Abstract This paper examines the use of the Just-in-time manufacturing method. It describes the key strategy behind just-in-time manufacturing: less inventory means more cash, which is good for most businesses, and demonstrates the application of this principal. The author writes that with Just-in-time manufacturing, stock is wasteful and eliminated, but there are also negative effects on the environment involved in this alternative process.
From the Paper "Just-in-time manufacturing is a method of manufacturing goods that was developed by Toyota in the 1980?s. Since that time, many companies around the world have begun to successfully implement just-in-time processes, including several companies in the United States. (Maskell, 1989)
"Just-in-time manufacturing is a method of manufacturing in which non-value-adding activities (or are identified and removed for the purposes of reducing costs, improving quality, improving performance, improving delivery, adding flexibility and increasing innovativeness."
Tags: Production, and, Inventory, Control, Society, (APICS), toyota, inventory, just, in, time
Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law on July 29, 2002. It was the U.S. government's response to the questionable business practices of a number of corporate executives, which caused across-the-board declines in the value of stock in publicly-traded companies during the summer of 2002. The passage of the Act has been heralded by some as an historic occasion, some calling it a long overdue corporate reform package, while others have severely criticized the Act as an unnecessary overreaction by the government. This paper discusses the business conditions that prompted the passage of the Act, the accounting problems that made the Act necessary, the advantages and disadvantages of the Act, and the effect of the Act on the future of the accounting profession.
From the Paper "The Corporate Sector in the United States is already sufficiently regulated. Further regulation goes against the principles of a free market economy that is one of the basic principles of the country's economy. What was needed in the wake of bankruptcy scandals was stricter enforcement of the existing laws rather than creating new ones.
The Act was a knee-jerk reaction to the accounting scandals in a tiny percentage of businesses. The new reporting requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley will divert the attentions of managements and boards of directors to self-protection away from the business purposes of companies."
Abstract This paper reviews the recent events in corporate America which have created a hype about fraudulent activities in businesses. The paper offers recent examples of such activity including the Enron scandal, America's biggest corporate collapse. The paper includes a background on the developments in legislature and politics put in place to curb the rising levels of unethical practice. The writer concludes that while to date, unethical business has been passed over, today there are means in place for ensuring businesses are accountable to the American public.
From the Paper "The boom of the 90's has changed the business environment in ways that will require a reshaping of corporate leadership. Financial scandals and out-of-hand executive compensation demonstrate not only a lapse of ethics and unprecedented greed, but also a disdain for the rule of law. Thus, the most pressing leadership issue for today is how to ensure that corporate officers behave in an ethical manner. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a legislative effort designed to promote ethics by holding executives accountable for financial reports."
Abstract Accounting firm Arthur Andersen's recent involvement in the spectacular Enron scandal has raised a number of questions about whether accounting firms should act as consultants for the same companies that they audit. Clearly, Andersen's experience shows that is difficult, if not impossible, for an accounting company to avoid conflict-of-interest issues when acting as both a consultant and auditor for a single company. This paper paper shows that the conflict of interest is only one of the serious ethical issues faced by the business world in the past years. As such, clients and investors are becoming increasingly aware of ethical issues, a situation that makes reform in the accounting industry a necessity to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the accounting profession.
From the Paper "In examining only the behavior of Arthur Andersen, we run the real risk of losing sight of the larger ethical issues that are involved in the Enron fiasco. The behavior of both Arthur Anderson and Enron executives showed a shocking disregard for personal ethics, as well as professional standards, and corporate ethics. Jennifer Beever notes that the business world has responded by taking a renewed interest in the study of ethics. This is a marked difference previous standards of proper business behavior that adhered most strongly to the pursuit of self-interest (Beever)."
Abstract This paper explains that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act came about because of the bankruptcies of Enron, Global Crossing, Adelphia, and WorldCom. These companies had hidden their true financial health from creditors and shareholders until an inability to meet financial commitments forced them to restate earnings that revealed massive losses. The author points out that a disadvantage of this Act is that the corporate sector in the United States is already sufficiently regulated, making it one of most tightly controlled in the world. The paper relates that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act restores the all-important role of the auditors as corporate "watchdogs", which is desirable for ensuring compliance with the prescribed accounting standards, and expands the role of the audit committee by making it responsible for appointing and overseeing the performance of the internal auditors.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Background
Accounting Problems that Led to Sarbanes-Oxley
Advantages of the Act
Disadvantages of the Act
Effect of the Act on the Future of Accounting Profession
Opinion
From the Paper "One of the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley makes the chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) personally responsible for signing false accounts and financial statements. They can now get stiff jail terms for violating the law by signing false and misleading financial statements. Before Sarbanes-Oxley many CEOs and CFOs pleaded innocence when financial irregularities were revealed by claiming that they were unaware of the "cooking" of the books by their subordinates."
