Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing Essay

1- Yes, government should perform a cost analysis before privatization, especially if the government will remain as a participant in the bidding process. The cost analysis will provide the government with cost information for accurately pricing the bid. In case the government is not going to be a participant in the bidding process, the cost estimate will provide the government with an estimate on how much to pay for a service. For example, if the government wants to engage in a firm fixed price contract, a cost analysis will provide an accurate estimate of the cost and government can adjust the estimate for labor contractor rates and profit to price the contract. 2- For pothole filling activity direct labor and materials are relatively easy to trace directly, but it is more difficult to allocate indirect costs to the service. In order to apply ABC in Department of Transportation, reconciling with controller’s records, the team correctly identified in phases 1 and 2 all the basic activities. There were 35 activities, one of them being â€Å"pothole patching†. The labor hours and direct materials assigned for this activity were easy to be traced so the direct labor and materials were precisely determined in the â€Å"Pothole Filling Cost† table. A few comments about the overhead costs: The model allocated costs for fixed assets and unused equipment, which is one of the strengths. The model also adjusted the current year capital purchases and added back the depreciation (the consumed portion of the purchase price). We think that was an appropriate decision in order to have a true cost for this activity. The city already had an accounting system to trace the depreciation, and that was an advantage. It is debatable the decision not to include the headquarters expenses. In fact those costs may vary up or down depending on who does the pothole filling – municipal workers or private contractors. Decision was that these expense to â€Å"remain in the city† but they don’t necessarily have to. A true  cost for the service would be to allocate them in the overhead costs. It is a bit unclear if the overhead costs captured in the â€Å"Pothole Filling Cost† table are strictly associated with pothole filling activity. We know that the team identified the indirect and support costs associated with the 35 primary activities. It is difficult however to allocate those costs to pothole filling activity only. For example how much would be Facility Expense slice for this service? We should assume that a reliable allocation method was utilized, since the other 34 activities should also have overhead costs traced for other potential bids. Regarding overhead costs allocation by region, a brief calculation reveals that some sort of allocation was utilized for costs, however it is not clear on what basis. Four fixed costs out of seven do follow the same allocation pattern, however that allocation does not follow the â€Å"tons filled† ratio. We should also notice that the model analyzed the cost occurred during winter months, in order to prepare a bid for spring. If pothole filling is a season specific activity, the actual costs could be slightly different and the bid should be adjusted accordingly. Maybe a better idea was to apply the ABC model considering actual costs incurred during the previous spring. 3- Yes, letting the municipal employees see the ABC estimates and giving them the opportunity to reduce their costs was a good practice as it provided several benefits. Due to several past factors, the city’s departments had been operating on a less than optimal level and had high overhead costs. For example the supervisor to worker ratio was too high, and the department of transportation carried excessive capital assets (vehicles). Sharing the ABC estimates and giving the opportunity to reduce costs allowed them to improve efficiency. The municipality was able to pinpoint the problem issues and fix them, such as half the supervisors were dismissed. This would allow the city to be competitive with the private sector in the bidding process. ABC estimate sharing provided an additional benefit as a buy-in from the  employees and the union. As the employees and the ABC estimators worked together to generate the estimates, they realized the data was showing the problems that they did not anticipate such has the high supervisor ratio. They recognized that ABC will be very essential for them to lower their costs and become competitive. The employees needed to be competitive with the private sector to keep their jobs. 4- We will assume that the â€Å"Indirect Cost Pool† includes supervisor’s expenses (which should be reduced by 50%) and overhead costs. In this case the bids for Northwest and Northeast quadrants are calculated in Exhibit B. Comparing with the actual pothole filing costs per ton in January-March, we could clearly see a dramatic decrease of indirect costs and rolling stock costs. Overall the bid for both quadrants is by far more competitive than it would have been without the ABC analysis and cost reduction. 5- If the administration continues to outsource city services through competitive bidding and assuming the private sector is able to aggressively under bid the city, the administration will have to dismiss the idle workforce, selloff unused fixed assets and update the ABC estimates accordingly. As the number of outsourced contracts grows in count and size, the administration will also need to enhance its contracting and performance management capabilities.

