Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Analyse article by Roberto Gonzalez Echeverria Essay - 1

Break down article by Roberto Gonzalez Echeverria - Essay Example An exceptionally extensive and a significant way of thinking that Echevarria shows in the earliest reference point of the article is that human and beast are two flip sides of an equivalent coin and in his play Calderon likewise utilizes the image of a beast under a similar setting. Anyway the creator likewise expresses that it exclusively relies upon an individual the way wherein he sets an amazing example as it additionally clear from the character of Segismundo. Consequently it is seen in the play that at first Calderon depicts him as a beast and a creature camouflaged as an individual anyway later he understands his mix-ups and puts forth attempts to keep away from such bestial conduct in future. Besides Segismundo’s detainment is likewise a non-literal portrayal of the way that inside each person there lives a brute anyway it relies upon a person to check and control or release it. Another appropriate and an intriguing certainty that the creator shows is that any type of irregularity or surprising character characteristics likewise hold the propensity to classify a person as a beast as it is additionally seen on account of Rosaura. Her character is depicted as a female with manly properties, for example, quality and assurance. Such strange qualities make her resemble a beast or a mammoth according to the general public since her bizarre character conflicts with the injuries and shows. Henceforth at the end of the day Echeverria sets up that beast is a tremendous term that has layers of significance one of which is the unusual conduct of a person. Henceforth it is seen that the writer gives the perusers an able clarification of the image of the beast and thus helps in adding new measurement to the setting of Calderon’s play. Besides Echevarria additionally endeavors to persuade the perusers that the term beast in writing not just infers a mammoth in the physical terms yet in addition any

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Oral Language and Reading Comprehension Essay Example for Free

Oral Language and Reading Comprehension Essay This paper is purposefully made to show the examination between oral language and understanding perception. Oral language and perusing cognizance are both fundamental to each person. We all had experienced oral language when we are as yet youthful and as it creates and as we develop and develop, it empowers us to be increasingly proficient and sets us up to a progressively required cognizance in perusing. This two are huge and are interrelated to one another. As a parent, conversing with the youngster helps extends jargon, create foundation information, and rouse an anomaly about the world. The more a kid connects with into specific encounters and all the more discovering that begins from guardians and afterward to instructors, it will extend their brains and allows them into an increasingly expansive comprehension of various things. Oral language is the very discovering that every one of us has experienced we despite everything have it up to now. This paper will expand your insight concerning the correlation between oral language and understanding appreciation. Foundation of the Study: Oral language implies speaking with others. Then again, perusing perception is the demonstration of understanding what you are perusing. The definition can be basically expressed the demonstration isn't easy to educate, learn or practice. Perusing appreciation is a purposeful, dynamic, intuitive procedure that happens previously, during and after an individual peruses a specific bit of composing. Oral language and perusing appreciation are both fundamental in light of the fact that in oral language we are prepared on the most proficient method to discuss well with others. Understanding perception, then again, is likewise a method of understanding the book that we read; it could be only a straightforward magazine, paper, or even the books we utilized in school. An individual must have the option to comprehend what the person is perusing. It is important that we realize how to talk or impart however one thing that is helpful also in our regular day to day existences is the capacity to peruse and comprehend what we read. There is a finished distinction among â€Å"reading† and â€Å"reading with comprehension†. Presently, as you proceed to peruse this paper, you will be taken care of with more thoughts with the correlation between communicated in language and understanding appreciation and how these two work together for an increasingly familiar act of correspondence. It will build up your correspondence and understanding aptitudes; that it isn't sufficient to realize how to talk and read however having the option to talk and simultaneously acknowledge what you are perusing and even apply these, all things considered, circumstances. Related Study: Oral language A lot of research has been done in the field of oral language obtaining. As a methods for endeavoring to arrange their condition youngsters effectively build language (Dyson, 1983; Halliday, 1994; Sulzby,1985). From a childs most punctual involvement in close to home story advancement, oral language procurement must be persistently encouraged. (IRA and NAEYC, 1998). This turns into the structure obstruct for building up achievement in every aspect of proficiency. Oral language starts to create at a youthful age as kids and guardians collaborate with each other in the normal environmental factors of the home condition (Teale, 1978; Yaden, 1988). A childs home condition incredibly impacts the rate, quality and capacity to speak with others (MacLean, Bryant and Bradley, 1987; Martinez, 1983; National Research Council 1999). Elements identified with language development in the home condition incorporate parent collaboration, books, being perused to, displaying; home language and education schedules all intently equal those of the homeroom and school. The improvement of oral language is a progressing normal learning process. Kids watch oral correspondence in numerous settings †home, preschool, prekindergarten, and start to create ideas about its motivations (Dyson, 1983; Halliday,1994;Martinez, 