Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The Vision And Purpose Of A Starting Entrepreneur
The Vision and Purpose The vision of a starting entrepreneur is to purchase an ecommerce system to help market her virtual thrift store targeting women between the ages of 15 through 60. The store will offer fashionable and affordable clothing, costume jewelry, shoes, purses, scarves and purses. The entrepreneur read the ââ¬Å"11 Common Ecommerce Mistakes -- and How to Fix Themâ⬠by Jennifer Lonoff Schiff and wants to take her advice. Following the majority of the instructions provided by Lonoffââ¬â¢s article the thrift store owner would like to act upon 9 out of 11 key check marks. She wants to focus on the following: a secure ecommerce site protected by HTTPS, seamless site navigation, good quality product images, add product descriptions, a very easy and fast check out process, multiple carrier options, a mobile optimized version of the site, to make the content sharable on social media and having visible contact us information. The purpose of this paper is to explore a world of ecommerce platf orms and to choose one that satisfies all of the ownerââ¬â¢s needs. The Challenge One of the major tasks this aspiring entrepreneur has to focus on before launching her new business is to find the absolute best information system technology available. Business owners should know exactly what they want their IS platform to do for them before they unveil their business to customers. Clarity and trust on their vision will help select the appropriate tools. However, when an entrepreneur creates aShow MoreRelatedThe Practice Of Entrepreneurship Through Time And The Global Enterprise1642 Words à |à 7 Pagestime and resources, and vision with the overarching goal of holistic success and autonomy (Arthur Hisrich, 2011). The entrepreneur exudes behaviors which foster initiative, orchestrate options, and accept responsibility for the success or failure (Arthur Hisrich, 2011). Entrepreneurship has transformed the global marketplace and imprinted all disciplines. Therefore, a balanced discussion on identifying features, characteristics, and venues of consequence for an e ntrepreneur will drive the directionRead MoreMarketing Plan For A Global Business Essay1585 Words à |à 7 Pages The following are some of those advantages: managers and entrepreneurs have access to a larger talent pool for possible employment; natural resources are abundant both labor and supply; the possibility for growth is enhanced; and with that comes the possibility for increased profit. In order for entrepreneurs and managers to reap the benefits of a global business, they must first structure a business plan based on their strategic vision to incorporate a more globally focused business process. Read MoreAnalysis Of The Book Art Of The Start 2.0 1535 Words à |à 7 PagesEven the thought of starting a business one day and investing your time and money to see all the efforts burn to the ground paralyzes many from pursuing their dreams. Everyone has at least one brilliant idea in them that if they were equipped and felt confident in pursuing it, it could certainly change their lives and the world. So why donââ¬â¢t people do it? Maybe itââ¬â¢s just that. Many people donââ¬â¢t know where to begin when it comes to starting a business. Guy Kawasaki, author of ââ¬Å"Art of the Start 2.0â⬠Read MoreMy Interest in Studying Entrepreneurship835 Words à |à 4 Pagesearly age with entrepreneurship with the express purpose of ensuring that innovation and entrepreneurship will thrive in the future (Mark). I want to become a successful entrepreneur because it has always been a dream of mine to become self-employed. I believe I have the leadership, passion, courage, vision, and persistence to start my own business and be successful. The corporate landscape is ever-changing, presenting new challenges for entrepreneurs (Hanna, 2012). According to Lisa Mitchell, ViceRead MorePersonal Statement : Personal Business Plan1532 Words à |à 7 PagesMission Statement: As a graduate student in Electrical Engineering and having a business background in my family, becoming an entrepreneur and starting a new venture has always been my ultimate dream. Becoming an entrepreneur requires resilience, self-reliance, focus and vision, ability to handle pressure during the lows, positive approach towards every idea. As an entrepreneur, I have the ability to withstand every stone thrown at me and I can convert them into milestones. I am planning a startup ventureRead MorePrinciples Of Business Management Assignment Unit One1231 Words à |à 5 Pagessuggests that mobilizing others to need to moved toward a typical goal. According to Pedraz, J. (2014), ââ¬Å"An economical leader can be a one who creates an exalting vision of the future, Motivates and urges up people to act thereupon vision, Manages delivery of the vision, and Coaches and builds a team, so as that it s easier at achieving the vision. Leadership brings conjointly on the abilities needed to do to try to these itemsâ⬠. Nice leaders facilitate build organizationââ¬â¢s human capital than inspiringRead MoreLeadership Theories And Philosophies Of Case, Kouzes, And Drucker1689 Words à |à 7 PagesDrucker including how their principles/strategies relate to the new definition of entrepreneurial leadership. I will discuss my leadership style and how it compares to the leadership theories discussed. In addition, I will discuss how as a new entrepreneur I would use the resources available through the U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE. Finally, I will explain what personal principles of leadership I would create and the reasoning behind those principles. Common Elements, TheoriesRead MoreInnovation, Entrepreneurship, And Innovation1559 Words à |à 7 PagesInnovation, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship 2 INTRODUCTION Innovation, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship is bringing your vision, creativity to life while building something of value that customers are willing to pay for. Bill Aulet, managing director in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT, lectures on IDEs ââ¬Å"innovation-driven enterprisesâ⬠, high growth potential and competitive advantage thatRead MoreInnocent Drinks : A Company1294 Words à |à 6 Pagesmillion, but still had control over the company. However, in April 2010 Coca-Cola increased their stake in the company from 18% to 58% for around à £65 million. Then again in February 2013 Coca-Cola increased the stake to over 90% leaving the three entrepreneurs with little minority holding. Success: After a successful turn out at a festival in London, Innocent drinks are the number one smoothie drink in the Uk with a turnover of more than à £60 million, this is due to the entrepreneurââ¬â¢s ambition and goodRead MoreHow to Start and Manage a Successful Business1627 Words à |à 7 Pagesan aspiring entrepreneur that wants to start a new business, they have to make sure that they have a well thought out business plan. Planning is the most critical part of the process because it sets the stage for success. The first step involves a personal evaluation of readiness, motivation, and commitment. In consideration of the high failure rates of new businesses, there are no guarantees. Therefore, thorough evaluation of oneself is necessary to determine if being an entrepreneur is the right
Serial Murder free essay sample
