In the late 1980s, General Electric Company (GE), whose CEO at the time was Jack Welch, acquired Kidder Peabody, an investment banking firm founded in 1824. In 1991, Kidder hired a bond trader named Joseph Jett. Jett’s job was trading STRIPS, which are securities linked to U.S. Treasury bonds. The trades work as follows. Assume you own a 20-year Treasury bond with a face value of $1,000 and an interest rate of 12 percent, payable semiannually. This bond entitles you to 40 payments (20 years × 2 payments per year) of $60 (= $1,000 × 12% × 1/2). For various reasons, some companies and individuals want the payment stream to follow a different pattern. It is possible to convert the single bond described above into 41 separate zero-coupon bonds. (A zero-coupon bond is one without an explicit interest rate and no payments before maturity.) The resulting bonds are called STRIPS (Separate Trading of Interest and Principal of Securities). The reverse transaction––converting separate bonds into a coupon bond—is referred to as a RECON, or reconstitution of the security. This transaction has been compared to going to the bank and changing a dollar bill for four quarters. This transaction was done with the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed). Kidder made money on the business through fees and trading profits associated with the inventory of bonds it kept for transactions. As you might expect, there should be no profit in the transaction with the Fed. Although at first he struggled in his job, Jett was soon generating enormous profits and earning large bonuses. He was able to do this because of an error in the internal Kidder accounting system that recorded the transaction improperly. Because the error would eventually correct itself (as the interest payment date approached), Jett was forced to trade larger and larger volumes. At the time this was discovered, approximately 95 percent of Jett’s trades were with the Fed. Jett earned a bonus of $2 million in 1992 and $9 million in 1993, in addition to being named Kidder’s “Employee of the Year.” In 1994, Jett was generating in one month the profit he earned for the entire year in 1992 and Kidder executives began to investigate. Jett was fi red in April 1994 and GE was forced to take a $350 million pretax charge against earnings. Required a. Suppose you were Jett and you realized the accounting system used to record your performance was flawed. What steps would you take? b. Suppose that you are unable to convince your superiors that the accounting system is flawed (in other words, that it encourages individual actions not in the best interests of the company). What should you do? c. In his autobiography, Jack: Straight from the Gut, Jack Welch discusses the Kidder case and the differences between the GE and Kidder environments with respect to bonuses (page 221): Frankly, the bonus numbers knocked us off our pins when we saw them. At the time, GE’s total bonus pool was just under $100 million for the year for a company making $4 billion in profit. Kidder’s bonus pool was actually higher––at $140 million––for a company that was earning only one-twentieth of our income. How might the different business environments and industries lead to such a large difference in the amount of contingent-based (bonus) compensation? d. In the same autobiography, Welch compares the cultures of the two companies (page 225): The response of our business leaders to the crisis [the write-down of $350 million] was typical of the GE culture. Even though the books had closed on the quarter, many immediately offered to pitch in to cover the Kidder gap. Some said they could fi nd an extra $10 million, $20 million, and even $30 million from their businesses to offset the surprise. Though it was too late, their willingness to help was a dramtic contrast to the excuses I had been hearing from the Kidder people. (1) What does Welch mean when he says that GE’s business leaders offered to help by finding an extra $10 million, $20 million, and even $30 million to offset the surprise? (2) What would be alternative uses of the extra $10 (or $20 or $30) million in those businesses? (3) Would such help be ethical?
