Cma101 assignment | Business & Finance homework help

Assignment: CMA101 Assignment
Due date: Length: Value:
Task
Preparation Presentation
Assessment criteria
The Business Environment
Sunday Week 12.
As required in Part A. Maximum of 1500 words in Part B. 30%
You will work in a group of 2.
In Part A you will complete a practical exercise using Activity Based Costing.
In Part B, with your partner you will do some research and address a particular issue.
Study topics 1-5 through following the study guide and readings. The assignment could be started after studying Topic 2.
Clear calculations and analysis suitable for reading by a client; and written discussion in the format of an article.
This task will be assessed against the following criteria: •Accuracy of the calculations, •Ability to correctly apply analysis techniques, •Understanding of the information provided by the techniques, •Communication of the required assignment outputs such that
they would be useful to managers in exercising their duties, •Critical analysis of published materials, •Research of appropriate materials, •English expression—how well you express yourselves,
concise style, no colloquialisms, absence of grammatical
errors etc •Presentation—for example, ease of reading for the reader,
structure of the assignment, absence of spelling errors.
Note: you are expected to write concisely without repetition, colloquialisms or verbosity. The marker will pay attention to the accuracy of the content, information content of the analysis, coverage of relevant issues, structure of argument, English Expression, absence of plagiarism, concise writing style, and referencing style.
Ensure that you understand the meaning of plagiarism as penalties can be severe.CMA101: The Business Environment Assignment
You will do Part A of the assignment individually.
You are required to complete Part B of this assignment in pairs, even if your circumstances mean that you cannot meet your partner personally. You must do all parts of the assignment. Do NOT share files with other students— submission of identical work constitutes plagiarism, and you are liable for charges of misconduct regardless of whether you copied the work or provided the original work to others.
Note that plagiarism also includes presenting the ideas of others as if they were your own. It does not only refer to the absence of inverted commas or using the exact words of others. Referencing of sources is expected in Part B of this assignment. You have a bonus from doing this correctly since that referencing also provides authoritative support for the statements you make.
Assignment Tasks (marks: 25 + 50 will be scaled back to 25 marks overall)
Part A
You will be provided with a case study that requires you to apply activity based costing techniques. You will then need to discuss the derived costings in giving advice to a client.
Part B
You will be given a statement for discussion. You and your partner are to write a fully referenced discussion in the format of an article.
It should have headings and subheadings but does not need an abstract. Use the Harvard method of referencing and ensure the bibliography style is consistent with the citation style. Do not number items in the bibliography. You are expected to use at least six sources from the academic accounting literature. Examples of these sources are given below. Maximum 1500 words.
You should each submit a full assignment of Part A and Part B, but state in a header for Part B who your partner is. The header could just be the unit code and the names of the two students. DO NOT SHARE YOUR STUDENT NUMBER WITH ANOTHER STUDENT.
Be aware that any evidence of plagiarism will be investigated and disciplinary action taken. See the sections on plagiarism on Learnline.
Part A Case Study:
Arafura Mills produces three different types of fabric using two departments. In department 1, machines weave the cloth. In department 2, the cloth is dyed a variety of colours. Information for the combined use of resources in both departments for the 3 types of fabric follows.
Bolts are 20 metres each. All fabric is inspected during production. Robotic equipment inspects the fabric for obvious flaws as the bolts are wound up. Each bolt spends about 5 minutes in the inspection process.
Denim
Lightweigh t cotton
Heavyweig ht cotton
Total
Monthly production in units (bolts of fabric)
1 000 bolts
4 000 bolts
2 000 bolts
7 000 bolts
Direct materials cost
$8 000
$24 000
$20 000
$52 000
Direct labour cost
$660
$1 320
$920
$2 900
Direct labour hours
33
66
46
145
Machine hours
500
1 333.3
1 500
3 333.3
Number of setups for dye colour changes
10 setups
30 setups
20 setups
60 setups
Inspection time
83.3 hours
333.3 hours
166.6 hours
583.2 hours
Combined overhead costs for the two departments follow:
Cost to operate and maintain machines Set up costs Inspection costs
Total
$40 000 11 000 6 996 $57 996
Previously Arafura Mills used a process costing system that allocated direct materials to each product separately, but allocated direct labour and other conversion costs as if they were incurred equally across the units produced. Under the process costing system, the overhead cost for department 1 is $19 332 and for department 2 it is
$38 664. Direct labour hours and costs in department 1 are 55 hours at $1 100, and the remaining are in department 2. Direct materials for department 1 are $6 000 for denim, $16 000 for lightweight, and $15 000 for heavyweight. The remaining materials are in department 2. (No beginning or ending inventory or abnormal spoilage is recorded for Arafura Mills this period.)
Required:
1 Set up a spreadsheet to perform the following calculations. (If you are able to, it is easier if you use a data input section and cell referencing—i.e. do not key any data into the cells, other than in the data section.)
a. Use traditional process costing to allocate the direct materials and conversion costs per department to total bolts produced. Develop a cost per bolt for each type of fabric.
b. Using activity based costing, develop a cost per bolt.
2 Compare the process costing and ABC results. Identify the products with overstated costs and those with understated costs. Explain why the costs are mis-stated under traditional costing.
3 As a consultant, write a memo to the management of Arafura Mills explaining: a. the impact that the erroneous information could have on demand in the
market place and profitability. b. how managers could use the ABC information to improve operations.
Part B
Your employer has a few clients who do not understand what the benefits of using ABC might be and whether it is appropriate for them to use it—could they expect to get more useful information by the use of ABC? They are aware that it is not recommended for all businesses, but wonder if it would help theirs.
While these matters can be explained to client managers, they may have difficulty explaining it to others or the managers in the business may change and their replacements face the same issues. Therefore, in addition to meeting with the client your boss wants you to find an article that can be handed to the clients.
The article will explain two matters: the benefits that can be gained by using ABC and the kind of firms that are most likely to gain those benefits.
You will reference mostly academic articles and must have at least 6 different academic sources. DO NOT reference Wikipedia.
Much of the literature that will be useful to you was published in the 1990’s and the first few years of the 21st century.
Suitable academic journals to browse for this purpose include:
Journal of Management Accounting Research The British Accounting Review European Accounting Review Management Accounting Research
Journal of Applied Accounting Research Accounting Research Journal
Non-academic journals that may help include:
Management Accounting Journal of Cost Management
You do not have to, but you may find it helpful to start your research with one of the following papers, as they will have relevant bibliographies:
Norris, G. (2002) “Chalk and Cheese: Grounded Theory Case Studies of The Introduction and Usage of Activity Based Information in Two British Banks”, The British Accounting Review 34, pp.223-255.
Norris, G and Innes, J. (2002) “Managers’ Views on ABC in An Insurance Company: A grounded theory case study”, Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Vol.6 pp. 57-89
Norris, G. (1997) “The Formation Of Managers’ Views Of ABC And Their Impact On The Outcome Of Its Use: A Grounded Theory Case Study”, Accounting Research Journal, Vol 10, pp. 180-200.
In an article that cites the first article above (Norris, 2002) your citation will look like that. Notice how the articles you read use citations.
Student’s comments