Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Report on How Customer Service Affects Business Profits
Introduction. I have been asked to produce a short report that can be used to demonstrate to the board of directors that improving customer service is an excellent way of improving takings. My report has to include the following: . The role of a supervisor in delivering customer service, . The impact of excellent customer service on how your team works and the positive benefits to the hotel, team and customers on delivering customer service, . How delivering excellent service can support up-selling and add on-selling, . How we are to monitor service delivery. Research Customer service. What does it mean? . Customer service according to the dictionary means: ââ¬Å"Assistance and other resources that aâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Notes from Customer Experience Management, Bernd Schmitt In most companies, employees do not care about their jobs. A Gallup survey found that only 25% of employees are ââ¬Å"actively engagedâ⬠. 75% are just muddling through. University of Michiganââ¬â¢s David Ulrich observes that ââ¬Å"job depressionâ⬠is on the rise. . Disengaged and depressed employees are not likely to deliver a great experience to customers. . To turn that around, you must engage the heart and soul of every employee. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi at the University of Chicago found that employees want to experience work as ââ¬Å"flowâ⬠ââ¬â when they become so involved in what theyââ¬â¢re doing that they lose track of time. Flow is about optimal experiences and enjoyment in life and the ultimate goal is ââ¬Å"turning all life into a unified flow experienceâ⬠. When that happens, work does not feel like work, and the separation of work and leisure becomes meaningless. Work and leisure become one. . In particular, modern neurological research shows that people don t think and draw conclusions in linear, hierarchical ways or in exclusively conscious ways. Instead, they glean cues and bits of information from all the senses, above and below awareness, to form a composite experiential impression that becomes a basis for preference, loyalty, and advocacy (Excerpt from What Makes Customers Tick? Lewis P. Carbone, in Marketing Management) Conclusion: After reading through the above mentioned research articles I haveShow MoreRelatedSports Direct : The Uk s Largest Sporting Goods Retailer Essay1173 Words à |à 5 Pagesfounded in 1982. The core business of this company is to provide a wide range of sports, fitness and fashion products to the public. Recently, Sports Direct has been hit by several negative news over its poor treatment of their workers and faced the challenge for the management reshuffle in the company. This report will show the problem on sales management, profit warnings and the employment contract for a sample of Sports Direct. 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Identify and review a range of external sources of information (such as relevant books and articles, information on the internet, benchmarking studies) in order to conduct a qualitative analysis of comparative market data for your business. Write up the results of your qualitative analysis. External sources of information Results of reviewing these sources Book name 1:Astrid N. (2004) Coffee, tea, Chocolate and the Brain, published by Taylor Francis Ltd, London, UK Coffee, tea, and chocolateRead MoreCase Study : Mumias Sugar Company Essay1454 Words à |à 6 PagesThe customer is the main determiner of the financial profits and the growth of the business. The more customers a business has, the more the business grows and the more it expands. Customer base affects the financial statements in terms of the income they provide to the firm. Whatever a customer thinks influences his decision to buy from the firm and this can lead to more sales, hence the profit margin of the organization increases. A business with no customers usually generate less profits sinceRead MoreCreating a Business- Original Writing Essay1295 Words à |à 6 PagesCreating a Business- Original Writing For my GCSE business studies coursework I am going to create a business. The name of my business will be ââ¬Å"paradise palaceâ⬠as I am creating a beauty and tanning salon. There are two types of business organisations that I could create they are sole trader and partnership. The first type of business organisation tat I could choose is sole trader. This is a person who trades by himself/herself without the use of a company structureRead MoreBusiness Model Analysis On The Management Of The Enterprise And Operational Design1143 Words à |à 5 Pageswhether marketing, financial or expansion the company must understand their business activities. Efficiency in managing business activities ensures smooth operation for maximum profit (Brinkman, 2). The business model strategy enhances the management of the enterprise and operational design to conform to profit-making goals by implementing the segmentation of business activities. The research report will employ the business model canvas to study and perform data analysis on the quickly growing taxi
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Tourism and San Jose free essay sample