> Refer to the information in Exercise 8-34. In Exercise 8-34 Assume that El Paso Corporation provides you with the following information for one of its department’s operations for September (no new material is added in Department B): WIP inventory—Depar
> Assume that El Paso Corporation provides you with the following information for one of its department’s operations for September (no new material is added in Department B): WIP inventory—Department B Beginning inventory (7,500 units, 20% complete with r
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-30. Compute the cost of goods transferred out and the cost of ending inventory using the FIFO method. Is the ending inventory higher or lower under the weighted-average method compared to FIFO? Why? In Exercise 8-30 Pacif
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-30. Compute the cost per equivalent unit for direct materials and for conversion costs using the FIFO method. In Exercise 8-30 Pacific Ink had beginning work-in-process inventory of $744,960 on October 1. Of this amount,
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-30. Compute the costs of goods transferred out and the ending inventory using the weighted-average method. In Exercise 8-30 Pacific Ink had beginning work-in-process inventory of $744,960 on October 1. Of this amount, $30
> Pacific Ink had beginning work-in-process inventory of $744,960 on October 1. Of this amount, $304,920 was the cost of direct materials and $440,040 was the cost of conversion. The 48,000 units in the beginning inventory were 30 percent complete with res
> Refer to the data in Exercises 8-26 and 8-28. Compute the cost of goods transferred out and the ending inventory using the FIFO method. In Exercises 8-26 and 8-28 The Matsui Lubricants plant uses the weighted-average method to account for its work-in-pr
> A manufacturing company has records of its activity during the month in work-in-process inventory and of its ending work-in-process inventory; however, the record of its beginning inventory has been lost. What data are needed to compute the beginning inv
> Using the data in Exercise 8-26, compute the cost per equivalent unit for direct materials and for conversion costs using the FIFO method. In Exercises 8-26 The Matsui Lubricants plant uses the weighted-average method to account for its work-in-process
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-26. Compute the cost of goods transferred out and the ending inventory using the weighted-average method. In Exercises 8-26 The Matsui Lubricants plant uses the weighted-average method to account for its work-in-process i
> The Matsui Lubricants plant uses the weighted-average method to account for its work-in process inventories. The accounting records show the following information for a particular day: Beginning WIP inventory Direct materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-24. Cost data for April show the following: Beginning WIP inventory Direct materials costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 24,300 Conversion costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,700 Current period costs Direct
> Materials are added at the beginning of the production process at Santiago Company, which uses a FIFO process costing system. The following information on the physical flow of units is available for the month of April: Beginning work in process (40% com
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-22. In Exercise 8-22. The following information pertains to the Davenport plant for the month of May (all materials are added at the beginning of the process): Required Compute the cost per equivalent unit for materials
> The following information pertains to the Davenport plant for the month of May (all materials are added at the beginning of the process): Required Compute the cost per equivalent unit for materials using the weighted-average method. Units Material
> Delhi, Inc., seeks your assistance in developing cash and other budget information for August, September, and October. At July 31, the company had cash of $22,000, accounts receivable of $1,748,000, inventories of $1,237,600, and accounts payable of $532
> Capstone Corporation has just received its sales expense report for January, which follows. Item _____________________Amount Sales commissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $121,500 Sales staff salaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,800 Te
> Lotus Fixtures, Inc. (LFI), manufactures steel fittings. Each fitting requires both steel and an alloy that allows the fitting to be used under extreme conditions. The following data apply to the production of the fittings: Direct materials per unit 2 po
> Refer to the data in Problem 13-42. Estimate the cash from operations expected in year 2. In Problem 13-42 Cameron Parts has the following data from year 1 operations, which are to be used for developing year 2 budget estimates: Sales revenue (12,500 un
> Refer to the data in Problem 13-40. Estimate the cash from operations expected in year 2. In Problem 13-40 The following information is available for year 1 for Dancer Components: Sales revenue (300,000 units) . . . . . . $5,700,000 Manufacturing costs
> Bay Area Limos operates transportation services to Bay City airport. The price of service is fixed at a flat rate for each trip and most costs of providing the service are fixed for each trip. Betty Smith, the owner, forecasts income by estimating two fa
> Sanjana’s Sweet Shoppe operates on the boardwalk of a New England coastal town. The store only opens for the summer season and the business is heavily dependent on the weather and the economy in addition to new competition. Sanjana Swee
> Elizabeth Jablonski is the director of Research and Development for Galaxy Electronics. Last week, she submitted the following funding request as part of the annual budget process. Project ___________________Funding Request 1. Portable audio project . .
> Bears, Inc., adds materials at the beginning of the process in Department MO. The following information on physical units for Department MO for the month of July is available: Work in process, July 1 (75% complete with respect to conversion). . . . . .
