Philosophy of Counseling Essay

The purpose of the school counseling program is to guarantee academic, social, and professional success among all students. School counseling is s collaborative relationship between students, school counselors, teachers, parents, administrators, and the community. Through these partnerships, the counseling program will develop a support system to enhance student achievement and promote growth of future productive citizens. The role of the school counselor is very active. School counselors must be an assertive advocate by creating opportunities for all students to foster their dreams and achieve their goals. A dedicated counselor plays a major role in the school through research, data, collaboration, individual counseling, group counseling, career planning, and caring for the students overall well being. The school counselor serves as a leader and team member; working with parents and school personnel to make sure that each student succeeds. Human nature can be viewed as all individuals are considered equally good. People are creatures of habit and learn from their cultural upbringings and the ones around them. Now days, students deal with poverty, single-parent households, thoughts of suicide, neglect, abuse and so much more. In this complex society, it is necessary to provide learning experiences which will empower the child to overcome life challenges and set achievable goals. Goals can be reached by change. I feel an individual can change through awareness and influence. Students have to want to change and be aware that there is a need for change. The role of the professional school counselor is to support and influence the student. Change is achievable by tracking data and giving constructive feedback. The counselor will assist student in their academic, social, emotional and personal change and help to decide the best ways to successfully achieve their goals. Disaggregating data is the foundation for the school counseling program. The use of these resources will track student progress and provide evidence for growth. Data also helps the school counselor understand what is and is not working in the counseling program. If a student is not successful then we are not providing the correct interventions for that particular student. The changing needs of students, families and schools require professional school counselors who are current with new counseling programs. These programs must focus of students academic, career, and personal/ social needs. I feel as society changes that the students are setting the new goals for the counseling program. It is essential for the school counselor to foster and set realistic achievable goals for the student.

My Field of Study

HIT My Field Of Study Shealyn Richardson COLL-148 August 11, 2012 Professor Jo Anne Boliver I. Introduction A. My paper is about Health Information Technology, and the affects it has on our health care system. B. David Blumenthal MD MPP was picked by the Obama administration in 2009-2011 to help lead and coordinate the implantation of Health Information Technology. C. Health Information Technology is a vital asset in our health care system. HIT sole purpose is to; improve health care quality, prevents medical errors, reduce health care cost, decrease paperwork, and expand access to affordable health care.D. My main idea I wanted to outline was, that Health Information Technology has become one of the main sources in keeping down health care cost. II. My field of study is Health Information Technology A. I chose this field of study because; our health care system is too expensive. I am so lucky to get free health care because my husband is in the military, and this field is my way of helping people save money, Americans shouldn’t go broke because you get sick. B. Graduation completion for me will be July 2014 III. The leader I chose was Dr.David Blumenthal A. I chose David Blumenthal; because he led the nationwide effort to build a cost saving system for the American people. B. Dr. Blumenthal witnessed firsthand the importance of Health Information Technology. In the 1970’s he worked with Senator Edward Kennedy, and the fact that he work with the late Teddy Kennedy lets me know he cares about the cost of health care. IV. Characteristics of an effective leader in my opinion would have to be; a good listener, problem solver, never scared to ask question, and is always motivated.A. The way I would define an effective leader is by; how his or her do collogues feel about them, is they compassionate, do they communicate well, and is they a good listener. B. Dr. Blumenthal demonstrates plenty of positive leadership skills; as he stated in Health Leaders M agazine. â€Å"First you create the motivation to be interested in improving decision†. What I took from that quote was that; Dr. Blumenthal is a problem solver, a good listener, and like to motivate his collogues.

Media assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media assignment - Essay Example t have been used in the media in the past to deliberately shape and direct the evolution of society at the same time that changes in society have functioned to shape and develop how it is reflected in the media. One major change that has taken place is a shift in social thinking that deems it acceptable for a woman to be found in the workplace in a role other than secretary or operator. This shift can be seen by comparing the ideas associated with the working girl in the film Working Girl released in 1988 and those communicated in the article â€Å"Get Yourself Noticed.† Both of these texts present a specific image of what the proper role of woman is perceived to be in the working world. In both cases, there is acknowledgement that a woman can succeed in the upper levels of the working world, but that this is the exception rather than the rule. In the film, this idea is conveyed throughout the storyline. The main character is Tess McGill, who spends her days commuting to work with a bevy of other women, all working as secretaries or receptionists in the city. When she discovers that her boss was only pretending to support her dream of entering the executive level in order to use her as a sexual plaything, she gets another job working under a female executive, Katherine Parker. Parker seems highly successful, very supportive of bringing more women like Tess into the executive level and is highly confident of her own abilities. This understanding that a woman can make a success in the upper levels of the company is the jumping off point for the articl e as two women, understood to be in the lower ranks of the secretarial pool, discuss the seeming meteoric rise of a third woman within their organization. Although the gender of the ‘boss’ is not mentioned in the scenario, the idea that the two women talking are of a lower rank is made clear in the way that they discuss how this third woman is already above them in the boss’s opinion. Because the article

Secualrization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Secualrization - Essay Example Whereas secularization believes that no religion would be given privilege by a particular society in any respect (D’Costa, 2005). Secularization does not only mean cultural shifts but it also means development of science as perfectly described by Max Weber that secularization is â€Å"the disenchantment of the world† meaning that it eradicates superstition and replaces it with logic and science (Artigas, 2001). As the time goes by the meaning of secularism in respect of detaching oneself from religion started increasing, especially in the west. The new generation now is least bothered about religious norms and more bothered about the materialistic things in this world. If it is analyzed that which area in the west is getting the most affected it would certainly be the United Kingdom. UK at a point in history was very strict with religion and the church regulations, people who defied it saw death penalties as a punishment (Parsons, 1989). But nowadays religion has gone i n the backdrop of people living in the UK. The main reason of this research is the prevalence of secularism as the concept is making its way into the daily life of the citizens of UK and religion have taken a back seat in their lives. Hypothesis By the introduction, it is clear that the main reason of the dissertation is to verify the trend of following religion in The United Kingdom. Mathematically it could be said that: Ho: Religion is declining in the United Kingdom. Ha: Religious practices are accelerating in the United Kingdom Literature Reviewed Mostly for this dissertation, census of the United Kingdom would be used and primary data would be taken for consideration, processed and then an analysis of the key trends would be presented in this dissertation. The census which would be used in analyzing the dissertation would be dated from year 1850 up to year 2004. The entire census between this timescale would be in view for analyzing the thesis. The censuses which were available to be analyzed were the reports of 1881, 1911 and 2001 which had the relevant data. Methodology It is important in a dissertation that methodology of the research is concrete and clear to the reader so that the analysis which is presented to the reader is to the point and accurate. This dissertation is mainly about checking the reduction or increment ratio in the followers of the religions present in the United Kingdom. Mainly data from the census of 1881 and data of census 2001 would be used in comparison to see that if the followers of the religion in UK have declined or inclined. Also some data from the census of 1911 could be retrieved for use in this research. For this mostly interactive graphical presentation of tables and graphs would be helpful to understand the nature of the advancement or turnover. The quantitative data from these censuses would identify the upheavals from the year 1850 to 1911 till 2001 and tell that how much the human point of view about religion has ch anged and if now having a religion matters or not. As only the available data is of the year 1881, 1911 and 2001 census the limitation is that , there would be huge gap between the statistics of population and changes in the religious and secular sides . This would limit our research to just few census and information about religion given in it. But it does not mean that it would not give us the significant factors that we are looking for,

Drama Essay ( literture ) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Drama ( literture ) - Essay Example The blood and tears of the family goes even deeper into the grain of the piano as the father was then requested to carve the image of the missing pair into the wood of the piano as a means of placating a disconsolate white mistress who missed her favorite slave. When the slave family finally stole the piano back from the white masters, one was killed in the process, adding more blood to the instrument as his wife spent the rest of her life adding more tears. Through this long history, the piano has come to stand as a symbol of the family, but the interpretations of just what that means differ between the various family members. As they struggle against each other, both brother and sister reveal a deep reverence and close family connection with the piano but are forced, in confronting the opposition, to come to an even deeper understanding of the piano’s connection within their lives. Berniece is in possession of the piano at the beginning of the play. Although she never plays it, she has been teaching her daughter to play by reading sheet music, as the white people do, and withholding the family’s history with the instrument from the child. According to Maretha, her mother’s explanation for the carvings is simple enough, â€Å"She say it just always been like that since she got it† (22). Meanwhile, Maretha remains unfamiliar with the boogie woogie her great-uncle plays for her and insists music cannot be made without the paper to tell her the right notes to play. Berniece’s plans for her daughter are continually stated as having her grow up to become a teacher and have little or nothing to do with the kind of life they’re living now. Although Berniece obviously associates the piano with the spiritual heart of her family, â€Å"Mama Ola polished this piano with her tears for seventeen years. For seventeen years she rubbed on it till her hands bled. Then she rubbed the blood in †¦ mixed it up with the rest of the blood in it†

Written critique power point presentation Essay

Written critique power point presentation - Essay Example The effectiveness of a presentation depends on the strength of the topic and also on the usability of the subject in the daily life of the people. The current presentation is done by a Community Resource Division Administrator which increases the credibility and authenticity of the written articulation. A presentation performed by an authoritative person brings about true facts and information related to the specific subject. The effectiveness of the presentation lies in the fact that , there is a brief introduction and also a statistical data coverage about housing ,which enhances the informative potentiality of the presentation. The presentation also reveals statistics and minute details regarding housing facts and homelessness, which allow the readers to understand about housing on a local and national level. The presentation primarily elaborates on the actions and programs delivered by housing authority in order to stabilize public life, and this highlights the purpose of presentation. The presentation clearly reflects the authority of the organization and also effortlessly projects the strength and contribution of them to the society, which makes it more very effective to the readers. Brevity is the correct usage of words and phrases in writing which enlarges the outlook and uniqueness of a presentation. This presentation has words which are very effective, simple and understandable. The phrases used projects the right meaning intended by the writer and the presenter has used the words in a calculative way to communicate the subject and message of the presentation .The points in the presentation about housing is precise and concise and the words and grammatical representation is up to the point. The flow of words is consistent and the meaning is directly absorbable by the readers. However, more of simplicity in language, words and phrases can underestimate the richness and communicative ability of the writer or the presentation

LABOUR MARKET POLICY The essay should be a maximum of 1400 words in

LABOUR MARKET POLICY The should be a maximum of 1400 words in length - Essay Example Since the agent represents the persona of the company, principles should selectively hire agents that can best represent their agenda. This relationship can be ideal when the agent is an expert in the field and displays allegiance to the principle. However, if overall goals aren’t uniformed then problems can arise. In order to minimize misunderstandings, informal or formal contracts, that explain what is expected of the agent, should be given to the agent and firmly enforced. The principle should ensure that vital language is inserted in the agreement to protect and promote the principle’s agenda. For corporations, which are your larger principles, human resource managers should be hired to maximize employee output. Authors David E Dimick and Victor V. Murray (1978: 611) in their article â€Å"Correlates of Substantive Policy Decisions in Organizations: The Case of Human Resource Management† defines human resource managers as personnel management which facilitate various organizational objectives. One responsibility of the human resource manager is the implementation of personnel practices that fit the specific needs of the employer. The human resource managers are directly responsible for the hiring of most qualified employees that display the most appropriate levels of capabilities. Thus the human resource manager should act in the best interest of the principle and formulate agency policy that benefits the behalf of the principle. Since human resource managers act as intermediaries between the corporate principle and agent, they should have in-depth knowledge of specific task demands. Knowing what is needed to ensure flow of operations, human resource managers should modify agency policy to include clear language to the agent of the expectations to their duties and expectations of the principle. According to the authors Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 38

