Question 1
You have been hired as the new Internal Auditor for Ashton Company, a public company. Here's your concern that you bring to the Board of Directors. You wonder if, within the financial industry, public companies are properly valuing long term liabilities on their financial statements. The Board of Directors asks you to prepare a report for a follow-up meeting indicating whether or not their long term liabilities have been properly valued. What key points would you address and why? Share thoughts and suggestions with classmates.
Question 2
A cost driver is typically a variable like the amount of activity used, that impacts the costs of the process over time. This cost driver creates a cause and effect relationship between the process and the costs associated with it because of the driver. In cost accounting we typically focus on the different cost drivers of key activities to ensure that proper cost management is in place to limit their impact on the financial returns of the business.
Looking at this concept, select two examples of cost drivers and explain the processes they are associated with, their cost impact, and how you would monitor and manage their impacts on the financial performance of the business.
Question 3
Why do you think leading-edge retailers such as Dell and Wal-Mart have such a hold on the market? Is it their technology or their management - or something else?
Question 4
This week, your Online Exploration is an exploration of online mapping systems. Visit two of the following sites: MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com), Rand McNally (http://www.randmcnally.com), and Google Maps (http://www.google.com/maps). Use the interactive capabilities of these sites to plan a trip from your home to any destination more than 100 miles away. As you explore, try all the features of these sites. See what sort of driving directions are available. See what information you can find about businesses and services along the route. Compare the accuracy of this information between sites.
Once you are done exploring, write, your starting point and destination, the sites you explored, and a brief summary of the information you found. Include which site you would use in the future (consider ease of use, costs (if any), clarity of the maps, reliability of the information, features of the website). What about this information system led you to make the decision you made?