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Government Accounting
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Overview
Complete two exercises in government accounting.
Governmental accounting has come under close scrutiny lately. Taxpayers are more concerned than ever about how their tax dollars are being spent by different government entities. By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
Competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 4:
Analyze accounting issues related to government.
Record basic journal entries for fund financial statements.
Record basic journal entries for government-wide financial statements.
Differentiate between encumbrances and expenditures.
Differentiate between government activities and business-type activities.
Determine the consequences of certain transactions for state and local governments.
Context
Just as for-profit businesses must prepare financial statements for their stakeholders, state and local government entities must also assemble their financial data and report the results to their constituents. But because the readers of government financial statements have a wide variety of information needs, no single set of statements seems capable of satisfying all of the users. Accountability of government officials and control over public spending have always been essential elements of government accounting. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is charged with setting authoritative accounting standards for state and local government units.
In addition to the issues you examined in the previous assessment, there remains a number of other asset issues to deal with when governmental accounting procedures are involved. The first such issue involves obtaining assets through lease arrangements. Government accounting applies the same criteria for identifying a capital lease as a for-profit organization.
Some other issues include the following:
Solid waste landfills creating large potential debts for a government because of closure and postclosure costs.
Future compensated employee absences because of holidays, sick leave, and vacations.
A state or local government obtaining a work of art or historical treasure.
Questions to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below concerning the principles and practices that underlie state and local government accounting, and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
Who uses the financial data produced by state and local government units?
How does fund accounting differ from financial accounting?
When does a government recognize revenues, expenses, and expenditures?
Why are two sets of financial statements necessary
For the following question, refer to the city of Sacramento’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, linked in the Suggested Resources under the Internet Resources heading.
How does the audit opinion given to this city by its independent auditors differ from the audit opinion that might be rendered on the financial statements for a for-profit business?
Resources Required Resources
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.
Government Accounting Excel Workbook.
Internet Resources
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication. City of Sacramento. (n.d.). Financial reporting. Retrieved from http://portal.cityofsacramento.org/Finance/Accounting/Reporting
National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). Financial accounting for local and state school systems: Chapter 4: Governmental accounting. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/h2r2/ch_4.asp
Hoyle, J. B., Schaefer, T., & Doupnik, T. (2014). Fundamentals of advanced accounting (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Chapter 11, “Accounting for State and Local Governments, Part I.” Chapter 12, “Accounting for State and Local Governments, Part II.”
Assessment Instructions
Complete Exercises 1 and 2 in the Government Accounting Excel Workbook, linked in the Required Resources for this assessment. All financial information and applicable instructions are provided on each exercise worksheet.
Exercise 1: Fund-Based and Government-Wide Journal Entries Record basic journal entries for fund-based and government-wide financial statements.
Exercise 2: City Operations Transactions Differentiate between encumbrances and expenditures.Differentiate between government activities and business-type activities. Determine the consequences of certain transactions for state and local governments.
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Foreign currency Transactions
Complete two exercises in accounting for foreign currency transactions and translating financial statements from a foreign currency into U.S. dollars.
With the expansion of U.S. business interests in foreign countries, the need to use and understand foreign currency transaction actions has become commonplace in accounting.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 2: Evaluate the influence of global money markets on financial statements.
Translate financial statement amounts to U.S. dollars.
Compute translation adjustments.
Context
In today’s global economy, many companies transact business in currencies other than their reporting currency. Merchandise may be imported or exported with prices stated in a foreign currency. For reporting purposes, foreign currency balances must be stated in terms of the company’s reporting currency by multiplying it by an exchange rate.
To address this issue, accountants face two questions in restating foreign currency balances:
What is the appropriate exchange rate for restating foreign currency balances?
And how does one account for changes in the exchange rate?
For this reason, companies often engage in foreign currency hedging activities to avoid the adverse impact of exchange rate changes. Accountants must then determine how to properly account for these hedging activities.
Because many companies have significant financial involvement in foreign countries, the process by which foreign currency financial statements are translated into U.S. dollars has special accounting importance. The two major issues related to the translation process are:
Which method to use.
Where to report the resulting translation adjustment in the consolidated financial statements.
Translation methods differ on the basis of which accounts are translated at the current exchange rate and which are translated at historical rates. Accounts translated at the current exchange rate are exposed to translation adjustment. Different translation methods give rise to different concepts of balance sheet exposure.
Question to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below concerning foreign currency transactions and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
What are the reporting issues when a company transacts business in foreign countries?
How does a company become exposed to foreign exchange risk?
What is hedge accounting, and how is it applied?
Why would a company prefer a foreign currency option over a forward contract in hedging a foreign currency firm commitment?
Why would a company prefer a forward contract over an option in hedging a foreign currency asset or liability?
What is a translation adjustment, and how is it computed?
