Question: You have just been appointed as the management accountant for Close Up and Personal (CUP), a company that sells pottery items, jewellery and cool clothing, featuring personal digital photos. This company employs a team of 12 designers who design the pottery items, jewellery and clothing. These products are manufactured by independent companies. CUP then prints the customer ordered photos onto the products and sells them to customers through six sales outlets located in shopping malls.

Required:

1. Identify the specific types of management accounting information that may be needed by the following employees, on a monthly basis, to help them control operations:

(a) Manager of each retail outlet.

(b) Manager of the design team.

(c) Marketing manager responsible for planning advertising campaigns and identifying customer needs.

(d) Manager who manages and renegotiates contracts with the outside manufacturers.

2. The managing director of CUP is interested in developing more sophisticated planning systems, but has some doubts over the value of undertaking strategic planning. Prepare a report outlining the importance of planning systems. In your report, consider the interrelationships between the objectives of the company, its strategies and short-term planning systems. Explain how management accounting information may assist in improving the planning function of the company.