MLC and the environmental management accounting

Phases of the case study The project has three phases which will be discussed in detail. The first phase identifies the current cost of accounting system in the Methodist Ladies College. The institution currently uses the conventional accounting system that does not apportion the environmental management system. The objective of exploring the current environmental management of the system is comparing the convectional accounting with the environmental management accounting.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on MLC and the environmental management accounting specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The environmental management accounting involves development of the company resources to ensure that there are appropriate aspects of developing proper mechanisms to account for usage of energy and identifying costs of conserving the energy. The second phase of this study on MLC identifies the cost and revenue opportunities tha t are not recorded when using the traditional accounting methods. The objectives of this phase are two, the first objective is to determine the necessary changes that are appropriate to the system to include all the environment related costs. The second objective is to provide the stakeholders with meaningful information on the costs and opportunities presented through environmental management accounting. The information creates awareness among the stakeholders and provides them with a basis to make changes in the company. The third phase involves trial recording of the changes to determine how change would produce different results from the current management accounting system. The objective of this trial phase is to determine how the Environmental Management contributes to good management by providing information to managers on how to handle purchases in a way that is environmental conscious and cost effective. Black bud accounting practice used in MLC MLC uses the convectional ac counting system that is not environmental conscious. The accounting system is cost oriented and not activity oriented. It classifies the costs in general terms and not as per the source of the cost. The first classification of environmental related expenses is the administration expenses. These costs involve costs such as printing and distribution of newsletters to parents by the school administration. The other cost is the photocopying costs, this is an expense incurred through photocopying of learning material by students as well as teachers. The other generalised expense is water expenses, which are the rates paid to the Water Corp by the institution. The one is the lighting expense that includes the power and electricity expenses within the institution. The other expense recorded in the system is the waste costs that refer to the cost of waste products disseminated from the company (Romney 2009). The environmental impacts associated with MLC’s operations and costs associa ted with the environmental impacts The first environmental impact associated with MLC operations is the paper usage expense. This expense accrues to the photocopying activities within the institution. It includes the cost of buying the plain paper. However, the current accounting system does not record expenses except photocopying labour. It also includes the printing activities done by the students and the energy used in the printing process. All these are classified together as paper usage expense.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The other impact associated with the MLC operations that has a direct impact on the environment is lighting costs. It takes fossil fuel to make electrical energy used in lighting and conserving light automatically means conserving fuel used in the generation of light. The current MLC accounting cists usually includes lighting costs as the onl y energy cost. However, the costs not only result from lighting but also replacement of lighting equipment, wear and tear and cooling of machines using air conditioners. The third environmental impact associated with the environment is the water usage. The institution incurs this expense using water in showers and toilets as well as in the running taps. The other activity interconnecting use of energy is the administrative activities. The administrative purposes involve activities such as printing and dissemination of newsletters to parents. The parents receive newsletters either through the students or by mail. Costs of envelopes and plain paper to print the newsletter, the toners and labour of printing the newsletters are all included in the administrative costs (Romney 2009). Limitations of the existing accounting system with regard to cost savings and how costs can be reclassified to improve decision-making The current accounting system has its limitations. The first limitation of the current accounting system used by the MLC is that it does not provide information on the specific environmental cost. It is complicated, which makes it hard to trace costs involved (Romney 2009). The other challenge of this manner of accounting is that it does not trace the actual sources that incurred the expense because it generalises all environmental costs (Romney 2009). The other limitation is that it does not give insight to the management on how to conserve energy as well as area that costs may be minimised. It provides scanty information on the impact of activities engaged by the institution on the environment. It denies the institution an opportunity to receive funding from parents and friends to assist in the efforts of becoming energy efficient. The traditional accounting system is inappropriate in making organisation energy efficient. The other major aspect of consideration in the organisation is that the organisation may develop its own systems of conserving and generating resources such as using river Swan to cater for its need for water rather than use water from the Water Corp. Benefits of Activity Based Costing to MLC The activity based accounting is beneficial to the company in the sense that it has to work using the areas related to the development of the organisation. The activity based costing is advantageous to the institution mainly because the reporting of expenses enable one to trace the sources that incurred the environment related costs. It establishes responsibility centre and each centre has an account where expenses are recorded.