1983). Target aptitude zones, for example, sequencing, order, and letter sounds oral language abilities are for the most part segments of youth instructive projects (Kelley and Zamar, 1994). Which means is a social and social wonder and all development of significance is a social procedure. Formative phases of youngster language advancement: Phase I †Protolinguistic or â€Å"Protolanguage†, Phase II †Transition, Phase III †Language. The Protolanguage Stage (which is related with the slithering stage) incorporates clamors and pitch, physical development, grown-up/newborn child cooperation †this trade of consideration is the start of language. During the Transition Stage (which is related with the formative phase of strolling) there is a change from kid tongue to native language. During this stage the â€Å"pragmatic† mode creates; an interest for merchandise and enterprises that looks for a reaction as an activity. In Phase III †Language Stage, the youngster moves from discussing imparted understanding to sharing data to a third individual. The youngster understands that the truth is past their own understanding; they welcome affirmation, appreciate shared understanding. From the ontogenesis of discussion we can pick up knowledge into human learning and human comprehension. Which means is made at the crossing point of two inconsistencies †the experiential one, between the material and the cognizant methods of experience, and the relational one, between various individual chronicles of the associating participating (Halliday,1994). Appropriately created oral language empowers a kid to successfully impart their contemplations and perspectives with others. It is additionally significant for small kids to have created listening aptitudes as they experience the intensity of correspondence. The earth impacts ones want to impart just as the recurrence of correspondence. Oral language creates through bona fide encounters (Harste, Burke and Woodward, 1994). Kindergarten study hall conditions that are buzzing with social communication are perfect situations for supporting talking and listening aptitudes. As kids take an interest in informative occasions, they gradually obtain a comprehension of the significance of these structures. Understudies should be given and urged to take an interest in ecological proficiency exercises, as those encounters are crucial to language improvement (Brown and Briggs, 1987). Improvement of oral language aptitudes must be tended to in Kindergarten as a vital piece of the every day educational plan with the goal for understudies to have the option to prevail all through tutoring and in todays society (Goodman, 1992; IRI and NAEYC,1998). Kindergarten programs should be organized yet not formal. Study halls that are painstakingly organized take into consideration most extreme oral language obtaining through legitimate education exercises that happen in characteristic manners during a school day (Ellermeyer, 1988). Training is request based, and as such the concentration with instruction becomes learning, and the assignment of educating turns into the request procedure. The student is focal, during the time spent the learning-request cycle (Harste, Burke and Woodward,1994). Understudies should be given and urged to take part in natural education exercises, as these encounters are basic to language improvement. Dyson (1983) led an investigation of the job early language plays in early composition. Through perceptions of youngsters at a Kindergarten composing focus she reasoned that oral language is an indispensable piece of the early creative cycle. Talk gave both importance and to certain kids the efficient methods for getting that significance on paper. The youngster as a language student advances along a formative continuum. Language obtaining is on a very basic level a social procedure where language is utilized to make and offer significance of experience (Corter and Park, 1993). Kids expect chances to collaborate with the two friends and grown-ups in a wide assortment of settings as they learning and practice language and education information, aptitudes, and methodologies (Brown and Briggs 1987; Coohn, 1981; Dyson, 1983; Ellermeyer, 1988). Youngsters like to discuss themselves, their companions, their families, their pets, their side interests, and so forth. Drawing in little youngsters in discussion about things with which they are natural manages them a solace level to explore different avenues regarding approaches to communicate. Chances to build oral language capacities and applications are implanted inside the education program. Discussion, joint effort, and learning through others are essential to learning. A childs oral language capacity is the reason for starting education guidance, and as such introductory casual evaluations just as progressing appraisal during the school year would give key data with respect to a childs oral language capacities.

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Reflection - Essay Example As one such pioneer, rehearsing trustworthiness in all parts of my job is foremost. My correspondence and activities should show trustworthiness. Trust is discovers its base on trustworthiness. Fair moral pioneer puts together his contention with respect to realities and this encourages workers to depend and depend on him. A pioneer is about a superior situation to rehearse trustworthiness in the event that he is straightforward. Incorporating genuineness in my authority style involves compelling thinking through realities. Guaranteeing that you are straightforward without genuine practice the righteousness adds up to poor administration. Each activity of a moral authority requires straightforwardness and honesty (Reilly, Sirgy and Gorman, 2012). Straightforwardness and responsibility indicate genuineness in moral authority. Joining genuineness in dynamic for a moral head involves utilizing the realities as the premise of thinking. Correspondence of the realities to the influenced ga therings ought to be through honesty. The activity of the pioneer during creation of such choices ought to obviously highlight genuineness. This makes it simpler for the individuals on the less than desirable end to value the choice. The second significant incentive for me as a moral head is duty. It is the devotion of a moral head to the association. Responsibility involves not surrendering or losing center when the circumstance gets unmanageable. Duty by a moral chief calls for constancy over the span of initiative. It is a grave guarantee that you will adhere to the course in any event, during attempting minutes. A submitted pioneer puts completely in the association. The speculation is as far as enthusiastic, mental and physical devotion. Concentrating and vitality make excellent submitted moral pioneers. Another part of duty, which is significant includes being prepared to forfeit individual interests in quest for the hierarchical goals. To ingrain duty among workers in an association, a show through activity by the pioneer is

