You are a supply chain manager at a UK firm. In 2010, a volcano broke out in Iceland, disrupting air travel across Europe. On the one hand, you are considering switching to local suppliers in the UK. On the other hand, you feel bad about abandoning your Asian suppliers, with whom you have built a pleasant personal and business relationship, and who – in the long run – may be able to deliver products much cheaper. Yet, your tightly coordinated production cannot afford to miss one supply shipment. How do you proceed?

Currently, the world economy is facing an unprecedented challenge due to corona-virus pandemic. In Bangladesh, most of the businesses have been severely affected by corona-virus pandemic and possibly the effects of this virus will last throughout this year. Last year, you started a cement manufacturing business and currently evaluating your capital investment decision for another unit. What will be the effect of corona-virus in your existing business? Will be it a good strategy to invest another unit this year? Provide a detailed explanation

Myers Inc. manufactures biodegradable bottles. Since this is a patented method of producing environmentally-friendly plastic, they cannot use an overseas contractor. They will make the products in the United States. What criteria would you use to assess their business model? O The production expertise scale will tell if the company is ready to partake in such a venture. O The fixed costs need to be compared to other similar companies in the U.S. The standardization of the product is making it more expensive to produce, as the copyrights are implemented. O Since the product will be outsourced, the manager needs to assess the simplicity of the supply chain. Even though the manufacturing costs are high, the transportation costs will be low. O The minimum efficient scale will tell the minimum volume they need to produce to reach economies of scale. The quality of the in-house product needs to be constantly inspected, as they will not use outside sourcing.

Delta Telephone ltd. ,a subsidiary of a multinational  company is a supplier of telephone services to a medium sized community in Ghana. John Dela , the chief executive of the company has just attended a trade exhibition entitled ‘Automated Emigrate’ in Japan. As a result of what he learned  from  the exhibition  and information he has picked from  his peers in other companies , Mr Dela  is concerned about  Delta’s ability  to maintain its competitiveness position in the telecommunication market in Ghana. Owing to deregulation in the telecommunication industry and the aggressive action of new competitors in the local area, a significant number of Delta’s customers have switched to other suppliers of telephone and related telecommunication services. Mr Dela feels that if Delta were to invest fully in new state- of –the- art  fiber-optics  technology as well as upgrade in the   latest computer equipment , the loss of market share may be arrested  and operating efficiency may be improved…

Tangent Controls Ltd. is a manufacturer of crash-protected event recorders that are used in railway systems around the world to record event data. These data can be retrieved and analyzed to monitor and improve operations, but also to provide diagnostic data in the event of rail crashes. The small Ottawa-based company has customers across the world, but its largest market is North America. The company has been hurt by the U.S. economy, seeing a 12% decline in sales over the prior year. The company is hoping that the latest industry developments, which call for a significant increase in the shipment of oil by railcar, will mean an increase in sales. In the meantime, the company has been seeking new investors and has approached a leading Canadian venture capital firm to see if it might be interested in investing. As part of its approach, Tangent has provided the following financial information for the most recent fiscal year. TANGENT CONTROLS LTD. Statement of Financial Position As at…

With the growth in demand for exotic foods, Possum Inc.’s CEO Michael Munger is considering expanding the geographic footprint of its line of dried and smoked low-fat opossum, ostrich, and venison jerky snack packs. Historically, jerky products have performed well in the southern United States, but there are indications of a growing demand for these unusual delicacies in Europe. Munger recognizes that the expansion carries some risk. Europeans may not be as accepting of opossum jerky as initial research suggests, so the expansion will proceed in steps. The first step will be to set up sales subsidiaries in France and Sweden (the two countries with the highest indicated demand), and the second is to set up a production plant in France with the ultimate goal of product distribution throughout Europe. Possum Inc.’s CFO, Kevin Uram, although enthusiastic about the plan, is nonetheless concerned about how an international expansion and the additional risk that entails will affect the firm’s…

Walker Accounting Software is marketed to small accounting firms throughout the U.S. and Canada. Owner George Walker has decided to outsource the company's help desk and is considering three providers: Manila Call Center (Philippines), Delhi Services (India), and Moscow Bell (Russia). The following table summarizes the data Walker has assembled. Which outsourcing firm has the best rating? (Higher weights imply higher importance and higher ratings imply more desirable providers.) In the following table, compute the weighted average score for each of the three providers (enter your responses rounded to one decimal place). Weight Manila Delhi Moscow Criterion Flexibility (W) (A) (B) 0.50 Trustworthiness 0.10 Price 0.20 Delivery 0.20 5689 3 7 6 7 7 J1208 (C) 9 9 Total weighted score:

Apple is considering eliminating one of its stores in a large U.S. city. What are some factors that it should consider in making this decision?