Essay Example According to him, natural laws are governed by the fact that man needs to fight for his survival. It is natural for man to seek peace in his life but if he gets into conflict with others due to competition, diffidence and glory, then he has the right to defend himself in order to restore his peace. With competition, he fights for gain, with diffidence, he fights for safety and with glory, he fights for his own reputation. Thus, although he seeks peace and knows he deserves it without hurting anybody, if he is threatened of such peace, then he can wage war in order to get his peace back. Hobbes also contends that a person’s rights, when renounced or transferred to others, are entered into social contracts, such as when people entrust their rights to a ruler. This means that all persons must mutually agree to transfer their right to a political sovereign or in Hobbes’ term, the state of Leviathan. It is also agreed that this state punishes violators of the agreement to ob ey the laws of society. The ruler’s power should come from the natural right of people to live in peace. Similarly, Locke believes that man is governed by natural law, but goes further in saying that it is the manifestation of human reason which restricts the egoism of pure self-interest such as having one’s individual peace and liberty, and promoting more sociable benefits. Locke proposes that man has three basic natural rights: to life, liberty and property. When people entrust a leader to these, it should not be absolute but only partial. Rulers are also vulnerable to the temptation of hoarding power. People are comfortable obeying the government as long as their individual rights are protected, thereby enhancing their freedom. Should they feel that it fails to do so, or that government violates their rights, they would feel the need to fight against it to regain their rights. Aristotle believes that the state should cater to the

READING Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

READING - Assignment Example Of great interest is the position that Kal Raustilia and Chris Sprigman (2012) take, contrary to conventional knowledge and mainstream belief. Raustilia and Sprigman are of the persuasion that it is not possible to quantify losses attributed to piracy and copyright violations and that statistical provisions by proponents of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) which show that copyright infringement costs the US 200 billion dollars and 750,000 jobs annually, cannot be relied upon. Raustilia and Sprigman (2012) cite Tim Lee’s assertion that statistical figures should neither be taken at face value, nor unquestionably relied upon since such figures are almost always prone to approximations, double and triple counting. Raustilia and Sprigman continue that in some instances, music piracy may serve as substitute for legitimate transactions, and that the same can also trigger increased savings, since, instead of money being spent to purchase music, music is downloa ded on the one hand. On the other hand, increased savings may catalyze economically significant initiatives and undertakings, and thereby covering for the supposed loss of jobs and revenue which piracy may have caused. Nevertheless, a critical look at factors that underpin legislation which proscribe the infringement of copyright rules and logical reasoning leave the proposition which Raustilia and Sprigman advance as too impractical to be effected. In the same vein, it is most probable that Raustilia and Sprigman had not thought deeply about the implications that would come with the violation and collective disregard of copyright laws. In the first place, Gorski (2011) illustrates that the need to safeguard creativity and originality defeats the standpoint that Raustilia and Sprigman (2012) advance. It must be realized that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17 of the United States Code, the NET Act and the Copyright Act of 1909 do not merely seek to ensure that all who ac cess music buy them, but to actually protect originality and creativity. Always, music is a culmination of training and creativity which are valuable resources. It is preposterous to argue that the training and creativity which an individual uses to earn a living should be treated as valueless. In this case, Raustilia and Sprigman’s proposition that music piracy can help generate financial or economic value does not suffice since such an arrangement alienates the original thinker, creator and director of an original piece from his work. The kind of advancement which Raustilia and Sprigman make is tantamount to robbing Peter to pay Paul, if not worse. In a separate wavelength, it is important to note that legislative pieces such as the Copyright Act of 1909, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17 of the United States Code and the NET Act are the very provisions which created the existence of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and mandates RIAA to disc harge its duties and responsibilities. RIAA shows clearly that the music industry alone have forfeited millions of dollars to piracy. RIAA further divulges that in 2002, music revenue fell by 7% since the sale of CDs declined from 882 million to 803 million units. The report that RIAA provides in this case may be used to vindicate the statistical provisions that the proponents of SOPA and PIPA advance

The Anti-imperialist League Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Anti-imperialist League - Essay Example Thesis Paragraph The Anti-Imperialist League was an essentially American organization that came into existence on June 15, 1898.1 The organization stood for varied fundamental principles enshrined in the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and imminent in the American way of life. The Anti-Imperialist League opposed the annexation of Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico or any other nation by the United States of America.2 It opposed any form of expansionist policy on the part of United States, as its members believed it to be contrary to the fundamental ethos of republicanism. The Anti-Imperialist League had no aversion to the expansion of Unite States in the areas of trade, business, political ideas, culture, religion and humanitarian efforts. However, they challenged any politically expansionist designs on the part of the United States, as they intended to deprive the inhabitants of the annexed nations of their inalienable right of self determination and self gove rnment.3 The Anti-Imperialist League drew inspiration from the ideas given by the cherished patriarchs of the past like the founding fathers, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.4 Though, a majority of the Americans supported the annexation of Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico, the Ant-Imperialist League was a beacon of hope in the troubled times that stood against any imperialist or colonial policy on the part of the united States. The principles of the League were inherently just and in consonance with the democratic principle of the right of the rulers to govern the ruled only by their consent. Its members considered the idea of subjugation of other nations by the United States as being a criminal act that violated the very spirit of American democracy.5 Though in minority, the League was ethically and morally, certainly on the right track. The Anti-Imperialist extended varied reasons to denounce the expansionist designs of the United States. One was the unnecessary and futile sacrifice of the American soldiers and sailors in the military campaigns undertaken to gain control over the foreign lands.6 It denounced the slaughter of Philippines’ natives by the American army and navy as being horrible and compared the United States’ expansionist designs to be like those of the colonial Spaniards.7 The other important weapon in the hands of the Anti-Imperialist League was the ethical and moral superiority of its cause before the coercive nature of the American expansionist designs in Philippines. Its members declared that the imperial nature of the American expansionist doctrine was not in accordance with the basic American spirit of liberty and freedom. It amounted to the suppression of the weak by the strong and powerful. It warned the United States from conforming to the ancient legacy of the supremacy of might over the right and urged it to return back to the Philippines the sovereignty and independence that it justly deserved.8 The Anti-Imper ialist League also drew the public attention towards the possibility of a complete success of the international imperialist forces, going by the fact that the only viable and capable, moral, ethical and military opposition that is the United States of America was willing to comply with and follow their doctrine of annexation and control by force.9 This attitude on the part of th

Causes and Effects of Smoking Essay Example for Free

Causes and Effects of Smoking Essay â€Å"Smoking is bad for health†. It is a very familiar slogan that you can easy to see in all pack of cigarettes and in public places. However, there is a fact that, despite knowledge about smoking damage, the number of people who smoke is increasing day by day. Smoking causes many negative effects than people think. It affects not only health but also environment and society. First, smoking affects health of both smoking person and people around him. There are many dangerous disease germs in tobacco, so that health of people who smoke is threatened a lot when they smoke. According to World Health Organization (WHO), there are 200 toxic chemicals per 4000 chemicals in tobacco, and in these 200 toxic chemicals, there are about 40 chemicals cause cancer such as nicotine, monoxide carbon, benzene, ammoniac, etc. These chemicals have bad effect on nervous system, blood vessel and are the main reason of heart disease, cancer, memory damage. A study of WHO also shows that each day, average 5 million people die because of tobacco and this figure could rise to 10 million by 2020 if countries don’t have effective solution to restrict smoking. In addition, smoke is easy to spread in the air, therefore not only smoking people but also people around them are affected. That mean, when a person smokes, he is harming both himself and many people especially children. These people are call â€Å"passive smoking† people. Because immunize system of children doesn’t complete, they are easy to be affected by harmful factors from smoke. That’s why the threat of disease cause by smoke in children is higher than others. Some statistics in Vietnam show that about 60 -80 per cent children under 5 are affected by smoke. They are also easy to get some diseases like asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis if they usually contact with smoke. Smoking also has bad effect on environment. The tobacco manufacture releases an amount of waste including a lot of toxic chemicals such as oils, plastic, ethylene, glycol, nicotine, etc. These chemicals make water and soil as well as air in surrounding areas is contamination. In USA, tobacco manufacture is rank 18th in toxic industries. Each year, tobacco manufacture of the World releases about 300 million kilograms nicotine, one of toxic chemicals causes cancer and heart disease. Moreover, do you know that 95 per cent filter of cigarette made of plastic cellulose acetate? This chemical is very difficult to decompose and can’t recycle, so that it takes several years to disappear. In this time, this chemical may cause many effects on soil, water, even animal because some kind of birds and small animals confuse filter of cigarette as their food. Chemicals in cigarette filter make animals can’t digest and they may be killed by these chemicals. Not only health and environment but also society is affected a lot by smoking. First, smoking restrains economic development. Because of tax, tobacco is not cheap. In Vietnam, tax on tobacco is accounted of 45 per cent retail tax. It is supposed that a pack of cigarettes costs 10 thousand VND, so if a person smokes one pack a day; he has to pay 300 thousand VND a month for smoking. However, in fact, this is maybe much more money because some kinds of cigarette have higher price and with addicted people, a pack of cigarettes a day is not enough. For person got married, wasting a lot of money for smoking a month affects much on economics of family, especially poor family. Consequently, economics of a country cannot develop when economics of family doesn’t develop. In addition, another problem of smoking is medical burden. Smoking causes many diseases and also kills a lot of people. In Vietnam, each year, there are about 40,000 people die because of diseases related to tobacco. This figure is three times as much as people die because of traffic accident. Furthermore, each year, government has to spend a lot of money for health service in general and for treating diseases cause by tobacco in particular. In fact, expense for treating diseases cause by tobacco in Vietnam increases rapidly from 429, 8 billion in 2004 to 1160 billion in 2006, and in the future this expense maybe higher. It makes a big burden for government to solve smoking problem. There are not any benefits of smoking but serious effects in health, environment and society. It’s very important for people to realize the danger of smoking and give up it. That’s why WHO choose the day 31/5 is World No Tobacco Day. All of us join together to make a world without smoke.

Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity Essay Example for Free

Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity Essay This book tells about the integrating Christianity and psychology. The author discusses integration a combining the two books of God. According to Entwistle (2004), â€Å"the book of god’s Word referred to the Bible, and the book of God’s works reflects His deeds written throughout His creation. (p. 166). † He includes five models of integration in the book which are: enemies, spies, colonialists, neutral parties, and allies as subjects of One Sovereign. The enemies model sees Christianity and psychology as enemies that need to be kept totally separate. The spies model has one discipline going into the other to take only what works for them. Psychology would enter the Christian world just to take the religious concepts that will work well with psychology. The colonialist model has one discipline colonizing or taking control and prominence over the other. Religion works with psychology as long as religion is superior to psychology. The neutral parties model has both disciplines coexisting and recognizing each other as long as they respect each others’ boundaries. Psychology recognizes that religion has good concepts to offer but it will not encroach on the religion’s domain. The allies as subjects of One Sovereign model have both disciplines working together to help people. It uses psychological and theological concepts together to gain a better understanding of the truth. According to Entwistle (2004), â€Å"God gave birth to the subject of psychology (human behavior) when he created human beings. God granted us the foundations of theology when He gave us His Word (p. 175). † The book tells us that there are two books of God: His word and His works (Entwistle, 2004). Psychology deals with God’s works and theology deals with His word. Our job as Christian counselors is to interpret both books and integrate them together so that we can use both books to help our clients. If we find something that does not make sense between both books, there is a conflict that needs to be resolved before we can use it. At this point, we need to go back and reread and study both books to see if we can find the discrepancy. Entwistle (2004) says that god gave us both books, but we have to interpret them ourselves. The problem is not with God’s books, but it is the way we interpret them. Human understanding of God’s books is based on our worldview (Entwistle, 2004). To properly integrate the two disciplines, we need to have a good understanding of both. We cannot just know theology or psychology and expect to integrate them well. We need to have a working knowledge of psychological theories and concepts as well as a working knowledge of God’s word. We need to remember, though, that our knowledge is only as good as our interpretation. God’s works have been affected by the fall into sin, and as a work of God our interpretations will be colored by the fall as well. I think this book has a lot of good ideas and concepts to it. I found it interesting to discuss the two books of God, because I had heard the term and knew what it meant, but had not really thought about what it included. I also liked the models of integration and their explanations. They were explained well enough that anyone could follow them easily. Some of the things that bothered me the most about the book and its ideas are: the idea of interpretation, the definition of integration, and where do we go from here. If we are the interpreters of God’s two books and we know that the fall and sin have colored our interpretations, how do we know if our interpretations of the books are correct? Can we interpret either book accurately? If our interpretations are wrong, can we do more harm than good to our clients? Is the definition of integration complete enough to help us know what we need to help others? When we use the current definitions of integration, do we get a complete picture of what integration means to both disciplines? With all of the models of integration, where do we go next? How do we make progress in the integration process? Can we ever integrate to a point where we can agree on most aspects of a model, or will there always be disagreement between the disciplines? These are all questions that I think are important to consider about integration. I think that integrating Christianity and psychology can benefit a Christian client by allowing us to address spiritual matters and use spiritual techniques for healing. It is important to remember that religion and psychology are both parts of God’s truth to us and can be used to help ourselves and others. When the two disciplines are integrated, we have many more options than when we use one or the other discipline separately. Finally use of both disciplines can help us reach people of faith as well as people who are not Christians, if we can use them both carefully and competently.