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder as ââ¬Å"three or more separate events in three or more separate locations with a cooling off between homicidesâ⬠(Douglas, Burgess, Burgess Ressler, 1992). The FBI definition however, makes no allowance for killers such as Jeffery Dahmer, who murdered all of his victims in the same place. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) published a broader definition in 1988, describing serial murder as ââ¬Å"a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always by one offender acting alone.The crimes may occur over a period of time ranging from hours to yearsâ⬠(Newton, 2006). High profile investigations such as serial murder present multiple challenges for law enforcement. Identification of a homicide as a series presents the largest challenge. In the past, the first indication that a serial murder was at work was when more than one homicide could be linked through forensics or behavioral evidence. We will write a custom essay sample on Serial Murder or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Due to extensive media coverage of high profile cases involving low risk victims, a homicide as a series has become easier to identify.In contrast, identifying a series involving high risk victims in multiple jurisdictions is much more difficult. This is primarily due to the victims high risk lifestyle and their transient nature. Lack of communication between the different law enforcement agencies and their different types of record management can also play a huge par in linking cases to a common offender. UNIT 4 3 While offenders in the United States account for 85 percent of all serial killers who have been indentified, such crimes have never been restricted to the United States (Newton, 2006).Police in Rostov, Russia faced a serious problem in the 1980s. The city was home to a killer who kidnapped girls and boys alike from local railroad depots. Detectives had no clue as to his identity. He became known as ââ¬Å"The Rostov Ripperâ⬠. Further hampering the detectives were the tenets of Soviet Communism with Russiaââ¬â¢s conversion to a socialist state in 1917. This had created a ââ¬Å"workers paradise,â⬠in which no major crimes occurred. Because of the existence of a ââ¬Å"Western-typeâ⬠killer embarrassed communist leaders, police had to search for him secretly, without alerting the public (Newton, 2006).The police could not even admit there was a serial killer. It took 10 years and 53 lives before they caught him. Arrested on November 20, 1990, Andrei Chikatilo confessed to 53 separate murders. Profiling is a matter of research and educated guesswork. In the beginning of the 1980s, the FBIs Behavior Science Unit ââ¬â Now called Investigative Support Services ââ¬â interviewed dozens of serial killers in prison. They collected background information, motives, their selection of victims and methods used to kill. The end result was a classification of killers into two categories or groups, organized and disorganized. The FBI soon realized that their system of classification did not cover all serial murders so, they added a third category for mixed offenders. Ted Bundy is a prime example of a mixed offender. Former FBI agent, John Douglas is Americaââ¬â¢s best known profiler. Douglas profiled hundreds of unsubs during his 18 years at Quantico. In his various books, he presented profiling as a great success.However, in fact, when all the details of the case are analyzed, profiles are remarkably accurate but, they rarely, if UNIT 4 4 ever produce an arrest. Unlike CSI, Criminal Minds and, all the hard work by Douglas and his successors, it remains up to the local police to collect evidence and link it to a suspect. In May 1985, the FBI introduced its computerized Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP). The system was designed to link unsolved crimes by collecting signature details from thousands of cases nationwide.To make the system work however, homicide detectives must fill out a questionnaire describing every detail of a crime and then submit it to the FBI for analysis. While VICAP has been useful in linking certain unsolved crimes, no killers have been caught by the system. Canada launched a new program in 1993, the Violent Crime Analysis Linkage System (ViCLAS). Since its inception, it has warned Canadian law enforcement to 20 active serial killers. Homicide investigators in Australia, Austria, China, and Sweden, as well as several U. S. states use ViCLAS.Serial killings are rare, probably less than one percent of all murders (NCAVC, 2005). They do however receive a lot of attention. We see it in the news, read it in the papers and, pay to see it on the big screen. Unfortunately, a lot of the information we the public see is wrong. Yet, the public, the media, and yes, even law enforcement who have limited experience with serial murder believe what they see and hear. This information can hinder an investigation. According to experts, there is no common thread tying several killers together. No single cause, no single motive, no single profile
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Cultural Differences between China and Europe
Question: Describe about cultural differences between China and Europe? Answer: Introduction: Globalization has become a major trend of the business environment, with companies looking for opportunities to enter global markets. Globalization is a worldwide faction towards , financial, trade and economic infrastructure integration. International Business is a name given to the business conducted by the companies or corporations in the universal market. International business needs more business insight than directing a home company. Economic Globalisation is the incorporation of national economy with the international economy with the help of trade, capital flows, migration foreign direct investment, and extend of technology. International Human Resource Management: Globalization has become essential to the companies around the globe; they also understand that one of the most important elements of globalization is the ground of Human Resource Management. Taking the very concept of globalization in mind, one may wonder how Human Resource management can be internationalized. The role of international HR professionals is to apply the basic concepts of human resource management globally. The last decade saw the initiation of internet and e-commerce, which has alleviated the flow of goods and services. This has initiated the rate at which internalization has impacted the role of Human Resource Management. It has already unlocked new opportunities for the liberation of international Human Resource services. The human resource practices and policies determine important aspects of organizations functions and activities. It can determine the degree to which Multi National Enterprises can become geocentric, polycentric or ethnocentric. In ethnocentric Mul ti National Corporations, the HR policies and practices are intended and developed at their head quarters and then practiced all around the world. The HR managers and Expatriates belong to the parent country but strategic decisions, as well as that pertaining to Human Resources in geocentric or Multinational companies are actually taken regardless of geographic boundaries. These HR policies and practices are intended and developed from inputs all around the globe. Since many years, much of the literature of International Human resource management has focused on the issues related to expatriation. The expatriates are sent like corporate missionaries, by the headquarter around the world to their various branches in different countries for various other functions. They provide managerial or technical expertise and assist to control operations. They also develop the regional offices as well as their branches. The ever-changing issues of expatriates are a matter of huge concern for the B usiness corporations and thus the role of IHRM is important in solving such issues. The Human Resource managers also focus on solving the problems that involves the repatriates i.e. the returning expatriates The difference in the cultures of both the nations i.e. China and France varies like the sky and the earth. The cultures of east and the west have differed from centuries. So working in such a unfamiliar culture is very difficult for both the countries. When the culture differs, everything differs. It is a union of two nations and without the support of China, it is impossible for France to settle its business there. The expatriate officials have to know all the nook and corner of the Chinese culture, their attitudes and behavior. In order to acquire the Chinese market the company will have to train its employees in such a way that they acclimatize themselves in the host offices (Westermark, 2013). Cultural Differences between China and Europe: China is one of the worlds largest and most appealing markets, and as it prolongs to become a more alluring target for foreign investment, businessperson and investors are gathering in the country to take advantage of earning money in such high potential market. The cultural differences between China and Europe are huge and it can affect the business largely (Werner, Schuler and Jackson, 2012). Customs: The customs of