Paterson Company, a U.S.-based company, manufactures and sells electronic components worldwide. Virtually all its manufacturing takes place in the United States. The company has marketing divisions throughout Europe, including France. Debbie Kishimoto, manager of this division, was hired from a competitor 3 years ago. Debbie, recently informed of a price increase in one of the major product lines, requested a meeting with Jeff Phillips, marketing vice president. Their conversation follows. Debbie: Jeff, I simply dont understand why the price of our main product has increased from 5.00 to 5.50 per unit. We negotiated an agreement earlier in the year with our manufacturing division in Philadelphia for a price of 5.00 for the entire year. I called the manager of that division. He said that the original price was still acceptablethat the increase was a directive from headquarters. Thats why I wanted to meet with you. I need some explanations. When I was hired, I was told that pricing decisions were made by the divisions. This directive interferes with this decentralized philosophy and will lower my divisions profits. Given current market conditions, there is no way we can pass on the cost increase. Profits for my division will drop at least 600,000 if this price is maintained. I think a midyear increase of this magnitude is unfair to my division. Jeff: Under normal operating conditions, headquarters would not interfere with divisional decisions. But as a company, we are having some problems. What you just told me is exactly why the price of your product has been increased. We want the profits of all our European marketing divisions to drop. Debbie: What do you mean that you want the profits to drop? That doesnt make any sense. Arent we in business to make money? Jeff: Debbie, what you lack is corporate perspective. We are in business to make money, and thats why we want European profits to decrease. Our U.S. divisions are not doing well this year. Projections show significant losses. At the same time, projections for European operations show good profitability. By increasing the cost of key products transferred to Europeto your division, for examplewe increase revenues and profits in the United States. By decreasing your profits, we avoid paying taxes in France. With losses on other U.S. operations to offset the corresponding increase in domestic profits, we avoid paying taxes in the United States as well. The net effect is a much-needed increase in our cash flow. Besides, you know how hard it is in some of these European countries to transfer out capital. This is a clean way of doing it. Debbie: Im not so sure that its clean. I cant imagine the tax laws permitting this type of scheme. There is another problem, too. You know that the companys bonus plans are tied to a divisions profits. This plan could cost all of the European managers a lot of money. Jeff: Debbie, you have no reason to worry about the effect on your bonusor on our evaluation of your performance. Corporate management has already taken steps to ensure no loss of compensation. The plan is to compute what income would have been if the old price had prevailed and base bonuses on that figure. Ill meet with the other divisional managers and explain the situation to them as well. Debbie: The bonus adjustment seems fair, although I wonder if the reasons for the drop in profits will be remembered in a couple of years when Im being considered for promotion. Anyway, I still have some strong ethical concerns about this. How does this scheme relate to the tax laws? Jeff: We will be in technical compliance with the tax laws. In the United States, Section 482 of the Internal Revenue Code governs this type of transaction. The key to this law, as well as most European laws, is evidence of an arms-length price. Since youre a distributor, we can use the resale price method to determine such a price. Essentially, the arms-length price for the transferred good is backed into by starting with the price at which you sell the product and then adjusting that price for the markup and other legitimate differences, such as tariffs and transportation. Debbie: If I were a French tax auditor, I would wonder why the markup dropped from last year to this year. Are we being good citizens and meeting the fiscal responsibilities imposed on us by each country in which we operate? Jeff: Well, a French tax auditor might wonder about the drop in markup. But, the markup is still within reason, and we can make a good argument for increased costs. In fact, weve already instructed the managers of our manufacturing divisions to legitimately reassign as many costs as they can to the European product lines. So far, they have been very successful. I think our records will support the increase that you are receiving. You really do not need to be concerned with the tax authorities. Our tax department assures me that this has been carefully researchedits unlikely that a tax audit will create any difficulties. Itll all be legal and above board. Weve done this several times in the past with total success. Required: 1. Do you think that the tax-minimization scheme described to Debbie Kishimoto is in harmony with the ethical behavior that should be displayed by top corporate executives? Why or why not? What would you do if you were Debbie? 2. Apparently, the tax department of Paterson Company has been strongly involved in developing the tax-minimization scheme. Assume that the accountants responsible for the decision are CMAs and members of the IMA, subject to the IMA standards of ethical conduct. Review the IMA standards for ethical conduct in Chapter 1. Are any of these standards being violated by the accountants in Patersons tax department? If so, identify them. What should these tax accountants do if requested to develop a questionable taxminimization scheme?

When President Carlos Menem of Argentina took office in 1989, he and his economy minister Domingo Covallo decided that competition from foreign producers would stimulate Argentine businesses to provide better products at competitive prices.  To the delight of Argentine shoppers, the import tariffs were lowered and goods began pouring in from all over the world: calculators and copy machines, scissors and automobiles, bicycles, toothpicks – and peaches.   When Menem’s new policies took effect, California peach growers responded eagerly to the opening of the new market.  Individual growers banded into the California Peach Growers Association to ship their fruit to Edcadassa, the Argentine firm that oversees all imported goods while they await customs clearance at Ezeiza international airport.   As supervisor of the Argentine project for the growers association, you were extremely pleased with success of the first few shipments; everything had gone smoothly.  Then word came back from…