CONTROL AND EVALUATION OF COST CENTERS

CHAPTER11CONTROLANDEVALUATIONOFCOSTCENTERS11-1OutsourcingandStandardCostsTheshortlifecycleoftoyssuggeststhatmanufacturerswouldnotbenefitfromusingstandardcosts.However,theymustbidforbusiness,whichindicatesthattheyexaminethetoycloselybeforesettingaprice.Thisanalysisistantamounttodevelopingastandardcost.11-2ResponsibilityforVariances1.Thematerialpricevariancewillbefavorable,whilethematerialuse,laborefficiency,andVOHefficiencyvarianceswillprobablybeunfavorable.Qualitycouldalsosuffer.2.Beforethecompanychangesitsstandards,weshouldexpectallefficiencyvariancestobefavorablebecauseofthereduceddiversity.Thecompanymightevenfindmaterialpricesavingsfrombuyingfewertypesofmaterialsandcomponents.3.Thesamethingswementionedinpart2shouldhappenhere.Herethecompanyisreducingcomplexityofproducts.Simplificationshouldresultinproductsthatareeasiertomanufacture.4.Thelaborratevariancewillbefavorable,thelaborandvariableoverheadefficiencyvariancesprobablyunfavorable.11-3LearningCurvesAutoassemblyplantsdoexperiencelearningeffectsduringchangeovers.Assemblylinesrunslowerforawhile,thenmoveuptofullspeedastheworkersbecomemorefamiliarwiththeoperationsonthenewmodels.Aircraftplantsexperiencelearningeffects.Thelearningeffectwasdiscoveredinanaircraftplantinthe1930s.Theotherswillnotshowlearningeffectsbecausetheyaremachine-driven,processingoperations.11-4Long-TermContractsTheprincipalreasonsforusinglong-termcontractsaretoensuresuppliesandtoobtainfirmprices.Manycompanieswillinglysacrificethepossibilityofpayingtoomuch(ifpricessubsequentlyfall)tomanagetheriskofpayingtoomuch(ifpricesrise)ornothavinganensuredsupply.ForStanleytheensuredsupplyisnotareasonbecausesuppliesareavailableatcompetitiveprices.ThepriceriskisthereforeStanley’sprincipalmotivation.Theprincipaldisadvantageisthepossibilityoflosinglowerpricesinthefuture.Dependingonthetermsoftheagreementandthecommodityorproduct,companiesmightalsoriskhavingtoogreatasupply.Ifdemandfortheendproductfallsandtheagreementrequirestakingaminimumquantity,thecompanycouldhaveunwantedinventory.Thecompanymightalsoloseflexibilitytosubstituteothercommoditiesorproductsifitisrequiredtotakeaminimumquantity.ConsiderthefollowingstatementfromPalm’s2001Form10-K.“Duetosupplyconstrainedinventoriesexperiencedduringthefirstthreequartersoffiscalyear2001,webuiltinventorylevelsforcertaincomponentswithlongleadtimesandenteredintocertainlonger-termcommitmentsforcertaincomponents.Inthefourthquarter,thesuddenandunanticipatedsignificantdecreaseindemandforourproductscausedourinventorylevelstoexceedourforecastedrequirements.Wedonotcurrentlyanticipatethattheexcessinventorysubjecttothisprovisionwillbeusedatafuturedatebasedonourcurrent12-monthforecast.”11-5ProductivityGainsEfficiencyvarianceswerefavorable(oratleastsomeefficiencyvarianceswerefavorable)andatleastsomepriceorratevarianceswereunfavorable.Increasesinproductivitytypicallymeanincreasesinefficiency.Thestatementthatincreasedproductivitypartiallyoffsetincreaseinourinputcostsindicatesthatthecompanypaidmoreforinputs,whichgivesrisetorateorpricevariances.11-6ResponsibilityforVariancesMemorandumTo:HenryBergerFrom:StudentDate:TodaySubj:IdentificationofrejectsJackSmithhasquestionedourallocationofrejectsthatwecannotidentifybydepartmentonthebasisofidentifiablerejects.ThevalidityofSmith'sclaimcanneitherbeverifiednorrefuted,giventheavailableinformation.Obviously,theclaimofdiscriminationwouldbevalidiftheproportions,bydepartment,ofunidentifiablerejectsdonotequaltheproportionofidentifiablerejects.But,bydefinition,itisimpossibletodeterminetheresponsibilityforunidentifiablerejects.Hence,Smith'sclaimcanbeneitherprovednordisproved.And,fromthisanalysis,itisclearthatweareactuallychargingmanagerswithanarbitraryallocation:theyarebeingchargedwithcostsoverwhichtheycannotbeshowntohavecontrol.Thisviolatestheprincipleofcontrollabilityinresponsibilityreporting.Onepossibilityistostoptheallocationentirely,chargingthemanagerswithonlytherejectsspecificallyidentifiableashavingbeencausedbytheirdepartments.IfweweretoadoptJITprinciples,wewouldperformcontinualinspection,whichwouldeliminatetheproblem.Anotherpossibilityistodevelopnewevaluationproceduresthatcanbetteridentifythesourcesofrejects.Thismightrequireinspectingaftereachoperationratherthanafterthetotalassemblyoperationiscomplete.Evenwithrevisedinspectionprocedures,itmightnotbepossibletoassignallrejects.Moreover,thecostofthenewinspectionapproachrequiresjustificationonthebasisthatthebenefitstobereceivedwillbegreaterthanthecostoftheprocedure.11-7SignificanceofVariancesEveniftotalactualcostsdonotexceedtotalbudgetedcosts:(1)therecanbeoffsettingtotalvariancesforindividualelementsofcost(materials,labor,individualoverheadcosts);and(2)aparticularcostelementcanbeasbudgetedintotal,butstillhaveoffsettingpricesandquantityvariances.Inbothcases,investigationmaybeneeded.Acheapermaterialmighthavebeenintroducedintotheproductionprocess,creatingafavorablematerialpricevariance,butalsoleadingtoincreasedlabortimerequirements,oranincreaseinscrappedmaterials.Thesewouldcreate,respectively,anunfavor