Literature Review of Race and Racism

Literature Review of Race and Racism Yahaya, A., Ing, T. C., Lee, G. M., Yahaya, N., Boon, Y., Hashim, S., Taat, S. (2012). The impact of workplace bullying on work. Archives Des Sciences, 65(4), 18-28. In this investigation, a quantitative approach examined the problem of workplace bullying from a theoretical viewpoint. This study reviewed the relationship between workplace intimidation and employees work performance. The Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ) consisted of 22-item of the harmful actions, with variances related to bullying and work-related harassment. Data was accumulated from 217 employees from an ASEAN region. The employees worked in a plastic manufacturing company. The reliability analysis for workplace bullying was .923 and job performance was 0.836. The data analysis by SPSS 16.0 uncovered that there was a significant positive relationship between workplace bullying and towards job performance. The outcomes showed that the three predictor factors accounted 51% increase in work performance. The research also uncovered that the person related bullying was prognosticated as an active contributor toward job performance. A predictor model was assembled through an analysi s of multiple regression analysis. Numerous suggestions were presented to manufacturing, managers, and leaders that some additional plans can be carried out to generate a safe environment for the employees to produce an excellent work performance. The study contributed a new idea in the research of management by opening up discussion on the importance of employee participation in producing a perfect job performance. This fact that statistically there is correlations and regression that workplace bullying has an impact on the dependent variables job performance. This finding also suggested that management might be able to decrease the level of job stress by increasing satisfaction with compensation, policies, work conditions and improving the interactions with employees in a staff meeting. This research also sheds information on how workplace bullying can be effected towards job performance. This study found that organizational cultures make worse the problem when the leaders either do not understand workplace bullying or dismiss it as solid management. The study concluded that a systems approach to designing a training program that discusses the root causes, involves all individuals from all levels, and yields skills for dealing with this phenomena can foster a congenial working environment. Turner, R. J (2013). Understanding health disparities: The relevance of the stress process model. Society and Mental Health, 3(3):170-186. The primary research questions of the study examined the disparities of stress by gender; stress by race/ethnicity and stress by socioeconomic status as a result of recent life events. Measures used to address physical health status included self-report information on the latest illness, chronic diseases, and self-rated health. The population studied was 493 non-Hispanic and 406 African Americans. The method used a cross-sectional design to assess lifetime and recent incidents of drug abuse and addiction, alcohol misuse and dependence, and psychiatric disorders. Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to interview the participants. The subjects were randomly selected. The empirical basis for this study describes an ongoing community study designed to more efficiently assess the hypothesis that lifetime exposure to stress can represent a significant factor in the perceived race and SES wellness disparities. Depressive symptoms decrease on status characteristics an d five dimensions of stress exposure for 406 African Americans as it related to different levels of socioeconomic status. It is inferred that the viewpoints of the approach may advance the capacity of future research to evaluate the mental health significance of the stress process. Furthermore, recent life events can account for less than 6 percent of examined inequality in depressive traits with demographic circumstances controlled compared to about 20 percent for all stress; African American total stress exposure was .286, compared to whites (.920). Limitations were two-wave panel study and elevated cost of field work. The design could have been achieved with longitudinal data. Future research could advance mental well-being implication of the stress progress. Hall, R. (2013). The idealization of light skin as vehicle of social pathogen vis-Ã  -vis bleaching syndrome: Implications of globalization for human behavior. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23:4, 552-56. The scope of the survey is to investigate the global account of light skin; empirical evidence about light skin; and the bleaching syndrome. The participant in the study examines a universal idealization of light skin by using two groups of women of color to explore their ideas about beauty. The sample consisted of 117 participants. Respondents had a mean age of 20 years. A self-report instrument was administered for assessing skin color called a Cutaneo-Chroma- Correlate (CCC). A quantitative analysis of the idealization of light skin sample of college students enrolled at a womens institution of higher education. The majority of students determined that beautiful skin is 76.1% lightest or light and the medium tone is 18.8%.Whereas, respondents personal values about the skin color of beautiful women for light skin was 68.1 and medium was 20.5%. The effect precipitated the bleaching syndrome as a common pathogen amongst people of color. The study argued that train social workers glob ally will need to address bleaching syndrome. Moreover, people of color and the Western social workers who work with them will move the line of work to its next level through the use of assisted technology. Garcia, D., Abascal, M. (2015). Colored perceptions: Racially distinctive names and assessments of skin color. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(4):420-441. The scope of the study explores whether assessments of others skin color are affected by a subtle racial cue or a name. The research questions and hypotheses addressed the following questions: 1) how do racial cues shape assessments of skin color? 2) Racially ambiguous faces receive a different skin color rating when it is specified a distinctively Hispanic name versus a distinctively non-Hispanic name? 3) Gender differences in the perception of skin color? The randomization and descriptive methodology were based on an original survey experiment. The survey was distributed to an online convenience sample through an Amazons Mechanical Turk website. Overall, 560 different subjects participated in the study; the sample was limited to adults living in the United States. Each participant observed and rated images of five female and five male features using a skin color palette. After assessing skin color, and as a guidance check, subjects were asked to choose the most likely racial framew ork of the face. Finally, subjects answered a series of demographic questions covering age, gender, race, education, income, U.S. region, and self-rated skin color. Pretested 64 names via an MTurk survey analysis conducted in September 2014. Sixty-two different subjects participated in the pretests, all of them adults within the United States. Each subject rated 32 names regarding perceived race and class, such that approximately 30 subjects rated each name. Selected the 20 most racially unique names. Results indicate that racial cues influence seemingly objective assessments of phenotypic traits, like skin color. Results symbolize that skin color ratings are affected by the presence of a racially distinctive name. A notable share of people will rank the same features darker when that face is designated a distinctively Hispanic surname as opposed to a non-Hispanic name. Also, ratings of male faces are more sensitive to racially distinguished names. The central limitation of the pres ent study lies in our inability to disentangle the effects of perceived race from those of class and immigrant status. The conclusions revealed valuable lessons for the understanding of the social structure of race and its role in creating inequalities. Victor E. Sojo, Robert E. Wood, and Anna E. Genat (2016). Harmful workplace experiences and womens occupational well-being: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(1):10-40. The study consists of comparing the associations of different harmful workplace experiences and job stressors with womens work attitudes and health. The researcher examined five hypotheses: 1) High frequency/low-intensity negative workplace experiences; 2) Harmful workplace skills; 3) Work attitudes; 4) The impact of harmful workplace experiences on womens occupational; and 5) The association between adverse workplace experiences and womens professional. A meta-analysis examination of studies explored the similarities among adverse workplace encounters and womens occupational health. As a result of previous research, a classification of adverse workplace experiences affecting women was proposed and then used for the analysis of 88 studies with 93 independent samples, containing 73,877 working women from 1985 to 2012. Five proximal indicators were examined with measures of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, work satisfaction, co-worker satisfaction and supervision satisfacti on. Four measures of womens health were used as distal indicators of occupational well-being: general health, physical health, mental health, and satisfaction with life. Certain gaps in the literature were identified, and areas for future research, such as sexual harassment and gendered discrimination could benefit from more precision in the measurement constructs. Strom M.A, Zebrowitz L.A, Zhang S, Bronstad P.M, Lee H.K. (2012) Skin and Bones: The contribution of skin tone and facial structure to racial prototypicality ratings. PLoS ONE, 7(7): 1-8. The research was the first to evaluate the contribution of skin tone and facial metrics to White, Black, and Korean perceivers degrees of the racial prototypicality of faces from the same three groups. White and Korean participants were randomly selected to rate either male or female faces, while Black participants ranked faces of both sexes with the order of face skin toned across participants. The participants were thirty-nine White American college undergraduates, 26 Black American college undergraduates, and 48 Korean college undergraduates at a university in Seoul, Korea rated race-related appearance qualities and emotion expression of the target faces. White and Korean participants were randomly selected to rate male or female faces, whereas Black participants ranked faces of both sexes with the order of face sex equalized across participants. Thus, each face was assessed by approximately 39 White participants, 26 Black members, and 48 Korean participants. The photographs of th e Black female target faces were selected from an American singles website for Black women ages 18 to 25. The results revealed that the relative contribution of metrics and skin tone depended on both the perceiver race and face race. White perceivers racial prototypicality ratings were less receptive to variations in skin tone than Black or Korean perceivers ranks. Caucasian perceivers ratings also illustrated the higher response to facial characteristics than to skin tone, whereas the reverse was true for Black perceivers. Moreover, transversely all perceiver groups, skin tone had a more uniform impact than metrics on racial prototypicality ranks of White faces, with the reverse for Korean faces. For Black faces, the relevant result varied with perceived race: skin coloration had a more compatible influence than metrics for Black and Korean perceivers, with the reverse for White perceivers. These results have important implications for foretelling who will undergo racial prototypic ality biases and from whom. Landor, A.M., Simons, L.G., Simons, R.L., Brody, G.H., Bryant, C.M, Gibbons, F.X., Granberg, E.M., Melby, J.N. (2013). Exploring the impact of skin tone on family dynamics and race-related outcomes. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(5):817-826. The current multisite, longitudinal study employs data from the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS). Approximately, 800 African American families residing in Georgia and Iowa participated in the study. Self-report questionnaires were administered in an interview format using a computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI). The current study employed two waves of data, consisting of 350 males, 417 females and their primary caregivers. Using data from a longitudinal sample, 767 African American families skin tone, was assessed to determine how skin tone impacted experiences with discrimination or was related to differences in quality of parenting and racial socialization within families. The outcomes indicated no link between skin tone and ethnic bias, which proposes that lightness or darkness of skin, does not either guard African Americans against or intensify the encounters of unfairness. On the other hand, families illustrated preferred approach toward offspring based on skin t one and these disparities varied by gender of the child. Notably, darker skin sons endured higher quality parenting and more ethnic socialization fostering mistrust related to their counterparts with lighter skin tone. Lighter skin daughters received quality parenting compared to those with darker skin. Also, the gender of a child-directed the relationship between the main caregiver skin coloration and racial socialization promoting mistrust. These results suggest that colorism remains a prominent issue within African American families. The implication for future research is the examination of repression and intervention as it relates to the skin tone of a family. Feliciano, C. (2016). Shades of Race: How phenotype and observer characteristics shape racial classification. American Behavioral Scientist, 60(4), 390 419. Employing a unique data set drawn from observers assessments of photos posted by White, Black, Latino, and multiracial online daters, this study investigates how phenotype and observer attribute impact racial categorization and events of divergence between self-identities and others classifications. The data was collected from the Internet dating profiles posted on Match.com, between April 2011 and June 2011. Moreover, there were random, stratified samples of profiles from people seeking opposite-sex partners, living within 50 miles of four large cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, or New York City who self-identified themselves as Black, White, or Latino. The Research assistants randomly selected 200 profiles for each self-identified race/gender/region combination and coded all of the demographic information the participants provided that addressed age and race. Every coder was randomly set from 300 to 1,700 profiles, and at least seven observers coded each silhouette. Th e coders were unequivocally instructed not to gaze at any parts of the portrait except for the photo(s). The measures examine self-identified race, observed race, phenotypic characteristic, observer features and control variables. Finding, individuals who self-identified race as black (97%) had a higher mean percentage of observers who view a person as White (92%). Finding illustrated how phenotype and skin color shapes divergent racial classifications because of skin tone. Limitations were due to incomplete resources and individuals who self-identified as Black, White or Asians. Future research is to categorize Asians skin tone. Johnston, D.W., Lordan, G., (2016). Racial prejudice and labor market penalties during economic downturns. European Economic Review, 84: 57-75. The study examines racial prejudice in the workplace and labor penalties as a result of economic crisis. Several hypotheses were asked concerning if economic downturns encourage racist attitudes and if racial attitudes lead to worse labor market outcome for minorities? The researchers employed British attitude and workforce data. The opinion data show that racial prejudice is countercyclical, with the effect driven by substantial increases for high-skilled middle-aged workers in which implies there is a 1% point increase in unemployment is estimated and an increase self-reported racial discrimination by 4% points. Correspondingly, the labor force data reveal that racial hiring and wage gaps are weakening, with the greatest effects observed for high-skilled men, notably in the manufacturing and construction industries. A 1% point increase in unemployment is estimated to increase the wage gap by 3%. These results were consistent with the theoretical literature, which proposes that raci al prejudice and discrimination are the results of labor market competition among individuals with similar traits and that the effects of this competition are intensified during periods of economic downturn. Limitations of the survey revealed that the participants self-identified racist attitudes which influence labor market outcomes for minorities. Embrick, D.G., Henricks, K. (2015). Two-faced -isms: racism at work and how race discourse shapes class talk and gender talk. Language Sciences, 1: 1-12. In this paper, a mixed-methods approach was employed to examine the contextual variabilities and nuances of racial discourse in a southwestern baked-goods workplace. Data was collected from interviews and participates (38 respondents) observations. The participants were Asians, Latinos and multiracial. Previous conclusions were questioned on how stereotypes and slurs are racially unequal in a workplace setting and to investigate what is uniquely racist about the deployment of stereotypes and stigmas and how prejudice shapes gendered and classed dimensions of these terms. Further, the researcher demonstrated how gender and class could be constructed along the lines of racial ideology at micro-levels of interaction. The outcome argued that race talk not operates independently or in isolation from other discourses like gender talk and class talk. Instead, racist remarks are often exposed adjacent to classist and sexist remarks by people, who concurrently engage multiple racial, class, a nd gender locations. Data were obtained for this case study from in-depth interviews and participant observations. Future research in gendered and classed could focus on white race talk or nonwhite race talk in a workplace setting.