Friday, August 21, 2020

whatever essays

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A quick one, while hes away

A quick one, while he’s away I dont really like The Eagles Desperado, but its sure been stuck in my head for the last few days. I wonder why. Last night I did some things and I thought I would relate them to you in the form of reviews. I know, its a bold blog structural experiment, but just have some faith in me. First, I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Spencer 07 in a 654-seat theater. Thats a lot of seats. Now, I have to admit, the original Gene Wilder version was never my favorite movie, though I think it might be Spencers. Still, I read pretty much all of Roald Dahls major output (Chocolate Factory, Glass Elevator, James and the Giant Peach, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The BFG and the stunningly brilliant Matilda) by third grade, so I feel pretty familiar with the authors style and themes. Also, growing up only 20 minutes from Hershey, PAthe sweetest place on Earthand having taken the Chocolate World tour ride countless times, I feel in a unique position to evaluate a movie about an insane philanthropist chocolatier. Well, it was pretty good. Johnny Depp will, in fact, haunt your dreams, and I think that Violet Beauregardes mother deserves an Academy Award just for her bizarre facial tics and for seriously rocking a blue velour tracksuit. The set design and special effects are fantastically imaginative and vibrant, and the kids are quite adorable. And I hate children. The familiar Oompa Loompa song has been rewritten (and apparently perfomed) by scientologist Danny Elfman, but the new music does incorporate Dahls original lyrics and I thought the second song of the five (about Augustus) was incredibly catchy. The movies only flaws occur when it strays too far from the book. After Augustus Gloops unfortunate accident in the chocolate river and the subsequent Oompa Loompa musical number describing it, Veruca Salt wonders how the entire work force of the factory was able to improvise such detailed lyrics about the incident. This might be entertaining as a throwaway joke on the musical genre, but its treated as a suggestion that Willy Wonka had actually planned the demise of each child, which pretty much makes no sense even in the context of the movie. Theres also a subplot involving Wonkas father, an authoritarian dentist, which seems inserted to give the whole work a family-oriented theme. If theres one thing I know about Roald Dahl, its that hes not exactly sympathetic to thbe families of his characters. James leaves his house behind and flies across the ocean in a giant mutated fruit, and Matilda basically destroys her family with psychic powers and runs off to live with her schoolteacher . Count Dooku does do a great job as Dr. Wonka, but the whole thing detracts from the real theme of the book, which is Impossible things can happen because chocolate is delicious. Anyway, I think Ive analyzed this movie aimed at ten-year-olds too deeply. Overall, I give a solid B. Still, the entire 654-seat theater was pretty much filled with college students, not, ten-year-olds, which Spencer theorized was a result of the Harry Potter book opening that night. When I got back to the dorm, I saw that Erica 07 and Gemma 06 were going down to H****** Square (am I allowed to write it, Ben?) to check out the delivery of the sixth book at their Coop, so I figured itd be cool even though Ive never even touched (literally) any of the books. After running four blocks to catch up to the #1 bus, we ended up going to four different places, so I thought I could offer some reviews of these establishments based solely on how well they dispense Harry Potter merchandise. H****** CoopThey had a bunch of people dressed up as Harry Potter characters, which I wasnt able to appreciate because I have no idea who any of them are. But there was a big black hooded thing (Dementor?) that was breathing in a really intimidating fashion. Still, they werent very organized hadning out the reserved books, and they didnt seem to be doing any children-oriented activities. B- Curious George toy storeWe headed over here because everybody who had their face painted (with a lightning bolt?) said they got it at Curious George. They were also handing out sorbet (is there a lot of sorbet in Harry Potter?) Unfortunately, they exceeded their maximum occupancy and had to close at 11:30 to get their store set up for the books arrival, so we got neither lightning nor sorbet. Poor planning, Curious George. I bet even your monkey namesake could have organized a better book opening. C+ Harvard Book Store (not affiliated with H****** the university)We never actually went inside, but there were two jugglers and a fiddle player putting on a show together outside. One of the jugglers was dropping things a lot and the last thing in the show was a fairly complicated routine with machetes, so I was really nervous standing five feet from them. Then I gave them five dollars for not killing me. I love Harvard Book Store, though, so I bet they did something great. A- ToscaninisThis way-too-expensive Boston ice cream chain, which is inferior to J. P. Licks anyway, stayed open late to capitalize on the book opening, so we stopped in for some water. They had a flavor called Voldamint, which must be hilarious if youve read the books. B+ You should realize in my grading that plusses and minuses do not count toward your GPA at MIT. Therefore, your goal, in general, is to get more minus grades than plus grades. Okay. Thats it for today, Parappa.