> The controller of Northwest Hardware has just received two forecasts for sales in the Montana District for the coming year. Based on an econometric analysis of consumer spending and economic trends, a marketing research firm estimates sales of $1 million
> BK Consulting is a management consulting fi rm. Other than the senior leadership (who manage the firm, but do not actively consult), the managers and staff are billed to clients on an hourly basis. The workload varies quite a bit from month to month requ
> Carreras Café is a Spanish restaurant in a college town. The owner expects that the number of meals served in June will be 40 percent below those served in May, because so many students leave for the summer. In May, the restaurant served 4,200 meals at a
> Rhodes, Inc., is a fast-growing start-up firm that manufactures bicycles. The following income statement is available for July: Sales revenue (200 units @ $500 per unit) . . . . $100,000 Less Manufacturing costs Variable costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Refer to the data in Exercise 13-31. Varmit-B-Gone estimates that the number of subscribers in September should fall 10 percent below August levels, and the number of service calls per subscriber should decrease by an estimated 20 percent. The following
> Varmit-B-Gone is a pest control service that operates in a suburban neighborhood. The company attempts to make service calls at least once a month to all homes that subscribe to its service. It makes more frequent calls during the summer. The number of s
> Scare-2-B-U (S2BU) specializes in costumes for all occasions. The average price of each of its costumes is $240. For each occasion, S2BU receives a 20 percent deposit two months before the occasion, 50 percent the month before, and the remainder on the d
> Nassau Products is preparing a cash budget for April. The following information on accounts receivable collections is available from past collection experience: Percent of current month’s sales collected this month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Duluth Company is preparing its cash budget for December. The following information is available concerning its accounts receivable: Estimated credit sales for December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000 Act
> Ashland Corporation, a merchandising fi rm, is preparing its cash budget for October. The following information is available concerning its inventories: Inventories at beginning of October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-18. In Exercise 8-18. Missouri Corporation shows the following information concerning the work in process at its plant: • Beginning inventory was partially complete (materials are 100 percent complete; conversion costs ar
> What are the characteristics of industries most likely to use process costing?
> White Products wishes to purchase goods in one month for sale in the next. On March 31, the company has 8,000 portable music players in stock, although sales for the next month (April) are estimated to total 8,600 players. Total sales of players are expe
> Westile Company buys plain ceramic tiles and prints different designs on them for souvenir and gift stores. It buys the tiles from a small company in Europe, so at all times it keeps on hand a stock equal to the tiles needed for three months’ sales. The
> The Casings Plant of Wyoming Machines makes plastics shells for the company’s calculators. (Each calculator requires one shell.) For each of the next two years, Wyoming expects to sell 160,000 calculators. The beginning finished goods inventory of shells
> Hamilton Corp. manufactures a component used in a popular gaming console. Demand has been strong and the executive staff at Hamilton is planning for next year. On October 1, they call you into a budgeting meeting where production plans are being reviewed
> The board of directors of the Cortez Beach Yacht Club (CBYC) is developing plans to acquire more equipment for lessons and rentals and to expand club facilities. The board plans to purchase about $50,000 of new equipment each year and wants to begin a fu
> When the fraud at PepsiCo occurred, the company had five somewhat diverse groups of divisions: food products, such as Frito-Lay, Inc.; transportation, such as northAmerican Van Lines, Inc.; sporting goods, such as Wilson Sporting Goods Co.; food service,
> Overview River Beverages is a food and soft drink company with worldwide operations. The company is organized into five regional divisions with each vice president reporting directly to the CEO, Cindy Wilkins. Each vice president has a Strategic Research
> An article in The Wall Street Journal indicated that dressmaker Fallo Me (name changed) backdated invoices to record revenue in the quarter before sales were actually made. As long as sales remained strong, the practice went undetected. When a recession
> Your company has a travel policy that reimburses employees for the “ordinary and necessary” costs of business travel. Employees often mix a business trip with pleasure by either extending the time at the destination or
> Paulista Corporation’s division managers have been expressing growing dissatisfaction with the methods the organization uses to measure division performance. Division operations are evaluated every quarter by comparing them with a budget prepared during
> Missouri Corporation shows the following information concerning the work in process at its plant: • Beginning inventory was partially complete (materials are 100 percent complete; conversion costs are 60 percent complete). • Started this month, 180,000 u
> Hall O’ Fame Products is a nationwide sporting goods manufacturer. The company operates with a widely based manufacturing and distribution system that has led to a highly decentralized management structure. Each division manager is resp
> SPG Company manufactures and sells metal products that are used in many manufacturing operations. The management at SPG believes strongly in decentralized decision making and using performance evaluation and compensation to encourage high-performing mana
> “We can’t drop our prices below $210 per hundred pounds,” exclaimed Greg Berman, manager of Forwarders, a division of Custom Freight Systems. “Our margins are already razor thin. Our
> Refer to Problem 15-41. Suppose Health Services could sell time on the machine to other companies in the area on a per-hour basis. Further, it can sell all the time available for $30 per hour. In Problem 15-41 CHS is a large multidivision fi rm. One div
> CHS is a large multidivision fi rm. One division, Health Services, is well known inside CHS for its efficient information technology (IT). A smaller division, Optics, has approached Health Services with a proposal that it provide IT support in the form o
> Refer to the data in Problem 15-39. At the end of the year, the following data are available on actual operations at the landfill. Volume of trash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,250 tons (400 loads) Preparation costs (per load) . . . . .