A discussion about activity-based budgeting - the author believes understanding and mastering this concept is the route to understanding customer profitability.
3,848 words (approx. 15.4 pages), 28 sources, 2000, $ 105.95
From the Paper "Unlike traditional budgeting systems, activity-based budgeting (ABB) more accurately assigns overhead cost consumption to the products and services that consume them. ABB is a process management tool that quantifies the cost of providing a service or product. This is measured in terms of resources that add value for customers and those that are diverted to non-valued added overhead functions (activities). Simply put, activity-based budgeting reflects the organization's internal processing cost (cost-to-serve). This is done by examining all of an organization's activities, and not just functional operations, that help determine the true costs of providing services and to quantify recommendations such as process re-engineering, product mixing, or product redesign. Even though the concept of ABB and activity-based management (ABM) is vastly rooted in the manufacturing industry, this new age accounting approach provides valuable data about the cost distribution in any organization. The service industry ? the largest and fastest growing area in the US economy ? has adapted this methodology for providing business intelligence that allows true understanding and analysis of customer contribution to overall profitability."
Abstract This paper discuss the necessary steps in order to adopt the JIT philosophy into a company or operation, and how it reduces cost and increases quality. It looks at all of the different steps in the production process, and shows how JIT would benefit the overall production of the company's product.
From the Paper "Just in time works as a "pull" system and applies to generally every level in a multi-level production system. A "pull" system is actually "the subsequent process that pulls its requirements from the preceding processes in question" (Monden 215). One useful and effective way to implement this "pull" production is a Kanban system. A Kanban is Japanese for the word "card". It is a system that uses visual communication (usually cards attached to a storage or transportation container) to indicate to a proceeding process that a certain number of units or parts have been used up in a subsequent process. Therefore, the units/parts need to be replaced. The use of a Kanban facilitates the transmission of information among the different processes."
Tags: activity, based, cost, costing, jit, just, management, operations, time
Abstract This paper discusses the Kmart Corporation and its evident performance problems. The author provides an overall description of the organization including its macro and micro environments and diagnoses the apparent problems of the Kmart Corporation. The paper presents a plan of intervention and implementation, evaluates the plan and discusses the effect the changes will have on the corporation.
From the Paper "Kmart Corporation is a discount and general merchandise retailer. It began as the S.S. Kresge Co. founded by Sebastian S. Kresge in 1899. (Yahoo Finance) The name was changed to Kmart in 1977. In 1984 the company purchased Walden Books and Home Centers of America. Kmart began to collaborate with Martha Stewart in 1987; she became their primary spokesperson and consultant."
Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the corporation's financial records in an effort to find out why the company chose to file for bankruptcy. It conducts a financial analysis comparison of Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart. Suggestions are made as to what Kmart can do to regain their status in the market.
From the Paper "Kmart is a discount retailer with over 2,000 stores worldwide and at one time the chain was the leading discount retailer. Much of Kmart's troubles were made evident in November of last year when the company released its? SEC quarterly report. The company cited an operating loss of $76 million compared at only $28 million for the same period the prior year. Kmart's operating losses had jumped from .3% in 2000 to 1% in 2001. In addition to the increase in operating loss there was an increase in the company's selling, general and administrative expenses. This increase was $145 million for the 39-week period, which ended on October 31, 2001. (Kmart Corp (KM))"
Abstract This paper provides a basic introduction to ABC (Activity Based Costing) methods as a managerial accounting technique, a comparison to traditional based methods, benefits and disadvantages of ABC. The paper also includes an analysis of ABC methods as a TQM (Total Quality Management) component and provides a summary analysis of the system.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction to Activity Based Accounting
Uses for ABC
Implementing ABC
Advantages of ABC Costing
Disadvantages of ABC Costing
ABC versus Traditional Accounting
The Concerns of Activity Based Management
Summary Analysis
References
From the Paper "Activity-Based Costing (ABC) arose in the 1980s from the increasing lack of relevance of traditional cost accounting methods. The traditional cost accounting methods were designed around 1870 - 1920 and in those days industry was labor intensive, there was no automation, the product variety was small and the overhead costs in companies were generally very low compared to today. However, from the 1960s - particularly 1980s - this changed rapidly. Activity Based Costing is based on a simple principle: activities consume resources and customers consume activities. Associating the labor and overhead expenses of the business with the activities that consume those resources provides valuable facts. ABC defines categories of activity in overhead departments, which on the one hand are recognizable to overhead department managers but, on the other hand, are driven by factors (cost drivers) which are characteristic of products and other cost objects. This allows a much higher proportion of total company cost to be allocated to products according to causation. Ultimately, ABC provides accounting data points that can be used to improve decision-making and identify cost improvement opportunities. The basic building blocks for ABC are activity accounting spreadsheets for each element of a business. The workload of each activity is measured resulting in a cost per output. "
Tags: comparison, flaws, component, cost, data, labor, y
Abstract This paper explores the variety of reasons why Sarbanes-Oxley will fall short in meeting many of its objectives for making companies more accountable.