Friday, June 26, 2020

Evaluation of the options available - Free Essay Example

Introduction There are a few options for S.B. Ltd to consider getting through difficult times. The five main options are firstly, to discontinue the Nottingham division and Leicester and Loughborough divisions could use their spare capacity to produce 60% of Nottinghams 2010 output in addition to their own 2010 output, close the Nottingham division and outsource Nottinghams 2010 output, to launch a major campaign for all 3 products to increase their sales, to introduce a transfer pricing system between the division and the head office to increase motivation among the staff in each division and rightsizing the organisation.. Discontinuation As seen Nottingham is not making growth, in response to market forces, the first option is to discontinue Nottingham division by selling its assets and settling its liabilities and shifting production from Nottingham to Leicester and Loughborough. The discontinuation decision is a decision when the division profitability highlights the potential of unprofitable (Drury, 2010, pp.91-92). In this option, assuming that Leicester and Loughborough have some spare capacity to produce 60% of Nottinghams 2010 output on top of their own 2010 output. According to Drury (2010, p.92), discontinuing the Nottingham division could aid the company in eliminating cost of goods sold, and other variable costs in the division. Leicester Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 280.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 240.00 Sales Raspberry jam (60%) 96.00 Total Sales 616.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 173.00 153.00 326.00 Gross Profit 290.00 Advertising costs 30.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 60.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Profit Other cost such as advertising costs, distribution costs and Head Office costs remain unchanged and is not affected by the discontinuation of the Nottingham division. OHare (2010, Management Accounting Lecture 3) suggested other factors which will affect an organisation to discontinue a division, the division is making a loss, to identify avoidable costs or to discover other saving. Outsourcing Outsourcing option is also known as sub-contracting option has become increasingly common in organisations, which enables organisations to concentrate on their core performance while outsource other specialist their secondary activities (Collier et al, 2007, pp.220-221). In S.B. Ltd case, according to Oxford University Press (2009), outsourcing could help to get through this hard time by going on a process of business process downsizing. Outsourcing allows operations that have seasonal demands to bring in additional resources in time of needs. Other advantages of outsourcing are, outsource activities will allow S.B. Ltd to focus on important functions without sacrificing quality or service, outsource specialist could help improve the quality and standard of the jam. It may also be able to purchase the jam more cheaply or perhaps more quickly. Assuming the outsource price for raspberry jam is 20% more then the cost of goods produced and sold for raspberry jam. Hence, the sales of raspberry jam remains the same and Leicester division and Loughborough division have spare capacity which gives them room for expansion of 30% more sales each. All other expenses remain the same for both Leicester and Loughborough divisions. This gives the Head Office a net profit of 76,000 Leicester Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 364.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 312.00 Sales Raspberry jam (Outsource) 160.00 Total Sales 836.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 182.00 156.00 338.00 Outsource price 132.00 Gross Profit 366.00 Advertising costs 30.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 60.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Loss 76.00 On contrary to the advantages, outsourcing the jam to some specialist could lead to risk of unsatisfactory quality and standard of the jam. Other disadvantages could be leak of procedures and techniques of making the jam, outsourcing usually focuses on short-term cost-saving, and ignores the unchanged overhead burden. Major Campaign Another option is to launch a major advertising campaign for all three products to increase their sales and keep all three divisions. Advertising could boost awareness and generate demand of the sales of jams of S.B. Ltd. and hence acquiring more orders. In the advertising campaign, assuming the advertising cost increase by 20% and it bring the sales of each product to an increase of 20% each. It simply boost up the profit of the company to 96,000. Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 336.00 Sales Raspberry jam 192.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 288.00 Total Sales 816.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 140.00 110.00 120.00 370.00 Gross Profit 446.00 Advertising costs 90.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 30.00 90.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Profit 66.00 Transfer Pricing The other option is when an organisation chooses to decentralise its divisions, transfer pricing helps decide what price to charge for in-company transactions (Collier et al, 2007, p.38-39) and as a form of promoting divisional autonomy (OHare, 2010, Management Accounting Lecture 8). It is useful when goods are transferred between divisions; hence, the performance measurement of each division is not prejudiced by the corporate objectives. The profitability of each business units will be affected and according to Solomon (1965 cited in Collier et al, 2007, pp.38-39), companies might take advantage of the transfer pricing which are suitable for evaluating divisional performance for the corporate interest, instead of the business units. Transfer pricing strategies and can produce substantial tax savings in addition to enhancing operational performance and improving cash flow. In many organisations, in order to avoid de-motivating effects on different business units, negotiated prices ar e adopted. Say, each product is transferred to Derby division and it pays each division 70% of the sales it made from selling all the jams and yet still bare the cost of advertising, distribution and the head office costs. The local administrative expenses shall be bare by the respective divisions. Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 280.00 Sales Raspberry jam 160.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 240.00 Total Sales 680.00 Transfer price revenues 196.00 112.00 168.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 140.00 110.00 120.00 Gross Profit 56.00 2.00 48.00 680.00 Total cost of transfer 476.00 Advertising costs 30.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 30.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Profit 26.00 (28.00) 18.00 (26.00) There are downsides of transfer pricing. The political process in an organisation might affect the transfer pricing between divisions. Incorrect prices adopted can distort reported performance, by making some divisions more profitable at others expense. Opportunities exist to avoid taxes using artificial transfer prices to transfer profits from a high tax division to a low tax division. Rightsizing Rightsizing, or corporate restructuring, with the aim of reducing costs and improving efficiency and effectiveness is also one option in difficult times. Rightsizing is downsizing in the belief that an organisation really should operate with fewer personnel. The primary reason to engage in rightsizing is to make the daily operations of a business more productive. For example, a company may be able to replace assembly line employees with machines which will be quicker and less prone to error. In addition, rightsizing increases profits by reducing the overall overheads of a business. S.B. Ltd operates a full cost (TAC) standard costing system. The standard costs set fot the year 31 March 2010 and information about future costs and selling prices are in Appendix 2. Part 2 (700) Assuming the company decided to go for the option of keeping all divisions open and launching an advertising campaign, you are required to produce a standard cost card for each product and a budget for the company showing clearly the costs attributable to each division for the year to 31 March 2011. State clearly all assumptions made. Appendix 2 Standard cost data Standard cost cards for the year ended 31 March 2010 (per batch of 40 jars each of 500 grams) Strawberry Jam Raspberry Jam Marmalade Selling price 28 32 40 Fruit 16kg 4.8 16kg 5.6 24kg 4.8 Sugar 8kg 1.6 8kg 1.6 12kg 2.4 Labour 1 hour 6 1 hour 6 2 hours 12 Other variable costs 1 2 2 Fixed overheads 1 hour 2 1 hour 2 2 hours 4 15.4 17.2 25.2 Profit 12.6 14.8 14.8 Other information Demand With the right promotion the company believe that they could sell 20% more of each product at the 2010 standard selling price Material wastage It is considered that improvements can be made but input weight will always be at least 10% more than output weight for jam and 50% for marmalade Labour Currently operates at 80% efficiency levels Prices Strawberries are sourced from the UK and prices are expected to rise by 2-5% Raspberries are sourced from the UK and prices could rise by up to 15% due to poor weather Oranges are imported and paid for in euros euro prices are expected to be as 2010 Discounts on all fruit can be negotiated if quantities increase Labour rates per hour have been the same for the last 2 years Variable costs may rise by up to 5 % Fixed overheads may rise by between 5 and 10% Standard Cost Card A standard cost card can be defined as a detailed listing of the standard amounts of materials, labour and overheads that should go into a unit of product, multiplied by the standard price or rate that has been set for each elements (Anon 2, 2010). A standard cost card, for example must include the price, specifications, quantity and quality of material required, as well as such factors as the period of credit allowed from suppliers, cash and quantity discounts, spoilage due to wastage and deterioration. A standard cost card demands an investigation of all contributing factors that can constitute a cost before the cost is adopted. According to Drury (2010, p.278), standard costs are predetermined costs and they are the target costs that should be incurred under efficient operating conditions. The standard cost card will be subjected to updating caused by revision of standards such as changes in prices, discounts, etc. Standard costing is a control system which sets standards that are ideal, expected and achievable (OHare, 2010, Management Accounting Lecture). Collier (2007, p.36) put forward that standard costing is a control technique which compares standard cost and all of production revenues with actual results. It is to obtain variances of each division and product (OHare, 2010, Management Accounting Lecture 8), which are used to stimulate improved performance and to increase motivation of staff in each division. It is a detective control used to prevent problems from reoccurring as it measures variances as it occur, thus allowing management to take necessary corrective action. The standard cost card for the year ended 31 March 2011 (per batch of 40 jars each 500 grams) for Strawberry Jam, Raspberry Jam and Orange Marmalade are as below: Strawberry Jam Selling price 28.00 Fruit 16/kg 0.31 4.90 Sugar 8/kg 0.20 1.60 Labour 1 hour 6.00 6.00 Other Variable Cost 1.50 Fixed Overheads 1 hour 2.10 2.10 15.65 Profit 12.35 Raspberry Jam Selling price 32.00 Fruit 16/kg 0.40 6.44 Sugar 8/kg 0.20 1.60 Labour 1 hour 6.00 6.00 Other Variable Cost 2.10 Fixed Overheads 1 hour 2.10 2.10 18.24 Profit 13.76 Orange Marmalade Selling price 40.00 Fruit 24/kg 0.20 4.80 Sugar 12/kg 0.20 2.40 Labour 2 hours 6.00 12.00 Other Variable Cost 2.10 Fixed Overheads 1hour 2.10 2.10 23.40 Profit 16.60 Budget The principal tool in planning is called a budget. A budget is a collection of predictions. It is an estimation of the revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time. There are three purposes of budgets as identified by Emmanuel et al (1990 cited in Collier, 2007, pp.39-40), as forecasts of future events, as motivational targets and as standards for performance evaluation. Budget is a financial plan or qualitative statement for implementing the various decisions to be pursued during a specific accounting period, that management has made in the previous period. Collier (2007, pp.39-42) suggest that budgets provide a control mechanism through both the feed forward and feedback loops. The control mechanism in the budget is to provide a performance monitoring function to the appropriate managers who are responsible for implementing the various decisions by producing and presenting the performance reports. According to Drury (2010, pp.8-9), the performance report provide feedback information by comparing planned and actual results. Generally, a functional budget is drawn up for each division of S.B. Ltd. These budgets are, then, merged together into a single combined statement, which is known as the master budget, of S.B. Ltds expectations for the future periods. The master budget consists of budgeted profit, which it is expected to convey to everyone in the organisation the part that they are expected to achieve in implementing managements decisions. The master budget, usually, consists of a budgeted profit and loss, a budgeted balance sheet and a budgeted cash-flow statement. In order to finalised a budgeted profit and loss, other budgets for the individual divisions and produced, such as the sales budget, direct materials usage budget, direct materials purchase budget, direct labour budget, and selling and administration budget. Master Budget Budgeted Profit and Loss Account for the year ending 31 March 2011 Forecast sales (Schedule 1) 816,000 Purchases (Schedule 3) Materials Fruit 130,272 Materials Sugar 46,080 Cost of raw materials consumed 176,352 Direct Labour (Schedule 4) 155,520 Factory Overheads (Schedule 5) 68,040 Cost of Sales 399,912 Gross Profit 416,088 Selling and administration expenses (S6) 350,000 Variable Costs (Schedule 7) 40,320 Budgeted operating profit for the year 25,768 Schedule 1 Sales Budget for year ending 31 March 2011 Product Batches Sold Selling Price Total Revenue Strawberry Jam 12,000 28.00 336,000.00 Raspberry Jam 6,000 32.00 192,000.00 Orange Marmalade 7,200 40.00 288,000.00 816,000.00 Schedule 2 Annual Direct Material Usage Budget Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Total Units Strawberry 192,000 192,000 Raspberry 96,000 96,000 Orange 172,800 172,800 Sugar 96,000 48,000 86,400 230,400 288,000 144,000 259,200 Schedule 3 Direct Materials Purchase Budget Strawberry Raspberry Orange Sugar (units) (units) (units) (units) Quantity necessary to meet production 192,000 96,000 172,800 230,400 requirements as per material usage budget Planned unit purchase price 0.31 0.39 0.20 0.20 Total Purchases 58,752.00 36,960.00 34,560.00 46,080.00 Schedule 4 Annual Direct Labour Budget Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Total Budgeted production (units) 12,000 6,000 7,200 Hours per unit 0.80 0.80 1.60 Total budgeted hours 9,600 4,800 11,520 25,920 Budgeted wage rate per hour () 6.00 6.00 6.00 Total Wages () 57,600 28,800 69,120 155,520 Schedule 5 Annual Fixed Overheads Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Total Fixed Overheads hour 1 1 2 Fixed overheads rate 2.10 2.10 2.10 Fixed Overheads per batch 2.10 2.10 4.20 Total Fixed Overheads () 25,200.00 12,600.00 30,240.00 68,040.00 Schedule 6 Annual Selling and Administration Budget Selling: Advertising Costs 60,000.00 Distribution Costs 50,000.00 110,000.00 Administration: Local Administration Expenses 90,000.00 Head Office Costs 150,000.00 240,000.00 350,000.00 Schedule 7 Annual Variable Cost Budget Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Other variable costs 1.00 2.00 2.00 Variable costs per batch 1.05 2.10 2.10 Total Variable Costs 12,600.00 12,600.00 15,120.00 40,320.00 It is now April 2011. The actual results for the year 31 March 2011 are in Appendix 3. Part 3 You are required to: (a) Produce an operating statement for each division based on your own budgets. (b) Write a report to the board appraising the performance of each division using whichever indicators you feel are appropriate. You should also suggest what other information should be obtained in order to improve your appraisal. (c) Write a report to the company management accountant on whether the company should change their traditional approach to accounting for overheads to one based on Activity Based Costing. Appendix 3 S.B. Ltd Trading results for the year ended 31 March 2011 Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby 000s 000s 000s 000s Sales Strawberry Jam 11000 batch 330 Sales Raspberry Jam 6250 batch 200 Sales Marmalade 6000 batch 250 TOTAL SALES 780 Fruit 170000kg 53 100000kg 36 140000kg 30 Sugar 84000kg 21 48000kg 12 68000kg 17 Labour 10000 hours 70 6000 hours 39 6000 hours 39 Variable costs 12 10 13 Fixed Overheads 10000 hours 22 6000 hours 12 6000 hours 15 Cost of goods produced and sold 178 109 114 401 Gross Profit 379 Advertising costs 60 Distribution costs 60 Local administration expenses 32 32 32 90 Head Office Costs 155 NET PROFIT 14 Note Sales = Production (a) According to Anon 3 (2010) and Anon 4 (2010), an operating statement is a detailed periodic report of the financial reports or a financial statement of a firms operations. In many organisations, management rely on the financial and quantitative statement provided to record performance achieved by that area of the operation, for a selected budget period, for which the management is responsible (Oxford University Press, 2009). S.B. Ltd practices a decentralised control over its responsibility centres where Derby division is delegated as the controlling costs centre. Decentralisation means there is a delegation of authority in decision making in the organisation. According to CIMA Official Terminology (Collier, 2007, pp.13-14), the financial control in divisionalised businesses is the divisional performance control by producing a budget and the monitoring of actual performance towards the budget. Each division management will carry out a significant function in analysing and interpreting financial information and will achieve the target given. Below is the operating statement for the individual division based on the budget prepared in part 2. Operating Statement for S.B. Ltd Description Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry Jam 336,000 336,000 Sales Raspberry Jam 192,000 192,000 Sales Marmalade 288,000 288,000 Total Sales 816,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Fruits 58,752 36,960 34,560 Purchases Sugar 