Responsibility Accounting and Transfer Pricing Math Problem

Responsibility Accounting and Transfer Pricing - Math Problem Example Required: a. Calculate depreciation expense and book value of the metal press under both historical cost and price-level-adjusted historical cost. For the historical cost, the metal fabrication press would depreciate $43,500 per year ($522,000/12). In terms of the book value of the metal fabrication press under historical cost, the net book value would be $217,500 ($522,000-($43,500*7)). In comparison, the price-level-adjusted historical cost would give a new cost of $621,180 (Increase of 19% on the original cost. If this is so, the new book value would amount to $316,680 ($621,180-$304,500). Because this value would depreciate over the remaining five years of its life, the depreciation expense would be$63,336 ($316,680/5). b. In general, what is the effect on ROA of changing valuation bases from historical cost to current values? Because assets are generally higher, the return on assets would be lower because a fraction always becomes less when the denominator is increased. This wou ld result in the managers having more motivation to change the equipment because the return on the equipment would not be as great. c. The manager of the investment center with the metal press is considering replacing it because it is becoming obsolete. Will the manager's incentives to replace the metal press change if the firm shifts from historical cost valuation to the proposed price-level-adjusted historical cost valuation? It would not be advisable to do this because the company would need to alter the value of its asset each year. This change would result in giving the actual return at that point of time. However, it would mean that an extra cost would be incurred to fulfil with the accounting standards of the government. This would be too complicated to carry out so it is best to not replace the metal press. Problem 5-15 "U.S Pump Systems" US Pumps is a multidivisional firm that manufactures and installs chemical piping and pump systems. Its valve division makes a single stan dardized valve. The valve division and installation division currently are involved in a transfer-pricing dispute. Last year, half of the valve division's output was sold to the installation division for $40 and the remaining half was sold to outsiders for $60. The existing transfer price of $40 per pump has been set through a negotiation process between the two divisions and with the involvement of senior management. The installation division has received a bid from an outside value manufacturer to supply it with an equivalent valve for $35 each. The manager of the valve division manager has argued that if it is forced to meet the external price of $35 it will lose money on internal sales. The operating data for the last year for the valve division follow: Valve Division Operating Statement-Last year To Installation Division To Outside Sales 20,000 @ $40 $800,000 20,000 @ $60 $1,200,000 Variable cost 20,000 @ $30 (600,000) (600,000) Allocated fixed cost (135,000) (135,000) Gross ma rgin $ 65,000 $465,000 Analyze the situation and recommend a course of action. What should the installation division managers do? What should the valve division managers do? What should the US Pumps senior manager do? From this situation, we can see that the installation division managers are able to achieve the necessary valve division output at a lower price. Also, the valve divisio

The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson Essay Example for Free