Colonial Women Essay -- History Historical Colonies Gender Essays

Colonial Women Women did not have an easy life during the American Colonial period. Before a woman reached 25 years of age, she was expected to be married with at least one child. Most, if not all, domestic tasks were performed by women, and most domestic goods and food were prepared and created by women. Women performed these tasks without having any legal acknowledgment. Although women had to endure many hardships, their legal and personal lives were becoming less restricted, although the change was occurring at a snail’s pace. Life for the colonial woman was a mix of imprisonment and freedom in their marriages, homes, and in the American Colonial legal system. Women who chose to come to the American Colonies had a 100 percent chance of finding a husband. Men outnumbered women almost six to one. Any woman could be choosy when finding a husband, for countless men tried to woo her into marriage. Because women could choose their husbands, they could marry those men who would give her the most benefits. A woman did not have to marry a man who would treat her poorly. In most New England colonies, a woman could sue her husband for a divorce if he treated her without respect and abused or neglected her. Although women had the legal privilege to divorce a bad husband, she did not have any legal rights under the law. As soon as she married her husband, she lost all legal existence. For a woman to have any place in the legal system it was better to remain single. Single wom...

Gun Control: Should the Second Amendment of the Constitution be Updated

According to the F.B.I., 14,369 murders involving firearms took place in the year 2013 within the United States. We as Americans have the right to â€Å"bear arms,† however there can be some changes to at least try to minimize these casualties. The 2nd Amendment states â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† This may be outdated now that we have a strong military (that is our â€Å"well regulated Militia,†) to protect our security, but can a right be scratched off the Constitution because of someone’s interpretation?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perhaps there can be some changes to the laws to determine who can own a firearm and what types of weapons can be sold. In Arizona and many other states there are no permits required to purchase any type of firearm. While other states have more laws to determine who can own a gun. New York requires you to have a permit to purchase and then register a handgun. The permit may be issued if the applicant is over 18 years of age, has not been convicted of a felony or spent more than one year in prison, and is not an addict, alcoholic or convicted of a narcotics offense. New York also requires the gun stores selling rifles, shotguns, or handguns, provide with the gun a locking device and a label on safe storage. As of March, 2001, any firearms dealer licensed in the state of New York must provide to the state police, along with the original receipt of sale, a sealed container enclosing a shell casing from the handgun sold within ten days of the transfer of a handgun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gun control groups are requesting a bill that would create a national handgun licensing and registration system, and that would extend the Brady law to the secondary market of handgun purchases such as gun shows. Under the Brady II legislation it will be illegal to sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer a handgun to someone who does not have an FFL (Federal Firearms License), unless the dealer verifies that the buyer has a valid state handgun license. It will also make it a violation of the law for anyone who does not hold an FFL to obtain, either through purchase or as a gift, a handgun or handgun ammunition unless they possess a valid state handgun license. Brady II would require state officials to set up and manage a license sys... ...fense is not an acceptable reason. In the years 1996-1997, Australia destroyed almost 700,000 guns, which are about one-seventh the guns in Australia. In America that number would be around 30 million. By 1998, homicides by firearms were down thirty percent in Australia. In 1991 and 1995 Canada established new gun laws reducing the number of deaths caused by guns to a thirty year low. The UK banned handguns and destroyed the guns the government bought from the citizens. Within a year later, gun-related violations have decreased by thirteen percent in England and Wales. Some say that Americans are fifty times more likely than British citizens to be killed by a firearm. Many people in America do not want to see a ban on firearms, but if that is not the answer what is? Perhaps what we need is for the anti-gun groups and the pro-gun groups to come together and reach some sort of a compromise that could help reduce our nation’s homicide rates. References: National Center for Health Statistics Center for Disease Control and Prevention FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) NRA (National Rifle Association) John McCain @ mccain.senate.gov www.guncite.com www.converge.org

The Life of St. Ignatius Loyola (in first person) :: essays research papers

St. Ignatius Loyola   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am St. Ignatius Loyola the man who found the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. My original name is Inigo de Loyola and I was born in 1491 in a place called Azpeitia in the Basque province of Guipuzoa in northern Spain. I was the youngest of thirteen children. At the age of sixteen I became a servant for Juan Velazquez, the treasurer of the kingdom of Castile. I was considered a member of the Velazquez family so when ever Juan went to court I would go with him. In doing this I began to like court and any thing to deal with court, but I gained the biggest interest in the woman. I also began to like gambling; I liked it so much I became addicted to it. I was also very completive and was open to competing in anything-even sword fighting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the next decade or so I didn’t really do much my life didn’t progress at all till 1521 when I turned 30 and I was defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French. We were starting to lose the battle we were out numbered and my head commander wanted to throw in the towel but I said â€Å"no† and convinced him to stay in the battle and fight. I wanted to fight for the honor of Spain, and not for the win. I was in the thick of the battle and â€Å"Wham† I got blasted by cannon ball breaking my leg and wounding the other. Because I was such a courageous leader the French soldiers carried me back to my home rather that prison so I could get better. They set my leg after it broke but it was not healing right so the doctors said they had to break it again with out any use of painkillers. I was told to prepare for my death but instead one day my health took a turn for the better. My leg did heal good but it was shorter th an the other one so for the rest of my life I had to walk with a limp.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the many, many, many weeks of recuperation I thought I was going to lose my mind out of boredom. So I asked for some romance novels to help my pass the time. There were no romance novels of any sort in the castle of Loyola; with my luck I did find a book called the Life of Christ.