The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals. The Philippine tourism started on the year 1970 and began to grow. As of January-September 2009 the government recorded 5. million tourists visiting the country. The Hospitality industry plays a big role in the tourism of the Philippines through resorts, hotel, restaurants and even cruise ships. Montalban is one of the municipalities under Rizal Province. This area is declared one of the tourist spots in the Philippines because of its growing tourism. Behind the rising tourism in Montalban, the researcherââ¬â¢s objective is to know what are the hindrances encountered that can affect the tourism in Montalban. The researcherââ¬â¢s also aim to touch the minds and hearts of the local people especially the government officials to preserve, conserve and develop the area for the next generation. The researchers believed that knowing and understanding this gathered information on the current status and problems will help the local people and the government officials to be aware and be conscious of their environment. Tourism is one of the worlds fastest growing industries as well as the major source of foreign exchange earning and employment for many developing countries.Tourism is vital to the well being of many countries, because of the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism industry and the opportunity for employment and economic advancement by working in the industry. Background of the Study Tourism is a complex social, cultural and economic phenomenon and one of the most significant global phenomena, not to say the worlds largest industry as many claim. Tourism is an eye opener to generate income among people. The government tends to increase the tourism but because of tourist activities the tourist areas can be destroyed. At present Montalban is known for its beauty and cultural life. Local people have own ways of living and they depend on the area the province of Rizal spans for 130,383 hectares. Montalban makes up 26. 8% on the entire province of Rizal, housing 11 barangays.The land mass of Montalban is big enough to be an ideal place for many purposes, such as agriculture, commerce such as the Avilon Zoo, and hiking and climbing spots of Wawa Gorge, relocation of communities (having a strategic position east of Rizal, and a lot of areas where low cost housing projects can be put up), subdivision areas for either low-,mid-,high-cost housing, and also for special uses (such as the landfill). Purpose of the Study The research is conducted for people to know the negative impacts of tourism in San Jose, Montalban.This is important because the negative impacts of tourism could affect the environment, economic and cultural status of the people. This research could bring information on how to improve the area for a better business establishment and for job opportunities. Statement of the Problem What are the possible problems of tourism in San Jose, Montalban? What are the solutions to the possible problems of tourism in San Jose, Montalban? Significance of the StudyThis study â⬠Current Status and Problems of Tourism in San Jose, Montalban as perceived by the Local Government Officials is needed and will give a big help in opening the eyes of the people to be aware of the negative impacts brought by tourism. Local Barangay ââ¬â this study may help them to implement rules and regulation and suggest on the things to improve within the area. Local people ââ¬â this s tudy may help them realize and contribute on the things that are needed to be done in the area to maintain its beautyResearchers ââ¬â this may serve as an eye opener for the researchers to be conscious enough and be aware of the impacts of tourism which can be beneficial or harmful. This will also give ideas and knowledge through the experience that happen during the research. Assumptions According to the observation, the researchers analyze that the major problem of San Jose, Montalban regarding tourism is that the tourism areas are not well develop.The researchers perceived that the Local government should raise funds to improve and develop the area for future businesses. Scope and Delimitation The study focuses on the current studies, issues and problems of tourism industry faced by Montalban as perceived by the local government official in San Jose, Montalban. It was only conducted in San Jose, Montalban. To support the study, the researchers distributed questionnaire to the government officials.The respondents were asked to rate the present status of San Jose, Montalban in terms of transportation, tourist attractions, facilities, infrastructures, accommodations. They were also asked about the possible problems that were encountered by local government and also the solutions on the negative impacts of tourism in San Jose, Montalban. The study only covers the age, gender, civil status, position, educational attainment and length of service. Conceptual Framework Focus of the study is the status and problems of the tourism industry of San Jose, Montalban.The first frame which is the input includes the profile of the respondents such as name, age, gender, residence, status, position, years of service and educational attainment, also the status assessment of the tourism industry of San Jose, Montalban, in terms of transportation, facilities, accommodation, facilities and attraction. The second frame shows the process which includes the administration of the questionnaire checklist to the respondents and the analysis and interpretation of data.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Critical Summary of Why Group Representation in Parliament Is Important by Tim Schouls Essay Example