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on MLC and the environmental management accounting specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This assists the organisation to trace costs and identify opportunities and costs incurred from the environment related expenses. The other major factor of consideration is that it informs the management and the stakeholders on the costs incurred and how each unit incurred the expenses. This makes it easy for the management to make prudent decisions on how to conserve energy as well as how to develop appropriate measures to make the company cost effective. The activity based costing unravel the hidden costs in the conventional accounting such as labour costs and it presents a clear picture on the actual expense incurred when doing a particular activity (Langfield 2009). How costs associated with environmental impacts within MLC can be allocated and what are the limitations associated with the cost drivers identified in the study. The costs identified in the study can be allocated as follows. The power and lighting costs can be classified as costs per square metre such that each cost is assigned as per the responsibility centre that generated that cost. The cost is in such a way that it is saving from the source. In the lighting costs, additional costs such as replacing the lighting equipme nts as well as wear and tear of the power equipments are all considered differently not just as part of lighting expense (Langfield 2009). The other environmental impact cost allocated differently is the water expenses. The water costs are usually a generalised expense. However, the new accounting system allocates the water usage according to the kind of machine or source that releases the water. Water is classified as either shower water, tap water or washing machine water. This makes it easy to identify the outlets that use a lot of water. The other allocation is on the photocopying costs. These costs are usually generalised in the current accounting system. However, the environment management accounting classifies the cost into different categories. The first one is the labour used in the photocopying prices; it also includes the cost of the plain paper. In the new accounting process, expenses such as use of envelope are part of the photocopying expense (Langfield 2009). The wast e costs are also not generalised in the environment management accounting where the expenses are classified as per the specific activity. Activities such as tipping fees are distinct from the waste costs that are the actual price of the material put to waste. It also involves costs of disposing the equipments either through paying someone to dispose the equipment or other expenses such as the development expense.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The benefits to the responsibility centres within AMP from maintaining records on both energy and water usage Maintaining the records of energy and water usage provide a clear picture of how each responsibility centre contributes to the energy and water expenses. This makes every part of the institution participate to the use of energy, and the energy expenses cease to be generalised expense without a clear outline on who uses the energy. The other benefits that result from the use of energy are the increased awareness about personal contribution to the environmental related expenses. It provides a motivation to control and reduce those costs in order to prevent losses that are likely to occur. The motivation results only when there are specific accounting that indicates the responsibility centre responsible for each cost. It also enables the responsibility centre to classify the expenses further into sub centres that serve as an indication to the development of the company resource s. The other effect of the responsibility centres’ recording their expenses is that it results in identifying opportunities of cutting down the costs unlike when using the convectional method of cost accounting. It assists in identifying other costs related to the major expense. When there is recording in the sub-centre it is easier to identify costs that relate to the major expense such as labour costs or breakage and maintenance costs involved as opposed to when the costs are generalised. The institution saved more than twenty seven thousand dollars when allocations of expenses were through responsibility centre records. How could MLC develop additional records for identifying, allocating, and managing the costs associated with waste and the associated financial benefits? There are additional records that the MLC must have to ensure that there is appropriate accountability on how the resources are used. The first additional record that is necessary in the incorporation of t he environmental management accounting in the MLC is the photocopy expenses. The photocopy expenses include renting photocopiers to use as well as the labour and time spent in operating the photocopiers. It includes the cost of the plain paper used in photocopying. Such