What role do exchange rates play in the translation process?
How does a remeasurement differ from a translation?
What methods should be used to translate financial statements?
Resources
Required Resources
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.
Hoyle, J. B., Schaefer, T., & Doupnik, T. (2014). Fundamentals of advanced accounting (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 7, “Foreign Currency Transactions and Hedging Foreign Exchange Risk.”
Chapter 8, “Translation of Foreign Currency Financial Statements.”
Assessment Instructions
Complete Exercises 1 and 2 in the Foreign Currency Excel Workbook, linked in the Required Resources for this assessment. All financial information and applicable instructions are provided on each exercise worksheet.
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Research Purpose
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Evaluate purpose statements in research studies published in peer-reviewed journals
Analyze alignment among theory, problem, and purpose in research studies published in peer-reviewed journals
Explain relationship between research and social change
Apply APA Style to writing
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Babbie, E. (2017). Basics of social research (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Chapter 4, “Research Design”
Burkholder, G. J., Cox, K. A., & Crawford, L. M. (2016). The scholar-practitioner’s guide to research design. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Publishing.
Chapter 10, “Writing the Research Proposal”
Discussion: Evaluating Purpose Statements
For this Discussion, you will evaluate the purpose statements in assigned journal articles in your discipline and consider the alignment of theory, problem, and purpose. You will also explain your position on the relationship between research and social change.
Alignment means that a research study possesses clear and logical connections among all of its various components. To achieve these connections, researchers must carefully craft the components of their study such that when they are viewed together, there is a coherent interrelationship.
As you read the authors’ purpose statements, consider how well the intent of the study, and its connection to the problem and theoretical framework, is presented. Also consider if the purpose statement reveals the study’s potential for engendering positive social change.
Post a critique of the research study in which you:
Evaluate the purpose statement using the Purpose Statement Checklist as a guide
Analyze alignment among the theory, problem, and purpose
Explain your position on the relationship between research and social change
Research Journal Article
Swan, B., Coulombe-Quach, X-L, Huang, A., Godek, J., Becker, D., & Zhou, Y. (2015). Meeting the needs of gifted and talented students: Case study of a virtual learning lab in a rural middle school. Journal of Advanced Academics, 26(4), 294–319. doi:10.1177/1932202X15603366
Rubric
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Research Purpose
Evaluation of the purpose statement
Swan, Coulombe-Quach, Huang, Godek, Becker, and Zhou provide a purpose statement for their article as “… to provide stakeholders with an authoritative, in-depth well-documented explication of a virtual learning lab (VLL) school located in a rural region in the Southeastern United States and information about its benefits and challenges” (2015, p. 295). The purpose statement in this article identifies the problem of inadequate teaching and learning in brick and mortar schools that presents the need to study the VLL School.
The authors provide a justification of the problem by diluting the need for traditional brick and mortar model through a comparative analysis of blended learning. The purpose statement conveys the approach used in the study to address the problem; more research into VLL schools. Of the twelve sources used in the literature section of the article, seven are within five years of the article’s publication date.
Analysis of the alignment among the theory, problem, and purpose
The theory, problem, and purpose of the article have logical connections among the various components (Babbie, 2017, pp. 97 – 98, 338). The prevalent connection among the three is the is the use of a blended learning theory to solve the problem of dependency on traditional brick and mortar schools to achieve the purpose of extending the research into the virtual learning labs and blended models of teaching and learning….
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Calculate goodwill resulting from admission of a new partner.
Calculate bonus resulting from admission of a new partner.
Calculate partnership capital balances.
Prepare a partnership liquidation schedule.
Context
The partnership form of business ownership is popular for many reasons, including the ease of creation and the avoidance of the double taxation inherent in corporate ownership. However, the unlimited liability normally restricts the growth potential for most partnerships. As a result, most partnerships remain small in relation to their larger corporate brothers.
During the formation and operation stages of a partnership’s life, several issues require closer study, because of their impact on the financial status of individual partners. Initially, there is the issue of allocating the initial contributions of each partner in relation to their ownership and liability share. During ongoing operations, the issue of allocating annual income and losses sustained by the business must be handled. Lastly, the issues of taking on new partners and the withdrawal of current partners will affect the financial stability of the partnership.
Although a business unit can exist indefinitely through the periodic admission of new partners, termination of business activities and liquidation of property can take place for a number of reasons. Several important financial issues surface during these times in the life of a partnership.
Questions to consider
erested friend, or a member of the business community.
How are partner contributions valued and recorded?
How is annual income allocated among individual capital accounts?
What restructuring takes place when new partners enter and existing partners leave?
Under what circumstances would a partnership be liquidated?
How should an accountant report liquidation of a partnership?
How are assets distributed during liquidation?