Critical Summary of Why Group Representation in Parliament Is Important by Tim Schouls Essay by: Shakir Jahangir Tim Schouls in his essay, ââ¬Å"Why Group Representation in Parliament Is Important,â⬠argues that the parliamentary representation in Canada is unfair because it doesnââ¬â¢t represent Canadaââ¬â¢s social diversity as a whole. He believes that democracy in Canada can be considerably deepened and enhanced when the composition of the House of Commons substantially reflects the social diversity of Canada (for example, Aboriginals, ethnic minorities, visible minorities, gays etc. ) instead of geographical diversity (constituencies). He asserts thereââ¬â¢s a big change taking place in Canadian politics; attachment to geography, language, and religion are becoming less important to Canadians while attachments to ethnicity and gender are becoming more significant. Therefore, itââ¬â¢s legitimate to call for a system that reflects this change. The main objective of democracy in a country is to form a parliament that represents its people. But Mr. Schouls complains that in the parliament Canadians are overwhelmingly represented by privileged white males from professional and business background, which undermines the interests of rest of the population that donââ¬Ët fit the category. In response to Mr. Redekopââ¬â¢s argument, which states that MPs get elected simply because they are better than their opponents in capturing the vote, Mr. Schouls argues that winning more votes doesnââ¬â¢t necessarily mean better services from the MPs. We elected members of parliament so they can serve us well. Marginalized people in the society will be better represented by those who are like them because their identities carry with them distinctive experiences that are different from white male MPs. Marginalized people can achieve this goal though special guaranteed seats in the parliament. Mr. Schouls then counters Mr. Redekop`s argument, which claims that by paying more attention to gender and ethnicity-based claims to inclusion will farther fuel division amongst Canadians, by saying that unlike the Quebec separatists, which is based on a geographic identity, marginalised people are not asking for separation from Canadian democracy, but rather to be more fully included within them. John H. Redekop, in his essay, ââ¬Å"Group Representation in Parliament Would Be Dysfunctional for Canada,â⬠argues that identity-based group representation in Parliament, with guaranteed seats, is neither desirable not workable in Canada. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Summary of Why Group Representation in Parliament Is Important by Tim Schouls specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Summary of Why Group Representation in Parliament Is Important by Tim Schouls specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Summary of Why Group Representation in Parliament Is Important by Tim Schouls specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer One of the problems involving this system is that itââ¬â¢s often hard to categorize individuals into different groups. For example, what proportion of Aboriginal blood or French blood is required to be categorized as an Aboriginal or a French-Canadian; who decides whoââ¬â¢s who; what about those who identify themselves with multiple identity? Identity-based representation can created tension within a particular group due to lack of representation from sub-groups (e. g. , Indian Muslims vs. Indian Hindus vs. Indian Sikhs). Moreover, it is impossible to accommodate representative from every ethnic background in the House of Commons. Mr. Redekop argues that voters can be represented well without having to elect someone who shares same ethnicity or gender by electing someone whoââ¬â¢s competence. He also says that MPs representing ethnic diversity will have little influence in the Parliament due to their small size, which would consistently create minority government, which in turn will result in political and economical instability. Our current single-member district electoral system creates stability and accountability in the government by producing majority governments. Then he argues that simply the ability to represent is not the primary qualification to become an MP, which explains why most female voters vote for candidate or party believed to be the best option or most favourable to them. In a identity-based representation those who are elected to guaranteed seats, Mr. Redekop believes, would be deemed to be second-class MPs because they are elected with special governmental facilitation. As a result, they be less effective in the Parliament. Though, he does recognize that the current system is highly unrepresentative. Having rejected Mr. Schouls idea of identity-based group representation Mr. Redekop suggests that the problem of under-representation can be solved by having half of the House of Commons seats filled by our present form of election, which would enable all Canadians to retain the benefits of having their own MP, and having the other half being filled by a proportional representation system, which would promote unity and goodwill, for example, by allowing a nationally victorious party to have at least some representation from a province where it got a large number of votes but did not come first in any riding. In agreement with Mr. Redekop, I support the dual electoral system because I recognize that the current system is highly unrepresentative but having an identity-based electoral system will be chaotic. People are more concerned with issues like economy and healthcare than who they are being represented. The question is what they are representing? Canadaââ¬â¢s ethnic groups (except French-Canadians) and women are dispersed throughout the country; therefore, it will be difficult for a MP to represent the values and needs of members living in different geographic locations because itââ¬â¢s very likely that their values and needs will be different from each other. By having a dual electoral system, a combination of single-member district and identity-based representation, we can experiment with the system and see if we can find a solution to the problem of under representation. Having said that, I also think that Mr. Schouls also has a point. Of course, it will be hard to make sure that all the identity-based groups are represented in the Parliament but we should try the best we can and minimize lack of representation. Mr. Redekop argues that MPs representing ethnic diversity will have little influence in the Parliament due to their small size then he also argues that these groups will become special interest groups in parliament, which are conflicting