Question & Answer

Environmental accounting reports; ABC and ABM for environmental costs Many countries provide motivation for entities to produce environmental accounting reports. For example, 17 countries - United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany among others - participate in the European Environmental Reporting Awards program. In Japan, the Global Sustainability Forum and the National Association for the Promotion of Environmental Conservation have given Environmental Report Awards since 1997. In addition, Toyo Keizai and the Green Reporting Forum have given a Green Reporting Award since 1998. These awards encourage organisations to take responsibility for environmental conditions that affect the wellbeing of society as a whole. Visy Industries in Australia (refer to self-study problem 1) has also been recognised by similar Australian sustainability awards programs.                                  You are required to conduct research about corporate environmental disclosures. Choose one company located in Japan and a competitor located in Australia. Go to each company’s website and search for information about its environmental policies and procedures.   Also conduct research to find governmental guidelines for environmental accounting. Go to the website of the Environmental Protection Authority in your state or territory (for example, www.epa.vic.gov.au; www.epa.sa.gov.au) and search for information about environmental or sustainability accounting. Now perform a similar search on the website of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment (www.env.go.jp/en/). Skim through the information that you find on each website.   In its Environmental Accounting Guidelines, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment identified the following environmental conservation cost categories:         Required (a)     Is environmental accounting an ethical issue? Why? (b)     Which company provides the easiest-to-find and most understandable information about environmental policies and procedures? Explain. (c)     Discuss a company’s responsibilities for reporting environmental information to various stakeholders, including shareholders, managers, employees, other companies, government regulators, product customers and the general public. (d)     If one company provides better reporting than a competitor of its environmental behaviour, policies, and procedures, does that mean the company is more environmentally responsible than its competitor? Why? (e)     What factors are likely to affect an entity’s willingness to publish an environmental accounting report? (f)      Discuss possible reasons why the governments of different countries place different degrees of emphasis on environmental accounting reports. (g)     Discuss ways in which ABC systems could be used to capture information for environmental accounting reports. (h)     Discuss ways in which the process of preparing and publishing an environmental accounting report is likely to help a company reduce its environmental costs. (i)      Should all governments require companies to publish environmental accounting reports? What values did you use to arrive at your conclusion?             (LO1, 2, 3 and 4)

A composite sample of carbon reinforced epoxy has dimensions of 12 in by 12 in by 0.25 in and mass of 1.8 lb. The carbon fibers have a modulus of elasticity of 50(106 ) lb/in2 and a density of 0.069 lb/in3 . The epoxy matrix has modulus of elasticity of 0.61(106 ) lb/in2 and a density of 0.042 lb/in3 . What is the volume fraction of (a) the carbon fibers and (b) the epoxy matrix in the sample? Assume there are no voids in the sample.

In a surface grinding operation wheel diameter = 150 mm and infeed = 0.07 mm. Wheel speed = 1450 m/min, workspeed = 0.25 m/s, and crossfeed = 5 mm. The number of active grits per area of wheel surface = 0.75 grits/mm2 . Determine (a) average length per chip, (b) metal removal rate, and (c) number of chips formed per unit time for the portion of the operation when the wheel is engaged in the work.

: Define the management types and roles that managers perform in organizations.

Will the envelope curve be tangential to the bottom of each of the short-run average cost curves? Explain why it should or should not be.

Faith, a resident of Florida (11th Circuit), recently found a circuit court case that is favorable to her research question.  Which two circuits would she prefer to have issued the opinion?

Would increasing the money supply growth place upward or downward pressure on interest rates? (LO1, LO2)

Give some examples of mental short-cuts/heuristics that you use. Why do you use them?

Discuss the relative merits of the different methods used by the All England Club to allocate tickets for Wimbledon each year.

Why is friction generally undesirable in metal forming operations?

Sketch a person’s indifference map for two goods X and Y. Mark the optimum consumption point. Now illustrate the following (you might need to draw a separate diagram for each): (a)  A rise in the price of good X, but no change in the price of good Y. (b)  A shift in the person’s tastes from good Y to good X. (c)  A fall in the person’s income and a fall in the price of good Y, with the result that the consumption of Y remains constant (but that of X falls).

: Identify the personal challenges faced by new managers and ways of overcoming them

Strategy; balanced scorecard measures and process Refer to the information in problem 19.25. Dyggur Equipment wants to offer weekend servicing of heavy equipment. None of its competitors offer this service, and management believes this service will bring in new business and help retain current customers.   Required (a)     List several advantages and disadvantages of this strategy. (b)     List one financial and two non-financial performance measures that could be used to monitor the success of this plan. (c)     Suppose the managers decide to launch this new service. At the end of the first year of operating weekend service, performance is evaluated by gathering and analysing measures such as those identified in part (b). How can this information be used to improve performance for the next period? (d)     Given that Dyggur management are now exploring new strategies, outline how senior management could use the balanced scorecard interactively.

Describe the major components of the humanistic management perspective.

What is the formula for the net interest margin? Explain why it is closely monitored by banks. (LO3)

A cylindrical riser is to be used for a sand-casting mold. For a given cylinder volume, determine the diameter-to-length ratio that will maximize the time to solidify.

1.       : Some senior managers believe they should rely on written information and computer reports because these sources yield more accurate data than do face-to-face communications. Do you agree? Why or why not? \

Data for the Vince Gill Company are presented in E23-3. Instructions Prepare the operating activities section of the statement of cash flows using the direct method.

1.    : How do you feel about having a manager’s responsibilities in today’s world, which is characterized by social, technological, and other sudden changes in the environment? Describe some skills and competencies that are important to managers working in these conditions.

Explain the difference between a direct cost and indirect cost.

: Explain recent historical trends, including the major concepts of systems thinking and the contingency view.

1.      : Instruct Rukman participants to reveal their participation in the corporate marketing program only if directly asked by the person they are talking to about the client’s products.

CVP Single product   (LO3) SmallScale Publishing has just commenced business and will sell only one title, “New to Business”. Market analysis has indicated that sales for the next 6 months should be 5 000 copies. The accountant has provided information that shows variable costs are $100 per title with fixed costs expected to be $200 000. The book is expected to sell for $150. Required (a) Calculate the breakeven number of books to be sold. (b)           Calculate the estimated profit for the first six months.

Describe the ideal mutual fund for investors who wish to generate tax-free income but also maintain a low degree of interest rate risk. (LO2)

A direct extrusion operation produces the cross section shown in Figure P19.32(a) from a brass billet whose diameter = 125 mm and length = 350 mm. The flow curve parameters of the brass are K = 700 MPa and n = 0.35. In the Johnson strain equation, a = 0.7 and b = 1.4. Determine (a) the extrusion ratio, (b) the shape factor, (c) the force required to drive the ram forward during extrusion at the point in the process when the billet length remaining in the container = 300 mm, and (d) the length of the extruded section at the end of the operation if the volume of the butt left in the container is 600,000 mm3 .