records in the sub centre make it easy to see how the organisation uses the resources (Maskell 2003). The other aspect of consideration is having the company to include records of expenses incurred in administration and specifically the newsletter expenses such as envelopes and the labour involved in the preparation of the newsletters. The other additional records relates to the water expenses, to account for water usage it is imperative to classify the use of water as per the way or the equipment used to discharge water. Having records of the volumes of water released using the taps, washing machines, toilets and other domestic purposes make it easy to identify and to trace where the water expenses originate from an d how to control them (Maher 2005). Waste expenses may also need additional records to include costs such as the labour incurred in disposing the waste. Other additional record in waste expense is that cost of buying dustbins and other waste handling equipment. The other cost that is usually not accounted for or recorded in the conventional methods yet it is a major environmental cost is the cost of the waste material. This refers to the cost of the material that is disposed. Other cost that applies to the waste materials is the cost of training personnel as well as the stakeholders of the institution on how to handle waste. Currently, MLC uses the paper recycling techniques to reuse the papers. However, it requires training of staff and students on how to handle papers meant for recycling (Bruns Kaplan 1987). How a life cycle costing system (LCC) could be implemented within, MLC and what would the environmental impact issues that would need to be considered and cost within the LCC exercise The life cycle costing usually refers to the costing exercise that looks into the total cost of equipment rather than the purchase cost of equipment. This applies when making purchasing decisions on equipments that may have implications on the environmental management accounting. The total cost refers to the additional cost of having equipment and it includes the purchasing costs, maintenance costs as well as the waste cost. The waste cost is the coast of disposing the equipment. When someone considers all those costs mailing decision on the appropriateness and the effectiveness of the product used usually applies (Bruns Kaplan 1987). The lifecycle costing also considers the life cycle of the equipment or the durability of the product bought. This is the length that particular equipment is expected to last while it is effective and efficient in its use. This aspect also includes warranty of the equipment and the cost of maintaining the equipment. The other expense is the development expense where an organisation spends its time to develop appropriate structure to cater for the organisational needs of the particular equipment. The following are some of the environment impact issues that need consideration as lifecycle costing issue. The first environmental impact issue is the air conditioners. The main use of the air conditioners is to provide cooling for the machines used in the institution to prevent overheating of the machines. The project hopes to install three air conditioners because the cost is high yet it is right in consideration of the fact that replacing damaged machines is more expensive. The other cost is the swimming pool by closing down the pool and use of another swimming pool from the neighbouring school (Maher 2005). The other area where lifecycle costing will apply is development of new classrooms as the current classrooms have an occupancy rate of eighty per cent. This can be done through the development of timetables that ensure there is an occupancy level of one hundred per cent. This will prevent additional expenses in development of the classes and focus the resources in other areas that are significant in the project. The other area where the life costing will apply is in the water conservation where the institution is looking for ways of reducing the water expenses by building new taps and toilet flushers that use six litres of water than the flushers that use eleven litres of water. This will reduce the amount of money used on water because the quantity of water required is reduced. When expenses are reduced where appropriate, the cost will reduce which results to increase in the revenue generated from the project. Considering these aspects using the lifecycle costing ensures that the management makes appropriate and cost effective decisions. References Bruns, W Kaplan, S 1987, Accounting and management: A field study perspective, Harvard Business School Press, Massachusetts. Langfield, K 2009, Manag ement accounting: Information for managing and creating value, 5th edition, McGraw Hill, New York. Maher, L 2005, Fundamentals of cost accounting, McGraw-Hill, New York. Maskell, B 2003, Practical lean accounting, Productivity Press, New York. Romney, M 2009, Accounting information systems, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. This case study on MLC and the environmental management accounting was written and submitted by user Graysen K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Impact Of IFRS On SME S Report Essay