Consider the following case:
A client of the CPA firm of Smith and Wesson is a medical practice of seven local doctors. One doctor has been sued for several million dollars as the result of a recent operation. Because of what appears to be this doctor’s poor judgment, a patient died. Although that doctor was solely involved with the patient in question, the lawsuit names the entire practice as a defendant. Originally, four of these doctors formed this business as a general partnership. However, five years ago, the partners converted the business to a limited liability partnership based on the laws of the state in which they operate.
What liability do the other six partners in this medical practice have in connection with this lawsuit?
What factors are important in determining the exact liability, if any, of these six doctors?
Resources
Required Resources
The following resources are required to complete the assessment.
Hoyle, J. B., Schaefer, T., & Doupnik, T. (2014). Fundamentals of advanced accounting (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 9, “Partnerships: Formation and Operation.”
Chapter 10, “Partnerships: Termination and Liquidation.”
Assessment Instructions
Complete Exercises 1 and 2 in the Partnerships Excel Workbook, linked in the Required Resources for this assessment. All financial information and applicable instructions are provided on each exercise worksheet.
Exercise 1: Partnership Operations
Calculate partnership capital balances.
Calculate needed partner investment.
Calculate goodwill resulting from admission of a new partner.
Calculate bonus resulting from admission of a new partner.
Exercise 2: Partnership Liquidation Schedule
Prepare a partnership liquidation schedule.
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Employee Compensation and Benefits
This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a narrative and a PowerPoint presentation.
You must submit two (2) sections for the completion of this assignment. Label each file name according to the section of the assignment it is written for.
Imagine that you have just been hired by a new company as the director of the HR department. You have been tasked to hire a new secretary for the department and to develop an employee compensation and benefits package that will be used for that position upon hire.
Develop a PowerPoint presentation to present this information to your Vice President. Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Website, located at www.bls.gov, for information regarding organizations and pay in your geographical area.
Section 1: Narrative
Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:
Choose the type of organization for which you are designing the package.
Develop an employee compensation and benefits package for this new position. Support your ideas for the compensation/benefits package.
Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Section 1 of your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
Section 2: Presentation
Create a twenty (15) slide PowerPoint presentation in which you:
4. Provide an overview of the employee compensation and benefits package that you developed in the narrative portion of this assignment.
5. Determine if the employee will be exempt or nonexempt and discuss how overtime will be handled.
6. Suggest other benefits that might be considered within the next few months to enhance employee performance and provide job motivation.
7. Provide information on how government regulations will influence the compensation.
8. Examine data from two (2) organizations listed in the BLS Website with packages similar to yours, focusing on salary, compensation, and benefits in order to convince upper management that your package should be accepted and implemented.
9. Describe how the competitive compensation and benefits package will align with the HRM strategy,
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Employee Compensation and Benefits
Employee Compensation and Benefits – Section 1: Narrative
This paper looks into a case scenario where the Director of the Human Resources Department has to hire a new secretary. The organization is a new enterprise, as is the Director. The Director faces a task of developing a suitable employee compensation and benefits package for the new position of secretary. The Director has to provide a comparative analysis of the proposed compensation and benefits package alongside those offered by other similar firms in the same geographical region. The focus of the assignment is on the design of a compensation and benefits package for employees, with regard to its competitiveness and alignment to the organization’s HRM strategy.
Type of organization
The organization within this case scenario is one that engages in manufacturing. The core business of the firm is in the production of goods for sale in the state and the entire country. The firm needs a new employee despite the reduction in employment rates within the manufacturing sector (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Therefore, there is a need to design a compensation and benefits package for the new position as addressed below.
New position
The organization seeks to hire a new secretary in the Human Resources department. Since the organization is new, there is a need to create a compensation and benefits package for the new position. Research on the importance of competitive compensation and benefits packages states that the alignment of HRM strategies and employee benefits produces better firm results and increases overall performance (L’Écuyer & Raymond, 2017). As such, there is a need to develop competitive packages aligned with the HRM strategies as a measure to improve the overall performance of the organization.
Developing an employee compensation and benefits package for this new position
The HRM Strategy
As observed earlier, in order to design an appropriate compensation and benefits package for the new position at the organization, the firm needs to align their HRM strategy to the compensation and benefits offered. This alignment should lead to increased performance of the individuals as well as the organization. The HRM strategy, with regard to employment compensation and benefits, is one where the firm targets to create competitive remuneration and benefits packages that are in tandem with regulations and industry standards.
In addition, the compensation and benefits offered need to be strategic, such that they are within the cost limitations of the organization, while being more inviting than those offered by other firms within the same geographical region.
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Consolidations
Overview
Complete two exercises in accounting for outside ownership (noncontrolling interest) and eliminating intercompany transactions, resulting in unrealized gains and losses.
When one company acquires control of a subsidiary company, the ownership interest of the parent may be less than 100 percent.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 2: Evaluate the influence of global money markets on financial statements.