Cost Management Test Questions & Suggested Solutions

Management Test Questions & Suggested Solutions by L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS Question: 1 Bharata Ltd is considering proposals for design changes in one of a range of soft toys. The proposals are as follows: (a) Eliminate some of the decorative stitching from the toy. (b) Use plastic eyes instead of glass eyes in the toys (two eyes per toy). (c) Change the filling material used. It is proposed that scrap fabric left over from the body manufacture be used instead of the synthetic material which is currently used.The design change proposals have been considered by the management team and the following information has been gathered: (a) Plastic eyes will cost Rs. 15 per hundred whereas the existing glass eyes cost Rs. 20 per hundred. The plastic eyes will be more liable to damage on insertion into the toy. It is estimated that scrap plastic eyes will be 10% of the quantity issued from stores as compared to 5% of issues of gla ss eyes at present. (b) The synthetic filling material costs Rs. 80 per tonne. One tonne of filling is sufficient for 2,000 soft toys. c) Scrap fabric to be used as filling material will need to be cut into smaller pieces before as and this will cost Rs. 0. 05 per soft toy. There is sufficient scrap fabric for the purpose. (d) The elimination of the decorative stitching is expected to reduce the appeal of the product, with an estimated fall in sales by 10% from the current level. It is not felt that the change in eyes or filling material will adversely affect sales volume. The elimination of the stitching will reduce production costs by Rs. 0. 60 per soft toy. (e) The current sales level of the soft toy is 3,00,000 units per annum.Apportioned fixed costs per annum are Rs. 4,50,000. The net profit per soft toy at the current sales level is Rs. 3. Required: (i) Using the information given in the question, prepare an analysis which shows the estimated effect on annual profit if all thr ee proposals are implemented, and which enables management to check whether each proposal will achieve an annual target profit increase of Rs. 25,000. The proposals for plastic eyes and the use of scrap fabric should be evaluated after the stitching elimination proposal has been evaluated. (ii) Calculate the ercentage reduction in sales due to the stitching elimination at which the implementation of all three design change proposals would result in the same total profit from the toy as that earned before the implementation of the changes in design. Question:2 ABC Ltd manufactures a simple garden tool.At present the company is working at full capacity producing the three components A,B,C one of each being required for the assembly of the tool. All the machines are capable of making all the components. Current cost data concerning and hundred tools are as follows: Machine Hours 10 16 20 46 Variable Cost Rs. 6 32 32 42 142 Fixed Cost Rs. 10 2 32 22 76 Total Rs. 36 44 64 74 218 250 Comp onents – A Components – B Components – C Assembly Selling Price The management is engaged in preparing next year's budget an increase in sales is to be provided for. The factory already has to work at full machine capacity to meet current demand and no increase in the present machine capacity can be effected for over 12 months. Though facilities involving variable costs can be increase data very short notice. It is decided that one of the components will have to be bought out. The following quotations have been received: L.Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 1 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONS Components A B C Price per 100 tools Price per 100 tools Price per 100 tools Rs 36 46 54 The Sales manager feels sure that he can sell at least 50% more tools than at present and probably 75% more provided the factory capacity is available. You are required to prepare a report for management giving your recommendations as to which com ponent should be ordered from outside supplied for the coming year if production is increased by 50% and 75% respectively.Question : 3 The Chakrapani Ltd's Cost behaviour is as follows: Production range in units 0- 20000 20001 – 65000 65001 – 90000 90001 – 100000 Fixed cost Rs. 160000 Rs. 190000 Rs. 210000 Rs. 250000 At an activity of 70000 units per year, variable costs total 280000. Full capacity is 100000 units per year. Required: (1) Production is now set at 50000 units per year with a sales price of Rs. 7. 50 per unit. What is the minimum number of additional units needed to be sold in an unrelated market at Rs. 5. 50 per unit to show a net profit of Rs. 3000 per year? 2) Production is now set at 60000 units per year. By how much may sales promotion costs be increased to bring production up to 80000 units and still earn a net profit of 5% of total sales if the selling price is held at Rs. 7. 50? (3) If net profit is currently Rs. 10000 with fixed costs at R s. 160000 and a 2% increase in price will leave units sold unchanged but increase profits by Rs. 5000. What is the present volume in units? Question: 4 The manager of a business has received enquiries about printing three different types of advertising leaflet.Information concerning these three leaflets is shown below: A Selling prices per 1000 leaf lets Estimated printing costs: Variable per 1000 leaflets Specific fixed costs per month 40 2,400 70 4,000 130 9,500 100 B 220 C 450 In addition to specific fixed costs a further Rs. 4,000/- per month would be incurred in renting special premises if any or all of the above three leaflets were printed. The minimum printing order would be for 30,000 of each type of leaflet per month and the maximum possible order is estimated to be 60,000 of each leaflet per month.Required (i) Examine and comment upon the potential profitability of leaflet printing. Make whatever calculations you consider appropriate. (ii) Assuming that orders have been re ceived to print each month 50,000 of both leaflet A and leaflet B calculate the quantity of leaflet C which would need to be ordered to produce an overall profit, for all three leaflets of Rs. 1,800/- per month. L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 2 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS (iii) It is possible that a special type of paper used in printing leaflets will be difficult to obtain during the first few months.Three estimated consumption of this special paper for each type of leaflet is: Leaflet Leaflet Leaflet A B C 2 packs per 6 packs per 6 packs per 1000 leaflets 1000 leaflets 1000 leaflets Advise the manager on the quantity of each leaflet which should be printed in order to maximise profit in the first month, if 50,000 of each type of leaflet have been printed there remains unfulfilled order of 10,000 for each type of leaflet and there 170 packs of special paper available for the rest of the month. What will be your reaction if the pr inting quantity is to be pack of 1000 leaflets.Question: 5 For the past 20 years a charity organisation has held an annual dinner and dance with the primary intention of raising funds. This year there is concern that an economic recession may adversely affect both the number of persons attending the function and the advertising space that will be sold in the programme published for the occasion. Based on past experience and current prices and quotations, it is expected that the following costs and revenues will apply for the function. (Rs. ) Costs: Dinner and dance: Hire of premises Band and entertainers Raffle prizes Photographer Food at Rs. 2 per person (with a guarantee of 400 persons minimum) Programme: Revenues: Dinner and dance: A fixed cost of Rs. 2,000, plus Rs. 5 per page Price of tickets Average revenue from : Raffle Photographs Programme: Average revenue from advertising Rs. 5 per person Re. 1 per person Rs. 70 per page Rs. 20 per person 700 2,800 800 200 A sub-committee, formed to examine more closely the likely outcome of the function, discovered the following from previous records and accounts: No. of tickets sold 250 to 349 350 to 449 450 to 549 550 to 649 No. of past occasions 4 6 8 2 20 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 3Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS No. of programme pages sold 24 32 40 48 No. of past occasions 4 8 6 2 20 Several members of the sub-committee are in favour of using a market research consultant to carry out a quick enquiry into the likely number of tickets and the likely number of pages of advertising space that would be sold for this year's dinner and dance. You are required to: (a) Calculate the expected value of the profit to be earned from the dinner and dance this year; (b) Recommend, with relevant supporting financial and cost data, whether or not the charity should spent Rs. 00 on the market research enquiry and indicate the possible benefits the enquiry could provide. NB: A ll workings for tickets should be in steps of 100 tickets and for advertising in steps of 8 pages. Question: 6 The budgeted production for period 7 in the finishing department of a pottery manufacturer is, 4,500 cups, 4,000 saucers and 6,250 plates. In one standard hour a direct operative is expected to be able to finish either, 30 cups, or 40 saucers, or 25 plates.During period 7, 400 direct labour hours were worked and actual production was, 4,260 cups, 6,400 saucers and 3,950 plates. Required: Using the above information calculate for period 7: (i) The productivity of the direct operatives; (ii) An appropriate ratio expressing the department's actual production relative to that budgeted; (iii)Another ratio which you consider may be useful to management and explain the meaning of the ratio you have calculated. Question: 7 The Bashyam Co Ltd manufactures a variety of products of basically similar composition.Production is carried on by subjecting the various raw materials to a numb er of standardised operations, each major series of operations being carried out in a different department. All products are subject to the same initial processing which is carried out in departments A, B and C; the order and extent of further processing then depending upon the type of end product to be produced. It has been decided that a standard costing system could be usefully employed within Bashyam and pilot schemed to be operated for six months based initially only on epartment B, the second department in the initial common same of operations. If the pilot scheme produces useful results then a management accountant will be employed and the system would be incorporated as appropriate throughout the whole firm. The standard cost per unit of output of department B is: Rs. Direct labour (14 hours at Rs. 2 per hour) Direct material (i) (ii) Output of department A (3 kg at Rs. 9 per kg) Acquired by and directly input to department 4 Sreeram Coaching Point Rs. 28 27 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONSB material X (4 kg at Rs. 5 per kg) Variable overhead (at Rs. 1 per direct labour hours worked) Fixed production overheads (i) Directly incurred by department B – (note 1) manufacturing overhead (per unit) (ii) Allocated to department B general factory overhead (per unit) 3 8 11 14 20 47 Note 1. Based on normal monthly production of 400 units. In the first month of operation of the pilot study (month 7 of the financial year), department B had no work in progress at the beginning and the end of the month. The actual costs allocated to department B in the first month of operation were: Rs.Direct labour (6,500 hours) Direct materials (i) (ii) Output of department A (1,400 kg) – (note 2) Material X (1,000 kg) Variable overhead Fixed overhead (i) (ii) Directly incurred manufacturing overhead Allocated to department B – (note 3) 1,600 2,900 4,500 Rs. 59,000 Note 2. Actual cost of output of departm ent A. Note 3. Based on the actual expenditure on joint manufacturing overheads and allocated to departments in accordance with labour hours worked The production manager feels that the actual costs of Rs. 59,000 for production of 500 units indicates considerable inefficiency on the part of department B. e says, ‘I was right to request that the pilot standard costing system be carried out in department B as I have suspected that they are inefficient and careless – this overspending of Rs. 9,000 proves I am right'. Required: Prepare a brief statement which clearly indicates the reasons for the performance of department B and the extent to which that performance is attributable to department B. the statement should utilize variance analysis to the extent it is applicable and relevant. Question: 8 (i) Mathanakesari Ltd manufactures and sells a single product.In the quarter to 30 November 2002 sales of 10,000 units were budgeted at a unit selling price of Rs. 5 and a unit c ontribution of Rs. 1 (after charging variable costs). The budget had been prepared in the previous spring, and proved to be inaccurate. Actual sales for the November quarter were 7,000 units at a unit selling price of Rs. 8, giving a unit contribution of Rs. 3. You are required to calculate appropriate sales margin variances on the basis of this information. (ii) When reviewing the results for the quarter to 30 November the sales manager ascertained several additional facts.The total market for the product nationally had been only 45,000 units during the quarter, and not 50,000 units as Mathanakesari had originally anticipated. Mathanakesari had previously maintained a 20% share L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 5 Sreeram Coaching Point Rs. 14,000 21,000 11,500 32,500 8,000 COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS of the market for many years, adopting a policy of matching the market price. An index of the selling price levels of competitors' products had risen to 140, instead of remaining at the level of 100 as originally budgeted.Mathanakesari's variable costs (all materials) had risen in line with the change in the appropriate commodity price index, which had gone up from the expected level of 100 to an actual level of 125. You are required to calculate a set of variances to take appropriate notice of this additional information, and to discuss their significance. Question: 9 From past experience a company operating a standard cost system has accumulated the following information in relation to variances in its monthly management accounts: Percentage of total number of variances. 