> Mathes Corporation manufactures paper products. The company operates a landfill, which it uses to dispose of nonhazardous trash. The trash is hauled from the two nearby manufacturing facilities in trucks that can carry up to five tons of trash in a load.
> Gage Corporation has two operating divisions in a semiautonomous organizational structure. Adams Division, located in the United States, produces a specialized electrical component that is an input to Bute Division, located in the south of England. Adams
> 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
> Refer to the data in Exercise 8-16. Assume that beginning inventory is 50 percent complete with respect to materials and 30 percent complete with respect to conversion costs. In Exercise 8-16. Clean Corporation manufactures liquid window cleaner. The fo
> Oriole, Inc. is a large consumer products company, which manufactures health and beauty products sold at grocery and drug stores throughout the country. One division, PS, does both manufacturing and shipping and operates a warehouse and transportation ac
> Cochise Corporation’s Southern Division is operating at capacity. It has been asked by Northern Division to supply it a thermal switch, which Southern sells to its regular customers for $60 each. Northern, which is operating at 70 percent capacity, is wi
> Skane Shipping Ltd. (SSL) operates a fleet of container ships in international trade between Sweden and Singapore. All of the shipping income (that is, that related to SSL’s ships) is deemed to be earned in Sweden. SSL also owns a dock facility in Singap
> Refer to the data in Problem 15-29. Division managers are evaluated using residual income using a 15 percent cost of capital. In Problem 15-29 Athena Company has two divisions. Spartan Division, which has an investment base of $8,400,000, produces and s
> Athena Company has two divisions. Spartan Division, which has an investment base of $8,400,000, produces and sells 450,000 units of a product at a market price of $28 per unit. Its variable costs total $8 per unit. The division also charges each unit $14
> Perth Corporation has two operating divisions, a casino and a hotel. The two divisions meet the requirements for segment disclosures. Before transactions between the two divisions are considered, revenues and costs are as follows: The casino and the ho
> Leapin’ Larry’s Pre-Owned Cars has two divisions, Operations and Financing. Operations is responsible for selling Larry’s inventory as quickly as possible and purchasing cars for future sale. Financing Division takes loan applications and packages loans
> Refer to the information in Exercise 15-25. Suppose Manufacturing is located in Country A with a tax rate of 60% and Assembly in Country B with a tax rate of 40%. All other facts remain the same. In Exercise 15-25 Mountain Industries operates a Manufact
> Mountain Industries operates a Manufacturing Division and an Assembly Division. Both divisions are evaluated as profit centers. Assembly buys components from Manufacturing and assembles them for sale. Manufacturing sells many components to third parties
> Refer to the data in Exercise 15–17. Suppose that Government Division will charge the client interested in implementing an activity-based costing system by the hour based on cost plus a fixed fee, where the cost is primarily the consultant’s hourly pay.