Determine consolidated balances.
Context
A parent company need not acquire 100 percent of a subsidiary’s stock to form a business combination. Only control over the decision-making process is necessary—a level that has historically been achieved by obtaining a majority of the voting shares. Ownership of any subsidiary stock that is retained by outside, unrelated parties is collectively referred to as noncontrolling interest.
A consolidation takes on an added degree of complexity when a noncontrolling interest is present. The noncontrolling interest represents a group of subsidiary owners, and their equity is recognized by the parent in its consolidated financial statements. Valuation of subsidiary assets and liabilities poses a problem when a noncontrolling interest is present and follows the acquisition method. There are any number of challenges facing accountants with respect to noncontrolling interest issues. Central to these issues is the financial statement presentation for both entities.
In Assessment 1, you analyzed the deferral and subsequent recognition of gains created by inventory transfers between two affiliated companies in connection with equity method accounting. In that case, intra-entity profits are not realized until the earning process culminates in a sale to an unrelated party. A parallel logic can be applied to transactions between companies within a business combination. Such sales within a single economic entity create neither profits nor losses.
The opportunity for such direct acquisition, especially of inventory, is often the underlying motive for the creation of the business combination. Because the transaction was not made with an outside, unrelated party, the sales and purchases created by the transfer must be accounted for by accountants with each entity. This is true regardless of the asset, be it inventory, land, or depreciable assets.
Question to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below concerning consolidations and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.
What accounting and reporting are appropriate for a noncontrolling interest?
How are additional stock purchases by a parent corporation in its subsidiary consolidated?
How are subsidiary revenues and expenses reported on a consolidated income statement when the parent gains control during the current accounting period?
What are the accounting and reporting effects, if the parent buys or sells shares of a subsidiary?
What are the accounting and reporting effects of intra-entity asset transfers?
What are the balance sheet effects of intra-entity transactions when a noncontrolling interest is present?
Why would a corporation choose one type of interest over the other when purchasing a stake in another corporation?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each interest type for the acquiring and subsidiary corporation?
Consider the following case:
In 2001, PepsiCo and the Quaker Oats Company reached an agreement to become one company. Refer to the associated New York Times article and the SEC document linked in the Suggested Resources under the Internet Resources heading when considering the following:.
What type of marriage does this represent?
Who are the winners and losers?
Could this marriage happen today?
Push-down accounting is a method of accounting in which the financial statements of a subsidiary are presented to reflect the costs incurred by the parent company in buying the subsidiary, instead of the subsidiary’s historical costs. The purchase costs of the parent company are shown in the subsidiary’s statements. Although the use of push-down accounting for external reporting is limited, this method has gained favor for internal reporting purposes.
Why has push-down accounting gained popularity for internal reporting purposes?
Resources
Click the links provided to view the following resource:
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.
Complete Exercises 1 and 2 in the Consolidations Excel Workbook, linked in the Required Resources for this assessment. All financial information and applicable instructions are provided on each exercise worksheet
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Job order and process cost accounting systems
ORDER INSTRUCTIONS:
Use the Assessment 2 Template to complete Part 1 and Part 2. Each part is a different tab in the template.
For Part 3, create a Microsoft Word document. Submit both the completed template and the Word document for this assessment.
Part 1: Using Part 1 of the template, read the Central Manufacturing Company scenario and then complete the following:
1. Determine the unit cost for the month in finishing.
2. Determine the total cost of the products transferred to finished goods.
3. Determine the total cost of the ending work in process inventory.
Part 2: Using Part 2 of the template, solve the Central Manufacturing Company problems using an average cost processing system.
Part 3: In a 1–2-page Microsoft Word document, compare and contrast how job order and process cost accounting systems differ for each of the following items:
1. Materials.
2. Labor.
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Job order and process cost accounting systems Essay
Job costing is a system used in the production of heterogeneous products. The difference in the products produced is known as the creation of a job order cost record for each item. Both the direct material as well as the direct labor costs will be reported in the job cost record and any production overhead incurred (Braun et al., 2014). Process costing is an accounting system used to determine the cost of the product at each stage of production.
It is adopted where the goods produced are manufactured in a sequence of processes that are continuous. Unit cost under individual costs is determined then summed up to give an average unit cost for the product (Braun et al., 2014). The section below provides a comparison between job order costing and process accounting orders in terms of materials and labor.
Materials
Similarities
Both methods have the same aim of determining the total cost of materials used. Both job order and process costing have the same workflow, where the materials inventory is recorded in a separate account and then the costs are transferred to work in the process account (Braun et al., 2014). Another similarity in both systems is that the direct material cost is included in the product cost. The management uses the unit cost of materials for decision-making. To achieve this, management will evaluate…….