china and the custom of Europe differ largely. The international human resource management team of the company should consider all the cultural barriers before employing people. The knowledge of the custom is also a very important fact for consideration for the strategic management team. The strategic management team will create strategies that would best fit into the organization (Werner, Schuler and Jackson, 2012) . The language barrier: The barrier of the communication is the biggest barrier that can appear in the functions of a business. The company will have to take into consideration this barrier. This barrier has impact over the working of the company in the host country especially when the company has taken into consideration for a polycentric approach. The polycentric approach has a motto to revolve around the host country. A polycentric orientation keeps in mind the functioning of the host country, their cultural attributes, traditions, laws etc (Torrington, 2011). The cultural barrier: The difference in the cultures of both the nations i.e. China and France varies like the sky and the earth. The cultures of east and the west have differed from centuries. So working in such a unfamiliar culture is very difficult for both the countries. When the culture differs, everything differs. It is a union of two nations and without the support of China, it is impossible for France to settle its business there. The expatriate officials have to know all the nook and corner of the Chinese culture, their attitudes and behaviour (Stone, 2011). In order to acquire the Chinese market the company will have to train its employees in such a way that they acclimatize themselves in the host offices (Sistare, Shiplett and Buss, 2009). The significance on Human resource management: The human resource management team will have to work towards achieving a global platform. Costabucks will have to hire employees from China. A team of human resource management will have to work on the people to be employed in China and the employees who will be expatriate. The global arena where the company will have to play is huge. The contribution of human resource management will have to be very relevant to the business strategies of the company. The human resource management strategies will have to comply with the company policies. The laws and political situation in China will affect a lot in maintaining a strategic human resource management. The main strategies that the human resource management team will play will be in the area of selection and training of the expatriates (Sehoole and Knight, 2013). The expatriates would act as a bridge between the home company and the host company-. However, the officials of the headquarters w ill do the selection, management and training of the employees for Chinese market. The responsibilities of the human resource management team will increase to a great deal. It will have create a team of highly professional international human resource management experts. These experts will strategically apply all the human resource policies complying to the laws and regulation of the country. The officials will have to see to it that the human resource policies best suit the company and the employees. The whole performance of the international human resource management will have to be very fine (Ryan, n.d.). The approach of the company: The Company should have an orientation that is Polycentric. Polycentric orientation approach has an attitude that oriented by the host country. Polycentric orientation reflects host country`s aim and objectives keeping in mind various managerial strategies and planning and international goals. In a polycentric perspective, a companys management team believes that in Global business practices the preference of local people are found appropriate to function in the local market. In the tremendous outlook of polycentrism, an approach believes that culture of all the countries is different and hence the foreigners find it difficult to understand and it should be left on them until they earn the same level of profit. However, there is huge benefit in captivating into consideration local preferences and tastes in the host country when it comes to international business practices, a polycentric approach have its difficulties when implemented which meet the host countries criteria. The market ing of the products are organized on a nation wise basis, and marketing research is conducted separately in all the countries. Management is not able to control the corporation in the host country because local citizens have a better apprehension and consciousness of national market conditions much more than home office employees. This is precise in several characteristic of the products delivery including pricing, market research, customer relationship and services and well-being, and channels of distribution. Hence, the control in the host countries practices is lost, and the corporation is obliged to manage its functions from the outside. Local citizens occupy almost all of the key posts in their individual local subsidiaries, and they employ and develop their own people. The benefits of employing Polycentrism are: Exploitation of the international market: The international market has many opportunities. If Costabucks expands its market in China with a polycentric orientation, then it is likely that the people of China embrace the product with positive attitude. Sales maximization: The company is likely to achieve a good share of sales because the company would have information and awareness of the local market. The trends in the local market are an important area of consideration (Price and Price, 2011). Products as per the local needs: China is the largest populated country of the world. They are very traditional and they have their own choices and preferences. China is the mother of Tea production in the world. People of China prefer tea to coffee. So the survival of coffee in such a market is difficult until the products are Chinese. The products have to be very precise in nature. Support of the local government: Since the company has complied with all the needs of the local nationals the government of China will also help the company grow in the market. The company can enjoy lots of benefits from the local government (Parnell, 2014). Enthusiastic local employees: Chinese people like to work in a homely environment. If the company takes into consideration a local approach, then the company would see more happier faces. The employees will not have to comply with the international norms of functioning as done in the home country of the product. The expatriate employees: The concept of International Human Resource Management does not ignores the international projects. In fact, there are huge numbers of studies that analyzes the function that International human resource management plays in the multinational enterprises and how the organizations selects, develops, compensate, and invent the professional careers of the employees who expatriate. There are situations like political risk. It happens when there is high risk that a political function could change the chances of profitability of a given investment. There also exists a cultural risk ,when there is a huge cultural gap between the hub and the subsidiary. Costabucks can select and send expatriates. These expatriates will assist the central organization to comprehend local atmosphere and to control the subsidiary functions. The job of these employees would be to represent the concern of the home company and to supplement channels of communication, and to work as intermediates among the hub and t he subsidiary (Mondy and Mondy, 2012). The issues that the expatriates face in the host countries: 1. Communication: When working in China being a foreign resident, the most common issue that an expatriate faces is that of language. The Chinese mostly speak mandarin and which is one of the toughest language any European person would find. The Chinese are very traditional in their approach and do not tend to speak in any other language other than Mandarin. They find it difficult to speak in English and also they are not much welcoming towards English language too. Recently Mark Zuckerberg spoke in Mandarin at the University of Zheng Zou and promoted the need of internet connectivity and his company Facebook. It