ideas. Why would anybody or corporation try to influence a group that has no influence in the parliament? Moreover, it likely that special interests would try to influence big parties because theyââ¬â¢re more influential. Mr. Redekop blames women for not having more members in the Parliament, though indirectly, by saying that ââ¬Å"most female voters, just like most male voters, tend to vote for the candidate or party that they believe to be the best of the options,â⬠which implies that women are not typically the best options; otherwise, we would have had many more women in the Parliament. Yes, most women do vote sensibly and usually they cast their vote for the male candidates, not because theyââ¬â¢re the best choice but because they donââ¬â¢t have a choice. Not many women run for seats in the Parliament because it takes a lot of money to run a campaign and women tend to be less stable financially due to discrimination in our society. Therefore, itââ¬â¢s important that about 51% (the approximate percentage of the number of women in Canada) of the parliamentary seats are kept reserved for them. Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 252 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 52 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 254 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 253 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 257 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), ( Nelson 2006). 63 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 261 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 265 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 266 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 72 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 267 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 268, 274 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 269, 271 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 71 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 265 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 268 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 273 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues (Fifth Edition), (Nelson 2006). 269
Monday, March 9, 2020
The Early Bird Gets the Worm... and Early Risers Get Better Grades
The Early Bird Gets the Worm... and Early Risers Get Better Grades A New York Times article on September 9, 2011, To Earn an ââ¬ËA,ââ¬â¢ Set the Alarm Clock Early, reported that early morning classes, at least at one college in New York, correlate to higher grades. The professors who conducted the study found a direct relationship between later morning classes and higher incidence of alcohol use. The article did not make it clear whether the morning classes were the cause of the tame nights, or whether students already inclined not to drink were the ones who chose early classes. What was clear is that students with later classes drank more and slept more poorly, albeit for more hours, than did their early bird counterparts.à Apparently their grades suffered. Could an early schedule actually be a cause of sobriety and overall responsibility?à If so, it seems that registering for early morning classes is a good idea for any college student.à Why tempt fate? And perhaps the same rule applies to people in the workforce.à Certainly people who get up at 5am for work every day are unlikely to spend their weeknights pounding shots until 2am. So what about business owners and job seekers?à Those early morning BNI and other networking events might be keeping us on the straight and narrow. I am not a drinker myself, but I do know that when I donââ¬â¢t have early morning appointments I tend to stay up later ââ¬â working, not playing, but perhaps I would be more productive if I were to go to bed by 10pm and get up at 5am each day, rather than slide into a 1am to 8am sleeping pattern.à Am I hurting my ââ¬Å"gradesâ⬠by doing that?à Iââ¬â¢m starting to wonder. If you are someone who does not have an external force keeping you to a schedule, perhaps it is a good idea to create an early morning appointment of some kind to train you to go to bed at a decent hour.à Some people I know have a mini coaching call with a friend each morning.à Some go to the gym religiously at 7am.à If you knew you would perform better overall by starting early, would you do it? One of my friends and informal coaches keeps telling me I should stop working at night.à I generally havenââ¬â¢t listened to his advice (note:à I wrote this blog at 10pm on a Saturday night).à But Iââ¬â¢m going to try an experiment.à This week I am going to go to bed by 11pm every night, and get up at 6am. Will I see a difference in how much I get done, or in how well I do it?à Iââ¬â¢ll keep you posted on the results. ðŸËâ° Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: September 20, 2011 at 12:45 pm Thanks for your comment Brian! I wonder if there is a societal listening of people who get up early and go to bed early that they are more productive? Clearly some people, like BeeGee, have a different experience of life! One of my challenges is that some of the people I work with send me things to do late at night, and some are in time zones where if I do not respond I lose an entire day of potential communications. Despite my promise to go to bed at 11pm last night, I was up until 11:45 and got up at 6:45. Hey, at least the times started with my promised numbers! And I did get a LOT done this morning from 7-9am. Log in to Reply Karla says: September 20, 2011 at 7:55 pm I agree. I get the most accomplished during the day if I get up early. I dont necessarily love getting up early, but I feel much better about my productivity when I rise early. I also took early morning classes during college and I earned As and Bs. I feel like once I woke up, I was much more alert for my morning classes than in the late afternoon or evening when my energy was dragging. Great post! Log in to Reply
