57 free test bank for cost management a strategic emphasis 5th edition

57 Free Test Bank for Cost Management A Strategic Emphasis 5th Edition by Blocher Mulitple Choice Questions Which of the following aspects of the contemporary business environment inv

57 Free Test Bank for Cost Management A Strategic Emphasis 5th Edition

by Blocher

Mulitple Choice Questions

Which of the following aspects of the contemporary business environment involves using statistical methods such as

regression or correlation analysis to predict consumer behavior,

to measure customer satisfaction, or to develop models for setting prices, among other uses?

1 A Business Intelligence

2 B Target Costing

3 C Life Cycle Costing

4 D Benchmarking

5 E Business Process Improvement

The difference between wholesalers and retailers is:

1 A Wholesalers are merchandisers that sell directly to customers whereas retailers are merchandisers that sell to other merchandisers

2 B Wholesalers are merchandisers that sell to other merchandisers

whereas retailers are merchandisers that sell directly to consumers

3 C Wholesalers are merchandisers that sell directly to the government whereas retailers are merchandisers that sell to other merchandisers

4 D Wholesalers are merchandisers that sell directly to customers whereas retailers are merchandisers that sell directly to the government

5 E There is no difference between wholesalers and retailers

Which of the following is not considered part of the Institute of Management Accountants' definition of management

accounting?

1 A Partnering in management decision making

2 B Devising planning and performance management systems

3 C Gathering, summarizing, analyzing, and providing information

4 D Providing expertise in financial reporting and control.

5 E Assisting management in the formulation and implementation of an organization's strategy

Which of the following professional certificates is considered to be the most relevant for dealing with cost management issues?

1 A The CPA, which is monitored differently for each state in the U.S

2 B The CMA, which is administered through the Institute of Management Accountants

3 C The CFA, since its program focuses on the broadest range of topics and responsibilities for financial analysis

4 D The CPA, CMA, and CFA are viewed as equally relevant, since all three require an exam, as well as specific background and experience

requirements

The five steps for strategic decision making include all of the following except:

1 A Identify the alternative actions

2 B Gather, summarize, and report accounting information

3 C Determine the strategic issues surrounding the problem

4 D Choose and implement the desired alternative

5 E Provide an ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of implementation

Strategic management can be defined as the development of a sustainable:

1 A Chain of command

2 B Competitive position

3 C Cash flow

4 D Business entity

5 E Company image

Cost management information typically is the responsibility of the:

1 A Chief Financial Officer

2 B Controller

3 C Treasurer

4 D Chief Information Officer.

When managers produce value for the customer, their orientation consists of all the following except:

1 A Quality and Service

2 B Timeliness of delivery

3 C The ability to respond to the customer's desire for specific features

4 D State of the art manufacturing facilities

According to the IMA Code of Ethics, what should a management accountant do if a significant ethical situation can't be resolved?

1 A The accountant should confront the guilty party and demand the

unethical action be stopped

2 B The accountant should try to rationalize and understand the position of the other party

3 C The accountant should say nothing about the matter until he or she has retired

4 D The accountant should first discuss the matter with the immediate

supervisor

Which of the following is not a major change in the business

environment that has affected the way many companies think about conducting business?

1 A An increased focus on the customer, especially their opinions about functionality and quality

2 B A growing emphasis on globalization - new markets for products and new competitors

3 C A larger number of companies are starting to use advanced information technologies, such as business intelligence

4 D The development of improved cost management methods

The strategy map is a tool that is used

1 A as one of the key aspects of the contemporary management

environment

2 B to enhance the sustainability of the organization

3 C to link the perspectives of the balanced scorecard

4 D to organize the critical success factors of a company

5 E to implement strategy

Which of the following is the primary user of management

accounting information regarding business units?

1 A Company management

2 B Investors

3 C Creditors

4 D Industry and governmental organizations

Corporate management is required to identify and solve problems from a cross-functional view Instead of viewing a problem as related to a specific business function, management solves these problems by combining skills from different functions

simultaneously This approach is called:

1 A Inclusive approach

2 B Integrative approach

3 C Intra-function approach

4 D Multilateral approach

Which of the following does not represent a main focus of cost management information?

1 A Strategic management

2 B Performance measurement

3 C Planning and decision making

4 D Preparation of financial statements

5 E Internal auditing and control

Target costing:

1 A Determines cost based on an expected market demand for the product

2 B Determines cost based on a budget

3 C Determines cost based on standard cost

4 D Determines cost based upon market price and desired profit

Cost management has moved from a traditional role of product costing and operational control to a broader strategic focus, which places an emphasis on:

1 A Competitive pricing

2 B Domestic marketing

3 C Short-term thinking

4 D Strategic thinking

5 E Independent judgment

Which of the following is not a contemporary management

technique used by the management accountant to respond to the changing business environment?