left a huge impact on the people of China when they saw the youngest billionaire of the world speaking mandarin (Lamb et al., 2004).2. Socializing with the employeesThe importance of socializing with the co-employees is very important job for an expatriate. The expatriates will have to become very friendly with the local employees. The expatriate will have to behave very for mally and try to mingle with the employees. This is the only way to find the internal stories within the company. The attitudes of the employees have to be very familiar and he shall not behave like an alien to them. Its tough to understand the work and social ethics of the people of China. They are traditional in nature and the expatriate should keep in mind that he does not hurts the sentiments of the local people.3. The Law:The expatriate officer must understand the legal affairs of the country. Without knowing the laws a company cannot operate in the host country. Understanding the laws and abiding by them is quint-essential job for an expatriate. The expatriates of the company have to understand that the laws of food and beverage industry vary in every country. The local marketers of China are tea growers and they will never let their market get ruin by foreign companies. The abidance of law is the foremost way to retain in such a market and occupy it. 4. The huge difference in Cultures: The difference in the cultures of both the nations i.e. China and France varies like the sky and the earth. The cultures of east and the west have differed from centuries. So working in such a unfamiliar culture is very difficult for both the countries. When the culture differs, everything differs. It is a union of two nations and without the support of China, it is impossible for France to settle its business there. The expatriate officials have to know all the nook and corner of the Chinese culture, their attitudes and behavior. In order to acquire the Chinese market the company will have to train its employees in such a way that they acclimatize themselves in the host offices. The selection and training of the expatriates: The selection of the expatriates has to be very careful because China is not like India that would welcome its foreign delegates and behave with them as possible as possible. The employees in China are rigid and very traditional and they do not tolerate the foreign behavior much. The selection of these employees would require to follow certain policies. This policies are: 1. Openness to other cultures: The selected employee will have to have an openness to learn and intermingle with the people of other cultures. The collectiveness attitude is a must. In fact the company should try to select people who already familiarity with the Chinese culture. A person with a degree in the mandarin language should be preferred.2. Problem solving attitude: the selected expatriated employee should have an attitude to solve the problems taking very less time. These problems may arise due to political or cultural differences. The expatriate should have the ability to understand them and solve them as soon as possible.3. Awareness of the laws of the host country: The expatriate must be aware of all the laws and norms of the host country. The laws of the country are very necessary and to carry them away appropriately is very important. Non-abidance of the law can root out Costabucks from the Chinese market.4. Awareness the culture: The awareness of the culture in a host country that too China is very important. Since the company has decided to behave like a polycentric company, it is very essential to know the cultural climate of the Nation. China is country that is very traditional in its approach the cultural awareness is very important for the home country. The expatriate behaves like a connection between the home office and the host office. Trainings can be provided to employees who are selected for being the expatriate.5. Selection of a host country but home country national to become an expatriate: It would be best if a Chinese person who lives in France is selected to become an expatriate. The employee can act as an agent in the host country and tackle the situation in the best possible manner. A Chinese employee would understand the law, the culture, the people and the consumer behavior too. Such an employee would best suit the situation. Conclusion: Conducting business in a country like china is a difficult task for any European country. The market of China is emerging like a booming market. Almost all the companies that manufactures has an operating unit in China. The Chinese people have a huge closeness towards their tradition and culture and there lies a huge difference between the cultures of China and other European Nations. The concept of international human resource management tries to employ the best employees from the host country. The Scope of international human resource management is very deep and is different from the traditional traditional human resource management. The international human resource management not just looks after all the basic functions of Human resource management but is also involved in the expatriation and repatriation of the employees. The sub-department of training and development has a lot of functions to perform. The expatriated employees have to be trained in many ways so that they best fi t into the host office. The issues of cultural differences are also huge and in such conditions the survival of the company totally depends on the best business strategies, best employees and their allocation at the right place. Bibliography: References Brewster, C. (2011). International human resource management. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.Briscoe, D., Schuler, R. and Claus, L. (2009). International human resource management. London: Routledge.Budhwar, P., Schuler, R. and Sparrow, P. (2009). International human resource management. London: SAGE.Byars, L. and Rue, L. (2011). Human resource management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.Dessler, G. (2013). Human resource management. Boston, Mass.: Pearson Education.Dessler, G. (2013). Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall.Dessler, G. (2013). Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall.Dessler, G. (n.d.). Human resource management.Entrekin, L. and Scott-Ladd, B. (2013). Human Resource Management. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.Evans, P., Pucik, V. and BjoÃÅ'Ãâ rkman, I. (2011). The global challenge. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.Harzing, A. and Pinnington, A. (2011). International human resource management. London: SAGE.Imbriani, C. and Morone, P. (2013). Knowledge, innovation and internationalisation. London: Routledge, Taylor Francis Group.Ivancevich, J. and Konopaske, R. (2013). Human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.Lamb, R., Shrivastava, P., Huff, A., Dutton, J., Baum, J., Sorenson, O., MacGahan, A., Dobrev, S., Witteloostuijn, A., Reuer, J., Tong, T., Rowley, T., Nickerson, J. and Silverman, B. (2004).Advances in strategic management.Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2012). Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall.Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2012). Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall.Parnell, J. (2014). Strategic management. Los Angeles: SAGE.Price, A. and Price, A. (2011). Human resource management. Andover: Cengage Learning.Ryan, J. (n.d.). Cross cultural teaching and learning for home and international students.Sehoole, M. and Knight, J. (2013). Internationalisation of African higher education. Rotterdam: Sense.Sistare, H., Shiplett, M. and Buss, T. (2009). Innovations in human resource management. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.Stone, R. (2011). Human resource management. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley.Torrington, D. (2011). Human resource management. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.Werner, S., Schuler, R. and Jackson, S. (2012). Human resource management. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.Werner, S., Schuler, R. and Jackson, S. (2012). Human resource management. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.Westermark, K. (2013). Proximity and learning in internationalisation. Stockholm: Stockholm University.