> Clean Corporation manufactures liquid window cleaner. The following information concerns its work in process: • Beginning inventory, 12,000 partially complete gallons. • Transferred out, 63,000 gallons. • Ending inventory (materials are 20 percent comple
> Trans Atlantic Metals has two operating divisions. Its forging operation in Finland forges raw metal, cuts it, and then ships it to the United States where the company’s Gear Division uses the metal to produce finished gears. Operating expenses amount to
> Carmen Seville and Don Turco jointly own Bright Green Temp Services (BGTS). Carmen owns 60 percent and Don owns 40 percent. The company provides temporary clerical services at a rate of $40 per hour. During the past year, its clients used 14,000 hours of
> Seattle Transit Ltd. operates a local mass transit system. The transit authority is a state governmental agency. It has an agreement with the state government to provide rides to senior citizens for 50 cents per trip. The government will reimburse Seattl
> Division A offers its product to outside markets for $60. It incurs variable costs of $22 per unit and fixed costs of $75,000 per month based on monthly production of 4,000 units. Division B can acquire the product from an alternate supplier for $62 per
> A company permits its decentralized units to “lease” space to one another. Uptown Division has leased some of its idle warehouse space to Downtown Division for $60 per square foot per month. Recently, Uptown obtained a new five-year contract, which will
> Mississippi Company has two decentralized divisions, Illinois and Iowa. Illinois always has purchased certain units from Iowa at $60 per unit. Because Iowa plans to raise the price to $80 per unit, Illinois is considering buying these units from outside
> Best Practices, Inc., is a management consulting fi rm. Its Corporate Division advises private firms on the adoption and use of cost management systems. Government Division consults with state and local governments. Government Division has a client that
> In what ways is transfer pricing like cost allocation? In what ways is it different?
> When setting a transfer price for goods that are sold across international boundaries, what factors should management consider?
> How does the choice of a transfer price affect the operating profits of both segments involved in an intracompany transfer? Why is the choice of a transfer price important if the total profits of the firm are unaffected by this choice?
> Would process costing work well for a service firm? Why or why not?
> Alpha Division and Beta Division are both profit centers. Alpha has no external markets for its one product, an electrical component. Beta uses the component but cannot purchase it from any other source. What transfer pricing system would you recommend f
> What should an effective transfer pricing system accomplish in a decentralized organization?
> What is the general transfer pricing rule? What is the transfer price that results from this rule when: a. There is a perfect market for the product? b. The selling division is operating below capacity?
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of a negotiated transfer price system?
> What is the basis for choosing between actual and standard costs for cost-based transfer pricing?
> When would you advise a firm to use prices other than market prices for interdivisional transfers?
> When would you advise a firm to use direct intervention to set transfer prices? What are the disadvantages of such a practice?
> What are the limitations of market-based transfer prices? What are the limitations of cost-based transfer prices?
> Assume that all of the information is the same as in Integrative Case 15-43, but instead of receiving only one outside bid, Logistics receives two. The new bid is from World Services for $195 per hundred pounds. World has offered to use Air Cargo for tra
> By using economic value-added, we avoid managers focusing on short-term gains like they would with accounting income. Do you agree with this statement?
> When using the weighted-average method of process costing, total equivalent units produced for a given period equal: a. The number of units started and completed during the period plus the number of units in beginning work in process plus the number of u
> “If every division manager maximizes divisional income, we will maximize firm income. Therefore, divisional income is the best performance measure.” Comment.
> A company prepares the master budget by taking each division manager’s estimate of revenues and costs for the coming period and entering the data into the budget without adjustment. At the end of the year, division managers are given a bonus if their act
> What are the dangers of using only business unit measures to evaluate the performance of business unit managers?
> How does EVA differ from residual income?
> What are the advantages of using an ROI-type measure rather than the absolute value of division profits as a performance evaluation technique for business units?
> By using economic value-added, we avoid managers focusing on short-term gains like they would with accounting income. Do you agree with this statement?
> “If every division manager maximizes divisional income, we will maximize firm income. Therefore, divisional income is the best performance measure.” Comment.
> A company prepares the master budget by taking each division manager’s estimate of revenues and costs for the coming period and entering the data into the budget without adjustment. At the end of the year, division managers are given a bonus if their act
> What are the dangers of using only business unit measures to evaluate the performance of business unit managers?
> How does EVA differ from residual income?