The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson Essay I have read excerpts from two texts. An informational text titled ‘The Sea Around Us’ by Rachel Carson, and a literature text titled ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, by Jules Verne. In both excerpts there are many descriptions of the ocean. Many people debate whether details are described more vividly in informational text, or in literature. I feel the ocean was described more vividly in the excerpt from the literature text ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’. I believe the ocean is described more vividly in the excerpt from the story Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea because when I read it I feel like I’m there. The imagery is very strong and everything is described in such great detail. For example, when M. Aronnax was describing the coral kingdom in the ocean and said â€Å"I was tempted to gather their fresh petals, ornamented with delicate tentacles, some just blown, the others budding, while small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly like flights of birds.† He described perfectly what the petals of the corals in the ocean looked like. He stated that some were blown and others weren’t. He also did this when explaining the effect the light of the lamps had on the ocean. He said â€Å"The light from our lamps produced sometimes magical effects, following the rough outlines of the natural arches, and pendants disposed like lusters, that were tipped with points of fire.† He even went as far as to describe the outlines of the natural arches of the coral. The excerpt from the informational text The Sea Around Us focuses more on getting their information across to the readers rather than imagery. This is emphasized when the author was describing how ocean life grew more and more complex. He described how aggregations of specialized cells arose from simple one celled creatures. When describing this he stated â€Å"From simple, one celled creatures, others that were aggregations of specialized cells arose, and then creatures with organs for feeding, digesting, breathing, reproducing.† The author described more what the creatures organs were for, but gave no imagery. I felt this gave the readers more information, but not as much details left for our imagination. Overall I felt Jules Verne used a more vivid description when describing the ocean then Rachel Carson. When the author described all of the coral in the ocean he used amazing imagery. I feel the author describes many details people would overlook when viewing  coral. I also feel the author made very good comparisons when describing the ocean and the things in it. For example when M. Aronnax said â€Å"†¦while small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly like flights of birds.† I felt he described very well what the small fish swimming by them looked like. I felt his comparison of the small fish swimming to a flight of birds really helped to emphasize how the fish looked while swimming. He also did this when describing how much coral was in the ocean. He said â€Å"Coral is sold for twenty pounds per ounce and in this place the water beds would make the fortunes of a company of coral divers.† He used the face that coral is sold for twenty pounds for ounce to emphasize how much coral was in the sea. I also liked the comparison he made between the tips of the coral and the â€Å"points of fire†. I feel the author used very good comparisons to enable the readers to visualize and get a clearer picture of his descriptions of underneath the ocean. In the excerpt from the informational text The Sea Around Us I felt the author didn’t use very good comparisons when describing the ocean. When describing the mysterious borderline forms the author said they were â€Å"not quite plans, not quite animals† I felt the author did very poor in describing this. The description was way too general. Some may feel that Rachel Carson described the ocean more in her text The Sea Around Us. When describing the sponges growing on the bottom of the ocean. She said â€Å"Sponges grew on the rocky bottom of the sea’s edge and coral animals built their habitations in warm, clear waters.† She did describe the temperature of the water but it was a very broad description. She only described the ocean as being warm and clear. I feel she could have used more detail when describing it. She also could have described the bottom of the sea as more than just rocky. She could have described the outlines and arches of it as Jules Verne did when describing the coral. Jules Verne placed more work in using visual details to describe the ocean than Rachel Carson did. I understand some people may feel many different ways about the way each author described the ocean in their texts. However, the comparisons, visual details, and imagery Jules Verne used to describe the ocean on her text help give readers a clearer visualization of the ocean than Rachel Carson. Yes, Rachel Carson got information across to her readers, but she did not do such a great job when getting the image of the ocean across to the readers. It is  evident that Jules Verne did a better job a describing the ocean in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea than Rachel Carson in The Sea Around Us.

Describing Biblical Parallels In Hawthornes rappaccinis Daughter :: essays research papers

Describing Biblical Parallels in Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter" In Hawthorne's â€Å"Rappaccini's Daughter,† many biblical parallels can be found. The story duplicates the chapter of genesis in the bible in many ways. Ranging from the characters, to the setting, and even the deadly plant in the story. The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-3 is extremely similar to the situation of Giovanni and Beatrice in the story. In both â€Å"Rappaccini's Daughter† and the Genesis chapters in the bible, lush, beautiful gardens are the setting. Both gardens are exotic and pretty, but the garden of Eden is bright and tropical, while Dr. Rappaccini's garden is darker and mysterious. Both gardens are home to a type of â€Å"forbidden† plant, but the garden of Eden was created by a super-natural being, and Dr. Rappaccini's garden by Rappaccini himself. The forbidden plant in Genesis is a gorgeous, extremely tempting fruit plant. The fruit on this plant are described as extremely tempting. However, these fruits have been deemed prohibited by God. The plant in Rappaccini's garden is a large flowering bush. The flowers on this bush are unlike any others and extremely exquisite. The two plants share the trait of â€Å"forbidden,† but in different ways. The fruit on the tree in Genesis was forbidden simply because that was the way God made it. The plant in Rappaccini's garden was forbidden because it was poisonous. The only people immune to the poison of this plant were Beatrice and Dr. Rappaccini. In Hawthorne's story, a parallel between Giovanni and Adam is established. Both are young men, and each was tempted by a woman. Giovanni in Hawthorne's story was lured into the garden by Beatrice; however, Beatrice was attempting to make Giovanni immune to the poison of the plant, so they could be together forever. Beatrice and Eve also share similarities. They both are the ones that first fall to temptation and which ultimately leads to each of their demise. The serpent in â€Å"Rappaccini's Daughter† is clearly represented by Dr.

