to determined followed by predictions on how the first week of the task force went. The meeting with Dixon is crucial for Larry to establish clear and concise goals for himself and his future team. Through this meeting, Larry must also determine Dixon's position on the manner and assess to what extent she will be involved with the team. From the information provided in the case, it is clear that Dixon is essentially "dumping" this task on Larry and that she will not even be present for the first two weeks of the task force. From this, Larry...
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...Harvard Business Case 10-16-07 The Overhead Reduction Task Force: A Case Analysis The Facts Central Foods Corporation just hired a new General Manager, Georgia Dixon, to run the deteriorating Countertop Appliances Division. This new division was formed after Central Foods acquired Kitchen Help, Inc. six years ago. With sales decreasing quite dramatically over the past three years and overhead costs at their peak, Dixon is in charge of implementing positive changes in her department. For one of her first moves she appointed Larry Williams as head of the new Overhead Reduction Task Force. This task force is being formed to decrease overhead costs by 20% in the next four months while also increasing sales. External Factors Affecting CFC There are three main external factors that are influencing the overall sales production in this case. First off, one of CFC’s major competitors introduced a new household coffee maker that sold at the same retail price as CFC’s coffee maker, but CFC did not have the same innovation incorporated into their product. Secondly, another main competitor of CFC launched a new and improved microwave oven, which severely hurt Countertop’s sales of the same product. CFC’s product line still has not made a comparable substitute for this newly designed microwave oven. Finally, competitors’ pricing of the kitchen products was 10% lower than CFC’s pricing for the same products. CFC believed that these competitors would eventually have to increase...
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...or another, everyone has been placed in a group of people and assigned a task that needed to be accomplished. Many of these groups are simply that, a group. The task that many fail to see as the number one objective of the group is to foster a teamwork by actually transforming the group to a cohesive team. The idea sounds fairly simple and transparent, "If everyone works together, we have a team!" This could not be farther from the truth. Teamwork is not merely the ability to work together to get from point A to B. The Overhead Reduction Task Force is a case that exhibits this strong need to build a team in order to be the most effective in achieving goals. The group that has been assembled for Larry Williams to lead has many internal issues but also many opportunities for growth. To properly analyze this case, the initial meetings with both Georgia Dixon and the task force members needs to determined followed by predictions on how the first week of the task force went. The meeting with Dixon is crucial for Larry to establish clear and concise goals for himself and his future team. Through this meeting, Larry must also determine Dixon's position on the manner and assess to what extent she will be involved with the team. From the information provided in the case, it is clear that Dixon is essentially "dumping" this task on Larry and that she will not even be present for the first two weeks of the task force. From this, Larry has limited options on how to approach Dixon. Larry needs...
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...1. The main Organizational Behavior problem in “The Overhead Reduction Task Force” case is in creating a leading an effective team, specifically “Office of the President” team. Williams is fretting nervously and rightly so. Our take on the situation is that Dixon just “threw him under the bus”, by putting him in charge of the team and leaving for much needed two weeks vacations after being on the job for one week. 2. Dixon did not do a best possible job in setting up an effective team. An essential elements required for a team to be successful is missing. By focusing on the goal of reducing expenses, instead of focusing on the goal of improving financial standing of the division, she made it very hard for Williams to get everyone aligned. Williams will have an uphill battle convincing department heads that their expenses need to be cut. For example, Mort Burns, head of the sales department is convinced that his department is as lean as it can be. The composition of the team itself is good. “It is made up of a diverse group of the individuals who have the expertise and authority to carry out the task” (1). For the purpose of the goal set by Dixon, Williams is the right person to lead the team. But it is clear that Williams approach is based purely on the numbers and if the goal is to improve financial performance, Williams does not have all the necessary information to make the right decision. For example Williams admits to himself that he does not have information on product...
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...A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STANDARD COSTING SYSTEMS OF TWO COMPANIES CERTIFICATE FROM THE ORGANISATION TABLE OF CONTENTS Sr. No. | Chapter Name | Page No. | 1. | Acknowledgement | 5 | 2. | Preface | 6 | 3. | Objective and Introduction | 7 | 4. | A Brief about the two Companies | 8 | 5. | Standard Costing System | 12 | 6. | Findings | 15 | 7. | Conclusion | 17 | ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We owe much gratitude to all the people who have helped and supported us during the conduct of this project. Our sincere thanks to our Professor Prof. L.N. CHOPDE for giving us the opportunity of practically studying standard costing systems of organizations with the help of this project. He has been a perfect guide through all the lectures and has helped a lot throughout the preparation of the project. Our deep sense of gratefulness to Mr. Anil Rasal for his support and guidance. Thank and appreciation to the staff of both the banks for their support too. We would also like to thank the institution – M.E.T. College and the faculty members without whom this project would have been a distant reality. PREFACE Comparative Study of Accounting System of Gunnebo India Pvt. Ltd and Ashok Leyland Ltd.: As part of the project we have studied the standard costing systems and the general accounting related to it followed by Gunnebo India Pvt. Ltd and Ashok Leyland Ltd. As per the guidelines given for the project we have taken the two companies. Both are manufacturing...