Impact of Financial Crisis in Economies â⬠Myassignmenthelp.Com
Questions: The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) is the most significant worldwide economic catastrophe since the Great Depression of 1929, sub-prime mortgage crisis is an example of financial crisis that affected global financial market worldwide. Give some other examples of financial crisis in your discussion below. Discuss the possible causes of the financial crisis. Do you think GFC could be repeated again? Discuss. Explain the scale and impact of financial crisis in economies of different countries including your own country, identify some of proposed reforms. Answers: Introduction In the project Global financial crisis will be reviewed. The causes of global financial crisis will be identified. Impact of financial crisis on different countries will be examined to comprehend the severity of the Global financial crisis. Chances of occurrence of global financial crisis will be discussed. Lastly, proposed reforms for the global financial crisis will be explained. Global Financial Crisis The financial crisis has become the topic of interest for the general public, academics and policymakers. The huge interest was created in the crisis due to specific features (CiHak, 2009). The features of the global financial crisis were: Firstly, the crisis was not ordinary considering its geographical reach and scale. The shocks of the financial crisis were great since the crisis of 1929. It has virtually affected the economies of the world (Canstar, 2014). Secondly, the impact of crisis was witnessed in the advanced economies unlike the earlier financial crises which have impacted the emerging and developed countries. The empirical literature has focused on the crisis of emerging and developing countries. The literature related to the impact on developed and advanced countries is scarce. Lastly, the crisis was remarkable in terms of multiplicity and complexity of the contagion channel. The shock waves of financial crisis transmitted instantly from one country to another country, from one institution to another institution, and from one market to another market via channels that have been prominent a few years ago or did not exist. Earlier financial crisis were confined to the single economies only (CiHak, 2009). The financial crisis began in the year 2007 in the United States. It involved financial institutions of OECD countries. The Global Financial Crisis affected the financial system of the developed countries and the entire economy throughout the world. The impact on the other countries was evidenced when the financial crisis turned into the recession. The indirect effects on the developing countries were reported to be as severe as the direct effects were on the developed countries. After the Second World War, first recession was evidenced. The recession led to the reduction of world gross domestic product in the year 2009. In the year 2009, the GDP growth was reported to be lower by 5.8 percent in comparison to previous year 2007. The downturn was found to be same in the developing as well as in emerging countries. There was drastic fall in the GDP of countries constituting the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The GDP growth rate in CIS and CEE countries fall by 15.2 percent during the two year i.e. from 2007 to 2009. The figures in sub Sharan Africa and Lain America were 4.8 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. The countries having large current account surpluses or deficit and those having large fiscal deficit before the crisis were suffering chronic output losses in comparison to other countries. It was due to their condition becoming worse after the GFC. Growth rates in Asia plummeted by 4 percentage points during the year 2007 and 2009 (Dullien et al., 2010). Causes of Financial Crisis The global financial crisis is supposed to be impacting the low income countries (LIC) specifically in the Sub Sharan Africa. Urgent actions were required to be taken by the international community and LIC policymakers. The crisis was projected to augment the financial needs of the LICs in the year 2009 by at least US $25 billion. 26 LICs were found to be vulnerable due to the unfolding of crisis (CiHak, 2009). The major cause of global financial crisis that took place in September 2008 was because of the collapse of Lehman Brother. The banks stopped lending to each other virtually. The risk premium on the banks is witnessed to rise sharply to approx. 5 percent. Steps were taken by the authorities to infuse the liquidity in the market, but the damage was already done. The risk premium on the corporate bonds was even more to over 6 percent. Borrowing in the corporate sectors came to an end and large projects were discontinued, demand was falling specifically for the investment goods and for manufacturing products (McKibbin Stoeckel, 2009). Major causes of the financial crisis are as follows: Banks creating money from loans Whenever bank makes loan, the new money is created. Banks have created the massive sum of money by making loans in the markets. This way, banks ended up making more money in the market by loans. The money has increased the levels of debts on the people taking loan within the period of 7 years (ILO, 2011). Figure 1: Figure showing increasing debt in economy Source (Positive Money, 2016) It is evidenced from the figure 1 that money created by the banks has reached to 2213 billion Euros. There is increase in the debt with the increase in money made from loans. The total cash in 2014 was 67 billion euros which is less in comparison to the money created by banks (Positive Money, 2016). Use of money for pushing up house prices and speculating of financial markets Very small chunk of the trillion pounds went to business which was created during 2000 to 2007. The part of money used outside the financial sector was: House prices increased as 31 percent of money went to the residential property making house prices dearer than the wages. Office buildings and other business properties coming under commercial real estate have taken 20 percent Almost 32 percent was infused in the financial sector. These were the same financial market in which implosion took place during the crisis 8 percent of all the money was infused to businesses outside the financial factor Another 8 percent was utilized into personal loans and credit cards (Dullien et al., 2010) Figure 2: showing use of banks money (Positive Money, 2016) Debts became unpayable Practice of lending large sums of money into the property market spurs the prices of house. In addition to that, the increase is evidenced in the level of personal debt. Interest is charged on the amount of loan by the banks. Debts were more than the income of the people and they became unable to pay the debts. At this point, the banks stand at the verge of going to bankruptcy and people stop repaying their loans (IMF, 2009). These were some of the causes of the global financial crisis. Post the crisis banks became hesitate in lending their money to the households and businesses. The slowdown in the lending caused decrease in the prices of market. It indicated that those who have borrowed much in a bid to speculate on the higher prices will have to sell their assets for repaying the loans. Prices of houses plummeted and bubbles burst. Banks panicked with the scenario and slashed down the lending even further. Banks repay only when they are confident that the amount will be repaid. Since, banks were not sure that the amount will be repaid and so they confined their lending (Alcorta Nixson, 2011). Chances of Repetition of GFC Again The global financial crisis shook the world in 2007. The volatility of the market has been overcome and markets have become relatively stable (The Hindu, 2014). Major economies of the world are reporting positive growth rates in country. The probability of not encountering such a financial global crisis is just 13 percent as per the reports (Rimkus, 2015). The financial crisis can happen again but the structural reforms taken at that time can mitigate the damage. If financial crisis will take place in future again, central banks and government have to take remedial measures (Belvedere, 2015). Scale and Impact of Financial Crisis The crisis has been able to produce various impacts which are different in nature around the world. There are negative effects which are being reported across developing countries and these countries are victimized by financial crisis. Some of the problems which are noted by the dignitaries of United Nations are as follows: The rate of unemployment is increasing as the statistics in 2009 said that 50 million jobs were lost due to the international labor organization. There is more poverty and hunger in these developing countries. Retardation of the economic growth has been noted in these countries which have resulted into economic contraction. Negative impact