Presentation on DNA Vaccines Essay -- Powerpoint Presentation

Vaccines †¢ Vaccines are â€Å"one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine† †¢ In developed nations, vaccines have almost exterminated polio and smallpox and tightly controlled diseases like hepatitis A and B or typhus †¢ There are three generations of vaccinations †¢ First generation vaccines are either weakened or killed forms of whole organisms †¢ There is a problem with first-gen vaccines: the pathogens can still revert to dangerous forms and cause diseases in immunocompromised vaccine recipients. †¢ Second generation vaccines are specific protein antigens, which are safer, but cannot generate killer T cell responses DNA Vaccines †¢ Third generation of vaccines †¢ Consist of recombinant plasmids that have been transformed to produce one to two proteins form a pathogen †¢ This DNA is injected directly into somatic cells, where, through transcription and translation, the proteins are created. †¢ The proteins are recognized as foreign and processed by the cell and displayed on the cell surface by MHC markers †¢ Here, they raise helper T cell, cytotoxic T cell, and antibody immune responses. Current applications †¢ DNA vaccines have had limited success in clinical trials †¢ A veterinary DNA vaccines for use on horses to protect from West Nile virus has been approved †¢ In June 2006 and August 2007, positive results were announced for vaccines against bird flu and multiple sclerosis, respectively. †¢ The technique still needs to proven conclusively in human testing Use of Plasmid Vectors †¢ Highly active expression vectors elicit the best immune response †¢ Strong viral promoters, such as Rous Sarcoma virus (RSV) or cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoters are most commonly used †¢ The plasmids most commonly used als... ... Cited Continued †¢ Baker, Barbara, et. al. â€Å"The N gene of tobacco confers resistance to tobacco mosaic virus in transgenic tomato.†Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States93 (1996) 8776–8781. †¢ Feldstein, Paul. Personal interview. July 2008. Fig. 8 Images †¢ Fig. 1: http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bioterror/images/germ_dna.jpg †¢ Fig 2: http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/Images/summers/plasmids.jpg †¢ Fig 3:http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kabernd/seminar/2002/method/gtwmeth/genegungtw.gif †¢ Fig 6:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Making_of_a_DNA_vaccine.jpg †¢ Fig. 4: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Antibody.svg †¢ Fig. 5: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Antigen_presentation.jpg †¢ Fig. 7: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/em_tmv.gif †¢ Fig 8: http://www.technologyreview.com/files/8829/DNAVaccineBG.jpg

Consumer and supplier relationships in Internet Essay

The Internet is one of the great inventions of human kind. Go along with the development of science and technology, Internet changed the face of the world. Especially, in business, Internet plays a vital role because it connects all factors to create the success of business. Internet links customers and suppliers into the stable and mutual benefit’s relationship. Firstly, Internet changes the relationship between customers and suppliers from indirect to direct. It helps to eliminate the â€Å"middle – man† to connect directly the customers and suppliers. In the past, there was only way to buy a product that customers went to the store, where they have contract with the suppliers to provide goods for them. Therefore, customers and suppliers never met together in the real meaning. This process increased a lot of costs. However, when Internet developed, customers and suppliers have opportunities to meet together. To buy the stuff, customers can order directly from suppliers through Internet. By this way, not only does the cost decrease, but also the price is more reasonable. The benefit of Internet created the formation and development of E-commerce and net marketplace. According to page 373 in the textbook, â€Å"online consumer sales grew to an estimated $362 billion in 2012, an increase of more than 15 percent over 2010 (including travel services and digital downloads), with 150 million people purchasing online and an additional 34 million shopping and gathering information but not purchasing† (Laudon, K., & Laudon, J., 2014). Secondly, once Internet developed, the relationship between customers and suppliers is push to improve to the partner relationship. Customer became the partner of supplier. The position of both customers and suppliers are equal. Customers don’t depend on the supplier; in contrast, they are more powerful in choosing their suitable suppliers. Thirdly, it increases the satisfaction and quality of customer service. Nowadays, purchasing and exchanging became easier than ever. To attract customers, suppliers have to take care of their customer’s demand and tend to satisfy it because customers have a lot of choices among a thousand of sellers. Customers can take advantage of price, quality as well as model of product. Thus, to make this relationship become a long term collaboration, besides the diversification of products, suppliers must focus on their service to  keep their customers closer. Reference: Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2014). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (13 Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Free Essays on Life Of Picasso

Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga in 1881. Pablo was the son of a respected art teacher, and due to his father’s influence, young Pablo entered the Academy at Barcelona at age 14. This was where he painted his first great work, â€Å"Girl with Bare Feet†. After two years of schooling, Picasso transferred for advanced tutelage. This did not hold Picasso’s interest, so instead he spent much of his time in cafes and in brothels. Three years later, Picasso won a gold medal for his work, â€Å"Customs of Aragon†. This work was displayed on exhibit in Picasso’s hometown. In 1901, Picasso set up a studio in the northern section of Paris known as Montmartre. Picasso had mastered traditional forms of art by now. However, the works of such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Vuillard, which can be noticed, affected him in his works at the time. â€Å"Longchamp† and â€Å"The Blue Room† are good examples of this change in Picasso’s style. Soon after this, Picasso began to develop his own methods. Illness struck Picasso in 1898 and he temporarily retired from the city and rested in the country. Upon his return, Picasso was distressed with modern art and proceeded to use mother’s maiden name. He then underwent a distressing part of his life for the next 4 years (1901-1904) and demonstrated the life of the poor. The next two years following those last four were rather bright and vigorous. Perhaps this was because he realized how his life differed so much from the poor on the streets. This was also a point in Picasso’s life when sculpture and black art intrigued him. His work, â€Å"Two Nudes† reflects this attitude. Cubism soon followed after this. Picasso began experimenting with the many facets of Cubism. Cubism was developed in stages: analytic, synthetic, hermetic, and rococo. These techniques were not only useful in painting but in collages as well. Picasso met Eva Marcelle Humbert, and fell in love with her bu... Free Essays on Life Of Picasso Free Essays on Life Of Picasso Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga in 1881. Pablo was the son of a respected art teacher, and due to his father’s influence, young Pablo entered the Academy at Barcelona at age 14. This was where he painted his first great work, â€Å"Girl with Bare Feet†. After two years of schooling, Picasso transferred for advanced tutelage. This did not hold Picasso’s interest, so instead he spent much of his time in cafes and in brothels. Three years later, Picasso won a gold medal for his work, â€Å"Customs of Aragon†. This work was displayed on exhibit in Picasso’s hometown. In 1901, Picasso set up a studio in the northern section of Paris known as Montmartre. Picasso had mastered traditional forms of art by now. However, the works of such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Vuillard, which can be noticed, affected him in his works at the time. â€Å"Longchamp† and â€Å"The Blue Room† are good examples of this change in Picasso’s style. Soon after this, Picasso began to develop his own methods. Illness struck Picasso in 1898 and he temporarily retired from the city and rested in the country. Upon his return, Picasso was distressed with modern art and proceeded to use mother’s maiden name. He then underwent a distressing part of his life for the next 4 years (1901-1904) and demonstrated the life of the poor. The next two years following those last four were rather bright and vigorous. Perhaps this was because he realized how his life differed so much from the poor on the streets. This was also a point in Picasso’s life when sculpture and black art intrigued him. His work, â€Å"Two Nudes† reflects this attitude. Cubism soon followed after this. Picasso began experimenting with the many facets of Cubism. Cubism was developed in stages: analytic, synthetic, hermetic, and rococo. These techniques were not only useful in painting but in collages as well. Picasso met Eva Marcelle Humbert, and fell in love with her bu...