Getting Knowledge from Reading Essay

Reading is the best way to learn different kinds of things. Such as reading recipe books for making delicious dishes, or learning different kinds of language, or cultures. We are starting learning our children at the age of 1 or less. We always start from alphabets. So that, they can makes their habit to read books. I think which is really good for them. But nowadays mostly people don’t like to read books; they think that it’s very difficult to understand. Teenagers go to the library for fun, but they never read the books moreover, they think books are boring to read. However, for some people books are their life; wherever they go whether in the bus or somewhere else they start reading books, no matter what other people is going to think. Like in this book for these two authors reading is their life. They really think that books are gifts for them are Ricky Moody, who wrote, â€Å"The joy and enthusiasm of reading†, and â€Å"Alberto Manguel, who wrote, â€Å"Reading ourselves and the world around us†. Reading is become a passion for both of them. Moody talks about believes in the books and on the other hand MAnguel talks about the outside world. It gives the opportunity to think about differently and come up their conclusion. For Moody, reading is his believe he also mentioned when he first started his article that he believe in choosing difficult kinds of books so that he can come up with his own ideas. Moody also mentioned in his article that reading was not an option, â€Å"Mr.  Buxton, who probably had better things to do, nonetheless agreed to meet one night to go over the text line by line. â€Å"The first thing he did was point out the repetition of motifs. † (3) Moody did not give up for that he picks up the other book that intrigued him. Moody main motive is to teach other people that reading your own and come up with your conclusion that can give you freedom to think something bigger. You don’t need anybody to help you can explain you line by line. People should pick difficult books so that they can learn something new and challenge themselves. Furthermore, for Manguel, reading also teaches us to learn from your surroundings. In his article, Manguel states that, â€Å"The astronomer reading a map of stars that no longer exist; the Japanese architect reading the land on which a house is to be built so as to guard it from evil foces; the zoologist reading the spoor of animals in the forest†(6). Manguel means that sometime you don’t need the specific books to gain knowledge. However, sometime you can read the other person face. He also said that only mother can understand her child language when her child is hungry. Reading can gives an individual so much; books give a lot of knowledge and become us smarter, because some time we are too busy with our other works that we forget that books help us to think broader. But in these articles, for both author reading is their life and passion for them. They can come up with their conclusion; they are taking interest, sharing their view, and showing their passion so that other people can learn from them.