on the balance of payments and trade balances has been seen. Fluctuating level of foreign investments have been noticed due to the crisis. Movements in exchange rates are volatile and large (Abreu et al., 2009). Budget deficits are increasing, tax revenues are depleting, the fiscal space has been reduced. A contraction has been experienced in the world trade rates. The volatility in the market has been increased and the prices of primary commodities have been decreased. Remittances have declined in terms for developing countries. The tourism revenues have been decreased to a depressing extent. The flow of private capital has been reversed (Mshana, 2009). The access to trade financing and credit system has decreased in the market. The public have lost confidence on the institutions of finance. Moreover, these conditions have raised a situation where basic needs of the public like health and education cannot be properly satisfied. Thus, there has been an increase in the mortality rate for infants and pregnant women. The housing sector has been collapsed and the debt levels of the man living in these countries are more than 150% of the GDP of the country. The situation has been calculated by the United Nations and an estimate of 2.6 percent fall in gross product is about to happen and it will be the first decline of gross product after the Second World War. Further, the crisis would have a great impact on the human development and other developments as well (UN, 2016). The debts have risen and millions of people across the globe are losing their livelihood such as their jobs, homes and income. There has been estimation from the world that nearly 50 million of the world population has lost their job and their livelihood and have been put into extreme poverty. Children and wom en are the major victims of this condition. The United Nations have figured out that this condition will cause a rise of an unnourished generation which will reach the historic count of nearly a billion. There would be more impact on the developing countries due to the crisis when compared to developed countries. The sad fact is that the countries who are suffering the most of the effect have not contributed to this condition. According to Martin Khor, 6 percent of the national income of a developing nation would be lost and there would be significant fall in the economy of those countries during financial crisis (Europe Commission, 2014). Proposed Reforms There are different alternate solutions which are being proposed by the wealthy nations such as the G20, United Nations, and civil society. The conference at the United Nations on June 2009 stated many proposals in which the G20 nations came up with a stimulus package and a proposal. The significance of the initiative taken by the United Nations is that it forced the participation of all the countries of the world in regards to the crisis in economy. The proposals are based upon the economic crisis and the way it is being used for. For example, the transformative proposals denote or address the aspects of structure related to crisis. The short term fixes in the crisis will be called as reformative proposals. The role of proposals is to have a substantial effect on the causes of crisis and it will concentrate on the requirement of a radical transformation in the financial architecture of the world with the help of other countries (EC, 2009). Conclusion The aim of the project will be to discuss about the chronicity of global financial crisis. Massive waves have been created by the recent financial crisis in the papers, books and articles. Many documents have been published by the central banks and other financial institutions demonstrating the policy response and turmoil in the world. The main causes identified are lending money by the bank and not getting the repayments. References Abreu, M.d.P. et al., 2009. The Effect of the World Financial Crisis on Developing Countries: An Initial Assessment. CIGI. Alcorta, L. Nixson, F., 2011. The Global Financial Crisis and the Developing World: Impact on and Implications for the Manufacturing Sector. United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Belvedere, M.J., 2015. Crisis will happen again, but not like 2008: Geithner. CNBC. Canstar, 2014. What caused it and how the world responded. Canstar. CiHak, M., 2009. Financial Crisis. Journal of Economics and Finance, 59(6), pp.502-07. Dullien, S., Kotte, D.J., Mrquez, A. Priewe, J., 2010. The Global and Financial Economic Crisis of 2008-2009 in developing countries. United Nations. EC, 2009. Impact of the current economic and financial crisis on potential output. European Commission. Europe Commission, 2014. Financial crisis: causes, policy esponses, future challenges. Europe Commission. ILO, 2011. The global crisis Causes, responses and Challenge. International Labour Organization. IMF, 2009. The Implications of the Global Financial Crisis for Low-Income Countries. International Monetary Fund. McKibbin, W.J. Stoeckel, A., 2009. The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences. Austrailian National University. Mshana, R.R., 2009. The Current Economic Crisis, its causes, its impact and possible alternatives. WCC. Positive Money, 2016. Financial Crisis Recessions. Positive Money. Rimkus, R., 2015. Are We Headed for Another Global Financial Crisis?. Enterprising Investor. The Hindu, 2014. Raghuram Rajan warns of another global financial crisis. The Hindu. UN, 2016. The effect of the financial crisis on the third world. United Nations.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
The slotting fee Essay Example
The slotting fee Paper In the financial report, Burns Philp, at the time of each acquisition, created a provision for rationalization. When restructuring cost was subsequently incurred, related expense was written off against the provision until the provisions were exhausted and, then, the expense was directly charged against the annual profit. This aggressive accounting treatment gave rise to problems as high restructure costs increased asset value in financial reporting despite uncertainty about the realization of the benefit in future. A slotting fee is an extra payment to supermarkets to ensure the availability of shelf space in supermarkets for the companys products. In aggressive competition with McCormick, Burns Philp paid substantial slotting fees to increase market share. Slotting payment contracts were often made for three or four years. In the first year, the relevant payment was charged directly against profit in that year. Meanwhile, the amount relating to subsequent years was capitalised in Other Assets which would be charged against profit in later years. According to AASB SAC4, expenses may be capitalized only when there is a reasonable expectation that future benefit will be realized to recover the amount. Otherwise, it is more appropriate to expense the total amount immediately. For Burns Philp, Large amounts of capitalised slotting fee were subsequently written off against profit in 1996($33. 9M) and 1997($136. 4M). Intangible assets valuation (1) Tradename asset valuation. VRC valued tradename assets using the relief from royalty method. We will write a custom essay sample on The slotting fee specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The slotting fee specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The slotting fee specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The valuer gets net profit in current year and assumes net profit from future years and then divides the royalty rate to calculate the royalty value in the current year and discount to the present value. One way to check the appropriate royalty rate is to see whether sufficient net profit has been derived from the use of a tradename to recover payment of the royalties in past years. Otherwise, the royalty rate should be adjusted to a lower level and the tradenames value should be written down. In the table above, the trend in these two rows was obviously not correlated. Another check focuses on calculating net profit. According VRC approach, the upfront slotting fees and the Ankeny restructuring costs which supported the achievement of long term strategy were not considered a relevant expense. With the poor performance in 1997, the cost was not recovered by long-term economic benefit and should appropriately be recognised as an expense. (2) Another issue is internally generated asset valuation. Regarding AASB1013, goodwill value is only recognised in financial reports when it is purchased. While when VRC valued the tradename, it included both purchased and internally developed tradenames. The consolidated value will make the value of tradenames overstated. As the tradename value of herbs and spices business was materially overvalued, it was written down by $435. 5M in 1997. Audit risk is the risk that the auditor may express an inappropriate opinion or accept financial information that is materially misstated. Audit risk is commonly assessed within three components. Inherent risk, control risk and detection risk.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Using Phrases to Impress College Admissions Officers