19,200 9,600 17,280 Labour 57,600 28,800 69,120 Variable Costs 12,600 12,600 15,120 Fixed Overheads 25,200 12,600 30,240 Cost of goods produced and sold 173,352 100,560 166,320 440,232 Gross Profit 162,648 91,440 121,680 375,768 Operating Expenses Advertising costs 60,000 Distribution costs 50,000 Local administration expenses 30,000 30,000 30,000 90,000 Head office costs 150,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 350,000 Net Profit 132,648 61,440 91,680 25,768 Solomon (1965 cited in Collier, 2007, pp.13-14) highlighted three purposes for financial reporting at divisional level; to guide divisional managers and top management in decision making, and to enable top management to appraise the performance of divisional management. (b) TO: The Directors of S.B. Ltd From the earlier budget, the performances of all four divisions are appraised. The overall companys performance as seen on Derby division operating statement seems to have achieved the budgeted gross profit. However, all the other costs, such as the advertising costs, distribution costs, local administration expenses and head office costs, influence the net profit not achieving the budgeted figure. The overall sales, although did not attain the budgeted sales, did make a good number and managed to produce the goods at a much lower price compared to the budgeted figure. Operating Statement for Derby Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales Strawberry Jam 330,000 336,000 Sales Raspberry Jam 200,000 192,000 Sales Orange Marmalade 250,000 288,000 Total Sales 780,000 816,000 Cost of goods produced and sold 401,000 440,232 Gross Profit 379,000 375,768 Operating Expenses Advertising costs 60,000 60,000 Distribution costs 60,000 50,000 Local administration expenses 90,000 90,000 Head office costs 155,000 150,000 365,000 350,000 Net Profit 14,000 25,768 The performance of Leicester division is seen not to be performing to the budgeted figures in the operating statement. The actual sales of the strawberry jam was just 6,000 less than thee budget and managed to pull off a noteworthy net profit, although not as expected as in the budget. According to ACCA (1988, p.54), preparing a set of costing will be a waste of time unless it has a purpose. Comparing the current period figures with the budgeted figures, in order to establish costs control and efficiency in the division and to prevent unnecessary use of services. Operating Statement for Leicester Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales 330,000 336,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Strawberries 53,000 58,752 Purchases Sugar 21,000 19,200 Labour 70,000 57,600 Variable Costs 12,000 12,600 Fixed Overheads 22,000 25,200 Cost of goods produced and sold 178,000 173,352 Gross Profit 152,000 162,648 Operating Expenses Local administration expenses 32,000 30,000 Net Profit 120,000 132,648 The actual sales of the raspberry show a positive comparison. However, the gross profit figure is slightly lower than the budgeted figure. Unfortunately the increase in local administration expenses razed the actual net profit figure. The cost of purchasing sugar was expected to be lower in the budget as well as the labour costs was projected to be lower. Auspiciously, the current period net profit has achieved a positive figure. Operating Statement for Nottingham Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales 200,000 192,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Raspberries 36,000 36,960 Purchases Sugar 12,000 9,600 Labour 39,000 28,800 Variable Costs 10,000 12,600 Fixed Overheads 12,000 12,600 Cost of good produced and sold 109,000 100,560 Gross Profit 91,000 91,440 Operating Expenses Local administration expenses 32,000 30,000 Net Profit 59,000 61,440 The Loughborough division, on the other hand, is making a good profit from the sales of marmalade. The sales of marmalade were projected to be higher; however, the current period gross profit and net profit are more than the budgeted figure mainly attributed to competitive purchase prices of oranges and sugar, low labour costs, low variable costs and low fixed overheads. Operating Statement for Loughborough Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales 250,000 288,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Oranges 30,000 34,560 Purchases Sugar 17,000 17,280 Labour 39,000 69,120 Variable Costs 13,000 15,120 Fixed Overheads 15,000 30,240 Cost of good produced and sold 114,000 166,320 Gross Profit 136,000 121,680 Operating Expenses Local administration expenses 32,000 30,000 Net Profit 104,000 91,680 (c) TO: The Management Accountant Traditional Costing System The traditional costing approaches were developed in the early 1900s and they are still widely used by organisations today. They rely broadly on arbitrary cost allocations. These approaches rely on an essentially arbitrary allocation of indirect costs. Such approaches do not give managers accurate product cost information; therefore, accurate production profitability calculation is not possible. The overhead rate in traditional costing approaches would typically by calculated using direct labour hours, machine hours or units. Consequently, this could lead to accurate product costs when direct costs were high and indirect costs were low. According to Collier (2007, p.60), under the traditional costing approaches, organisation production runs to obtain the lowest unit of cost production and support the mass production model that seeks economies of scale. The overhead rates calculation to the traditional costing approaches is relatively straightforward; hence, they are widely understood in the business. Although, they are relatively cheap to operate and were seen as fairly accurate until the rise of activity-based costing in 1987, many other organisations are using them after many decades. Traditional costing approach is a systematic costing approach that prevailed before the rise of the activity-based costing in 1987. Since then, the traditional costing approaches weaknesses were fairly visible. Their reliance on arbitrary rather than cause-and-effect allocation of overheads and their inability to produce accurate product costs in multiproduct companies were very much clearer. Their failure to analyse non-manufacturing costs made it less appropriate