Discuss product-profitability of two product lines of the company, assuming one being profitable and another incurs losses for the company for the current year.

Total word limit: 2,000 (excluding references, tables and appendices)

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
Choose a real company that you know. Research the macro-environment, industry’s operating environment, the competitors and the customer groups of the company. Based on your research findings and your experience as a strategic management accountant, answer the following questions:

Required:

1. Introduce the company that you have chosen. In your introduction, you must present a brief overview of the company’s macro-environment, operation and financial performance. (500 words)

2. Discuss product-profitability of two product lines of the company, assuming one being profitable and another incurs losses for the company for the current year. In your analysis, you must show i) activity costs of the products. In answering this question, you need to use hypothetical but logical figures. Therefore, you should do appropriate research about the company’s operations and its activities with that specific product line. For example, based on your research, identify appropriate activities across (i.e., Designing, Purchasing, Assembling, Finishing, Selling and Customer support) levels, their cost drivers and estimated cost per unit of activity driver, and a number of estimated activities for each activity identified. State any assumptions that you make in answering this question. Please attach your tables and calculations as an appendix at the end of the report. (500 words)

3. Discuss customer profitability of two customer groups of the company, assuming one being profitable and another incurs losses for the company for the current year. In your discussion, you must include following particulars: i) loss- incurring customer group for the company ii) income-generating customers for the company. In answering this question, you need to use hypothetical but logical figures. Therefore, you should do appropriate research about the company’s operations and its activities with that specific customer groups. For example, based on your research, identify appropriate customer activities across three levels (i.e., order-level, customer-level and market-level), their cost drivers and estimated cost per unit of customer activity driver, and a number of estimated activities for each activity identified. State any assumptions that you make in answering this question. Please attach your tables and calculations as an appendix at the end of the report. (500 words)

4. Write a report to the Chief-Executive Officer of the company identifying the reasons behind loss-incurring product line and customer groups. Provide your suggestions in improving the profitability of loss incurring product line and customer group. (500 words)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Marks will be awarded based on the following criteria:
I. Correct understanding of key concepts
II. Clear and logical development of ideas and discussion
III. Demonstrating original thought and the appropriate application of research and theoretical concepts to a particular business context
IV. Expressing ideas clearly and avoiding grammatical and other errors
V. Using appropriate information sources and correct referencing
VI. Adhering to the maximum word limit (the word count must be shown at the end of the assignment.)
2. You must work in a group for this assessment. No individual assignment will be accepted unless prior approval has been granted. It is in your best interest to find group members who will work to maximize the assignment mark.
3. You MUST attach a plan of your teamwork (e.g., number of meetings, dates of meeting, meeting minutes, task/work/activities assigned and done by each members) as an appendix. This will not be marked. However, this is to demonstrate your team-work and joint efforts in answering all questions. Please do NOT just allocate each question to an individual group member to work on separately, as this will fail to produce a cohesive set of answers to this assignment. Please bear in mind that this mode of assessment is similar to those in the commercial world where teamwork is required to achieve a group outcome.
4. Please note that since the group members have been chosen by you, it is your responsibility to manage the group work and to ensure that each member contributes to the assignment fairly and equitably. This is to assess your ability to work as a team and to work collaboratively to achieve the best outcome.
5. Write down the word counts at the end of your report. Marks may be deducted for not showing and/or exceeding the word limit.
6. The mark awarded by the teaching team for the assignment will be given to every group member provided they all equally contribute. However, if group members are concerned about any particular member(s)’ contribution, they are advised to fill out an individual contribution form.
7. Any queries about this assignment should be submitted to the Blackboard discussion forum.
8. This assignment must be a Word document, single-sided with 1.5 line-spacing and using size-12 Arial or Times font. Leave at least 2.5cm margins.
9. You are required to reference/cite at least five professional reports and/or articles published in leading journals in the relevant field within the last ten years. Use of Wikipedia and unverified sources is not acceptable.
10. References and quotations taken from other authors must be properly acknowledged at all times using APA 7 referencing.