Using Phrases to Impress College Admissions OfficersYou may not think that you need a lot of essay samples to write an acceptable and interesting college-level essay. After all, you've got great ideas for paragraphs, and you can get by just fine with these alone. After all, you'll have a college admissions officer giving you advice and pointing out things you should change.But remember, this is a major decision, and you want it to be as easy as possible to answer the questions about your interests, your dreams, and what you're hoping to accomplish when you go to college. You want to give them nothing but information and hope that they'll see how important it is for you to get a good education. That's why you need to have several different paragraphs ready to go on paper for any college-level essay. For every college, you'll find one that is different in that you will be given a sample paragraph.You will find these samples for real college applications, online college essays, and busi ness essays. For the best results, you will want to write each paragraph after the essay writing software has been introduced. The writers should work at ease so they can put their own words in the proper order. Don't rush or make changes while they're still trying to get used to working without prompting.Even the top colleges are turning to the Internet to get their college admissions officers' attention and evaluate their prospective students. The main reason is that the potential for fraud has never been greater. Because so many people can now access the Internet, there are so many new and attractive opportunities for fraud. So these colleges are using the Internet as a tool to better judge the potential of students.When it comes to essays, many colleges and admissions officers are getting a lot more sophisticated in how they grade. In some ways, this is a positive thing. If you use the same essay writing software as the colleges do, you should be able to use the same style and o utline, and at least your sentences should be similar enough. This is important, since colleges have made it clear that they want you to come up with a great essay based on your personal experience.After you've written your first draft, it's time to test it and see if it would work for your college essay. You will need to add some of your own personal opinion and writing style into it, and this might take some adjusting. If you really want a good, competitive college essay, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make the necessary changes before the essay is due. While it might seem like the kids are getting all the praise, the attention is actually going to the college admissions officer.It's a good idea to not forget that the college admissions officer wants to read your personal essay. You need to realize that you have to impress them, and the kind of essay you write is going to determine whether you will have an excellent college experience or not. A great college educati on does not happen overnight. It's a journey that takes months, if not years, to complete.Remember that it's a good idea to start with as much detail as possible in the first paragraph, to get the student's ideas flowing. The rest of the paragraphs should be about expressing yourself and coming up with a thesis statement. Then, use your personal experiences to tell the story of why you're applying to college, and why your passions match the colleges' mission.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Siemens Electric Motor Works Essay Example
Siemens Electric Motor Works Paper Ten years ago our electric motor business was in real trouble. Low labor rates allowed the Eastern Bloc countries to sell standard motors at prices we were unable to match. We had become the high-cost producer in the industry. Consequently, we decided to change our strategy and become a specialty motor producer. Once we adopted our new strategy, we discovered that while our existing cost system was adequate for costing standard motors, it was giving us inaccurate information when we used it to cost specialty motors. Mr. Karl-Heinz Lottesââ¬âDirector of Business Operations, EMW SIEMENS CORPORATION Headquartered in Munich, Siemens AG, a producer of electrical and electronic products, was one of the worldââ¬â¢s largest corporations. Revenues totaled 51 billion deutschmarks (DM) in 1987, with roughly half this amount representing sales outside of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Siemens organization was split into seven major groups and five corporate divisions. The largest group, Energy and Automation, accounted for 24 percent of total revenues. Low wattage alternating current (A/C) motors were produced at the Electric Motor Works (EMW), which was part of the Manufacturing Industries Division of the Energy and Automation Group. High wattage motors were produced at another facility. THE ELECTRIC MOTOR WORKS Located in the small town of Bad Neustadt, the original Siemens EMW plant was built in 1939 to manufacture refrigerator motors for ââ¬Å"Volkskuhlschraenkeâ⬠(peopleââ¬â¢s refrigerators). Less than a year later, Mr. Siemens decided to halt the production of refrigerator motors and began to produce electric motors for other applications. We will write a custom essay sample on Siemens Electric Motor Works specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Siemens Electric Motor Works specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Siemens Electric Motor Works specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer At the end of World War II, the Bad Neustadt plant was the only Siemens factory in West Germany capable of producing electric motors. All the other Siemens production facilities had been completely destroyed or seized by Eastern Bloc countries. After an aggressive rebuilding program, Bad Neudstadt emerged as the firmââ¬â¢s primary producer of electric motors. Through the 1970s, WMW produced about 200 different types of standard motors, at a total annual volume of about 230,000 motors. Standard motors accounted for 80 percent of sales volumeââ¬âthe remaining 20 percent were customized motors. The production process was characterized by relatively long runs of a single type of motor. Because identical motors were used by a wide range of customers, standard motors were inventoried and shipped as orders were received. Production of standard A/C motors was extremely competitive. The key to success was to reduce costs so that the firm could price aggressively while making a profit. Despite a major expansion and automation program begun in 1974, by the early 1980s it had become obvious that the lower labor rates of the Eastern Bloc competitors gave them an insurmountable cost advantage. CHANGE IN STRATEGY An extensive study of EMWââ¬â¢s production capabilities and the market for electric motors indicated that EMW was in a position to become a profitable producer of low-volume, customized A/C motors. To help implement this strategy, the Bad Neustadt plant was enlarged and dedicated to the manufacture of A/C motors with power ratings ranging from 0. 06 to 18. 5 kilowatts. These motors supported a number of applications including automation engineering, machine tools, plastic processing, and paper and printing machines. For the new strategy to succeed, EMW needed to be able to manufacture efficiently a large variety of motors in small production runs. Between 1985 and 1988, EMW spent DM50 million a year to replace almost every machine on the shop floor and thereby create a production environment that could support its new strategy. By 1987, the production process was highly automated with numerically controlled machines, flexible machining centers, and robotically fed production processes used throughout the factory. Large-volume common components were manufactured using the appropriate automated equipment, whereas very low-volume components might be made in manual processes. Where possible, flexible manufacturing was used to produce small-volume specialty components. While a normal annual production volume for common components might be 100,000 units, a single component could have up to 10,000 custom variations that might have to be produced one at a time. To design a custom motor, modifications were made to a standard motor design. The process involved determining where standard components would not be used. These standard components were replaced by custom components that provided the functionality required by the customer. By 1987, the EMW strategy seemed to be successful. Of a total of 65,625 orders accepted, 90 percent were for custom motors. A total of 630,000 motors was produced (see Exhibit 1). Including all customized variations, Siemens EMW