Friday, February 21, 2020
Why the Eiffel Tower Should Not Be Torn Down Essay
Why the Eiffel Tower Should Not Be Torn Down - Essay Example It took 26 months, 700 engineering plans, 3,000 workshop drawings, and more than 18,000 parts to complete the construction. The Eiffel Tower has cultural importance. With respect to the event that it was built to commemorate, the French Revolution, the Tower holds cultural significance to the people of France. This is because the French Revolution was a time characterized with events aimed at eliminating dictatorship regimes (Eiffel Tower, n.d). Therefore, the Tower indicates a desire for hope as well as freedom. It also signifies the passage from an oppressive time to a hopeful one for the people of Paris (McDowall, 2014). This is a key point that shows a historical significance linked to the Eiffel Tower. People should read about and visit the Eiffel Tower because of its uniqueness with respect to design and cultural uniqueness. It displays the culture of the people of Paris and visiting the site allows a person to experience this culture. In addition, the design of the Eiffel Tower is unique and no other replica has managed to accomplish its features. People should read about it especially in history so as to understand why it was built and what it symbolizes. One of the key reasons as to why the Eiffel Tower is special is that it is the worldââ¬â¢s most visited monument. Although there are other monuments of interest around the world, the Eiffel Tower has been the center of interest because it receives more tourists than any other monument. Besides being a monument, it has economic significance to Paris in that it incorporates hotels. The other reason as mentioned earlier is that it marks the end of an oppressive era, which was marked through the French Revolution; therefore, it is special to the people of Paris. Furthermore, the Eiffel Tower is special because it is one of the tallest buildings in the world and remained the tallest for many decades. As a conclusive point, the Eiffel Tower should never be torn
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Leadership in a Police Organization Research Paper
Leadership in a Police Organization - Research Paper Example By calling the attention of the harassing officers, I will also show that I do not condone the improper behavior and hope that my subordinates will adopt my example. Because the people in a police organization depend on each other, at times, even for their lives, there is a strong bond of loyalty tying one to the other which discourages them from speaking about each otherââ¬â¢s misconducts. The whistleblowers broke this bond. As their leader, I will publicly applaud their courage to stick to their principles and go against the norm. By doing so, I am subconsciously sending a message to the harassing officers that upholding the law should start amongst those enforcing it. Hopefully, this loyalty to principle will end the harassment and encourage the rest to behave appropriately. (Mullen, A., 2000)à It is difficult to be a new leader in an environment such as a police organization. The relationship among its members is bound by a certain sense of devotion that can sometimes cause one to act unethically. However, it is a trait of a good leader to be able to assess the situation and take appropriate action which would serve as an inspiration.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Benefits of Activity Based Costing, ABC
Benefits of Activity Based Costing, ABC Activity Based Costing (ABC) is an accounting method that assigns costs to activities according to their use of resources, rather than products or services. This enables resources and other related costs to be more accurately attributed to the products and the services which they use. It does not change or eliminate any costs, in the other way; it provides detailed information on how costs are consumed. The main benefits of Activity Based Costing are providing understanding into the fastest growing and least visible element of cost-overhead. We can also improve profitability by monitoring total life-cycle cost and performance so that we can improve the effectiveness of budgeting by identifying the cost of different service levels. In addition, ABC costing does encourage continuous improvement and total quality control because control and planning are directed at the process level and it links the corporate strategy to operational decision making. By using ABC costing, we can also eli minate waste by providing visibility of non-value added activities. Besides that, ABC costing help to improve make or buy, estimating, and pricing decisions which based on product cost that reflects the manufacturing process. Although there are many benefits of ABC costing, there are also a few limitations. (J. Antos) Limitations of Activity based Costing There are a few limitation of using ABC costing. First, we may consuming more time to collect data for example data concerning numerous activity, collecting data, checking data, and entering them into the system. Besides that, once implemented, the activity-based coting is costly to maintain for example the cost of buying, implementing, and maintaining activity-based system. This system may make waste visible which some executives and managers do not want their boss to see because it may be difficult to set up and establish, particularly if that organization is using more traditional accounting method. Furthermore, it can be time consuming if all activities are to be costed and also it may provide too much details which obscuring the bigger picture. Activity-based costing data can easily be misunderstood so it must be used carefully especially when it is used for decision making. Before making any significant decisions using activity-based costing data, managers