Chapter 25: 6RQ (page 1406)
What is differential analysis?
Differential analysis refers to an approach used by business entities to makeshort-term decisions.
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Brik, located in San Antonio, Texas, produces two lines of electric toothbrushes: deluxe and standard. Because Brik can sell all the toothbrushes it can produce, the owners are expanding the plant. They are deciding which product line to emphasize. To make this decision, they assemble the following data:
Per Unit
Deluxe Toothbrush Standard Toothbrush
Sales price \(88 \)54
Variable expense 22 18
Contribution margin \(66 \)36
Contribution margin ratio 75.0% 66.7%
After expansion, the factory will have a production capacity of 4,900 machine hours per month. The plant can manufacture 65 standard electric toothbrushes or 27 deluxe electric toothbrushes per machine hour.
Requirements
1. Identify the constraining factor for Brik.
2. Prepare an analysis to show which product line the company should emphasize.
You are trying to decide whether to trade in your inkjet printer for a more recent model. Your usage pattern will remain unchanged, but the old and new printers use different ink cartridges.
Indicate if the following items are relevant or irrelevant to your decision:
a. The price of the new printer
b. The price paid for the old printer
c. The trade-in value of the old printer
d. Paper cost
e. The difference between ink cartridges’ costs
Moore Company sells both designer and moderately priced fashion accessories. Top management is deciding which product line to emphasize. Accountants have provided the following data:
Per Item
Designer Moderately Priced
Average sales price \(185 \)87
Average variable costs 105 22
Average contribution margin 80 65
Average fixed costs (allocated) 20 10
Average operating income \(60 \)55
The Moore Company store in Grand Junction, Colorado, has 14,000 square feet of floor space. If Moore Company emphasizes moderately priced goods, it can display 840 items in the store. If Moore Company emphasizes designer wear, it can display only 560 designer items. These numbers are also the average monthly sales in units.
Prepare an analysis to show which product the company should emphasize.
Priscilla Smiley manages a fleet of 250 delivery trucks for Daniels Corporation. Smiley must decide whether the company should outsource the fleet management function. If she outsources to Fleet Management Services (FMS), FMS will be responsible for maintenance and scheduling activities. This alternative would require Smiley to lay off her five employees. However, her own job would be secure; she would be Daniels’s liaison with FMS. If she continues to manage the fleet, she will need fleet management software that costs \(9,500 per year to lease. FMS offers to manage this fleet for an annual fee of \)300,000. Smiley performed the following analysis:
Retain in-house Outsource to FMS Difference
Annual leasing fee for \(9,500 \)9,500
Software
Annual maintenance of
Trucks 147,000 147,000
Total annual salaries of
Five laid-off employees 185,000 185,000
Fleet management
Service’s annual fee \(300,000 (300,000)
Total differential cost of
Outsourcing \)341,500 \(300,000 \)41,500
Requirements
1. Which alternative will maximize Daniels’s short-term operating income?
2. What qualitative factors should Daniels consider before making a final decision?
What is cost-plus pricing? Who uses it?
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