for modern costing approach in organisations. Activity-based Costing As proposed by Professor Johnson and Kaplan in their book Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting (1987 cited in Oxford University Press, 2009), they question the widespread misconception exists that using accounting information and the inadequacy of conventional approaches arises from a lag in replacing the modern cost accounting approach. The new approach is designed with modern information and accounting systems for financial reporting and tax purposes, hence it recognises that costs are incurred by each activity that takes place within the organisation and that products should bear costs according to the activities use. In Professor Johnson and Kaplans method, the cost drivers are identified, together with the appropriate activity cost pools, which are used to charge costs to products. The fundamental of this approach is the view that the forces which drive overheads, undeniably most organisational costs arise from specific activities (Miller and Vollmann, 1985, p.144 cited in Ashton, 1991, pp.52-32). As a result, overheads control must focus on the management of these activities. The purpose of the activity-based costing approach are to stabilise unit costs of production per period and the reported gross profit per unit will be comparable from one period to the other by stabilising unit costs. Comparison In this time of rapid technological change, vigorous global and domestic competition, and enormously expanding information processing capabilities, management accounting systems are not providing useful, timely information for the process control, Johnson and Kaplan (1987, pp.144-146) suggested that the activity-based costing approach has catalysed an enthusiasm for motivating every member of the business organisation to meet profit goals. Also according to Johnson and Kaplan (1987, pp.144-146), present-day critics often note that successful Japanese and German manufacturing firms use this approach. Both traditional costing and accounting-based costing vary in their level of sophistication (Drury, 2010, p.165). The traditional systems often tend to be simple and straightforward while activity-based costing tends to be sophisticated and more accurately assigning indirect costs to cost objects. Although the traditional accounting is simpler to prepare while the activity-based costing is highly sophisticated to prepare, the activity-based costing tend to result in lower costs of errors and high level of accuracy. The downside of activity-based costing is that it is expensive to operate and they are sophisticated. However, they minimise the costs of errors which will save the company a lot in profit in the longer run. The activity-based costing extensively use the cause-and-effect cost allocations compared to the traditional costing approached extensively use the arbitrary cost allocations. Recommendation ACCA (1988, p.171) recommended that the choice between the traditional costing approaches and activity-based costing approach in budgetary control depends on the method of accounting used in S.B. Ltds cost accounting system. If the operating expenses were charged to the respective divisions, it would reflect the use actually made by each division. Then, the overhead costs of the divisions will be established more accurately. Traditional cost system often report inaccurate product costs and the company tend to lose out due to over priced products, incur hidden losses due to under priced products. The benefit of activity-based costing is that when it comes to improving productivity, it opens up for a much wider array of measures or methods. By examining the activities systematically, one will not only be able to identify surplus capacity if it occurs, but also lack of capacity and misallocation of capacity. A result of this might be that costs are cut the customary way, but might as well lead to a reallocation of capacity to where it is needed most which will yield better productivity. The rapid pace of todays technological change continues to shorten product life cycles, thus our company do not have the time to make cost adjustment once errors are detected. Today computer technology prices are decreasing and are more affordable, the cost of adopting and operating an activity based costing system has also decreased. Therefore, the company should adopt the activity based costing in order to facilitate cost management and improve financial management. According to Karolefski (2004, p.18) activity based costing works better if it is kept simple. Nevertheless, when implemented properly activity based costing yields benefits to the company, its business partners, and to consumers. Reference OHare, J. 2010. Lecture Notes: Management Accounting Drury, C. 2006. Cost and Management Accounting. Sixth Edition. London: Thomson Learning Anon 1. Topic 9: ACCA F2: Lesson 9 Relevant Costing. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.accountingclassroom.com [25/04/10] Drury, C. 2010. Management Accounting for Business. 4th Edition. Hampshire: Cengage Learning EMEA Collier, P. M. and Agyei-Ampomah, S. 2007. Management Accounting Risk and Control Strategy. Oxford: CIMA Publishing, An imprint of Elsevier Oxford University Press. 2009. Oxford Dictionary of Business and Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press Anon 2. 2010. Standard Cost Card Definition. Accounting for Management. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.accountingformanagement.com/standard_cost_card_definition.htm [02/05/10] Anon 3. 2010. Operating Statement. The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/operating+statement [02/05/10] Anon 4. 2010. Operating Statement. Business Dictionary.com. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/operating-statement.html [02/05/10] ACCA. 1988. ACCA Study Text: 2.4 Cost and Management Accounting II. First Edition. London: BPP Publishing Limited Johnson, H. T. and Kaplan, R. S. 1987. Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press Ashton, D, Hopper, T. and Scapens, R. W. 1991. Issues in Management Accounting. First Edition. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall Karolefski, John. 2004. Time Is Money: How Much Are Your Customers Costing You?. Food Logistics. Issue 69 p.18-2224