From the Paper "The future of the accounting profession will be very different under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (How the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 impacts the accounting profession 2002). First, auditors will report to an audit committee, not management. This committee must pre-approve all services provided by its auditor. The auditor will need to keep the audit committee informed if accounting policies and practices to be used, alternative treatments of financial information within GAAP that have been discussed with management, accounting disagreements between the auditor and management and other relevant communications between the auditor and management."
Abstract This paper describes the competition between PepsiCo and Coca-Cola and analyzes the balance sheets for these two publicly traded companies. The paper provides an examination of each company's history, market share and investor holdings. The paper includes a comparison of the company's stock price, dividend distributions and the types of financial data in each company's financial statements. The paper concludes that Coca-Cola currently leads PepsiCo in sales, but no one knows for how long, as these two warring companies compete for the last consumer, the last dollar.
Outline:
Abstract
Pepsi vs. Coke
Products and Services
Companies Established
Trade Index / Stock Ticker Symbols
Independent Audit Firms
Conclusion
From the Paper "It would be simple to say that both Pepsi and Coke are in the soft drink business, but the truth today is that both are engaged in the overall beverage industry. Both distribute soft drinks, water, juices, teas, coffees, and isotonic. The number of SKUs has grown from one to approximately 300, mostly in the past decade (Foote, 2005). Both Pepsi and Coke share a common history. Both were born in the rural South and created by drugstore operators. Both drinks were originally marketed as ''medicines,'' not "liquid candy" (McDonough, 1998)."
Abstract This paper compares the aspects of free trade to that of protectionism and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each.
From the Paper "Capitalism is a global system organized nationally. Every discussion of the global economy must include reference to relations amongst national economies and states, generated through the uneven development of various constituencies and the tensions involved in integration and competition, and those involved in integration and assertions of sovereignty. (Monthly Review, July-August 1999.) Advocates of free trade argue that growing economic prosperity worldwide owes much to the increase and liberalization of trade. It encourages improved productivity, increased access to technology and better quality products and services. Between 1950 and 1998, global exports increased by a factor of 18, while global output increased six and a half times. This year, the growth in world trade is projected to increase by 6 to 7%, up from 4% in 1999-2000. (African Business, February 2001.) "
Tags: trade, finance, free, global, capitalism, economy, competition, globalization, production
Abstract In this paper the author takes a close look at the Coca-Cola Corporation. The author looks at the management and how Douglas Daft came to the helm with his new philosophy of thinking "local", rather than global management. The author examines what has happened to Coca-Cola over the last few years in various countries and how this has effected its reputation. The author them moves on to discuss Coca-Cola's relationship with its bottlers, trade unions and profit margins. Finally the author looks at how Coca-Cola has re-established itself in China, creating a new business model and its wars with competitors.
From the paper:
?Coke's overwhelming success in the U.S. is in large part due to its bottlers. Daft's decentralization strategy reassigns much of the work performed by 29,000 laid-off employees to the "anchor bottlers" (for marketing and sales) and to sub-contractors (for plant and office maintenance) resulting in fewer direct employees worldwide. This strategy allows the company to concentrate its efforts on garnering market share while not having to take responsibility for global industrial relations. The anchor bottlers, Coca-Cola Enterprises and Cola-Cola Amatil, actually have more employees than Coca-Cola Company (CCC). The company relies on them to bottle and distribute the lion's share of its products.?
Abstract This paper presents the basic forms and methods of accounting for cash accounting and accrual-based accounting and compares the two. It examines which form of accounting is more beneficial to specific sectors of the economy and looks at the advantages and disadvantages of each.
From the Paper "In the cash basis of accounting, the business records are "cash in" (deposits to the bank account) called cash receipts, and "cash out" (checks) called cash disbursements. Cash receipts - Cash disbursement = Cash flow. Each month's cash flow is added to the preceding month's cash balance yielding the current month's cash balance.
The cash basis of accounting is more likely to be used by service businesses than by retail or manufacturing businesses. Service businesses usually do not need equipment and can sell a service they perform with nothing more than their own hands and minds. Think of people who are lawyers, writers, public relations and advertising personnel, and accountants."