produced about 10,000 unique products that collectively required 30,000 different special components. Exhibit 1 Distribution of Orders Accepted for Production in 1987 Number of Motors3% 630,0009%99 motors44% 52,80014%20-99 motors31% 157,50026%5-19 motors13% 75,60048%2-4 motors7% 31,5001 motor5% Number of Orders65,625 CHANGE IN THE CALCULATION OF PRODUCT COSTS Beginning in 1926, EMW had used a product costing system. This system assigned material and labor costs directly to the products and divided overhead costs into three categories: material related, production related, and support related. Material-related overhead included costs associate d with material acquisition, and was allocated to products based on their direct materials cost. Production-related overhead was directly traced into production cost centers, and was allocated to products using either direct labor-hours or machine-hours, but not both. For more manually intensive machine classes, direct labor-hours was used; for machines whose operation required few direct labor-hours, machine-hours was used. In 1987, EMW used 600 cost centers, one per machine type. Support-related overhead was allocated to products based on the sum of direct material and direct labor costs, material overhead, and production overhead. The breakdown of each cost category as a percent of total costs was as follows: Percent of Total CostsBurden Rate Direct material29% Direct labor10 Material overhead25. 7% of material cost Production overhead33(600 different rates) Support-related overhead2635. 4% of manufacturing cost Two years after the change in strategy, problems with the traditional cost system became apparent. Managementââ¬â¢s concern with the traditional cost system was its inability to capture the relation between the increased support costs and the change in product mix. Under the traditional system, support costs were allocated to each motor based on its consumption of direct materials, direct labor, and either direct labor-hours or machine-hours. Management felt that most support costs were more closely related to the number of orders received or the number of internal factory orders for the customized components required by a specific model of motor. As shown in Exhibit 1, 74 percent of the orders accepted for production by EMW after the change in strategy were for fewer than five motors. This simultaneous increase in the number of orders and reduction in the average number of motors per order increased the load on the production support departments. An analysis of the way work was generated by orders in the shipping and handling, order processing, technical analysis of incoming orders, billing, and product costing departments indicated that the same resources were required to process an order for one motor as an order for 100 units of that motor. The increase in the number of products with special options similarly caused the production scheduling, purchasing, packaging, product development, and design departments to expand. An analysis of the way work was generated by special components in these departments indicated that it was not the total number of special components (i. e. , unique part numbers) in each motor design that determined the work load. For example, processing an order of 50 units of a custom motor with a design requiring 10 special components per unit generated the same amount of work as processing an order of only one unit of a custom motor also requiring 10 special components. For either order, 10 special components had to be processed. In 1987, EMW processed 65,625 customer orders. The motors produced to fill these orders required that 325,000 different batches of special components be processed. In total, over a million units of special components were produced in 1987. An extensive study was undertaken to identify the support costs that management believed were driven by processing customer orders and processing internal factory orders for special components. Part of each of the following departmentsââ¬â¢ costs was allocated to two new overhead cost pools: ?Costs Related to Customer Order Processing Billing Order Receiving Product Costing and Bidding Shipping Costs Related to Processing Orders for Special Components Inventory Handling Product Costing and Bidding Product Development Purchasing Receiving Scheduling and Production Control Technical Analysis of Incoming Orders Once these costs were identified they were removed from the former support-related cost pool and assigned to two new cost pools. Exhibit 2 illustrates the formation of the two process-or iented cost pools for 1987. The first column presents total costs grouped by traditional costing system definitions. To move to process-oriented costing (PROKASTA ), DM6. 3 million as removed from the engineering costs and DM27 million from administrative costs; these DM33. 3 million of costs were then assigned to the new cost pools, DM13. 8 million to order-processing costs and DM19. 5 million to special components costs. Exhibit 2 1987 Reconciliation Traditional Cost System to Process-Oriented Systems (thousands) TraditionalTransferredProcess-Oriented MaterialDM105,000DM105,000 Material overhead6,0006,000 Labor36,00036,000 Labor or machine overhead120,000120,000 Manufacturing cost267,000(74%)*267,000(74%) Engineering costs12,000DM(6,300)5,700 Tooling costs22,500022,500 Administrative costs60,000(27,000)33,000 Support-related cost*94,500(26%)(33,300)(9%)61,200(17%) Customer order-processing13,80013,800 Special components processing19,50019,500 Total costDM361,500DM 0DM361,500 * Percent of total cost. With process-oriented costing, the cost of the base motor from which the customized product was derived and the cost of each custom component was calculated using the traditional cost system but with the new, smaller support-related cost pool (see Exhibit 3). The two new cost elements (customer order and special component order processing) were then added. EFFECT OF THE MODIFIED COST SYSTEM In 1987, EMW received close to DM1 billion in orders, but accepted only DM450 million. Production volume ran at 115 percent of rated capacity. The product cost information generated by the redesigned system played an integral role in helping EMW managers determine which orders were profitable and should be accepted. Mr. Karl-Heinz Lottes, Director of Business Operations, commented on the role of the new cost system in helping to establish the new strategy: Without the redesigned system, our new strategy would have failed. With the information generated by the process-oriented cost system we can identify those orders we want to accept. While some orders we lose to competitors, most we turn down because they are not profitable. Anyone who wants to understand the importance of the PROKASTA system simply has to look at the costs of some typical orders under the traditional system and PROKASTA. Exhibit 3 Unit Costs for Five Motor Models (DM) Modified Cost System ABCDE Cost of Base Motor (before assignments from two new cost pools) 304. 0 304. 0 304. 0 304. 0 304. 0 Cost of All Special Components* (before assignments from two new cost pools) 39. 6 79. 2 118. 8 198. 0 396. 0 No. of Different Types of Special Components per Motor123510 AssumptionsBase Motor CostSpecial Components Cost Materials9012. 0 Material overhead50. 7 Direct labor354. 5 Manufacturing overhead11715. 0 Manufacturing cost24732. 2 Support-related overhead (modified)577. 4 Unit cost (before assignments from two new cost pools)30439. 6 * For illustrative purposes, each different special component is assumed to cost DM39. 6 per unit. Questions: 1. Consider the five illustrative motor models in Exhibit 3. Under the former (traditional) system, what would the full cost of fulfilling an order for one unit of each model have been? What would have been the average cost per unit of each model if 10 units were ordered? 20 units? 100 units? What do your results suggest about the shortcomings of the old system with the new strategy? 2. Repeat the Question 1 calculations using the modified (PROKASTA) system. Have the shortcomings in the traditional system been addressed? 3. How significant are the differences in the average cost per unit between the modified system and the traditional system? Respond by examining the ratio of modified to traditional cost for each of the twenty model-type/order-quantity combinations. ) 4. Siemensââ¬â¢s former cost system had 602 cost pools; the modified system added only two additional pools, through which a relatively small portion of overhead (DM33. 3 million out of DM220. 5 million total overhead) was assigned. Explain why such an apparently modest elabor ation of an already complex cost system significantly changed the costs of certain model/quantity combinations. 5. Suggest how Siemens could further improve its system while at the same time reducing the total number of cost pools well below 604.
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