Race and Ethnicity in Sociology

Race and Ethnicity in Sociology The sociology of race and ethnicity is a large and vibrant subfield within sociology in which researchers and theorists focus on the ways that social, political, and economic relations interact with race and ethnicity in a given society, region, or community. Topics and methods in this subfield are wide-ranging, and the development of the field dates back to the early 20th century. Introduction to the Subfield The sociology of race and ethnicity began to take shape in the late 19th century. The American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, who was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. at Harvard, is credited with pioneering the subfield within the United States with his famous and still widely taught books The Souls of Black Folk  and Black Reconstruction. However, the subfield today differs greatly from its early stages. When early American sociologists focused on race and ethnicity, du Bois excepted, they tended to focus on the concepts of integration, acculturation, and assimilation, in keeping with the view of the U.S. as a melting pot into which difference should be absorbed. Concerns during the early 20th century were for teaching those who differed visually, culturally, or linguistically from the white  Anglo-Saxon norms how to think, speak, and act in accordance with them. This approach to studying race and ethnicity framed those who were not white Anglo-Saxon as problems that needed to be solved  and was directed primarily by sociologists who were white men from middle to upper-class families. As more people of color and women became social scientists throughout the twentieth century, they created and developed theoretical perspectives that differed from the normative approach in sociology, and crafted research from different standpoints that shifted the analytic focus from particular populations to social relations and the social system. Today, sociologists within the subfield of race and ethnicity focus on areas including racial and ethnic identities, social relations and interactions within and across racial and ethnic lines, racial and ethnic stratification and segregation, culture and worldview and how these relate to race, and power and inequality relative to majority and minority statuses in society. But, before we learn more about this subfield, its important to have a clear understanding of how sociologists define race and ethnicity. How Sociologists Define Race and Ethnicity Most readers have an understanding of what race is and means in U.S. society. Race refers to how we categorize people by skin color and phenotype- certain physical facial features that are shared to a certain degree by a given group. Common racial categories that most people would recognize in the U.S. include Black, white, Asian, Latino, and American Indian. But the tricky bit is that there is absolutely no biological determinant of race. Instead, sociologists recognize that our idea of race and racial categories are social constructs that are unstable and shifting, and that can be seen to have changed over time in relation to historical and political events. We also recognize race as defined in large part by context. Black means something different in the U.S. versus Brazil versus India, for example, and this difference in meaning manifests in real differences in social experience. Ethnicity is likely a bit more difficult to explain for most people. Unlike race, which is primarily seen and understood on the basis of skin color and phenotype, ethnicity does not necessarily provide visual cues. Instead, it is based on a shared common culture, including elements like language, religion, art, music, and literature,  and norms, customs, practices, and history.  An ethnic group does not exist simply because of the common national or cultural origins of the group, however. They develop because of their unique historical and social experiences, which become the basis for the group’s ethnic identity. For example, prior to immigration to the U.S., Italians did not think of themselves as a distinct group with common interests and experiences. However, the process of immigration and the experiences they faced as a group in their new homeland, including  discrimination, created a new ethnic identity. Within a racial group, there can be several ethnic groups. For example, a white American might identify as part of a variety of ethnic groups including German American, Polish American, and Irish American, among others. Other examples of ethnic groups within the U.S. include and are not limited to Creole, Caribbean Americans, Mexican Americans, and  Arab Americans. Key Concepts and Theories of Race and Ethnicity Early American sociologist W.E.B. du Bois offered one of the most important and lasting theoretical contributions to the sociology of race and ethnicity when he presented the concept of double-consciousness in  The Souls of Black Folk. This concept refers to the way in which people of color in predominantly white societies and spaces and ethnic minorities have the experience of seeing themselves through their own eyes, but also of seeing themselves as other through the eyes of the white majority. This results in a conflicting and often distressing experience of the process of identity formation.Racial formation theory, developed by sociologists Howard Winant and Michael Omi, frames race as an unstable, ever-evolving social construct that is tied to historical and political events. They assert that differing racial projects that seek to define race and racial categories are engaged in constant competition to give the dominant meaning to race. Their theory illuminates how race has be en and continues to be a politically contested social construct, upon which is granted access to rights, resources, and power. The theory of systemic racism, developed by sociologist Joe Feagin, is an important and widely used theory of race and racism that has gained particular traction since the rise of the BlackLivesMatter movement. Feagins theory, rooted in historical documentation, asserts that racism was built into the very foundation of U.S. society and that it now exists within every aspect of society. Connecting economic wealth and impoverishment, politics and disenfranchisement, racism within institutions like schools and media, to racist assumptions and ideas, Feagins theory is a roadmap for understanding the origins of racism in the U.S., how it operates today, and what anti-racist activists can do to combat it.Initially articulated by legal scholar Kimberlà © Williams Crenshaw, the concept of intersectionality would become a cornerstone of the theory of sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, and an important theoretical concept of all sociological approaches to race and ethnicity within the academy today. The concept refers to the necessity of considering the different social categories and forces that race interacts with as people experience the world, including but not limited to gender, economic class, sexuality, culture, ethnicity, and ability. Research Topics Sociologists of race and ethnicity study just about anything one could imagine, but some core topics within the subfield include the following. How race and ethnicity shape the process of identity formation for individuals and communities, like for example the complicated process of creating a racial identity as a mixed-race person.How racism manifests in everyday life and shapes ones life trajectory. For example, how racial biases affect student-teacher interaction from elementary school to university and graduate school, and how skin color affects perceived intelligence.The relationship between race and the police and the criminal justice system, including how race and racism affect policing tactics and arrest rates, sentencing, incarceration rates, and life after parole. In 2014, many sociologists came together to create The Ferguson Syllabus, which is a reading list and teaching tool for understanding the long history and contemporary aspects of these issues.The long history and contemporary problem of residential segregation, and how this affects  everything from family wealth, economic well-being, education, access t o healthy food, and health. Since the 1980s,  whiteness has been an important topic of study within the sociology of race and ethnicity. Up until that point, it was largely neglected academically  because it was simply seen as the norm against which difference was measured. Thanks largely to scholar Peggy McIntosh, who helped people understand the concept of white privilege, what it means to be white, who can be considered white, and how whiteness fits within the social structure is a vibrant topic of study. The sociology of race and ethnicity is a vibrant subfield that hosts a wealth and diversity of research and theory. The  American Sociological Association  even has a webpage devoted to it. Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.