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Ethical Issues Analysis
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Please use these instructions to complete the paper
Case Analysis Book: Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues. 9th edition. Vincent Ruggiero Case 1: The Government pg 168 #5. A number of groups have urged restrictions on child labor. For example, they believe that no one under age 16 should be permitted to work in manufacturing; mining, agricultural and construction industries; that hours of work should be limited in all jobs for workers under the age of 18; and that no one under 21 should be allowed to have any contact with pesticides.
Question: Discuss the moral considerations attending this proposal.b. Identify the moral issues.
Identify the parties involved.
And infer their interests.
Discuss this case in terms of finding common ground in the diversity of interests you identify.
Case#2: pg108 #4e)
An English teacher in a two-year technical college has several students in his composition course whose ignorance of the English language has proved invincible. He has given them extra work and extra counseling from the first week of the semester. They have been diligent in their efforts to improve. Though they are in a construction technology program and will undoubtedly be employed in jobs that require little writing skill, the composition course is required for graduation. In the instructor’s judgement, the students would not be able to pass the course legitimately if they took it three times, so he raises their F grades to Ds.
Question: Identify the consequences of the action taken… and decide whether the action represented the greater good.
2. Identify the moral issues and the parties involved
3. Discuss the case with respect to the principle of utility…
4 …. Identify the benefits and burdens that pertain to the parties affected?
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Ethical Issues Analysis
Case 1
There are various moral issues involved in this case. The first moral issue is child labor. Child labor is considered a moral issue because it not only denies children their childhood but it could lead to potential harm both physically and mentally. Child labor robs children of dignity and also denies them the opportunity to develop normally and get an education (Tanveer, Manzar & Khan, 2016).
The second moral issue is poverty. It is notable that child labor is common among the poor who do not have access to adequate education and other life opportunities (Tanveer, Manzar & Khan, 2016). The government is responsible for addressing poverty as a moral issue instead of just issuing restrictions on child labor.
The parties involved in this case include the children and young adults aged below 21 years, the government, the groups lobbying for restriction of child labor and the companies employing the children in the various industries identified as being unfit for child labor.
Each of these parties has different interests. The children may not have any other choice but to work in order to earn a livelihood. This may be influenced by their backgrounds which do not allow them to live normal lives like other children such as going to school. The government may be under pressure to fight poverty in the country and by restricting child labor, the poverty burden is likely to increase.
This would lead to higher expenditure in taking care of such children. The lobby groups’ interests is to protect the rights of children from exploitation and harm from doing work that is inappropriate for their age, hence their lobbying activities. The hiring companies on the other hand may be benefiting from cheap child labor and may not be interested in eliminating it.
Finding a common ground would require the formulation of plausible solutions to each of the party interests identified. In this relation, the various interests need to be studied with consideration of how effectively they can be satisfied while eliminating the moral issue (Ruggiero, 2015). The government and the lobby groups must work with the families of the children to understand the reason why they are working at that age.
They should then develop strategies that would ensure that the children can be provided with what they need to live normal lives. Collaborating with hiring companies to consider hiring adult employees is also imperative and this may be achieved by government subsidies to reduce the cost of human capital incurred by the institutions. This should then be accompanied by sanctions to ensure that companies employing child labor are prosecuted. This way, they would stop relying on children for cheap labor…..
Ethical Issues Analysis
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Product Management and Situation Analysis
This Case Assignment focuses on Volkswagen’s emissions scandal and related brand management and business ethics issues.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
Case Reading
A mucky business; the volkswagen scandal. (2015, Sep 26). The Economist, 416, 23-25.
Boston, W., & Houston-Waesch, M. (2015, Oct 15). Volkswagen suspends another top engineer; berlin orders recall; transport minister says recall of tainted diesel cars is mandatory. Wall Street Journal (Online).
Danny, Hakim, Kessler, A. M., & Ewing, J. (2015, Sep 27). As VW pushed to be no. 1, ambitions fueled a scandal. New York Times. De Cremer, D., & de Bettignies, H. (2013). PRAGMATIC BUSINESS ETHICS. Business Strategy Review, 24(2), 64-67.
Here are some articles on brand equity and brand management.
Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22.
Helm, S., & Tolsdorf, J. (2013). How does corporate reputation affect customer loyalty in a corporate crisis? Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management, 21 (3), p144-152.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
PROMOTION MANAGEMENT & SWOT ANALYSIS
Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct both secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP3 and SLP4.
It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business success in the marketplace.
The final format for this cumulative session long project;
A list of topics for the whole project;
The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-4.
In this module SLP 2, conduct SWOT analysis for your charge based on the situation analysis in SLP1. This is the second step of this cumulative research project. Be sure to revise the sections in SLP1 and include them in this paper following the marketing plan outline provided above.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
SWOT Analysis
A thorough situation analysis in the Module 1 SLP is the foundation for a SWOT analysis. Develop statements of the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. If there is any question as to whether a fact or issue is external (these lead to opportunity and threat statements) or internal (these lead to strength and weakness statements), ask this key question, “Would this issue exist if the company did not exist?” If the answer is yes, then the issue should be classified as external.
