Managerial Accounting/ Market Structures
Managerial Accounting/ Market Structures
1.Due to varying business characteristics, the managerial accounting techniques applied in each business may differ. For example, a business in the start-up phase may rely heavily upon budgeting and capital investment techniques; whereas, a business in the mature/maintaining phase may rely heavily upon cost management and quality control. Ultimately, the techniques used by management should assist the business in achieving its short-term and long-term goals through effective decision-making.
For your Final Paper, you will analyze the role of managerial accounting in two parts. Part I will provide a general overview of managerial accounting. Part II will provide examples of how managerial accounting theories and principles are applied in the business world. You may find it helpful to reflect upon your own professional experiences for examples.
Part I (three to four double-spaced pages, excluding the title and reference pages)
Present the following:
- Define managerial accounting
- Describe the role of managerial accounting and the management accountant in a business or organization
- Describes ethical issues/concerns for the management accountant
- Describes at least three managerial accounting techniques available and their application within a business or organization
Part II (Four to six double-spaced pages, excluding the title and reference pages)
Select at least three of the five topics identified below:
- Cost Management Techniques
- Costing Methods
- Capital Investment Decision Techniques
- Budgeting
- Quality Control
For each topic selected, present real world examples of the application of managerial accounting techniques within a business or organization. Examples may be gathered from your own professional experiences or from case studies obtained from credible sources (excluding textbook examples explored in previous weeks). Presentation of each example should include how a managerial accounting technique was applied in the business or organization’s decision-making model. Be sure to support your example with calculations when applicable.
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:
- Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
- Must include a title page with the following:
- Title of paper
- Student’s name
- Course name and number
- Instructor’s name
- Date submitted
- Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
- Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
- Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
- Must use at least five scholarly sources.
- Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
2.
Market Structures and Pricing Decisions Applied Problems
Please complete the following two applied problems:
Problem 1:
Robert’s New Way Vacuum Cleaner Company is a newly started small business that produces vacuum cleaners and belongs to a monopolistically competitive market. Its demand curve for the product is expressed as Q = 5000 – 25P where Q is the number of vacuum cleaners per year and P is in dollars. Cost estimation processes have determined that the firm’s cost function is represented by TC = 1500 + 20Q + 0.02Q2.
Show all of your calculations and processes. Describe your answer for each question in complete sentences, whenever it is necessary.
- What are the profit-maximizing price and output levels? Explain them and calculate algebraically for equilibrium P (price) and Q (output). Then, plot the MC (marginal cost), D (demand), and MR (marginal revenue) curves graphically and illustrate the equilibrium point.
- How much economic profit do you expect that Robert’s company will make in the first year?
- Do you expect this economic profit level to continue in subsequent years? Why or why not?
Problem 2:
Greener Grass Company (GGC) competes with its main rival, Better Lawns and Gardens (BLG), in the supply and installation of in-ground lawn watering systems in the wealthy western suburbs of a major east-coast city. Last year, GGC’s price for the typical lawn system was $1,900 compared with BLG’s price of $2,100. GGC installed 9,960 systems, or about 60% of total sales and BLG installed the rest. (No doubt many additional systems were installed by do-it-yourself homeowners because the parts are readily available at hardware stores.)
GGC has substantial excess capacity–it could easily install 25,000 systems annually, as it has all the necessary equipment and can easily hire and train installers. Accordingly, GGC is considering expansion into the eastern suburbs, where the homeowners are less wealthy. In past years, both GGC and BLG have installed several hundred systems in the eastern suburbs but generally their sales efforts are met with the response that the systems are too expensive. GGC has hired you to recommend a pricing strategy for both the western and eastern suburb markets for this coming season. You have estimated two distinct demand functions, as follows:
Qw =2100 – 6.25Pgw + 3Pbw + 2100Ag – 1500Ab + 0.2Yw
for the western market and
Qe = 36620 – 25Pge + 7Pbe + 1180Ag – 950Ab + 0.085Ye
for the eastern market, where Q refers to the number of units sold; P refers to price level; A refers to advertising budgets of the firms (in millions); Y refers to average disposable income levels of the potential customers; the subscripts w and e refer to the western and eastern markets, respectively; and the subscripts g and b refer to GGC and BLG, respectively. GGC expects to spend $1.5 million (use Ag = 1.5) on advertising this coming year and expects BLG to spend $1.2 million (use Ab = 1.2) on advertising. The average household disposable income is $60,000 in the western suburbs and $30,000 in the eastern suburbs. GGC does not expect BLG to change its price from last year because it has already distributed its glossy brochures (with the $2,100 price stated) in both suburbs, and its TV commercial has already been produced. GGC’s cost structure has been estimated as TVC = 750Q + 0.005Q2, where Q represents single lawn watering systems.
Show all of your calculations and processes. Describe your answer for each item below in complete sentences, whenever it is necessary.
- Derive the demand curves for GGC’s product in each market.
- Derive GGC’s marginal revenue (MR) and marginal cost (MC) curves in each market. Show graphically GGC’s demand, MR, and MC curves for each market.
- Derive algebraically the quantities that should be produced and sold, and the prices that should be charged, in each market.
- Calculate the price elasticities of demand in each market and discuss these in relation to the prices to be charged in each market.
- Add a short note to GGC management outlining any reservations and qualifications you may have concerning your price recommendations.
