Needles/Powers 2002e Managerial Accounting - Internet Research Activities

Needles Accounting Resource Center

Managerial Accounting , 2002 Edition
Belverd E. Needles, Jr., DePaul University
Marian Powers, Northwestern University
Susan Crosson, Santa Fe Community College


	Internet Research Activities Chapter 2: Cost Concepts and Cost Allocation Product Costing Instructions: Use the following business periodicals' web sites to locate and write a summary of a business article related to cost classification as described in your text. A linked web site article is included below as an example. Be sure to include the article's title, author(s), publisher, and date. Business Periodical Web Sites: CNNfn Forbes U.S. News & World Report BusinessWeek MSNBC Commerce Barron's USA Today Money Fortune Time Financial Times Sample Article: "From tragedy, a fortune" (Forbes—July 9, 2001) Stelios Haji-Ioannou, a serial entrepreneur, has increased his fortune not by inventing new products and services but rather by making old ones cheaper and, in many cases, better. Stelios starts by focusing on the core task and stripping out non-value-adding costs. He keeps cutting costs from the businesses and passing the savings to his customers. After an accident, years ago, involving a tanker owned by his business, Stelios refuses to cut corners on safety. The result is a less expensive, reliable, and safe product or service. Extended Research Activity Instructions: Use the business periodicals' web sites above to locate and write a summary of a business article related to activity-based costing. A linked web site article is included below as an example. Be sure to include the article's title, author(s), publisher, and date. "Activity-Based Costing for Higher Education Institutions" By Lakshmi U. Tatikonda, CMA, CPA, Ph.D., and Rao J. Tatikonda, CFPIM, Ph.D. (Management Accounting Quarterly—Winter 2001) Escalating costs, diminishing resources, increased competition, unhappy customers (students, parents), and state legislators demanding accountability are pressuring Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to manage their costs better. Using tools and techniques such as activity-based costing (ABC), business process reengineering, concurrent engineering, and total quality management, manufacturers gained a better understanding of costs, simplified products and procedures, eliminated waste, cut costs, reduced lead times, improved quality, added value, and gained customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, only a few colleges and universities in the United States apply ABC. In Great Britain several universities have recently introduced ABC accounting. These universities found that ABC helped them with tighter financial management and better resource allocation. Either print out your answers for submission or email them to your instructor.





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