Note: Remember that alternative marketing strategies and tactics are not opportunities. Opportunities and threats exist independently of the firm. Strategies and tactics are what the firm intends to do about its opportunities and threats relative to its own strengths and weaknesses.
The SWOT will play a critical role (along with an in-depth understanding of target market needs/preferences and competition) in the development of goals, objectives, and marketing strategies and programs. Key strengths need to be matched to opportunities and converted to capabilities that help serve customer needs better and lead to competitive advantage.
Goals, strategies, and program ideas stem from an attempt to convert weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities. Some alternatives will also come from thinking about how to minimize the repercussions of weaknesses and threats that cannot be converted, and/or how to avoid them altogether. Follow the instructions below to identify strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
A. Strengths and Weaknesses (Internal)
Think about internal conditions; those things that management has some control over that are relevant to future success and effectiveness. The task is to identify internal strengths, which must be taken into consideration as management plans for the future.
Remember, a strength is any internal characteristic that improves effectiveness. Look for factors that help the company improve positioning in the marketplace, enhance financial performance, and most importantly, fight off threats and take advantage of opportunities in the external environment.
A weakness is any internal characteristic that limits effectiveness, performance, and the ability to accomplish objectives, meet threats, and take advantage of opportunities.
It is also important to point out that a particular fact about the internal environment may have a weakness and a strength dimension. For example, we might say that the company’s technical skills are of the highest quality and this is a strength, but since these skills are possessed by only a few employees, it is also a weakness in that we need more people with such skills and would be hurt if a few key people left the company.
Using the following 16 internal factors to stimulate your thinking, list all of the company strengths you can think of for each category. Then review the same list of 16 internal factors and develop a list of company weaknesses. (You may not have access to all of the information below, but try your best to identify at least five of them for your project).
Product Management and Situation Analysis
Internal Factors
The following categories of internal factors are commonly used to generate a list of specific company strengths and weaknesses. This list is to be used to stimulate your thinking about internal strengths and weaknesses.
Management leadership/capabilities.
Organization structure and management systems.
Facilities, equipment, and materials.
Technical skills and expertise.
Dedication, morale, and motivation of employees.
Capacity to meet demand—production capacity, including excess available for growing demand.
Marketing effectiveness/efficiency—advertising, personal selling, public relations, products/services, prices, distribution, marketing research and planning, customer service, warranties, sales support, sales promotion, etc.
Ability to deliver what the market wants.
Ability to deliver in a timely manner.
Image and reputation as perceived by customers and within the industry.
Customer (and potential customer) perception—likes, dislikes, and perceptions of service, quality, etc.
Financial performance—sales, market share, customer satisfaction/loyalty, and profits.
Financial situation—availability of capital, internal funding, financial stability, etc.
Cost of operations—high cost vs. low cost, rising costs, costs compared to competition (manufacturing, distribution, etc.)
Geographic location(s).
Other relevant competencies/resources that translate into strengths that have not been mentioned. Also, any weaknesses we have missed related to a lack of competencies and/or resources that are needed in the future.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
B. Opportunities and Threats (External)
Think about the most significant trends in the organization’s external environment that will have an impact on future success. The challenge is to identify relevant opportunities and threats outside management’s control that must be taken into consideration during the planning process. You will need to list and describe the factors/issues forming industry trends that may influence future efforts one way or the other, either as a positive force (opportunity) or as a barrier (threat).
An opportunity is the result of some trend or fact in the external environment that represents a marketplace and/or financial performance advantage. It may indicate a new direction, product or service, and/or resource requirement for the company. It represents an attractive arena for marketing action in which the company would enjoy a competitive advantage.
A threat is the result of some trend or fact in the external environment that represents an area of concern for management. It represents a challenge posed by an unfavorable trend or development that would lead, in the absence of effective marketing action, to the erosion of the company’s or industry’s position. A threat may:
Directly or indirectly affect the business.
Indicate an area to be avoided.
Demand a strategic response.
Represent an opportunity if responded to properly.
It should be pointed out that a particular trend in the external environment (for example, mergers/acquisitions, technological advancements, and/or a recent change in the way competitors operate and what they are offering the market) can imply both a threat and an opportunity. Sometimes in strategic planning we say that behind each threat (or problem) lies an opportunity.
Or an optimist in strategic planning will look at threats and try to turn them into opportunities. Thus, it should be remembered that if management can adapt properly to a threat (such as mergers and acquisitions), this trend may be viewed as an opportunity as well as a threat.