must recognize the co sts which are really relevant for the decision at hand. (Ray H. Garrison, 2008) Value-Added versus Non-value-Added Activities Every organization requires information to allocate resources, monitor the actions taken, set priority and make decisions. Activity-base costing provides the accurate cost information by allocating overhead costs. However, activity-based management is focusing on enhance the use of ABC from product costing to a comprehensive management tool that concentrate on decreasing the costs and concurrently improving processes and decision making. After that, a refinement of ABC used in activity based management is the classification of activities to value-added and non-value-added. A non-value-added activity can de defined as the production or service related activities that can be eliminated with no deterioration of product attributes ( Miller, 1992). Non-value-added activities are activities that simply add cost to or increase the time spent on a product without increasing the market value of the products. Activities such as the storage of inventory, building maintenance; inspection and inv entory control are examples of non-value-added activities in manufacturing companies. Examples of non-value-added activities in service industry consist of bookkeeping, billing, traveling, advertising, cleaning, taking appointment, reception and etcetera. According to David and Robert (1995), making non-value-added activities visible is one of the advantage of activity based management but it is the most difficult to achieve. Value-added activities are activities that increase the worth or market value of a product or service to customers. For instance, activities like engineering design, machining, packaging, performing surgery, providing legal research for legal services and etcetera are categorized as value-added activities. When people understand and accept the reasons why an activity is classified as non-value added or value added then the clarity and understanding between value-added and non-value-added activities are achieved (Miller,1996). Cost Hierarchy In Activity-Based Costing A cost hierarchy classifies costs into different cost pools on the basis of different type of cost driver or cost allocation bases or different degrees of difficulty in identifying cause-and-effect or benefits-received relationships(Horngren et al. p 142, 1999). There are four levels to identify cost allocation bases or cost drivers, the classification is shown as follow: Unit-level activities: these activities can be defined as resources sacrificed on activities performed on each individual unit of a product or service (Horngren et al, 1999). For instance, manufacturing operating costs such as energy and repair which have relationship with the activity of running a machine are unit-level activities. Batch-level activities: Activities performed for a group of product units or services rather than to each individual unit of product or service (Horngren et al, 1999). Examples of batch-level cost in manufacturing are setup cost and procurement costs. Then, the number of setups or setup time is examples of cost drivers in batch-level activities. Product-sustaining activities: These activities are defined as resources sacrificed on activities that performed in support of an entire product line, but not performed every time when a new batch or unit of products is produced (Horngren et al.,1999). Design costs and engineering costs are examples of product-sustaining activities in manufacturing industry. Facility-level activities: Activities required to support or sustain the organization as a whole and cannot be traced to individual product (Horngren et al, 1999). The example of this activity includes home office general administration costs. In fact, the successful classification of these activities provide managers a structured way of thinking about the relationships between activities and the resources they consume. Activity Based Costing for Service Industries and Small Business It is widely known that activity based costing has been used by most of the large corporation such as manufacturers. In fact, activity based costing has been widely implemented by small business and service industries such as banks, airlines, hotels, hospitals, insurance companies, financial services firms, accounting firm, railroads and etcetera. However, activity based costing has seemed to be more successful when implemented in large corporation rather than using in small business. According to Henrick noted, he mentioned that companies with not so much products and markets are not seemed to get as much advantages from basing costs on activities as companies operating with diverse products, service lines, channels and customers. Actually the primary objective of activity based costing in small industry is no different with manufacturing company. The objective is to figure out the key activities that generate costs and to record how many of those activities are performed for each service provided. Then, managers are able to generate data to provide better budget and concurrently the expenses of a company are known better. The prevalent approach to identify activities, activity cost pools, and cost drivers is the same for manufacturing company and service companies. In addition, the classifying of activities as value-added and non-value added, and the effort to decrease or eliminate non-value added activities are used in service industries too. Since service industries and manufacturer companies are using the same objective of activity based costing, then why sometimes it is difficult in adopting activity-based costing in service industries? The difficulty of implementing activity-based costing in service comp anies is that a larger proportion of overhead costs are company-wide costs that cannot be directly traced to specific services