Rachel Gupton ACCT3314-800 8/30/2013

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How does managerial accounting differ from financial accounting? The fundamental difference between financial and managerial accounting is that financial accounting serves the needs of those outside the organization, whereas managerial accounting serves the needs of managers employed inside the organization.

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Pick any major television network and describe some planning and control activities that its managers would engage in. Some planning activities that ABC would take part in would be deciding how many shows they need to schedule, what production companies do they need to negotiate with, how they will decided to pick up new shows, and how much money they can allot to each show. Some controlling activities that ABC would take part in would be determining if they scheduled enough shows, did they lose out on any news shows to competitors, is their method of deciding new shows working, did the meetings with the production companies go smoothly, and deciding if they budgeted enough money to get the shows they wanted.

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If you had to decide whether to continue making a component part or to begin buying the part from an overseas supplier, what quantitative and qualitative factors would influence your decision? The quantitative factor that would influence my decision on whether to continue making a component part or begin buying the part for an overseas supplier would be the potential cost savings from buying the part rather than making it. The qualitative factor would focus on company strategy, risks, and corporate social responsibility.

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Why do companies prepare budgets? Companies prepare budgets in order to financially plan for the future. A budget can also help a company to identify and eliminate sources of unsatisfactory performance.

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Why is managerial accounting relevant to business majors and their future careers? Managerial accounting is relevant to business majors and their future careers because managerial accounting will help them learn how to plan for the future, how to make progress toward achieving goals, and how to make intelligent decisions.

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Why is managerial accounting relevant to accounting majors and their future

Rachel Gupton ACCT3314-800 8/30/2013

careers? Managerial accounting is relevant to accounting majors and their future careers because 80% of accounting majors will leave the public accounting industries and they will be expected to help improve organizational performance by applying the planning, controlling, and decision-making skills that are the foundation of managerial accounting.
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Pick any large company and describe its strategy using the framework in the chapter. Nordstroms is a large company that uses the customer intimacy strategy. This means that they promise their customers that they can customize their products and services to better meet the customers wants and needs better than their competitors.

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Why do management accountants need to understand their company's strategy? Management accountants needs to understand their companys strategy because this is the only way that they can accurately make plans for the company, control variables, and make decisions that will benefit the company.

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Pick any large company and describe three risks that it faces and how it responds to those risks. Three risks that a large company can face are intellectual assets being stolen from computer files, products harming customers, and losing market share due to unforeseen actions of competitors. The ways that they can minimize these risks are by creating firewalls that prohibit computer hackers from corrupting or stealing intellectual property, developing a formal and rigorous new product testing program, and developing an approach for legally gathering information about competitors plans and practices.

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Provide three examples of how a company's risks can influence its planning, controlling, and decision-making activities. Three examples of how a companys risk can influence its planning, controlling, and decision-making activities are using enterprise risk management processes, implementing specific controls, and proactively managing risks instead of reacting.

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Pick any large company and explain three ways that it could segment its companywide performance.

Rachel Gupton ACCT3314-800 8/30/2013

Three ways a company could segment its company-wide performance is through product lines, customer groups, or geographic territories.
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Locate the website of any company that publishes a corporate social responsibility report (also referred to as a sustainability report). Describe three nonfinancial performance measures included in the report. Why do you think the company publishes this report? I looked at Targets corporate responsibility report for 2012. Three nonfinancial performance measures included in the report were an increase in sustainable seafood selection, a reduction in greenhouse gases, and an increase in volunteer hours. I think the company publishes this report the show the consumer that the company cares about the same things as individuals. It creates a bond between the company and the consumer.

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Why do companies that implement Lean Production tend to have minimal inventories? Companies that implement lean productions tend to have minimal inventories because they only produce their product when it is needed.

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Why are leadership skills important to managers? Leadership skills are important to managers because organizations are managed by people, not data and spreadsheets. Managers must possess strong leadership skills if they wish to channel their co-workers efforts toward achieving organizational goals.

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Why is ethics important to business? Ethics is important to business because ethical behavior is the lubricant that keeps the economy running. Without that lubricant, the economy would operate much less efficiently less would be available to consumers, quality would be lower, and prices would be higher.