Advertisement: Cosmopolitan Magazine

In this Cosmopolitan magazine ad for Tacori jewelry, there is a silver honey comb stick with rich, golden brown honey on the end of it. The honey looks like it is about to drip off of the stick, making the honey look very indulgent. On the handle of the honey stirrer are three engagement rings. The bottom one is a wedding band with diamonds around the whole band. The middle ring and the top ring are the same ring just with different views. The middle ring is the top view and the top ring is the side view.The ring has one big rounded square diamond in the middle and little diamonds around it and on the band four more diamonds on each side. From the ad, the marketing idea is that these rings are a treat, sort of like and indulgent to go along with the sweet honey. In this ad, the honey wand is silver, unlike normal ones that are usually wooden or plastic. Color is a very important detail when creating an ad, and in this ad, the colors chosen were the not bright or vibrant colors, they were simple yet elegant.The background is all white, which allows all of the attention to be drawn to the delectable golden honey on the wand and to the sparkling silver of the rings. The word TACORI is located at the top left hand corner of the ad. It is a thin, black font and does not take up a lot of room, it is just enough to let the reader know what the brand is. I think that the reason why there are not many colors and the name of the company is not a huge bold font is because the main focus is the rings themselves. The honey wand is rather large and the rings are zoomed in on so that the crystal clear diamonds shimmer on the magazine paper.The bright yellow, deep orange and brown from the honey add the only splash of color for this ad. I think the colors of the honey though are used to create a rich feeling to the ad, after all, these rings are the best and money the best is what money can buy. The angle of vision for this ad is very important because in order to sell a produ ct such as these diamond rings, the viewer needs to see all of the aspects of the rings. This ad did a very good job at showing the rings in different angles. The ring at the bottom of the honey wand is the wedding band.In the ad, the ring is positioned so that the diamonds that go around the entire ring can be seen but also the inside of the ring is shown because the word TACORI is stamped on the inside. This is a very good marketing strategy because the rings look more desirable knowing they are name brand. The middle ring is the engagement ring. It is positioned so that the reader is looking straight at the huge square setting of the ring. It shows the top, which is what a person sees if they are wearing the ring. This makes it easier for a person to imagine what it would be like to wear the ring.And the top ring shows the side of the ring, and the small but beautiful details of the smaller diamonds surrounding the sides of the ring. This gives a person the full view of the rings at every angle. There are no characters in this ad nor are there any catchy phrases or sayings. The ad is very clear and shows everything the business needs for a person to want what is being advertised. I don’t think that characters were used in the ad because it would take away from the ring. If a woman sees a gorgeous model wearing a ring, they are not going to put all of their focus on the ring; they are going to look at the surrounding objects.With this ad, there are no distracting people, just sweet honey to make the rings look like a tempting dessert. I think the impression that the ad gives is that these rings are a treat. We as Americans love to be treated well and have things that are valued in our society. A woman for instance loves to be lavished with clothes and shoes and fine jewelry. And this ad is the perfect example of how the honey represents a sweet â€Å"treat† and the rings should go along with it. The rings are a treat for a woman, and she should indulge herself in it. What kind of woman wouldn’t want these rings on her finger?

Characterizing Mrs. Bennet

As far as the Mrs. being a gossip, it is clear that Mr. Bennet has heard his fair share of it from her. When asked if he wants to know who is moving into Netherfield he replies that he knows that she wants to tell him, but that he does not particularly â€Å"want† to hear it. We also see that Mr. Bennet knows his wife is somewhat of a drama queen and he is constantly poking fun at her with his sarcasm, which she never seems to understand as such. Yet another example of Mr. Bennet’s experience with his wife’s personality is his seemingly un-caring behavior towards his daughters getting married. Mrs. Bennet is convinced that Mr. Bingley could be her new son-in-law, Mr. Bennet points out that Bingley is not necessarily there to find a wife. Through all these ways we can see a bit of Mrs. Bennet’s personality through the words of another character in the book. We can get even more information through words not necessarily spoken in the book, but spoken to us through the voice of the narrator. Even the simplest of comments can show a huge personality trait. The simplest way the narrator shows us that Mrs. Bennet loves to gossip and talk is when Mr. Bennet says he has no objection to hearing her story, the narrator points out that â€Å"That was invitation enough,† showing us that Mrs. Bennet is very eager to get her information out. Although we can gather much of Mrs. Bennet’s character through the entirety of the page, the narrator makes sure we have gathered what we need to about her by giving us a summary at the very end of the page. The narrator tells us that â€Å"She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news. † So, once again we gather that she loves â€Å"visiting and news,† or gossip, and that the business of her life is to get her daughters married. Mrs. Bennet is not hard to figure out with Jane Austen’s excellent characterization techniques. With her great narration techniques we have the author there to tell us much of what we need to know. Even better is that much of the time we don’t even need the narrators help, through the speech in the book; whether it be Mrs. Bennet herself, or somebody speaking to her or about her. Through either the character itself, the characters around it, or the author herself, Jane Austen manages to use all three â€Å"characters† excellently to show us the personality of Mrs. Bennet, as well as the rest of her characters. Characterizing Mrs. Bennet As far as the Mrs. being a gossip, it is clear that Mr. Bennet has heard his fair share of it from her. When asked if he wants to know who is moving into Netherfield he replies that he knows that she wants to tell him, but that he does not particularly â€Å"want† to hear it. We also see that Mr. Bennet knows his wife is somewhat of a drama queen and he is constantly poking fun at her with his sarcasm, which she never seems to understand as such. Yet another example of Mr. Bennet’s experience with his wife’s personality is his seemingly un-caring behavior towards his daughters getting married. Mrs. Bennet is convinced that Mr. Bingley could be her new son-in-law, Mr. Bennet points out that Bingley is not necessarily there to find a wife. Through all these ways we can see a bit of Mrs. Bennet’s personality through the words of another character in the book. We can get even more information through words not necessarily spoken in the book, but spoken to us through the voice of the narrator. Even the simplest of comments can show a huge personality trait. The simplest way the narrator shows us that Mrs. Bennet loves to gossip and talk is when Mr. Bennet says he has no objection to hearing her story, the narrator points out that â€Å"That was invitation enough,† showing us that Mrs. Bennet is very eager to get her information out. Although we can gather much of Mrs. Bennet’s character through the entirety of the page, the narrator makes sure we have gathered what we need to about her by giving us a summary at the very end of the page. The narrator tells us that â€Å"She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news. † So, once again we gather that she loves â€Å"visiting and news,† or gossip, and that the business of her life is to get her daughters married. Mrs. Bennet is not hard to figure out with Jane Austen’s excellent characterization techniques. With her great narration techniques we have the author there to tell us much of what we need to know. Even better is that much of the time we don’t even need the narrators help, through the speech in the book; whether it be Mrs. Bennet herself, or somebody speaking to her or about her. Through either the character itself, the characters around it, or the author herself, Jane Austen manages to use all three â€Å"characters† excellently to show us the personality of Mrs. Bennet, as well as the rest of her characters.