Impact Of IFRS On SME S Report Essay Impact Of IFRS On SME S Report Essay The Impact of IFRS on SME’s Lewis W. Wilson Jr. Post University College Abstract This report will provide a brief summary on what the Impact of the IFRS on SME’s (Small and Medium sized Businesses) standards as it applies to small businesses. We will define the standard and its history of existence. We will briefly evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the shortened version of the full IFRS and if it can be relied upon in the future for a growing entity that is not quite large or qualify to utilize the full IFRS standard. In conclusion we give our recommendation as to whether the standard is sufficient as it stands now to support Small businesses that are currently utilizing the IFRS for SME’s standards. Impact of IFRS on SME’s Introduction IFRS for SME's was established in 2009 by the IASB, the development process was very strenuous, and involved extensive consultation throughout the world. Currently the IFRS for SME’s standard is approximately 230 pages, and was specifically tailored and simplified to meet the needs and capabilities of smaller businesses of which would not benefit from utilizing the much larger Full IFRS standard. Why IFRS for SME’s A review and analysis of the FULL IFRS standards by professionals across the country revealed that there are many procedures that have been developed for large public companies and investors in the securities market. Additionally, it was noted that the small private companies do not have public securities therefore some of the requirements within the Full IFRS standards would no be relevant for small private companies. The research also revealed that even when they are relevant, the cost to these smaller organizations of some requirements would exceed the benefits. The question still arises what are the benefits of utilizing this watered down version of the Full IFRS? There are a number of potential benefits of adopting IFRS for SMEs, which I have provided the following: a. reducing compliance costs; b. making financial statements less complex and more user friendly; c. improving access to international funding, currently a critical issue for many businesses; d. Enhancing the comparability of financial statements. Other Advantages As previously stated, the IFRS for SME's is has been specifically tailored to support smaller business, which means all topics that are not perceived to be relevant to SME's have been omitted, including a reduction in the number of required disclosures. A good example of this would be that Goodwill is amortized and only tested for impairment when there is a triggering event, and not subject for a full impairment test each year (as under Full IFRS). Additionally the development costs are expensed utilizing the IFRS for SME's, but if the organization was utilizing Full IFRS they would be capitalized. Of course there are several other key simplifications in the financial instruments, defined benefit obligations, cash flow presentation and the interest capitalization sections as well. Conversion Process We know in business there is also a financial burden involved as well as personnel training. In addition, converting from local GAAP to either Full IFRS or IFRS for SME’s requires a commitment of management focus, resources and funding. Companies must also identify key

How to Make Negative Sentences in French

How to Make Negative Sentences in French Making sentences negative in French is a bit more complicated than in English. This summary of the different kinds of negation and negation-related grammatical structures should help clear up some of the confusion. The title of each negation category links to a detailed lesson with examples of usage and a quiz. (Dont) just say nonNo, not a chance, I dont think so, and more. nonpas question ! Negative adverbsNegate or restrict the action of the verb they modify. ne... pasne... jamais Negative adjectivesNegate or cast doubt on a quality of the noun they modify. ne... nulne... aucun Negative pronounsNegate or cast doubt on the existence of the noun they replace. ne... rienne... personne Negative conjunctionTheres only one: ne... ni... ni... Negative questionsTheres a special French word to respond yes when someone else says no.lt;br - Non.- Si ! Negating infinitives2-part negative structures stay together in front of infinitives. Ne pas toucher.Ne jamais fermer. Nimporte... expressionsDesignate an unspecified person, thing, or characteristic. nimporte quinimporte quel... PasNegate a non-verbal structure. pas beaucouppas souvent Double negativesTwo negatives dont make a positive in French. Ce nest pas rien.Je nai jamais vu personne. Formal negationThere are three negative structures particular to formal French. ne... pointavant quil ne... Informal negationNe is often dropped in spoken French. Je sais pas.Bouge pas !

New City New Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

New City New Experience - Essay Example always trying to find a good in what you feel is bad; this makes it a tad bit easier to cope up and adapt. This is exactly what the video teaches us- to look at the bright side of things and realize that one could have been in far worse situation than one is in right now. The new city, new experiences video opens with a shot of Ayers Street and the camera pans to a grocery store. Character1 walks in and starts checking out the items displayed on the display racks. A close up of the item shot is shown. Next, the camera shows a blue car being parked outside the same grocery store and character 2 coming out of the door. Both the characters in the video are acquainted. Chracter2 greets chracter1 while the latter expresses his feelings about the high prices that he saw in the grocery store. He says that the prices are far higher that what he is used to in his home country. Chracter2 explains that living in a developed country like the states comes with a price because the minimum cost of living is quite high. However, he also makes character1 realize that since they reside in Edmond they are luckier because the relative cost of living in Edmond is relatively low than the cost of living in other cities of America. Character1 is thankful to God for this and both the characters part ways. The scene begins