Total word limit: 2,000 (excluding references, tables and appendices)

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
Choose a real company that you know. Research the macro-environment, industry’s operating environment, the competitors and the customer groups of the company. Based on your research findings and your experience as a strategic management accountant, answer the following questions:

Required:

1. Introduce the company that you have chosen. In your introduction, you must present a brief overview of the company’s macro-environment, operation and financial performance. (500 words)

2. Discuss product-profitability of two product lines of the company, assuming one being profitable and another incurs losses for the company for the current year. In your analysis, you must show i) activity costs of the products. In answering this question, you need to use hypothetical but logical figures. Therefore, you should do appropriate research about the company’s operations and its activities with that specific product line. For example, based on your research, identify appropriate activities across (i.e., Designing, Purchasing, Assembling, Finishing, Selling and Customer support) levels, their cost drivers and estimated cost per unit of activity driver, and a number of estimated activities for each activity identified. State any assumptions that you make in answering this question. Please attach your tables and calculations as an appendix at the end of the report. (500 words)

3. Discuss customer profitability of two customer groups of the company, assuming one being profitable and another incurs losses for the company for the current year. In your discussion, you must include following particulars: i) loss- incurring customer group for the company ii) income-generating customers for the company. In answering this question, you need to use hypothetical but logical figures. Therefore, you should do appropriate research about the company’s operations and its activities with that specific customer groups. For example, based on your research, identify appropriate customer activities across three levels (i.e., order-level, customer-level and market-level), their cost drivers and estimated cost per unit of customer activity driver, and a number of estimated activities for each activity identified. State any assumptions that you make in answering this question. Please attach your tables and calculations as an appendix at the end of the report. (500 words)

4. Write a report to the Chief-Executive Officer of the company identifying the reasons behind loss-incurring product line and customer groups. Provide your suggestions in improving the profitability of loss incurring product line and customer group. (500 words)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Marks will be awarded based on the following criteria:
I. Correct understanding of key concepts
II. Clear and logical development of ideas and discussion
III. Demonstrating original thought and the appropriate application of research and theoretical concepts to a particular business context
IV. Expressing ideas clearly and avoiding grammatical and other errors
V. Using appropriate information sources and correct referencing
VI. Adhering to the maximum word limit (the word count must be shown at the end of the assignment.)
2. You must work in a group for this assessment. No individual assignment will be accepted unless prior approval has been granted. It is in your best interest to find group members who will work to maximize the assignment mark.
3. You MUST attach a plan of your teamwork (e.g., number of meetings, dates of meeting, meeting minutes, task/work/activities assigned and done by each members) as an appendix. This will not be marked. However, this is to demonstrate your team-work and joint efforts in answering all questions. Please do NOT just allocate each question to an individual group member to work on separately, as this will fail to produce a cohesive set of answers to this assignment. Please bear in mind that this mode of assessment is similar to those in the commercial world where teamwork is required to achieve a group outcome.
4. Please note that since the group members have been chosen by you, it is your responsibility to manage the group work and to ensure that each member contributes to the assignment fairly and equitably. This is to assess your ability to work as a team and to work collaboratively to achieve the best outcome.
5. Write down the word counts at the end of your report. Marks may be deducted for not showing and/or exceeding the word limit.
6. The mark awarded by the teaching team for the assignment will be given to every group member provided they all equally contribute. However, if group members are concerned about any particular member(s)’ contribution, they are advised to fill out an individual contribution form.
7. Any queries about this assignment should be submitted to the Blackboard discussion forum.
8. This assignment must be a Word document, single-sided with 1.5 line-spacing and using size-12 Arial or Times font. Leave at least 2.5cm margins.
9. You are required to reference/cite at least five professional reports and/or articles published in leading journals in the relevant field within the last ten years. Use of Wikipedia and unverified sources is not acceptable.
10. References and quotations taken from other authors must be properly acknowledged at all timcixes using APA 7 referencing.

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