Marketing Communication Strategies of UK Supermarkets Case Study

Marketing Communication Strategies of UK Supermarkets - Case Study Example Essentially, the value of the customer must be prudently considered. Convenience substitutes place and cost (which includes time and energy) replaces price. Thus, communication replaces promotion (Ashcroft 2002, p.178). Knowing its external audience is a huge necessity for any organisation and to achieve this task, a firm must embark on an effective market research. So as to attain excellent communication, it is imperative to be conscious on which communications media the audience will respond to -- whether they read newspapers, magazines, leaflets, listen to the radio or watch television (what type or what programmes they specifically watch). In the case of supermarkets, for instance, they obtain information about their customers via loyalty card ideas, magazines and their websites. From the information gained, they target particular groups of shoppers. The process employed in the current study includes Primary Research and Secondary research. Primary research entailed the use of questionnaire survey and personal interviews. Meanwhile, with Secondary research, it included the Mintel database as well as newspapers, books, company information and internet search. Many of the information gathered are backed up by visuals like illustrations, charts and graphical representations. Likewise, in order to complete the brief report, the study also included watching television and taking notes from these commercials, getting inside the supermarkets themselves, watch how people react to the advertisements fed to them, talking with marketing agents and supermarket sales staff. Similarly, product reviews have also been read, consumer comments and blogs have been randomly considered so as to get insights and an overview of the whole chain and the entire supermarket-retailing system. Market Overview Today, supermarkets control food sales in developed countries and are swiftly escalating their international presence. At the same time, global mergers and acquisitions and cutthroat pricing schemes have focused market power in the hands of a few major retailers (see Appendix 1 for company growth) (Raworth 2004, p. 6). The late 1990s witnessed a spell of merger and acquisition activities as the supermarket segment speedily merged and strengthened to counter the 'Wal-Mart' intimidation. Currently, the UK food retailing industry is governed and strongly dictated by four key supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons) who together account for over two-thirds of retail food sales (Fearney, Duffy and Hornibrook 2004, p. 2) and such consolidation of retailers has reinforced their control over suppliers. Today, the UK supermarket segment is still ruled by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons; these are the only chains that operate full-scale superstores of 40,000 square feet (3,700m) and sometimes go beyond. These so-called "Big 4" had a combined share of 75.3% of UK's grocery market realm (TNS Report, 2008). As it is, sector analysts foresee that it is not improbable