provided by the company. (Weygant.) Besides that, many of the expenses in service industries are caused by product (services) such as savings account and home mortgage. However, many expenses for service functions are caused by demands by individual customers rather than service demands. Thus, customer behavior which is the feature distinguishing these systems from activity based costing as used in manufacturing companies has to be taken into account when implementing ABC system in services industries( Cooper and Kaplan, p. 467, 1991). Service companies offer differentiate services in order to satisfy customer needs. Each service, with its characteristics, makes different demands on the organizations resources. Thus, service companies have to improve their service quality and the variety in service line. Concurrently, service companies have to focus on customer economics far more than manufacturing companies. The cost of marketing, selling, delivery and serving of the products might be customer specific in manufacturin g companies. In contrast, for service companies, even the basic operating costs of standard service are determined by customer behavior (Cooper and Kaplan, pp234-235, 1998). Therefore, a fine ABC system for Service Company will provide the information for the measurement of costs and profitability at the customer segment level and market level. Since small business and large companies are using the same objective of activity based costing, then why does small business get less benefit from using activity based costing compare with large corporation? In fact, lack of knowledge and technical people in adopting the activity based costing system in small business may lead to unsuccessful of using this system in small business. Moreover, activity based costing software is expensive. à Most ABC practitioners find that special-purpose ABC software is required to make the task manageable. At $6,000 and up for one package sold by ABC Technologies, software can add significantly to outlays for this type of accounting technique ( Mark Henricks, 1999). So, small business considers using ABC is wasting of money due to not so much profits and products differentiation for their products. Thus, they omit using ABC. Developing Of New Approach to ABC Activity-based Costing system used in large corporation and service industries for the current grouping of costs and analysis of profitability of product (service) tend to be complex, costly and hard to adjust to quickly changing business environment. For example, ABC system used in several years ago in large financial service firm required seven hundred employees at more than one hundred facilities to submit monthly survey of their time. Thus the company employed 14 full time people just to collect and process the data and concurrently prepare management reports which took more than thirty days to prepare (Kaplan Anderson, p 3, 2007). Some employees questioned the accuracy of product and activity cost calculations due to long time to prepare reports and complexity of ABC system. As a result, operation, marketing and sales managers spent time to argue the correctness and accuracy of calculations instead of making decisions improving effectiveness of processes, profitability of produ cts and customers and capacity utilization. Therefore, Kaplan and Anderson developed new formulae of activity-based costing namely Time-Driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC). It was designed to eliminate the problems in ABC system implementation and operation in large entities. Thus, Kaplan and Anderson who was the author of the new formulae identified the following problems with conventional ABC model: ( Kaplan Anderson, p 7, 2007) à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ It was costly and long time had to be taken for interviewing and surveying process. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Data for the ABC models were subjective and hard to validate. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ It was expensive to store, process and report the data. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Most of the ABC model were local and did not provide an integrated view of company-wide integrated profitability opportunity. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The ABC model could not be easily uploaded in order to accommodate the quickly change of business environment. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The model was incorrect when it ignored potential for unused capacity. Conclusion A Traditional Costing System is an accounting system that assigns overhead to products on the basis of predetermined plant wide volume of unit based output rates such as machine hour and direct labor. (Jerry J. Weygandt., Donald E. Kieso., Paul D.Kimmel., 2002) In contra, ABC system is using the different way to identify activity cost pool by allocating overhead, after that, the costs are assigned to products using related cost drivers that measure the activity consumed. ABC system bring a few benefits for managers in a company which provide more accurate product costs, better cost control and better data for decision making .(Ray H. Garrison., Eric W. Noreen., 1997) However, this system also has several limitation which is the difficulty involved in gathering data relating to cost drivers and activities centers. Although there are a few limitations, ABC system is a useful accounting system under certain conditions and it is a suitable costing system to use. The redesign and setting up a new costing system is a very important decision to a company because these require substantial cost and much more effort to achieve. Therefore, managers should be very careful when implementing new changes in costing system. (Jerry J. Weygandt., Donald E. Kieso., Paul D.Kimmel., 2002)
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