Review the following 13 categories of external environmental trend factors and list the trends or issues that are relevant to the company and industry. Then translate each factor identified into a specific opportunity and/or threat statement. That is, what are the implications of each environmental trend or issue outside the company in terms of specific opportunities and/or threats? (You may not have access to all the information below, but try your best to identify at least five of them for your project).
Product Management and Situation Analysis
External Environmental Trend Factors
The following categories of external environmental trend factors are commonly considered in the planning process. They are used to develop a specific list of company opportunities and threats. This list is to be used to stimulate your thinking about opportunities and threats in the external environment.
Mergers and acquisitions—(e.g., among customers, potential customers, suppliers, competitors, and/or within the industry).
Competitive trends—specific competitive strategies and programs, or recent changes such as lower prices or new products.
Economic trends—forces and changes in the economy such as inflation, interest rates, recession.
Market/industry trends—size of firm related to industry, financial performance of the industry compared with the firm, size/growth rate of current and future potential market characteristics and trends in markets and industry.
Customer and potential customer attitudes—preferences, expectations, problems, wants, needs, etc. What changes are anticipated?
Legal trends—government regulations and policies.
Societal/lifestyle trends—changes in people’s values, attitudes, and activities.
10. New products/services—on the market.
11. Supply sources.
12. Declining or increasing productivity—in the industry or economy.
13. Other industry trends not previous mentioned that are relevant to the future.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
Based on the detailed discussion of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, use SWOT tables for the SWOT analysis. In other words, first state the facts based on your research, and then summarize the findings in a SWOT table. Note the examples below and follow the “best statements” to describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your company and charge in SWOT table(s).
Examples
Not Useful Statement
Better Statement
Best Statement
Internal Strengths
Customer loyalty/brand image
We have a strong brand image.
We have a 42% market share and our brand is known worldwide.
Our global market share has grown from 25% to 42% over the past four years. Independent surveys show our quality and image is rated No. 1 in our industry in the U.S. and Asia and No. 2 in Europe behind XYZ.
Sales/ Distribution
Our distribution is the best in the industry.
Our product is available in more locations than our competitors’.
Our extensive distribution network provides product within 10 miles of the home or work location of 95% of our target market. Our competitors only achieve this level for 40%-65% of the market.
Internal Weaknesses
Product cost
Our costs are high.
Our major competitors, ABC and XYZ, produce in China for less cost.
Our labor costs average $40/unit (in Detroit) vs. $12/unit for our competitors (in China). With product market prices of $120/unit we barely break even.
Product Life
We have product problems.
Our product life is less than the competition.
Typically, our product fails after one year. Our major competitor’s product lasts 2-3 years. Customers are willing to pay 50% more for our competitors’ product.
External Opportunities
Alternative Distribution College Campus
We can leverage new distribution channels.
Internet could be used to increase sales to college students.
Direct Sales (via campus Intranet) and on-campus kiosks would more than double our coverage of our targeted Generation Y market.
Export Growth via Strategic Alliances
Export markets can help us grow.
Europe and Asia provide good opportunities to grow by partnering.
Strategic alliances with ABC in Europe and XYZ in Asia would allow us to double international sales in two years.
External Threats
Substitutes
Substitutes are a threat.
ABC’s new sugar-free sweetener may hurt us.
In six months, ABC’s sugar-free sweetener has achieved 20% market share. Its share is expected to grow to 40% by next year.
Mergers
Competitor mergers could hurt us.
Competitor XYZ is expected to acquire ABC.
If XYZ acquires ABC, it will dominate the distribution network and limit our access.
Check the following link for some exercises to better understand SWOT elements.
Use the following outline to organize your paper. Note that the letters “a, b, c…” and the numbers “i, ii, iii, iv…” below are used to show the major issues you need to include in your paper, but should not be used to format your paper.
III. SWOT Analysis (3-6 pages)
Strengths and Weaknesses (Internal)
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities and Threats (External)
Opportunities
Threats
SWOT Table
Note: Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size. Include a title page and references. Revise your Module 1 SLP based on the feedback from your professor and your additional research, and include the Module 1 SLP in the Module 2 SLP.
Explain clearly and logically the facts about your company and charge, and use the required reading to support your positions on the issues. Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions) should demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented.
Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas, employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely exceed five words.
Academic papers at the master’s level should include citations and references. Look at different sources, especially credible and reputable resources such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, and The Economist, to find the information for your paper. Also use Trident University’s online library databases such as ProQuest and EBSCO to find the information for your project. Your discussion on each topic should be a synthesis of the different sources. Taking shortcuts on the number and quality of your sources will result in a poor-quality marketing plan that will be of no use to your client.
