(Inspired by the events in the Montreal cement market in 1966.) You are the CEO of Independent Cement (IC), and are considering whether and how to enter the Montreal market. If you enter, you must first choose whether to build a small plant that can serve up to 100 customers, or a large plant that can serve all 400 customers in the Montreal metropolitan area; in either case, the cost of the plant is $300 and the marginal cost of producing one unit of cement is $3.

Zachary company produces commercial gardening equipment. since production is highly automated, the company allocates its overhead costs to product lines using activity-based costing. the costs and cost drivers associated with the four overhead activity cost pools follow: activities unit level batch level product level facility level cost $ 64,800 $ 27,730 $ 15,000 $ 154,000 cost driver 2,400 labor hrs. 47 setups percentage of use 11,000 units production of 780 sets of cutting shears, one of the company’s 20 products, took 240 labor hours and 7 setups and consumed 15 percent of the product-sustaining activities. required: (a) had the company used labor hours as a company wide allocation base, how much overhead would it have allocated to the cutting shears? (b) how much overhead is allocated to the cutting shears using activity-based costing? (c) compute the overhead cost per unit for cutting shears first using activity-based costing and then using direct labor hours for allocation if 780 units are produced. if direct product costs are $150 and the product is priced at 30 percent above cost for what price would the product sell under each allocation system? (d) assuming that activity-based costing provides a more accurate estimate of cost, indicate whether the cutting shears would be over- or underpriced if direct labor hours are used as an allocation base. explain how over-or undercosting can affect vaulker's profitability. (e) comment on the validity of using the allocated facility-level cost in the pricing decision. should other costs be considered in a cost- plus pricing decision? if so, which ones? what costs would you include if you were trying to decide whether to accept a special order?

Shawn received an e-mail offering a great deal on music, movie, and game downloads. he has never heard of the company, and the e-mail address and company name do not match. what should shawn do?

The upper-level managers of synergy technology are meeting for the week to look at the long-term company goals and overall direction of the organization. the ceo has expressed her concern over the economy and has told her managers to look closely at the environment outside the organization before making decisions and to be future oriented. in this meeting, top managers of synergy are