Part 1 In the first half of this course, you learned the features of accounting information systems that companies use to keep track of their important financial information. Let’s now apply these same concepts to your personal financial information. Requirements: 1. Why is it important that you develop a system to maintain and keep your personal and financial records up to date? Describe briefly. (answer should be maximum half page long, single-spaced) 2. How would you organize such a system for yourself (to keep your personal and financial accounting records)? Describe your choice and how you would use it. (answer should be maximum half page long, single-spaced) 3. What would you do if you lost your wallet or purse with your personal effects, credit cards and identification inside? (answer should be maximum half page long, single-spaced) Part 4 High-Tech Inc. commenced operations recently. Two friends from university, John Deol and Rehana Gerdman, jointly own the company’s shares. John and Rehana have developed a new software application to track shipping. The two friends spend most of their time on the development of new products and the marketing of the current product. John and Rehana hired Fred Glass to be High-Tech’s controller. Fred has been given overall responsibility for the books and records of High-Tech so that John and Rehana can spend their time on development and marketing. Fred has one assistant, Asmaa. Both Fred and Asmaa have the authority to order goods for High Tech. Asmaa can approve invoices for payment up to $5,000. Fred can approve any invoice for payment. Fred, John, and Rehana are all signing officers on the company’s bank account. Only one of the three signing officers needs to sign a cheque under $20,000. For cheques greater than $20,000, two signing officers must sign. Unsigned cheques are kept in the company safe. Fred is responsible for preparing the monthly bank reconciliations and making any necessary journal entries. Requirements: Identify three control weaknesses over the cash payments and the problems that could occur as a result of these weaknesses. List the improvements in control activities that High-Tech should consider. (There are lots of weaknesses, you just need to limit your answer to three major weaknesses.) 1. Control weakness #1 — identification, explanation as to why it is a weakness, and an improvement that should be implemented to remove the weakness. 2. Control weakness #2 — identification, explanation as to why it is a weakness, and an improvement that should be implemented to remove the weakness. 3. Control weakness #3 — identification, explanation as to why it is a weakness, and an improvement that should be implemented to remove the weakness. Part 6 Balanced Scorecards: Perverse Effects of Some Performance Measures There is often more than one way to improve a performance measure. Unfortunately, some of the actions taken by managers to make their performance look better may actually harm the organization. For example, suppose the marketing department is held responsible only for increasing the performance measure “total revenues.” Increases in total revenues may be achieved by working harder and smarter, but they can also usually be achieved by simply cutting prices. The increase in volume from cutting prices almost always results in greater total revenues; however, it does not always lead to greater total profits. Those who design performance measurement systems need to keep in mind that managers who are under pressure to perform may take actions to improve performance measures that have negative consequences elsewhere. Requirements: For each of the following situations, describe actions that devious managers might take to show improvement in the performance measure (i.e., by “gaming the system”) but which do not actually lead to improvement in the organization’s overall performance. 1. Concerned with the slow rate at which new products are brought to market, top management of a consumer electronics company introduces a new performance measure—speed-to-market. The research and development department is given responsibility for this performance measure, which measures the average amount of time a product is in development before it is released to the market for sale. 2. The CEO of an airline company is dissatisfied with the amount of time that her ground crews are taking to unload luggage from airplanes. To solve the problem, she decides to measure the average elapsed time from when an airplane parks at the gate to when all pieces of luggage are unloaded from the airplane. For each month that an airport’s ground crew can lower its “average elapsed time” relative to the prior month, the CEO pays a lump-sum bonus to be split equally among members of the 3. A manufacturing company has been plagued by the chronic failure to ship orders to customers by the promised date. To solve this problem, the production manager has been given the responsibility of increasing the percentage of orders shipped on time. When a customer calls in an order, the production manager and the customer agree to a delivery date. If the order is not completed by that date, it is counted as a late shipment. (answer for this entire question should be maximum one page long, i.e., maximum 1/3 page for each requirement, single-spaced)