In a surprise move, Chrysler hired Jim Press from  Toyota.   Check this article out, it seems Toyota is heralded for listenting to its dealers.  This often resuts in follow up visits from Japanese engineers at the dealership.  This would signal a big change for Detroit, long known for being out of touch with the customers and dealers.  We study this in Total Quality Mangement in Managerial Accounting .  Dr. Deming was preaching this in 1952 to the Japanese, make the customer the center of your focus and the world will beat a path to your door. 

Clearly the new Chrysler CEO is shopping for talent.

Headed to Madison, GA?   If so click on the link to check out the micro car Museum.

Now honestly, just how different are these Euro bubble cars from the 1950s from the Smart Car pictured at left.  Smart will be sold thru Roger Penske dealerships in the states this next year.

Oil stands at $75, does anyone doubt it will not go higher?  What will be the outcome?  How long will Americans embrace 2.5 ton pickups and SUVs to go which they drive unloaded around town? 

My take is that we should allow much smaller vehicles on the street for strictly urban use like say the
60 cc Kawasaki Mule. Not only does the Kaw Mule sip gas, it uses less energy and metal to manufacture.   Ironically governments use these in urban areas for trafic, park, and golf course maintenance. Yet we the public are prohibited from licensing them for the street just as politicians decry our dependence on foreign oil.  Take about irony,your take?

Internships are an increasingly  popular way for firms to screen potential employees.  You should plan on interviewing for internships your junior year, serving in one your senior year, and then completing the year of grad school. That way if you get an offer you will be able to plan your last year and when you take the CPOA exam. 

The UTN page on Accounting Internships is here.    Note that there are links to the UNT Career Center and to the Dept Rep, Harvey Zimmerman who handles internships. 

There are rules regarding internships.   Click on the link to learn about them. While this is a link to the Tx State Page, the rules are the same everywhere. It is just that Tx State Accounting Dept handily displays them. As you can see one has to accomplish a specific task, write weekly written reports, a final summary, report, and the employer also writes a report . 

Are you registered on Monster Track at Career Services for an internship?  That would be a good way to start interviewing!

You can access the Homework Manager sites at these URLS.

1.ClassName Intermediate Accounting-Class14363
http://mh2.brownstone.net/classes/acct3110elamfa07/

2.ClassName Managerial Accounting Class 14664
http://mh10.brownstone.net/classes/manacct14664elam/

This write makes the point that the heads of Mexico, US, and Canada did not deny there is a plan for a N American Union.   This would be similar to a European Union apparently, one currency, and borders, what borders? Hmmmm….would this pass a vote I wonder?  Such an action would also speed adoption of universal international accounting rules.

One of the objectives of the blog is to get students accustomed to thinking in acconting terms.  An incident at a Mexican Restaurant this weekend ilustrates features of all three accounting classes I am teaching this semester. 

Simply, three of  us were having lunch outside at  Mexican restaurant in Austin, Tx.  My friend wanted to be outside as she smokes.  Since however this was Austin, the watiress was forbidden by law to bring either matches or an ashtray!  When my friend inquired what to do with the ashes, the hostess  replied, just put them on the floor, we wash it off with the hose every day!  Austin is weird…

Anyway, the waiter finally  came to the table. He did not write down the order which included a queso appetizer.  And we never got it.  This demonstrates a several things about managing a business and how a study of accounting could improve it.

In Intermediate I we will study Internal Control Systems. IC assures that things happen if all controls are in place and working.  In Auditing we will study the concept of performance and operational auditing, do systems function properly to achieve maximum results?  Since the waiter did not write the order down, the entire order did not get to the kitchen.  Therefore proper IC controls, write down the order, were not working .  So, no big deal you say?  Well I admit I didn’t need the calories but what did it mean for the restaurant?  How many appetizers are missed in say a month’s time when IC controls fail?

We will study the contribution margin approach to cost analysis in Managerial Accounting . Simply put, sales price less variable cost equals contribution margin CM.  CM divided by Fixed Cost will determine the number of meals or dollar amount to break even.  So what did the restaurant lose?  If they queso sold for say $4 (it did) and it cost say $1, the CM would have been $3.  How often does the waiter miss part of the order in that maner, we don’t know.  That would require more visits or observation to determine.  Let’s say he misses appetizers in one of four orders. If there are a total of 50 tables per day that would be about 12 appetizers  x $3 = $480  missed times 30 days or 480 x $3 = $1,440 contribution margin lost per month.  Gee things are starting to add up here!  In addition to the lost revenue, we have the issue of customer satisfaction, an operational consideration.  That would include the concept of Total of Continuous Quality Management pioneered by Dr. Edward Deming.  So one lost order can mean bigger lost bucks as well as operational failure.  Customers don’t complain, they switch.   Quality is the adherence to a standard.  The standard here is that what is ordered should be delivered.  Failure to write down the order results in undelievered goods. 

This is another example of how studying accounting can improve business results!

I will be putting Homework Manager up this Tuesday, regrettably the infor to do so is on the school computer and school is closed, so if you need help with any of the problems in the first two chapters of Intermed I or Managerial, e mail me at home

denniselam@tx.rr.com

Assuming I can keep my Time Warner connect working, argghhh….

DLE

I will agree with student Kelly Clark  that the Wall St Journals do tend to stack up if one subscribes.  Business Week handily comes on the weekend and can be read easily by the end of the week.  Visitor and entrepreneur Ariane Urschler observed to one of the classes last semester that the Business Week summary page is her first read every weekend. This weekend is not exception. Consider

Housing prices had their worst quarter since th S & P Case Shiller Home Price Index was created in 19687, down 3.2% in the second quarter
Taiwanese Pc Maker Acer will buy Gateway for $710 M vaulting it past Chinese rival Lenovo and keeping Euro Packard Bell out of Lenovo’s hands becasue Gateway has the ifrst rite of refusal, how’s that for a sitcom twist?
Nelson Peltz and Triarc will buy Wendy’s, Wendy’s has been hurting since Dave the founder died
You will notice my post this morning on India and Tata, well whaddya know, India’s Tata may bid for Jag and Land Rover, and Indian rival Mahindra (fast exapanding tractor sales in the US) may bid as well as private equity buyers

Did you know Macao  overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenue last year?

Check it all out here.

Jerry Flint does not understand Ford’s strategy.  Ford paid big bucks for Jag, Land Rover, and Volvo, and now seeks to sell them. Should they, now that success seems round that famous corner? We will be studying sunk costs and strategy in Mangerial Acocunting, this article is an excellent introduction to the topic.

I have featrured several small cars on the blog, is a $2,000 car possible?  Probably not one that would meet the US requirements but click to read and see how a combo of an Indian motorcycle company and others are considering the posibility.  Already a $4800 800 cc engined cars is offered in India.

India is finally emerging from its losing embrace of socialism. Its eoonomy is booming which has finally resulted in a rise in the value of their currentcy, the rupee. Did you know the rupee is up agains the US Dollar?  Read the article to understand what this means for the Indian economy.

And from Forbes,

India turns 60.  I would enjoy hearing from some of our students that have lived in India about their take on India’s turn to capitalism and what it means for India’s future.  It has been 60 years since India gained independence from Britain, but most of the progress has been in the last fifteen. What does the future hold?