Remembering about Fort Lauderdale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Remembering about Fort Lauderdale - Essay Example Soon we are at the Fort Lauderdale airport. We check in at a hotel and because is the only noon our restless spirits cannot come to peace with the quietness of the surroundings with go out in the town and start shopping. I am not good at bargaining and the concept of savings has never touched me. I am single and have no responsibility, why save? I am shopping with my friend, buying expensive jewelries, shoes, clothes, souvenirs, for myself. After weariness of shopping we are having an amazing dinner at some Latino restaurant, listening to the music of live guitar player is giving me Goosebumps. It is like this that we spend the first night.My other friends are arriving today and we are picking them from the airport. On the way to the hotel they dare me to race a car in which a couple of boys are rashly driving. We are so thrill-seeking and adventurous. I am about to over take them when the truck coming from the opposite lane suddenly comes into the view and I am forced to swerve at t he last moment. The swerve caused the car to drive over something on the road bursting the tire. Stopping on the side we called for assistance with the rental company sending us a new car. Recovering from the shock we all start laughing! Imagine how careless and irresponsible we are.On the third night we are at Miami, we are having the time of our lives here. We are celebrating Smeja's thirtieth birthday, in the famous Mango bar. We have spent more bucks at the shopping, and ultimately are running out of money by the end of the trip.... We are celebrating Sneja's thirtieth birthday, in the famous Mango bar. We have spent more bucks at the shopping, and ultimately are running out of money by the end of the trip. The beach parties are fabulous and the city on the whole is amazing. I was on a summer break from my work and study at that time. I wanted to become a famous fashion designer like Donna Karen. I was very ambitious. But today when I am thirty four, and I look myself in the mirror wearing a long skirt, with a belt and a soft elegant black shirt with a sports coat on holding my sixteen month old son ready to go in children's museum; I see a very different me from what I aspired to be back then. I run a household and a family, in my free time I am doing small crafts with knitting and sewing which I try to sale on a craft shows. Each one of my projects carries a message of blessing for the person who buys it. I am settled, more serious and more determined to do some good into this world by making small differences. My family and designs are my life now. I get spiritual satisfaction by doing it in this stage of my life, running after the worldly materialism is not everything. I am performing my duties as a mother to the best of my abilities, and looking after my home and husband as a wife should. I hope I am successful with the project at hand. Sources: About Fort Lauderdale. City of Fort Lauderdale. Retrieved on 2007-10-28. Website:

Effect of Exercise on Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate Essay

Effect of Exercise on Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate - Essay Example To find out more about the effects of exercise on pulse rate and blood pressure, an experiment was conducted. It was done by using two participants. Despite having the same age and gender, Person 1 is a 24-year old male who is 57 tall and 140 pounds. On the other hand, Person 2 is a 24-year old male who is 510 tall and 195 pounds. To effectively study them, they were engaged in a mild exercise (10-minute walk) and vigorous exercise (10-minute jumping). By using appropriate materials, the pulse rate and blood pressure were measured before, during and after the experiment. The differences in the results were used to determine the effects of exercise on pulse rate and blood pressure. While conducting this experiment, many materials were used. These included a stopwatch and digital pulse cuff and blood pressure which were of course used for recording the results to determine the changes in the blood pressure and pulse rate realized so far. The stopwatch was used for measuring time. From the analysis of the results, it was established that the exercise had resulted into an increase in blood pressure as well as pulse rate. The more vigorous the exercise was, the more the change in pulse rate. Because of these changes, it took some time for everything to turn back to normal after the end of the experiment. From these findings, it is clear that physical exercise has a direct on the pulse rate of a human being. It is for this reason that the aforementioned changes were experienced when the experiment was carried out. However, as found out from the recordings, the degree of change in pulse rate directly depends on the intensity of the exercise that is conducted (Wohlfahrt and Farazdaghi 168). For instance, when the participants engaged in walking exercises, there was a slight change in their pulse rates. However, this was not the same when the participants got involved in more vigorous exercises such as jumping on a rope.