in a dark street with only the street signboard. The camera pans right showing a streetlight. Perhaps the only light that light up the entire street stretch. The camera continues to pan right and stops at a small grocery store. The opening itself is an indicator of the theme of the video. The camera pans from left to right starting from a dark street and ending in a fairly lighted place which too is an indicator of the core theme of the video i.e. no matter what situation you are in always look on the bright side of things. The street light in the scene is also objective here since the road is dark and it is only the light that is visible; this again is implies the ce ntral theme of the video. The camera is in the store and we character1 walking and entering the shop. He is wearing a black shirt and looks well groomed. The character has a subdued face and exudes an introvert’s body language. He walks past the magazine stand and head directly towards a display rack. He picks up a Snickers bar. The camera zooms in and shows only chracter1’s hands and the snickers bar. The camera then focuses on the bar indicating that even chracter1 is focusing on the bar more particularly on the price printed on the back of the package. The expression on the face of character1 changes to that of surprise. The fact that he looks surprised after finding out the price of the item reveals that he is not accustomed to buying such highly priced products. Perhaps, he is new in town (since till here the video does not reveal his background). Next the camera shows a car’s headlight which is again an indicator of the central theme of the video. The car is shiny blue one and we see character2 switching off the engine and stepping out of the car. The look on character2’s face exudes confidence and his gait is relaxed and confident too. He walks up to the entrance of the grocery store and meets character1. He greets chracter1 by his name- Mohammad and Mohammad replies that he is fine. Character2 enquire of Mohammad what he had been up to and Mohammad explains

Labs H, P, & S Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Labs H, P, & S - Lab Report Example Straight pins were then placed along line IB as shown in the diagram below. After which the glass plate was returned, and the rest of the experimental arrangement moved near the edge of the table. The pins were then sighted through the glass plate, and ruler aligned along the sightline and a straight line drawn along the rule and labeled B’R. The glass plate was again removed, and line BB’ drawn. The Normals at B and B’ were drawn, and angles of incidence and refraction compared. SKETCH: I N B B’ RESULTS: Trial I-B-N (Angle of incidence) R-B’-N (Angle of refraction) 1 60 34 ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION From the above table it can be seen that the angle of incidence is greater than the angle of refraction. Therefore, this experiment demonstrated the following concepts of refraction: 1. Angle of incidence is greater than the angle of refraction (Shipman). Law of refraction (Snell’s La): Where: n1 refractive index of air =1 n 2 refractive index of gl ass. Theoretical refractive index of glass= 1.52 Therefore: Moments of Force (Experiment H) PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate the concepts of equilibrium and moments of force. ... The second weight was moved along the meter until it balanced. The weights and distances at which the meter balanced were recorded. The experiment was repeated using different weights and distances from the fulcrum, and their distances and weights recorded as shown in the result table below. SKETCH C Distance 1 Distance 2 Weight on the left Weight on the right Counterclockwise moments Fulcrum Clockwise moments RESULTS AND ANALSIS Moments= Force X Distance Principles of moments: counterclockwise moments= clockwise moments (Shipman). Therefore, Counterclockwise moments in the first case= (10 X 4) + (10 X10) = 140ozcm Clockwise moments in the first case = (15 X 30) + (x X 39) = 450+39x X = -7.9487oz Can Goods Can Goods Can Goods Miscellaneous objects Left Side Weight (1) Left Side Distance (1) Left Side Weight (2) Left Side Distance (2) Total Left side Moment Right Side Weight (1) Right Side Distance (1) Right Side Distance (2) Right Side Weight (2) Total Right side Moment 1 10 oz 4 cm 10 oz 10 cm 140 15 oz 30 cm 39 cm -7.9487oz 140 2 15 oz 22 cm 15 oz 9 cm 465 4.5 oz 45 cm 32 cm 8.2031oz 465 3 4.5 oz 6 cm 4.5 oz 5 cm 24.5 16 oz 35 cm 50 cm -10.71oz 24.5 4 24 oz 23 cm 24 oz 8 cm 744 9.5 oz 49 cm 44 cm 6.3295oz 744 5 16 oz 5 cm 16 oz 9 cm 224 24 oz 28 cm 28 cm -16oz 224 6 9.5 oz 3 cm 9.5 oz 5 cm 76 10 oz 9 cm 47 cm -0.2979oz 76 Electrical consumption (Experiment S) PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the cost of electrical consumption of various home electrical devices. PROCEDURE: The following equipment and machinery were used: 12 home electrical appliances (Smart TV, Toshiba Laptop and refrigerator among others), and a copy of the recent electricity bill. The home appliances to be used in

King Leopolds Ghost Essay -- Essays Papers