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...Harvard Business School 9-195-108 rP os t October 14, 1994 Yokohama Corporation, Ltd. (B): Cost Management System op yo Yokohama Corporation, Ltd., was created as a joint venture between a Japanese automobile manufacturer and the Japanese government. Yokohama was founded in July 1939 and began production in late 1942. The objective of the firm was to manufacture hydraulic systems for automobiles and trucks and associated equipment under license from a German firm. The venture was successful and within a few years had diversified into other automotive products, including fuel pumps and transmission systems. tC Manufacturing inside Japan was undertaken at five facilities: Ranzan, Ibaraki, Chiba, Hiroshima, and Maebashi. The original production facility, the Ranzan plant, was opened in 1940 to produce hydraulic products. In 1992, it manufactured four major product lines, including electronic fuel-injection control systems, in-line injection pumps, automatic timing devices, and fuel-injection nozzles. It produced products for the injection pump and hydraulic & pneumatics divisions. The Ibaraki plant was built in 1965 to manufacture injection nozzle holders for the injection pump division. The Chiba plant was built in 1970 to manufacture air-conditioning equipment for the air-conditioning division. The Hiroshima plant was built in 1982 and manufactured injection nozzles for the injection pump division. Finally, the Maebashi plant was built in 1990 and was responsible for the...
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...is the largest company in its segment. (FF 96 Mn T.O) and it wants to expand for which capital is needed. The company’s sales force is on Straight salary – they sell all lines. • Makes Item 345 – Price Leader – Small Competitors – Wait for LT to announce price – Losing market share from 1995 on Item 345 1. It is a fact that item 345 has lost market share and as the product manager I would be concerned about it. By retaining FF20 price I can gain market share only if competition increases their price to FF20. At the outset this seems unlikely because competition has not exhibited the “follow the leader” pricing in the last two years. 2. Item 345’s price increase two years ago was driven by the management’s desire to generate revenues to fund some expansion. This is an internal consideration and is not based on market forces. For example, if the price rise was due to increase in costs on the supply side, everyone would be affected and everyone will perhaps increase price once the leader does. Here there is no reason for competition to raise the prices. Hence as the product manager, I would question the wisdom behind funding some expansion plan at the cost of my market share. 3. It is also important to make full use of the manufacturing facility of item 345 because, as given in the case, this facility can not be used for some other product. 4. We must keep in mind that FF20 per meter is probably the upper...
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...profiatability of the business. 2. It provides a sketch about the future position based on which the managers can make financial decisions. 3. Budgeting also helps the managers and decision makers to compare the budget with the actual performance. Nature of budgeting process adopted: 1. The idea is to estimate the financial environment on the basis of last budget. 2. Estimate the amount of cash that will be generated from sales revenue and other activities. 3. Forecasts the requirement of inputs like raw materials , labors, overheads and advertisements 4. To determine whether the budget is surplus or deficit, the estimated expenses is subtracted from the estimated revenues. 5. After consider reviews and revisions, the final budget is submitted. P3.2- What is the budgeting method used for the case study and reflect its needs. Comment with your advice and suggestions The budgeting method used in the case study is incremental budgeting. Incremental budgeting is the budgeting based on slight changes from the preceding periods budgeted results or actual results. The needs for budgeting are: The incremental budgeting is very...
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...Towards a conceptual framework for strategic cost management - The concept, objectives, and instruments - Von der Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Technischen Universität Chemnitz genehmigte Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.) vorgelegt von Ibrahim Abd El Mageed Ali El Kelety geboren am 11.01.1965 in El Menoufia - Ägypten eingereicht am: 14. Juni 2006 Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Uwe Götze Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Bloech Prof. Dr. Peter Schuster Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 18. Juli 2006 Acknowledgement To the Almighty God “ALLAH” Who have granted me all these graces to fulfill this work and Who supported me in all my life. To Him I extend my heartfelt thanks. It is a pleasure to express my sincere and deepest heartfelt gratitude to my “Doktorvater“ Prof. Dr. Uwe Götze for his kind supervision, continuous encouragement, valuable enthusiastic discussion and unfailing advice throughout the present work, as well as financial support during my latest period of study in Germany. He assisted in all matters, provided solutions to different problems. Prof. Dr. Uwe Götze supported and helped me during my learning period in Germany and writing this thesis. I am very lucky being one of his students. I would like to express my deep thanks to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Bloech - Georg-August University of Göttingen - for his kind acceptance to act as an examiner. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Peter...