1) Its variances fall into two categories: Category 1: those which are not worth investigating Category 2: those which are worth investigating 64 36 100 (2) Of category 2, corrective action has eliminated 70% of the variances, but the remainder have continued. (3) The cost of investigation averages Rs. 350 and that of correcting variances averages Rs. 550. (4) The ave rage size of any variance not corrected is Rs. 525 per month and the company's policy is to assess the present value of such costs at 2% per month for a period of five months.You are required to: (a) Prepare two decision trees, to represent the position if an investigation is: (i) Carried out; (ii) Not carried out; (b) Recommend, with supporting calculations, whether or not the company should follow a policy of investigating variances as a matter of routine; (c) Explain briefly two types of circumstance that would give rise to variances in Category 1 and two to those in Category 2; (d) Mention any one variation in the information used that you feel would be beneficial too the company if you wished to improve the quality of the decision-making rule recommended in (b) above.Explain briefly why you have suggested it. Question: 10 Vishwakarma is a builder. His business will have spare capacity over the coming six months and he has been investigating two projects. Project A Vishwakarma i s tendering for a school extension contract. Normally he prices a contract by adding 100% to direct costs, to cover overheads and profit. He calculates direct costs as the actual cost of materials valued on a first-in-first-out basis, plus the estimated wages of direct labour. But for this contract he has prepared more detailed information. Four types of material will be needed: Matl.Quantity (units): Needed Already for contract in stock 1,100 150 600 200 100 200 300 400 6 Price per unit: (in Rs. ) Purchase Current Current price of Purchase resale units in stock price price 7. 00 40. 00 35. 00 20. 00 10. 00 44. 00 33. 00 21. 00 8. 00 38. 00 25. 00 10. 00 Sreeram Coaching Point Z Y X W L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONS Z and Y are in regular use. Neither X nor W is currently used; X has no foreseeable use in the business, but W could be used on other jobs in place of material currently costing Rs. 6 per unit. The contract will la st for six months and requires two craftsmen, whose basic annual wage cost is Rs. 16,000 each. To complete the contract in time it will also be necessary to pay them a bonus of Rs. 700 each. Without the contract they would be retained at their normal pay rate, doing work which will otherwise be done by temporary workers engaged for the contract period at a total cost of Rs. 11,800. Three causal labourers would also be employed specifically for the contract at a cost of Rs. 4,000 each.The contract will require two types of equipment: general- purpose equipment already owned by Vishwakarma, which will be retained at the end of the contract, and specialized equipment to be purchased second-hand, which will be sold at the end of the contract. The general-purpose equipment cost Rs. 21,000 two years ago and is being depreciated on a straightline basis over a seven-year life (with assumed zero scrap value). Equivalent new equipment can be purchased currently for Rs. 49,000. Second-hand pri ces for comparable general-purpose equipment, and those for the relevant specialized equipment, are shown below.General – purpose equipment Purchase Resale Price Price (Rs. ) (Rs. ) Current After 6 months: If used for 6 months If not used 15,000 19,000 12,600 16,400 7,000 8,000 5,800 6,500 20,000 17,200 Specialized equipment Purchase Resale Pricep Price (Rs. ) (Rs. ) 9,000 7,400 The contract will require the use of a yard on which Vishwakarma has a four-year lease at a fixed rental of Rs. 2,000 per year. If Vishwakarma does not get the contract the yard will probably remain empty. The contract will also incur administrative expenses estimated at Rs. 5,000.Project B If Vishwakarma does not get the contract he will buy a building plot for Rs. 20,000 and build a house. Building costs will depend on weather conditions: Weather condition Probability Building costs (excluding land) A 0. 4 Rs. 60,000 B 0. 4 Rs. 80,000 C 0. 2 Rs. 95,000 Similarly the price obtained for the house will depend on market conditions: Market condition Probability Sale price (net of selling expenses) D 0. 7 Rs. 1,00,000 E 0. 3 Rs. 1,20,000 Vishwakarma does not have the resources to undertake both projects. The costs of his supervision time can be ignored.Requirements: (a) Ignoring the possibility of undertaking project B, calculate: (i) The price at which Vishwakarma would tender for the school extension contract if he used his normal pricing method, and (ii) The tender price at which you consider Vishwakarma would neither gain nor lose by taking the contract. (b) Explain, with supporting calculations, how the availability of project B should affect Vishwakarma's tender for the school extension contract. L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 7 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS Question: 11 Narendran Products has two main products.X and Y, which have unit costs of Rs. 12 and Rs. 24 respectively. The company uses a markup of 33? % in establishing its selling prices and the current prices are thus Rs. 16 and Rs. 32. With these prices, in the year which is just ending, the company expects to make a profit of Rs. 3,00,000 from having produced and sold 15,000 units of X and 30,000 units of Y. This programme will have used all the available processing time in the finishing department. Each unit of X requires an hour of processing time in this department and every unit of Y correspondingly requires half an hour.Fixed overhead was Rs. 3,60,000 for the year and this has been charged to the products on the basis of the total processing hours used. All other cots may be assumed variable in relation to processing hours. In the current year it is estimated that Rs. 60,000 of the fixed overhead will be absorbed by X and Rs. 3,00,000 by Y. With the existing selling prices it is considered that the potential annual demand for X is 20,000 units and that for Y, 40,000 units. You are required to comment critically on the product mix adopted b y Narendran Products.Calculate what would have been the optimal plan given that there was no intention of changing the selling prices. (a) For the forthcoming year increased capacity has been installed in the finishing department so that this will no longer be a constraint for any feasible sales programme. Annual fixed overhead will be increased to Rs. 4,00,000 as a consequences of this expansion of facilities, but variable costs per unit are unchanged. A study commissioned by the Sales Director estimates the effect that alterations to the selling prices would have on the sales that could be achieved.The following table has been prepared: X Price Demand (‘000) Rs. 13. 50 30 Rs. 18. 50 10 Rs. 29. 00 60 Y Rs. 35. 00 20 It is thought reasonable to assume that the price/demand relationship is linear. Assuming that the company is now willing to abandon its cost plus pricing practices, if these can be shown to be deficient, you are required to calculate the optimal selling price for each product and the optimal output levels for these prices. State clearly any assumptions that you find it necessary to make.Question: 12 Division A of a large divisionalized organization manufactures a single standardized product. Some of the output is sold externally whilst the remainder is transferred to Division B where it is a subassembly in the manufacture of that division's product. The unit costs of Division A's product are as follows: (Rs. ) Direct material Direct labour Direct expense Variable manufacturing overheads Fixed manufacturing overheads Selling and packing expense – variable 4 2 2 2 4 1 17 Annually 10,000 units of the product are sold externally at the standard price of Rs. 0. In addition to the external sales, 5,000 units are transferred annually to Division B at an internal transfer charge of Rs. 29 per unit. This transfer price is obtained by deducting variable selling and packing expense from the external price since this expense is not incurred for internal transfers. Division B incorporates the transferred-in goods into a more advanced product. The unit costs of this product are as follows: L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 8 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONS (Rs. Transferred-in term (from Division A) Direct material and components Direct labour Variable overheads Fixed overheads Selling and packing expense variable 29 23 3 12 12 1 80 Division B's manager disagrees with the basis used to set the transfer price. He argues that the transfers should be made at variable cost plus an agreed (minimal) mark-up since he claims that his division is taking output that Division A would be unable to sell at the price of Rs. 30. Partly because of this disagreement, a study of the relationship between selling price and demand has recently been made for each division by the company's sales director.The resulting report contains the following table: Customer demand at various selling prices: Divisi on A Selling price Demand Division B Selling price Demand Rs. 80 7,200 Rs. 90 5,000 100 2,800 Rs. 20 15,000 Rs. 30 10,000 Rs. 40 5,000 The manager of Division B claims that this study supports his case. He suggests that a transfer price of Rs. 12 would give Division A a reasonable contribution to its fixed overheads while allowing Division B to earn a reasonable profit. He also believes that it would lead to an increase of output and an improvement in the overall level of company profits.You are required: (a) To calculated the effect that the transfer pricing system has had on the company's profits, and (b) To establish the likely effect on profit of adopting the suggestion by the manager of Division B of a transfer price of Rs. 12. Question: 13 Companies RP, RR, RS and RT are members of a group. RP wishes to buy an electronic control system for its factory and, in accordance with group policy, must obtain quotations from companies inside and outside of the group. From outside of th e group the following quotations are received: Company A quoted Rs. 33,200. Company B quoted Rs. 5,000 but would buy a special unit from RS for Rs. 13,000. To make this unit, however, RS would need to buy parts from RR at a price of Rs. 7,500. The inside quotation was from RS whose price was Rs. 48,000. This would require RS buying parts from RR at a price of Rs. 8,000 and units from RT at a price of Rs. 30,000. However, RT would need to buy parts from RR at a price of Rs. 11,000. Additional data are as follows: (1) RR is extremely busy with work outside the group and has quoted current market prices for all its products. (2) RS costs for the RP contract, including purchases from RR and RT, total Rs. 2,000. For the Company B contract it expects a profit of 25% on the cost of its own work. 9 Sreeram Coaching Point L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS (3) (4) RT prices provide for a 20% profit margin on total costs. The variable cost s of the group companies in respect of the work under consideration are: RR: 20% of selling price. RS: 70% of own cost (excluding purchases from other group companies) RT: 65% of own cost (excluding purchases from other group companies) You are required, from a group point f view, to: (a) Recommend, with appropriate calculations, whether the contract should be placed with RS or Company A or Company B; (b) State briefly two assumptions you have made in arriving at your recommendations. Question: 14 An industrial group of companies includes two divisions: A and B. the output of Division A is product A, two units of which are used by Division B for every one of its product B. Division B has first call on Division A's output but there is a separate market outside the group for the balance of Division A's output. All the output of Division B is sold outside the group.The maximum capacity of Division A is 1,30,000 units of A and that of Division B is 50,000 units of B per annum. Each divi sion maintains a stable level of stocks throughout the year. The group would like to examine the results of using different bases of transfer pricing under different scenarios (ie situations that could be expected to arise). The bases of transfer pricing are Absorbed standard cost Market price Variable cost plus a lump sum of 80% of Division A's fixed cost Scenario Number Product A Market price Total Demand (per unit) (thousand units) Rs. 5 23 29 30 25 35 100 70 130 Product A Rs. 20 Rs. 5 Product B Rs. 12 Rs. 18 (Exclusive of 2 units of Product A) 100 90 90 AS MP VC Product B Market price Total Demand (per unit) (thousand units) Rs. 40 30 30 Costs per unit are: Variable cost Fixed cost Budgeted volume in units per annum Part 1 1,00,000 40,000 You are required to calculate the profits shown by Division A and by Division B for the following seven situations: Scenario 15 23 29 MP MP Basis of Transfer pricing VC VC VC AS AS L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 10 Sreeram Coaching PointC OST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONS Part 2 Assume that Division B receives an overseas order for 20,000 units of B that will in no way influence its other clientele. (a) As manager of Division B state, with supporting calculations, whether you would recommend acceptance of the order in the following two situations: Scenario (i) 23 (ii) 29 Price per unit (ex factory) Rs. 55 Rs. 65 Basic of transfer pricing AS MP (b) If you were Managing Director of the whole group state, with very brief reasons, whether you would recommend acceptance of the orders in (a) (i) and (a) (ii) above.Question: 15 Vista Electronics manufactures two different types of coils used in electric motors. In the falls of the current year. Erica Becker, the controller, compiled the following data. Sales forecast for 2000 (all units to be shipped in 2000): Product Light coil Heavy coil Raw material prices and inventory levels: Raw Material Expected Inventories January 1, 2000 32,000 lb. 29,000 lb 6,000 units Desired Inventories December 31, 2000 36,000 lb. 32,000 lb. 7,000 units Anticipated Purchase Price in Rs. 8 5 3 Units 60,000 40,000 Price Rs. 65 Rs. 95Sheet metal Copper wire Platform Use of raw material: Raw Material Sheet metal Copper wire Platform Direct-labor requirements and rates: Product Light coil Heavy coil Amount Used per Unit Light Coll Heavy Coll 4 lb 2 5 lb 3 1 unit Hours per Unit 2 3 Rate per Hour Rs. 15 20 Overhead is applied at the rate of Rs. 2 per direct-labor hour. Finished-goods inventories (in units): Product Expected January 1, 2000 20,000 8,000 Desired December 31, 2000 25,000 9,000 Light coil Heavy coil L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 11 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONSManufacturing overhead: Overhead Cost Item Purchasing and material handling Depreciation, utilities and inspection Activity-Based Budget Rate Rs. 25 per Rupee of sheet metal and cooper wire purchased. Rs. 4. 00 per coil produced (either type) Shipping Rs. 1. 00 per coil shipped (either type) Rs. 3. 00 per direct-labor hour General manufacturing overhead Required: Prepare the following budgets for 2000. 1) Sales budget (in Rupees). 2) Production budget (in units). 3) Raw-material purchases budget (in quantities). 4) Raw-material purchases budget (in Rupees). ) Direct-labor budget (in Rupees). 