Also, it is important that you reference your sources throughout the text of your marketing plan. Take the following paragraph as an example:
“As a result, telephone interviewers often do not even get a chance to explain that they are conducting a survey (Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, 2003), and response rates have steadily declined (Keeter et al., 2000) to reported lows of 7% (Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, 2003). This decrease presents a problem because not only does it increase the cost of conducting telephone surveys, but it also leads to questions concerning the generalizability of the results (Struebbe, Kernan & Grogan, 1986; Tuckel & O’Neill, 2002).”
There are different citation and reference formats such as APA, MLA, or Chicago. No matter which format you adopt for your marketing plan, make it consistent throughout the plan.
Also note: The marketing plan should use third person business writing. Avoid “we,” “our,” and “you.” Do not use contractions in business writing.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
Here are some guidelines on how to conduct information search and build critical thinking skills.
Your paper consists of arguments in favor of your opinions or positions on the issues addressed by the guidelines; therefore, avoid the following logical fallacies:
Your SLP should not simply be a list of facts. Take the facts you find about the company, the charge, and the environments that the company faces, and explain how you think those facts will affect the financial future of the product or brand in your charge. The emphasis in grading your paper will be on the breadth and depth of your discussion of each topic, critical thinking, the clarity of your discussion, and the proper organization of the paper.
Below is a partial answer to the above homework questions by one of our writers. If you are interested in a custom non plagiarized top quality answer, click order now to place your order.
Product Management and Situation Analysis Essay
Promotion Management
Extensive market research is crucial to acquire pertinent information on the client company. Such information is useful in the creation of a situational analysis, which then enables the development of a SWOT analysis for the company. Ultimately, in order to conduct effective promotion management through a feasible marketing plan, there has to be an effective analysis of the internal and external factors affecting the firm. The section below outlines such factors affecting Apple Inc.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths and Weaknesses (Internal)
Strengths. Apple Inc. possesses a number of essential internal factors that fit into the category of strengths. These factors represent things inside the company that management has some level of control over, and which improve the effectiveness of the company.
Impressive brand reputation. The listing of Apple Inc. as the most valuable brand in the world presents an image of the reputation the company enjoys across the globe. Owing to such stellar valuations, as well as the global knowledge about the brand, Apple Inc. is in a strong position to control various aspects that hinge upon such an impressive reputation (Reuters, 2018). For example, the company may launch a new product and it will instantly gain global recognition and attention owing to the relation with the Apple brand. The management may make use of such reputation to develop a far-reaching marketing plan or incorporate cutting edge and risky incentives that other corporates may not attempt.
Strong financial performance. Apple Inc. is currently among the top most profitable firms in the world. The high levels of revenues combined with an increase year on year cash flow and a healthy profit margin provide for a financially strong firm. Apple Inc. has a vast reserve of cash and cash equivalent assets. This provides a key strength for the firm by way of availing extensive financial assets (Jurevicius, 2017; Securities and Exchange Commission, 2017). Such assets prove useful in growing the company through funding of research and development initiatives, acquisition and mergers, and development of impactful advertising and marketing campaigns.
Excellent business and design skills. A key element in Apple Inc.’s management is the stellar ability to design beautiful and usable products and to manage such a business behemoth efficiently. Such skills provide an advantage over their competitors who may not have the capacity to produce great products and at the same time manage the business aspect of the company effectively. These factors provide a competitive advantage over other firms that do not have such human resource assets.
Advertising and marketing abilities. Apple Inc.’s marketing and advertising campaigns are among the most impactful and with a high return on investment. Given the financial and human resources at their disposal, the company is able to budget for high impact campaigns. With the right workforce in place, the company is able to manage the marketing budget efficiently in comparison to competitors such as Samsung who use a larger share of their revenue, with a much lower brand recognition (Jurevicius, 2017).
A Loyal fan base and extensive distribution channels. Another strength for Apple Inc. is the loyal following it enjoys. With such a strong followership, the company is assured of constant growth in the sales of its products. In addition, the extensive direct and indirect distribution networks across the globe serve to ensure the customers are always within reach of the products they require.
Weaknesses. The weaknesses of Apple Inc. refer to the internal factors that limit the effectiveness of the company to perform efficiently, accomplish the various objectives, neutralize threats, and take advantage of the various available opportunities.
High pricing. A key element behind the loss of numerous potential customers for Apple is the high price tag for its products. While the premium pricing attracts customers with the ability to spend high amounts, it locks out millions of customers who could also boost the company’s revenue stream due to the large numbers that could translate to large volumes in terms of sales.
Incompatibility with other devices and operating systems. A major weakness of the products from Apple Inc. is that they are incompatible with third-party accessories, as well as other operating systems. Users and analysts have coined the term “Apple world” to refer to the use of products, software, accessories and services by Apple or its partners. Such a tight control over usage limits the number of people who purchase the products for lack of other required devices or failure to integrate with their existing ones.
Product Management and Situation Analysis
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