King Leopolds Ghost King Leopold's Ghost tells a story of the Belgian King Leopold II and his misrule of an African colony, named (at the time) the Congo Free State. It is a wild and unpleasant story of a man's capacity for evil and the peculiar manifestation of it. In telling this story, Hochschild does a wonderful job of giving detailed descriptions, especially of the colorful individuals involved, both good and bad. His analysis of the situation is very solid, starting with the movement when the Congolese hero (Morel) finds out a very terrible fact and moving on through his (Morel) analysis and actions, all the while telling the story of a treacherous monster. Set in the palaces and boardrooms of Europe and in the villages of central Africa, it tells the story of the tragedy that took place during Leopold's so called rule, a tragedy that is so familiar to African-Americans, being told of our African brothers residing in the homeland. This "horror" story is just in fact that, a horror story, giving and revealing the utter most secrets of the respected King Leopold. Allow me to take you on a journey, pointing out the King's determination and, reasoning for what he'd done and the scars he left deep within the heart of the Congo. In the introduction I stated that Morel was the character that I considered to be the hero of this story, now the main question behind that would be, why? Along with, Who is Morel? His complete name was Edmund Dene Morel; he was a young clerk who worked for a Liverpool based firm where his duties were to supervise the unloading and reloading of the ships arriving in Antwerp, Belgium. As Morel watched the shipments arrive he noticed something, a great amount of ivory and rubber were being transported into Belgium but nothing was being taken out, as the book states: "There is no trade going on here. Little or nothing is being exchanged for the rubber and ivory†¦with almost no goods being sent to Africa to pay for them, he realizes that there can be only one explanation for their source: slave labor." (p.2) With his newfound revelation at hand Morel does not sit still. Demonstrating that he refused to turn a blind eye to what fortune had allowed him to see, he soon becomes active with his newfound knowledge. Soon afterward Morel devoted his life to stopping slavery in the Congo. From the early 1900's until afte... ... their own, getting educated, and even going to the lengths of forming Greek organizations, that their fellow brother in Africa were being brutally mutilated and stripped of their humanity. Hochschild has done an exemplary job of writing this book by gathering details and evidence not to mention the wonderful writing skills that he's displayed throughout the entire book. In my opinion, the account of shocking and brutal nature of Belgian colonial rule, is worth reading on it's own, if only to remind us of the horror of the colonialism from which the US has recently escaped. And anyone with an interest in the way we car for or mistreat other humanbeings may find a great deal of food for thought here as well. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Hochschild, a renowned journalist has taken on Stalin and Russian psyche in previous books. He has been criticized the almost exclusive focus of the CRA movement on Belgium, citing comparable brutality by the US in the Philippines, the British in Australia, the Germans in what is now Namibia. Bibliography: Hochschild, Adam "King Leopold's Ghost:a story of greed, terror, and heroism in colonial Africa. First Mariner Books 1998. New York

meditech surgical case Essay

Introduction Meditech is a leader in the endoscopic surgical instrument market. The company manufactures and market low cost endoscopy surgical equipment to hospitals and independent surgeons. The company’s distribution operation is arranged and managed from a central storage warehouse that ships its products to domestic and international affiliates. The organization have been experiencing a good customer service experience in the past, however, lately customers have expressed concerns with the time products are being delivered to them. Due to the nature of the industry, the delivery of surgical equipment on time is extremely important. The on time delivery of products to its customers has become the main problem for the firm. Currently, Meditech’s customers are waiting over six weeks for products to be delivered to them. This current practice is not acceptable and must be addressed by management immediately if Meditech wants to stay competitive and keep its current market share. Statement and Causes of the problem Meditech’s main problem is that a bullwhip effect was produced due to organizational and supply chain problems. The method used by Meditech to balance customer demands with planned production is not effectively serving  its purpose. The catalogue of products being offered by Meditech continues to grow and replacing current items, making obsolete old products that are in their catalogue and current customer orders. Poor customer demands forecasting, long assembly lead times, and changing products are the main reason why inventory levels are not enough to satisfy customer’s demands. While the assembly lines try to keep with demand and company’s resources are getting exhausted trying to launch a new product, the distributors then will increase their product demand, which causes a bottle neck effect as it moves up the supply chain process. As the initial demand slows down there are still backup of high demand of inventory being produced. This cycle would repeat again as new products are being released to the market. Due to these problems, Meditech supply chain and management has created a poor customer service. Another problem of Meditech is communication. There is not enough communication between main operations departments in the company; this is causing information to become distorted as it makes its way through the supply chain line. The lack of communication and information increases the firm’s lead to demand variation as orders or demand is being process through the supply chain systems and departments. In consequence, distributors are feeling the effect by long waiting periods of time, thus this also causes them to place larger orders in an effort to help them compensate the waiting time. Panic ordering by distributors is caused by lack of communication and in turn