6) Manufacturing overhead budget (in Rupees). Question: 16 Toronto Business Associates, a division of Maple Leaf Services Corporation, offers management and computer consulting services to clients throughout Canada and the northeastern United states. The division specializes in website development and other Internet applications. The corporate management at Maple Leaf Services is pleased with the performance of Toronto Business Associates for the first nine months of the current year and has recommended that the division manager.Ramachandran, submit a revised forecast for the remaining quarter, as the division has exceeded the annua l plan year-to-date by 20 percent of operating income. An unexpected increase in billed hour volume over the original plan is the main reason for this increase in income. The original operating budget for the first three quarters for Toronto Business Associates follows. TORONTO BUSINESS ASSOCIATES 20Ãâ€"1 Operating Budget 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter Total for first three QuartersRevenue: Consulting fees: Computer system consulting Management consulting Total consulting fees Other revenue Total revenue Expenses: Consultant salary expenses Travel and related expense General and administrative expenses Depreciation expense Corporate expense allocation Total expenses Operating income 3,86,750 45,625 1,00,000 40,000 50,000 6,22,375 1,24,500 3,86,750 45,625 1,00,000 40,000 50,000 6,22,375 1,24,500 3,86,750 45,625 1,00,000 40,000 50,000 6,22,375 1,24,500 11,60,250 1,36,875 3,00,000 1,20,000 1,50,000 18,67,125 3,73,500 4,21,875 3,15,000 7,36,875 10,000 7,46,875 4,21,875 3,15,000 7, 36,875 10,000 7,46,875 4,21,875 3,15,000 7,36,875 10,000 7,46,875 12,65,625 9,45,000 22,10,625 30,000 22,40,625 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 12 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONS Howell will reflect the following information in his revised forecast for the fourth quarter. Toronto Business Associates currently has 25 consultants on staff, 10 for management consulting and 15 for computer systems consulting. Three additional management consultant have been hired to start work at the beginning of the fourth quarter in order to meet the increased client demand. †¢ The hourly billing rate for consulting revenue will remain at 90 per hour for each management consultant and 75 per hour for each computer consultant. However, due to the favorable increase in billing hour volume when compared to the plan, the hours for each consultant will be increased by 50 hours per quarter. †¢ The budgeted annual salaries and actual annual salaries, paid monthly, are the same: 50,000 for a management consultant and 46,000 for a computer consultant.Corporate management has approved a merit increase of 10 percent at the beginning of the fourth quarter for all 25 existing consultants, while the new consultants will be compensated at the planned rate. †¢ The planned salary expense includes a provision for employee fringe benefits amounting to 30 percent of the annual salaries. However, the improvement of some corporate wide employee programs will increase the fringe benefits to 40 percent. †¢ The original plan assumes a fixed hourly rate for travel and other related expenses for each billing hour of consulting. These are expense that are not reimbursed by the client, and the previously determined hourly rate has proven to be adequate to cover these costs. †¢ Other revenue is derived from temporary rentals and interest income and remains unchanged for the fourth quarter. General and administrative expense have been fa vourable at 7 percent below the plan; this 7 percent savings on fourth quarter expenses will be reflected in the revised plan. †¢ Depreciation of office equipment and personal computers will stay constant at the projected straight-line rate. †¢ Due to the favourable experience for the first three quarters and the division's increased ability to absorb costs, the corporate management at Maple Leaf Services has increased the corporate expenses allocation by 50 percent. Required: 1) Prepare a revised operating budget for the fourth quarter for Toronto Business Associates that Ramachandran will present to corporate management. 2) Discuss the reasons why an organization would prepare a revised operating budget. Question: 17 Ford ltd. anufactures and sells 15,000 units of a raft, RF17, in 2001. The full cost per unit is Rs. 200. Ford earns a 20% return on an investment of Rs. 18,00,000 in 2001. Required: (1) Calculate the selling price of RF17 in 2001. Calculate the markup perce ntage on the full cost per unit of RF17 in 2001. (2) If the selling price in requirement 1 represents a markup percentage of 40% on variable costs per unit, calculate the variable cost per unit of RF17 in 2001 (3) Calculate ford's operating income if it had increased the selling price to Rs. 230. at this price ford would have sold 13,500 units of RF17. Assume no change in total fixed costs. Should ford have increased the selling price of RF17 to Rs. 230? 4) In response to competitive pressure, ford must reduce the price of RF17 to Rs. 210 in 2002, in order to achieve sales of 15,000 units. Ford plans to reduce its investment to Rs. 16,50,000. If ford wants to maintain a 20% return on investment, what is the target cost per unit in 2002? L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 13 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS ; SOLUTIONS Question: 18 Amrutha, president of PAL Electronics (PE), is concerned about the prospects of one of its major products. The president h as been reviewing a marketing report with Krishna, marketing product manager, for their 10-disk car compact disk (CD) changer.The report indicates another price reduction is needed to meet anticipated competitors' reductions in sales prices. The current selling price for their 10-disk car CD changers is Rs. 350 per unit. It is expected that within three months PE's two major competitors will be selling their 10-disk car CD changers for Rs. 300 per unit. This concerns Amrutha because their current cost of producing the CD changers is Rs. 315, which yields a Rs. 35 profit on each unit sold. The situation is especially disturbing because PE had implemented an activity-based costing (ABC) system about two years ago. The ABC system helped them better identify costs, cost pools, cost drivers, and cost reduction opportunities.Changes made when adopting ABC reduced costs on this product by approximately 15 percent during the last two years. Now it appears that costs will need to be reduced considerably more to remain competitive and to earn a profit on the 10-disk car CD changers. Total costs to produce, sell, and service the CD changer units are as follows: 10-Disk Car CD Changer Per Unit Material Purchased components All other material Labor Manufacturing, direct Setups Materials handling Inspection Machining Cutting, shaping, and drilling Bending and finishing Other Finished-goods warehousing Warranty Total unit cost Rs. 110 40 65 9 18 23 21 14 5 10 Rs. 315 Amrutha has decided to hire Damodar, a consultant, to help decide how to proceed.After two weeks of review, discussion, and value engineering analysis, Chandran suggested that PE adopt a just-intime (JIT) cell manufacturing process to help reduce costs. He also suggested that using target costing would help in meeting the new target price. By changing to a JIT cell manufacturing system, PE expects that manufacturing direct labor will increase by Rs. 15 per finished unit. However, setup, material handling, inspec tion, and finished goods warehousing will all be eliminated. Machine costs will be reduced from Rs. 35 to Rs. 30 per unit, and warranty costs are expected to be reduced by 40 percent. Required: (1) Determine PAL Electronics' unit target cost the Rs. 300 competitive sales price while maintaining the same percentage of profit on sales as is earned on the current Rs. 350 sales price. 2) If the just-in-time cell manufacturing process is implemented with the changes noted, will PAL Electronics meet the unit target cost you determined in requirement (3)? Prepare a schedule detailing cost reductions and the unit cost under the proposed JIT cell manufacturing process. Question: 19 The management of Alliance Enterprises recently decided to adopt a just-in-time inventory policy to curb steadily rising costs and free up cash for purposes of investment. The company anticipates that inventory will decrease from Rs. 36,00,000 to Rs. 6,00,000, with the released funds to be invested at a 12 percent return for the firm. Additional data follow: L. Muralidharan, FCA. Grad. CWA. , 14 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS †¢ Reduced inventories should produce savings in insurance and property taxes of Rs. 27,000. †¢ Alliance will lease 75 % of an existing warehouse to another firm for Rs. 2 per square foot. The warehouse has 30,000 square feet. †¢ Because of the need to handle an increased number of small shipments from suppliers, Alliance will remodel production and receiving-dock facilities at a cost of Rs. 6,00,000. The construction costs will be depreciated over a 10-year life. †¢ A shift in suppliers is expected to result in the purchase and use of more expensive raw materials.However, these materials should give rise to fewer warranty and repair problems after Alliance's finished product is sold, resulting in a net savings for the firm of Rs. 25,000. †¢ Three employees who currently earn Rs. 30,000 each will be di rectly affected by the just-in-time adoption decision. Two employees will be transferred to other positions with Alliance; one will be terminated. †¢ Reduced raw material inventory levels and accompanying stockouts will cost Alliance Rs. 70,000. Required: (1) Compute the annual financial impact of Alliance's decision to adopt a just-in-time inventory system. (2) If the just-in-time system is implemented in proper fashion, what is the likelihood of excessive raw material stockouts?Briefly explain. (3) Adoption of a just-in-time purchasing system will often result in less need for the inspection of incoming materials and parts. Why? (4) In comparison with a traditional purchasing system, why does a just-in-time system give rise to an increased number of small shipments to the buying firm? Question: 20 The product structure and the lead times for a finished product ‘X' are given in figure below If 100 units of X are required in week 12 and if none of the components, sub-asse mblies and the end product are either on hand or on order, compute the amounts and dates of the planned order releases for all the components and sub-assemblies.Assume that there is no particular order size and therefore all the order quantities are lot for lot. X, LT = 2 P (1), LT = 3 Q (2), LT = 1 R (3), LT = 3 S (2), LT = 3 P (2), LT = 3 R (3), LT = 3 Question: 21 S (2), LT = 3 The lead time to procure Paracetamol from a supplier is four weeks. At present, 54 kg of the drug is available with us. There is also a scheduled receipt of 45 kg of it in four weeks. The production requirements of paracetamol over the next nine weeks are as: Week Amount in kg 1 24 2 3 29 4 11 15 5 – 6 5 7 19 8 27 9 18 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS If we use an order quantity of 45 kg, when shall we release the orders for Paracetamol?Question: 22 Having attended a CIMA course on activity-based costing (ABC) you decide to experiment by applying the principles of ABC to the four products currently made and sold by your company. Details of the four products and relevant information are given below for one period: Product Output in units Costs per unit: Direct material Direct labour Machine hours (per unit) A 120 (Rs. ) 40 28 4 B 100 (Rs. ) 50 21 3 C 80 (Rs. ) 30 14 2 D 120 (Rs. ) 60 21 3 The four products are similar and are usually produced in production runs of 20 units and sold in batches of 10 units. The production overhead is currently absorbed by using a machine hour rate, and the total of the production overhead for the period has been analysed as follows: (Rs. Machine department costs (rent, business rates, depreciation and supervision) Set-up costs Stores receiving Inspection / Quality control Materials handling and despatch 10,430 5,250 3,600 2,100 4,620 You have ascertained that the ‘cost drivers' to be used are as listed below for the overhead cost shown: Cost Set up costs Stores r eceiving Inspection / Quality control Materials handling and despatch Cost Driver Number of production runs Requisition raised Number of production runs Orders executed The number of requisition raised on the stores was 20 for each product and the number of orders executed was 42, each orders being for a batch of 10 of a product. You are required. a) To calculate the total costs for each product if all overhead costs are absorbed on a machine hour basis; (b) To calculate the total costs for each product, using activity-based costing; (c) To calculate and list the unit product cost from your figures in (a) and (b) above, to show the differences and to comment briefly on any conclusions which may be drawn which could have pricing and profit implications. Question: 23 Sumantra Technology Ltd. ,. manufactures several different types of printed circuit boards; however, two of the boards account for the majority of the company's sales. The first of these boards, a television circuit board , has been a standard in the industry for several years. The market for this type of board is competitive and price-sensitive. Sumantra plans to sell 65,000 of the TV boards in 2001 at a price of Rs. 50 per unit. The second high-volume product, a personal computer circuit board, is a recent addition to Sumantra's product line. Because the PC board incorporates the latest technology it can be sold at a premium price. The 2001 plans include the sale of 40,000 PC boards at Rs. 300 per unit. L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 16 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS Sumantra's management group is meeting to discuss how to spend the sales and promotion Rupees for 2001. The sales manager believes that the market share for the TV board could be expanded by concentrating Sumantra's promotional efforts in this area.In response to this suggestion, the production manager said, â€Å"Why don't you go after a bigger market for the PC board? The cost sheets that I get show that the contribution from the PC board is more than double the contribution from the TV board. I know we get a premium price for the PC board. Selling it should help overall profitability. † The cost-accounting system shows that the following costs apply to the PC and TV boards. PC Board Direct material Direct labour Machine time Rs. 140 4 hr. 1. 5 hr. TV Board Rs. 80 1. 