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...0765 FAX: 213.740.3582 Office Hours: by appt Course Overview GOAL: The goal of this course is to enhance participant understanding of the nature and the processes of effective groups, and what it takes to build and lead them as high performance teams. Teams are an endemic aspect of culture and society. Whether playing sports, singing choir, playing in the orchestra, performing ballet, or parenting, one is engaged in team-based activities. Organizations increasingly rely upon teams as a primary work unit. Whether you are in supply chain management, customer relationship management, marketing and sales, new product development, manufacturing engineering, project management, information systems, cross-functional task forces, or consulting, you will inevitably be solicited to contribute to team-based organizational initiatives. Despite their ubiquity and our collective competence in building and leading sports and performance teams, there is often little understanding of what it takes to build a cohesive and effective work team. Members are assigned, objectives are given, resources (if you’re lucky) are allocated, but beyond that there is scant...
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...Aussie pies Anna Amphlett and Andrew Ferris has decided to startup a new business in Seattle, U.S.A under the name of Aussie Pies Inc. after their visit to Australia; where they discovered the meat pies, the national snack food of Australia and interested in starting up a business in U.S to produce and sell similar meat pies, The couple has decided to apply for a loan through a contact to establish a new business. Even though bank has tentatively agreed to provide the loan up to one million with 6% interest per year, still loan committee of the bank require business plan including complete set of projected financial statements for the first year of operations, including income statement, statement of cash flow and balance sheet. Please see the detail of the company from below report, The company Anna Amphlett and Andrew Ferris have discovered the meat pies, the national snack food of Australia, during their visit to Sydney. They found Australian consumed vas number of meat pies during sporting events and other occasions and pies are served with ice-cold beer. They decided to explore the possibility of establishing a business in USA. They have decided to locate the first outlet in Pike Place Market, a popular destination for tourist to Seattle in USA, particularly International travelers who curious about other cuisines and willing to try new foods. They have decided to make the pies with high-quality, low fat due to most international travelers belong to...
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...Chapter 5 Activity-Based Costing and Customer Profitability Analysis Cases |5-1 |Blue Ridge Manufacturing (Activity-Based Costing for Marketing Channels) | |5-2 |Columbo Soft-Serve Frozen Yogurt: Using Activity Based Costing To Assess Channel/Customer Profitability | |5-3 |Wilson Electronics (A) | |5-4 |Wilson Electronics (B) | |5-5 |The Buckeye National Bank (ABC Costing in the Service Sector) | |5-6 |Precision Paint | |5-7 |Forest Hill Paper Company | | | | Readings 5-1: “Activity-Based Costing and Predatory Pricing: The Case of the Petroleum Retail Industry” by Thomas L Burton and John B MacArthur, Management Accounting Quarterly, (Spring 2003). The assignment of indirect costs in a volume-based costing system can lead to product-cost subsidization—overcost high-volume products and undercost low-volume...
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...15 British Construction Industry 15 British Construction Industry Executive Summary The construction industry of UK has dramatically changed in past 15 years. The main catalyst of this change is the element of partnering, which has taken place of traditional adversarial approach. This concept though is yet new in this particular industry but has been suggested as the critical solution to the downturn of the economic conditions as well as the spiraling issues related to the contracts which had dogged UK construction industry in early 1990s. Latham was the first person who claimed that the partnering might be the only remedy to the fragmented, ineffective and the disputes which are saturating the construction industry which can be replaced with proper procurement, effective communication among different stakeholders, teamwork and fairness. These ideas were endorsed by Egan and proposed set of the recommendations and as the result, the outcome would be much improved relations among the three major stakeholders within the supply chain which are the main contractor, client and sub-contractor. Majority of the highly profiled clients have already embraced this new concept like education, local authorities, NHS, water companies in UK. Companies like Severn Trent Water and Yorkshire also used partnering as well as framework agreements, which are inspired by the reports of Latham and Egan. Even though after the 12 years of the report of Latham and Egan, still general opinions...
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...38 stores in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Oklahoma. That same year the first distribution center was opened in Bentonville, Arkansas. Wal-Mart grew rapidly and by 1987 they had 1,198 stores. How did Wal-Mart become so successful? Many say it was because Sam Walton was “Cheap”. Not only did he demand rock bottom prices from suppliers, he required everyone on his staff to fly coach and share hotel rooms on business trips. Cost-cutting became an obsession at Wal-Mart. Walton knew that the key component to keeping costs down was controlling the payroll. He wrote in his 1992 autobiography, Made in America, "No matter how you slice it in the retail business, payroll is one of the most important parts of overhead, and overhead is one of the most crucial things you have to fight to maintain your profit margin." Not only did Walton prefer to hire as few...
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