leads into the problem of the bullwhip effect. Meditech’s current distribution system is inefficient and obviously is causing an inflated demand of products. There is not enough information being shared among distributors and Meditech’s operations. Each distributor receives orders from different regional warehouse, which makes it hard to see the bullwhip effect. The organization’s forecasting system is also confronting serious problems. The current organization’s forecast system is determined by marketing and finance departments on an annual basis. The annual forecast is then broken down into monthly and weekly forecasts and is frequently adjusted by Central Planners according to market trends. Meditech has realized that leads to forecasting problems when they try to introduce new  products. The organization realizes that they are unable to effectively predict demand for new products, which causes large demand fluctuations and backorders. Decision Criteria & Alternative solutions + Recommended Solution, Implementation and Justification Meditech can try few alternatives process to reduce demand variation and the possibility of panic ordering. The company should improve how customer ordering is processed, they should more effectively share demand information, and increase lead times on new products. The forecast methods needs to be upgraded to reflect current needs, the company should also introduce vendor managed inventory and an e-commerce web site to share information with its customers. All of these functions should be centralized and shared among all of the supply chain channels that are involved. With improvements in forecasting it would be much cheaper and more efficient with the introduction of new products to stock finished goods inventory based on projected forecasts. By pushing is anticipating the fluctuations in demands that may be caused with the introduction of a new product. Meditech will now have products available exactly when the customer needs them, and will no longer be forced into back order. A push strategy will also allow Meditech to be more confident in their inventory policies and should allow them to lower their current inventory policy to a level that is more economical and feasible. Q1) Meditech’s problem in introducing new products. In manufacturing ALL products. Meditech introduces 1 new product per month on an average. Most of the new products are only upgrades of old products. This considerably reduces the life-cycle of the products. Majority of Meditech customers are Material Managers whose primary focus is on cost and delivery schedules but not on innovative product features. Though no major problems arise  products int  from assembly line perspective, signs of cognitive dissonance may arise in customers. No attempt is made by Meditech to understand the Demand Dynamics along the product lifecycle. Qualitative factors that have been identified as critical success drivers for a new product launch are time-to-market relative to competition or product diffusion. But Meditech does not launch new products relative to competition and by constantly pushing new innovations into the market it does not allow its products to diffuse effectively into the market. Every new product launch requires a lead time of around 5-19 weeks (excluding design phase lead time) which is very high. With every product launch, pushing the product into the market becomes the primary consideration of the sales force thereby neglecting customer service for older products. These constant launches have led to: †¢Ã‚  Supply side shortages †¢Ã‚  Delayed deliveries (6 weeks) †¢Ã‚  Low customer service †¢Ã‚  Low customer satisfaction †¢Ã‚  Inaccurate forecasts †¢Ã‚  High FG inventory levels The product portfolio of Meditech comprises about 200 separate end-products and the number is increasing. These wide ranges of products make Meditech rely heavily on suppliers wherein the lead time is 2-16 weeks. So practising JIT, which would be very effective for Meditech, becomes impossible in this case. Meditech organizational structure has a long scalar chain. Information dissemination becomes difficult here if there are too many products in the portfolio. Q2) Cause of the problems, systematically and organizationally ISHIKAWA FISH-BONE DIAGRAM WAS USED TO DISSECT THE CAUSE AND EFFECT Q3) Why is customer service manager the first person to recognize the major issues? The scalar chain from Customer Service Manager to the Customer Service Representative is only of two steps. The representatives work in direct contact with dealers and affiliates and are often in direct contact with hospital personnel i.e. their consumers. A general rule of thumb is â€Å"If you want the best feedback, ask your consumers†. This network would have proved effective for feedback-information flow. Mr. Dan Franklin himself held many meetings with hospital material managers. This brought forth the level of dissatisfaction amongst his customers, Meditech’s poor service levels and improper delivery schedules. Q4) How would you fix these problems? The foremost thing we would do is implement an ERP System costing around $100,000. This would help in better data storage & warehousing, analysis and forecasting. We would reduce the frequency of new product launches. We would prefer a leaner product portfolio. We would lay emphasis on better forecasts with a shorter horizon of 1-2 months. We would maintain a safety stock so as to provide a service level of 95%. We would work to reduce the assembly cycle time from the current level of 2 weeks. We would look for new and better supplier relations to reduce the supplier lead time from the current level of 2-16 weeks. References 1. (Bass 1969, Krishnan 2000) 2. (Porter 1985, Kailash and Lilien 1986)