Exam 1: Cost Management and Strategy

Required: Consider the contemporary management techniques and how they might be used in each of the following industry groups.For which industry type is each management technique most applicable? 1)Manufacturing,for example,auto manufacturing,appliances,and consumer electronics 2)Professional service firms,for example,accounting firms,law firms,and medical practices 3)Retail firms,for example,Wal-Mart and Sears

Target costing:

In keeping with the current trend of increased strategic planning,how have management accountants changed their use of life-cycle costing?

Management accounting information plays a critical role in all of the following management functions except:

The competitive strategy of differentiation is implemented by a firm's targeted,careful attention to a(n):

RTP Corp.is developing a new computer processor to compete against Intel's successful product line.RTP has already determined the market price and the required profit margin on each processor sold in order to be successful.Which costing method will RTP most likely use to reduce costs and obtain the desired results?

The national sales manager for your company has pulled you aside and asked you to prepare an invoice for one of the company's largest clients before the end of the fiscal year which ends this month.This invoice will include items that have not yet been shipped and are not planned for shipment until after this fiscal year.What should you do in this situation?

The controller of one division of a large diversified firm is compensated by salary plus bonus.The bonus is a significant part of total compensation,and is based directly on the profits of the division.Thus,the controller has an incentive to find ways to increase profits,including the delay of discretionary expenses such as research and development,delay of maintenance and repair of manufacturing equipment,and delay of sales promotions. Required: Is finding ways to increase profits as described above unethical? Why or why not? Who is to blame,if anyone?

Which of the following is the primary user of management accounting information regarding business units?

If a firm decided to reevaluate and reorganize the way it did business,in hopes of creating competitive advantage,by changing or decreasing jobs,the company would be using which of the following management technique?

With the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,all public companies are now required by the SEC to disclose whether or not the company has:

Non-financial measures of operations include all the following except:

If a company is working on strategic positioning,what aspect of the firm is being developed?

The competitive strategy of differentiation requires that a product or service must be:

The five steps for strategic decision making include all of the following except:

A firm that has traditionally succeeded on the basis of its innovative products and excellent customer service has started to place greater emphasis on reducing waste and providing its customers with the lowest priced product.Which of the following most accurately describes this change of competitive strategy?

Many automobile and consumer electronics industries have firms which compete using a strategy of:

All of the following actions enhance the new focus on making management accounting information more relevant in helping a firm achieve strategic goals,except:

Due in part to increased global competitiveness and changes in management techniques and processes,what has changed about the role of the management accountant?

Which of the following is considered to be an advantage that nonfinancial information has over financial information?