5 hr. .5 hr. Variable manufacturing overhead is applied on the basis of direct-labor hours. For 2001, variable overhead is budgeted at Rs. 1,20,000, and direct-labor hours are estimated at 2,80,000. The hourly rates for machine time and direct labor are Rs. 10 and Rs. 14, respectively. The company applies a material-handling charge at 10 percent of material cost. This material-handling charge is not included in variable manufacturing overhead. Total 2001 expenditures for direct material are budgeted at Rs. 1,06,00,000. Andrew Fulton, Sumantra's controller, believes that before the management group proceeds with the discussion about allocating sales and promotional Rupees to individual products, it might be worth while to look at these products on the basis of the activities involved in their production.Fulton has prepared the following schedule to help the management group understand this concept. â€Å"Using this information,† Fulton explained, â€Å"we can calculate an activity-based cost for each TV board and each PC board and then compare it to the standard cost we have been using. The only cost that remains the same for both cost methods is the cost of direct material. The cost drivers will replace the direct labor, machine time, and overhead costs in the old standard cost figures. † Budgeted Cost Procurement Production scheduling Packaging and shipping Total Machine setup Hazardous waste disposal Quality control General supplies Total Machine insertion Manual insertion Wave-soldering Total In Rs. ,00,000 2,20,000 4,40,000 10,60,000 4,46,000 48,000 5, 60,000 66,000 11,20,000 12,00,000 40,00,000 1,32,000 53,32,000 Required per Unit Parts: Machine insertions Manual insertions Machine setups Hazardous waste disposal Inspections L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 17 Cost Driver Number of parts Number of boards Number of boards Number of setups Rupees of waste Number of inspections Number of boards Number of insertions Numbers of insertions Number of boards Budgeted Annual Activity for Cost Driver 40,00,000 parts 1,10,000 boards 1,10,000 boards 2,78,750 setups 16,000 Rupees 1,60,000 inspections 1,10,000 boards 30,00,000 insertions 10,00,000 insertions 1,10,000 boards PC Board 55 35 20 3 . 35 lb. 2 TV Board 25 24 1 2 . 02 lb. 1 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONSRequired: (1) Identify at least four general advantages associated with activity-based costing. (2) On the basis of Sumantra's unit cost data given in the problem, calculate the total contribution margin expected in 2001 for the PC board and the TV board. (3) On the basis of an activity-based costing system, calculate the total contribution margin expected in 2001 for the PC board and the TV board. (4) Explain how a comparison of the results of the two costing methods may impact the decisions made by Sumantra's management group. Question: 24 Calton Ltd. make and sell a single product. The existing product unit specifications are as follows: Direct material X: Machine time: Machine cost per gross hour: Selling price: 8 sq. etres at Rs. 4 per sq. metre 0. 6 running hours Rs. 40 Rs. 100 Calton Ltd. , require to fulfil orders for 5,000 product units per period. There are no stocks of product units at the beginning or end of the period under review. The stock level of material X remains unchanged throughout the period. The following additional information affects the costs and revenues: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 5% of incoming material from suppliers is scrapped due to poor receipt and storage organisation. 4% of material X i nput to the machine process is wasted due to processing problems. Inspection and storage of material X costs Rs. 0. 10 pence per sq. metre purchased.Inspection during the production cycle, calibration checks on inspection equipment, vendor rating and other checks costs Rs. 25,000 per period Production quantity is increased to allow for the downgrading of 12. 5% of product units at the final inspection stage. Downgraded units are sold as ‘second quality' units at a discount of 30% on the standard selling price. Production quantity is increased to allow for returns from customers which are replaced free of charge. Returns are due to specification failure and account for 5% of units initially delivered to customers. Replacement units incur a delivery cost of Rs. 8 per unit. 80% of the returns from customers are rectified using 0. hours of machine running time per unit and are re-sold as ‘third quality' products at a discount of 50% on the standard selling price. The remaini ng returned units are sold as scrap for Rs. 5 per unit. Product liability and other claims by customers is estimated at 3% of sales revenue from standard product sales. Machine idle time is 20% of gross machine hours used (i. e. running hours = 80% of gross hours). Sundry costs of administration, selling and distribution total Rs. 60,000 per period. Calton Ltd is aware of the problem of excess costs and currently spends Rs. 20,000 per period in efforts to prevent a number of such problems from occurring. (6) 7) (8) (9) (10) Calton Ltd. is planning a quality management programme which will increase its excess cost prevention expenditure from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 60,000 per period. It is estimated that this will have the following impact. (1) A reduction in stores losses of material X to 3% of incoming material. (2) A reduction in the downgrading of product units at inspection to 7. 5% of units inspected. (3) A reduction in material X losses in process to 2. 5% of input to the machine pr ocess. L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 18 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS (4) A reduction in returns of products from customers to 2. % of units delivered. (5) A reduction in machine idle time to 12. 5% of gross hours used. (6) A reduction in product liability and other claims to 1% of sales revenue from standard product sales. (7) A reduction in inspection, calibration, vendor rating and other checks by 40% of the existing figure. (8) A reduction in sundry administration, selling and distribution costs by 10% of the existing figure. (9) A reduction in machine running time required per product unit to 0. 5 hours. Required: (a) Prepare summaries showing the calculation of (I) total production units (pre-inspection), (ii) purchases of material X (sq. metres), (iii) gross machine hours.In each case the figures are required for the situation both before and after the implementation of the additional quality management programme, in order t hat the orders for 5,000 product units may be fulfilled. (b) Prepare profit and loss account for Calton Ltd for the period showing the profit earned both before and after the implementation of the additional quality management programme. (c) Comment on the relevance of a quality management programme and explain the meaning of the terms internal failure costs, external failure costs, appraisal costs and preventation costs giving examples for each, taken where possible from the information in the question. Question: 25 Destiny Products makes digital watches. Destiny is preparing a product life-cycle budget for a new watch, MX3. Development on the new watch is to start shortly.Estimates about MX3 are as follows: Life-cycle units manufactured and sold Selling price per watch Life-cycle costs R & D and design costs Manufacturing Variable costs per watch Variable costs per batch Watches per batch Fixed costs Marketing Variable costs per watch Fixed costs Distribution Variable costs per ba tch Watches per batch Fixed costs Customer-service costs per watch Ignore the time value of money. Required: (1) Calculate the budgeted life-cycle operating income for the new watch. (2) What percentage of the budgeted total product life-cycle costs will be incurred by the end of the R & D and design stages? Rs. 280 160 Rs. 7,20,000 Rs. 1. 50 Rs. 3. 20 Rs. 10,00,000 Rs. 15 Rs. 600 500 Rs. 18,00,000 Rs. 10,00,000 4,00,000 Rs. 40 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 19 Sreeram Coaching PointCOST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS (3) An analysis reveals that 80% of the budgeted total product life-cycle costs of the new watch will be locked in at the end of the R & D and design stages. What implications does this finding have for managing MX3's costs? (4) Destiny's Market Research Department estimates that reducing MX3's price by Rs. 3 will increase life-cycle unit sales by 10 percent. If unit sales increase by 10%, Destiny plans to increase manufacturing and distribution b atch sizes by 10% as well. Assume that all variable costs per watch, variable costs per batch, and fixed costs will remain the same. Should Destiny reduce MX3's price by Rs. 3?Show your calculations. Question: 26 A first batch of 25 transistor radios took a total of 250 direct labour hours. It is proposed to assemble another 40 units. What will be the average labour per unit in this lot? Assume that there is 85% learning rate. Question: 27 Bhakatavatsala & Co, a fire arms manufacturer, has designed a new type of gun and a first lot of 25 guns assembled for test purposes had the following costs: Direct materials Direct labour Variable overheads Fixed overheads Total costs 24,500 22,500 16,875 11,250 75,125 Proportional to direct labour BSF being satisfied with this gun have asked the lowest bid for supply of 1,000 guns.The company will pass on the benefits of learning of 85% to the client in setting the bid. The company will set a selling price to earn 40% gross profit margin. Determ ine the unit price that should be bid. Question: 28 One unit of product A contributes Rs. 7 and requires 3 units of raw material and 2 hours of labour. One unit of product B contributes Rs. 5 and requires one unit of raw material and one hour of labour. Availability of the raw material at present is 48 units and there are 40 hours of labour. (a) Formulate it as a linear programming problem. (b) Write its dual. (c) Solve the dual with Simplex method and find the optimal product mix and shadow prices of the raw material and labour.Question: 29 The simplex tableau for a maximization problem of linear programming is given here: Product Mix Cj 5 0 xj x2 S2 cj zj cj – zj Xl 1 1 4 5 -1 x2 1 0 5 5 0 S1 1 -1 0 5 -5 S2 0 1 0 0 0 Quantity (bi) 10 3 Answer the following questions, giving reasons in brief: (a) Is this solution optimal? (b) Are there more than one optimal solution? (c) Is this solution degenerate? L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 20 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEME NT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS (d) Is this solution feasible? (e) If S1 is slack in machine A (in hours / week and S2 is slack in machine B (in hours / week), which of these machines is being used to the full capacity when producing according to this solution? f) A customer would like to have one unit of product x1 and is willing to pay in excess of the normal price in order to get it. How much should the price be increased in order to ensure no reduction of profits? Question: 30 Management of Ranga Ltd are very much worried about the continuing recession in the country. The company has 7 divisions (A to G). they have decided to close four divisions namely A,B,C and D and transfer some of the employees to the remaining divisions. Personnel at the units to be closed have signified a willingness to move to any of the three remaining units and the company is willing to provide them with removal costs.The technology of production is different to some degree at each unit and retr aining expenses will be incurred on transfer. Not all existing personnel can be absorbed by transfer and a number of redundancies will arise. Cost of redundancy is given as a general figure at each unit is to be closed. Number employed A-200 B-400 C-300 D-200 Rs. thousands per person Retraining costs Transfer to : Unit E Unit F Unit G Removal costs: Transfer to : Unit E Unit F Unit G Redundancy payments 2. 5 2. 4 2. 5 6. 0 3. 6 4. 6 2. 7 5. 0 3. 4 3. 4 3. 3 6. 0 3. 7 1. 7 2. 7 7. 0 0. 5 0. 6 0. 5 0. 4 0. 4 0. 3 0. 6 0. 6 0. 7 1. 3 0. 3 0. 3 A B C D Additional personnel required at units remaining open: E-350 F-450 G-200.To use the transportation method to obtain an optimal solution to the problem of the cheapest means to transfer personnel from the units to be closed to those which will be expanded. Question: 31 A management consulting firm has a backlog of 4 contracts. Work on these contracts must be started immediately. 3 project leaders are available for assignment to the contrac ts. Because of the varying work experience of the leaders, the profit to consulting firm will vary based on the assignment as shown below. The unassigned contract can be completed by subcontracting the work to an outside consultant. The profit on the subcontract is zero. Finds the optimal assignment.Contract Project Leader A B C L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 1 13 15 6 21 2 10 17 8 3 9 13 11 4 11 20 7 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS Question: 32 The tit-fit Scientific Laboratories is engaged in producing different types of High-class equipments for use in Science labs. The company has two different assembly lines to produce its popular product â€Å"P†. Processing time (minutes) Assembly A1 Assembly A2 10 0. 10 0. 20 11 0. 15 0. 40 12 0. 40 0. 20 13 0. 25 0. 15 14 0. 10 0. 05 Use the following Random(Rn. ) no's, generate data on the process times for 15units of the item and complete the expected process time for the product. 13 4 7476 4943 Question: 33 A project consists of 7 activities. The time for performance of each of the activity is as follows:Activity A Immediate Time 3 4 5 B 4 4 4 4 4 C A 1 1 1 D B,C 4 5 E D 3 4 5 6 F D 5 7 G E,F 2 3 Probability 0. 2 0. 6 0. 2 0. 1 0. 3 0. 3 0. 2 0. 1 0. 15 0. 75 0. 10 0. 8 0. 2 0. 1 0. 3 0. 3 0. 3 0. 20 0. 80 0. 5 0. 5 8343 1183 1915 3602 9445 5415 7505 0089 0880 7428 3424 9309 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 22 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS a) Draw a network and identify critical path using expected time. b) Simulate the project for 5 times using Rn. no's and find critical paths? 8 99 57 57 77 Question: 34 A small maintenance project consist of jobs in the table below. With each job is listed its normal time and a minimum or crash time in days. The cost in Rs. Per day of each job is also given: Job(i-j) 1-2 1-3 1-4 2-4 3-4 4-5 Normal days 9 8 15 5 10 2 Crash days 6 5 10 3 6 1 Cost/Day 40 50 60 20 30 80 13 93 33 12 37 09 18 49 31 34 20 24 65 96 11 73 22 92 85 27 07 07 98 92 10 72 29 00 91 59 a) What is the normal project length and minimum project length? b) Determine the minimum crashing cost of schedules ranging from normal length down to, and including, the minimum length schedule. c) Overhead costs total Rs. 115/day. What is the optimum length schedule in terms of both crashing and overhead cost?Question: 35 Allocate the men efficiently to the jobs given below and Find out the time required to complete the project. No. of persons: 4 Job (I-j) 1-2 1-3 1-5 2-3 2-6 3-4 4-7 5-6 6-7 tn 10 6 5 0 8 10 10 7 5 Men 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 1 2 L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 23 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS Suggested Solutions L. Muralidharan, FCA. , Grad. CWA. , 24 Sreeram Coaching Point COST MANAGEMENT – TEST QUESTIONS & SOLUTIONS Answer to Question No. 1: Elimination of decorative stitching cost. Cost Loss of contribution due to fall in sales (WN-1) 1,35,000 Net benefit = 27,000/(a) Substituting glass eyes by plastic eyes.