Search results

This chapter demonstrates how the ‘golden rule’ can be applied by operators of flexible transport services to improve investment and pricing decisions.

The chapter explains why an appropriate decision making framework is particularly important for operators of flexible transport services and compares the traditional economic framework of fixed versus variable costs to the decision-oriented approach that analyses the activities of a firm in terms of costs that are avoidable (i.e. specific to a particular activity) and costs that are shared amongst a number of activities. The chapter introduces the ‘golden rule’ of decision making and discusses issues in implementing the rule.

An economic framework for decision making is particularly important for smaller scale transport operations (such as flexible transport services) because ‘lumpy’ investment costs are more significant than for larger operators. The traditional economic approach divides costs into fixed costs and those which vary by patronage. A better framework for decision making divides costs into those which are specific to a particular activity and, therefore, avoidable if that activity ceases, and those costs which are common to more than one activity.

Using this framework allows operators to apply the ‘golden rule’ in pricing their services so that the avoidable costs of each activity are recovered and the enterprise covers its shared costs overall.

This chapter will be useful to operators of flexible transport services who are new to the industry or are reacting to changes in the funding environment.

Wars have important economic dimensions. They involve costs requiring resources that have alternative uses such as new hospitals, schools, and roads. Economists can contribute to the understanding of wars by identifying their costs. Case studies make a valuable contribution by providing estimates of the costs of conflict. Much has been written about the costs to the USA of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Similar studies for the UK have been lacking. This chapter provides UK estimates of the costs of both conflicts.

This chapter presents a new approach to teach process costing that uses worksheets to create the information necessary to account for costs. The approach employs a five-column, five-row worksheet that presents weighted-average and FIFO costs per equivalent unit simultaneously. Then, the goal of process costing, accounting for costs, is formally presented in a manner to emphasize its importance. As a result, students are better able to compare and contrast the two process-costing methods.

There have been mixed results regarding the impacts of satisfaction, service quality and service value on consumer loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effects of switching costs between the three antecedents and consumer loyalty via four loyalty dimensions, i.e. repurchase intentions, appreciating behavior, complaining behavior, and price‐increase tolerance.

A conceptual framework is developed where the canonical correlations among the antecedents and components of consumer loyalty are analyzed. Three hypothesis sets are proposed and tested based on 12 service industries in Hong Kong markets.

The findings provide strong evidence of the moderating effects on repurchase preference, but only partial support on the other three loyalty dimensions.

The above findings enable managers to adjust their strategies in response to varying levels of switching costs among services, which affect the relationships between the three primary antecedents and repurchase preference.

Consumer loyalty is considered as an important source of competitive advantages for service firms. Although potential antecedents of loyalty, including satisfaction, service quality and service value, have been identified, their influences on loyalty vary among different service industries. This research highlights the moderating effects of switching costs on the four consumer loyalty dimensions.

Measuring quality costs is becoming an increasingly more important task for accountants. This is especially true in light of new definitions and goals of quality programs, which are primarily to produce goods and services with zero defects while preventing problems, improving reliablity and eliminating waste. This article examines how accountants can provide cost information using the traditional quality cost model along with expected value techniques so that managers may make more effective decisions to accomplish these goals.

Uncertainty means that transaction costs have to be incurred by organisations whenever they make an agreement. These costs include time and money spent searching, drawing up and enforcing contracts and in dealing with contingencies. The concept of transaction costs is traced from its originator, economist Ronald Coase, to its more recent development by David Kreps. Good reputations, themselves a product of successful corporate communications activities, tend to reduce internal and external transaction costs. Given a competitive environment those firms with lower transaction costs, as a result of high reputations, will tend to survive better than those with weak ones.

The purpose of this paper is to find out the behavior patterns of different quality cost categories to enable us to take the right decisions in allocating resources for reducing quality costs.

Costs of quality, existing in a small‐scale industry in India, in the financial year 2006‐2007, were found out. At the start of the financial year 2007‐2008 a quality cost program was implemented in that organization and more resources were allocated for prevention and appraisal cost activities. Subsequently, the costs of quality related to the financial year 2007‐2008 and 2008‐2009 were found out. Based on the quality cost data of three years, co‐relation co‐efficient between the different quality cost categories were calculated.

The co‐relation co‐efficient between different quality cost categories suggest that by increasing the efforts towards prevention and appraisal activities, costs of non conformance decrease. Furthermore, there exists positive co‐relation within costs of conformance and between costs of non conformance.

In the competitive modern world, small scale organizations have limited resources. They do not have funds to hire consultants. So, the behaviour patterns of quality cost categories help these organizations to allocate precious resources more effectively and result in the reduction of quality costs thereby improving profitability.

Direct costs of Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) initial public offerings (IPOs) were last reported in the literature using data to 2004. Much has occurred since then. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and include the A-REIT IPOs over the last ten years and examine the cost and the factors influencing the percentage underwriting and percentage total direct costs by A-REITs IPOs. The study also investigates specifically whether the utilization of an underwriter (who guarantees the success of the capital raising) rather than a stockbroker (who does not guarantee such success) costs significantly more.

The study examines 87 A-REIT IPOs from January 1994 until December 2013. An OLS regression is performed to identify significant influencing factors on percentage underwriting costs and percentage total direct capital raising costs.

The study finds that larger capital raisings and those with large investor or institutional involvement identified in the prospectus are significant in reducing underwriting costs. The study does not find that underwritten IPOs are significantly more expensive (or cheaper) than those not underwritten. Additionally, the size of the issue, whether the firm offers stapled securities (is internally managed) and has higher net asset to issue price characteristics reduces the total cost of underwritten IPOs.

The paper provides information to new A-REIT issuers, underwriters and advisors broadly on new issue costs and on factors influencing the IPO issue costs.

The study is the first to examine the costs of A-REIT IPO capital raising data in the years prior to and following the recent global financial crisis period.

Information provided for managers by an accounting department can be divided into two broad categories: (a) information which will help managers to control future costs incurred, and (b) information which will enable managers to be well‐informed when making decisions involving a choice between alternative courses of action. Both accountants and managers need to understand the way in which costs respond to changes in the level or type of activity if appropriate information is to be presented and used effectively. Furthermore, the ability to employ techniques such as standard costing, budgetary control and marginal costing, which are commonly used in planning and controlling organisations' activities, must be based on an appreciation of the basic relationships between costs and volume.