1 A Enterprise risk management

2 B Lean manufacturing

3 C Life cycle costing

4 D Enterprise sustainability

In a local factory, employees are rewarded for finding new and better ways of changing the way they work This company is motivating its employees to use what management technique?

1 A Benchmarking

2 B Activity-Based Costing

3 C Theory of Constraints

4 D Continuous Improvement

5 E Total Quality Management

A practical example of when the theory of constraints would not

be an appropriate management technique to use would be:

1 A Long lines at checkout stands

2 B Busy signals on Internet server sites

3 C One critical production process provides 60 parts/min output, compared with a company-wide output of 90 parts/min

4 D Balanced, fast flow of product through the plant

In keeping with the current trend of increased strategic planning, how have management accountants changed their use of life-cycle costing?

1 A They have now shifted their focus from R&D costs to marketing and promotion costs

2 B They have turned from a sole focus on manufacturing costs to a much wider outlook, taking into account costs from the entire product life-cycle

3 C They stopped looking at the entire life-cycle, and now focus their

attention on product design costs

4 D Accountants don't use life-cycle costing, that task is left for the

operations manager

Target costing determines the desired cost for a product upon the basis of a given competitive price such that the product will:

1 A Earn at least a small profit

2 B Earn a desired profit.C Earn the maximum profit

3 D Break even

4 E Sell the highest volume

A company's management accountant is trying to improve the way costs are allocated within the company Currently, several corporate expenses are grouped together and labeled

"overhead." If the accountant wanted to use activity-based costing (ABC) to help solve the problem, what should she do?

1 A She should try to map the departments' costs to their cost objects, and then charge each department based on those cost relationships

2 B She should research how the company's competitors are allocating their costs, and then implement one of those strategies

3 C She should look for bottlenecks within the production process, and try to eliminate them, thus reducing costs

4 D She should examine the firm's value chain and apply target costing before adopting ABC

Which of the following aspects of a company would not be

considered a critical success factor, for a company that competes

on differentiation?

1 A Cutting edge research and development

2 B Excellent customer service

3 C Award-winning product quality

4 D Continually beating competitors to the market with new, innovative products

5 E High level of production efficiency

The Institute of Management Accountants' standards of ethical conduct for management accountants includes the elements of:

1 A Competence, confidentiality, integrity, and relevance

2 B Competence, confidentiality, integrity, and credibility

3 C Competence, confidentiality, independence, and objectivity

4 D Competence, accuracy, integrity, and independence

If a firm decided to reevaluate and reorganize the way it did

business, in hopes of creating competitive advantage, by

changing or decreasing jobs, the company would be using which

of the following management technique?

1 A The value chain

2 B Business intelligence

3 C Business process improvement

4 D Product reevaluation

5 E Life cycle costing

A local area consulting firm is trying to increase the long-term strategic focus of its company reports Therefore, the firm has decided to use the balanced scorecard What type of new

information that the company currently doesn't use in its financial reports, should the company include?

1 A Non-financial information, including customer satisfaction, innovation, etc

2 B Additional financial information, such as profitability measures and market value

3 C Product life cycle information

4 D Supplemental accounting reports

Management accounting information plays a critical role in all of the following management functions except:

1 A Profit planning

2 B Executive compensation

3 C Planning and decision making

4 D Hiring a new CFO

5 E Preparing financial statements for the SEC

All of the following are examples of total quality management practices except:

1 A Redesign of a product to reduce its parts by 50 percent

2 B Reduction in the movement required in a manufacturing job

3 C Separating the sales and services functions

4 D Raising raw material quality standards

5 E Cross-training assembly line workers to cover sick leave absences

57 Free Test Bank for Cost Management A Strategic Emphasis 5th Edition by Blocher Mulitple Choice Questions - Page 2

Which of the following aspects of a contemporary management technique requires a balancing of multiple goals?

1 A Target costing

2 B The balanced scorecard

3 C Benchmarking

4 D Business process improvement

5 E Enterprise sustainability

Which of the following is not a benefit of using a lean

manufacturing system?

1 A Lead times are reduced.

2 B Average inventory is decreased

3 C Productivity is improved

4 D Production operations are linked in a smooth, uninterrupted flow

5 E Products, on average, have less variety

The competitive strategy of differentiation requires that a product

or service must be:

1 A Always readily available

2 B Price competitive

3 C Produced at the lowest possible cost

4 D Unique in some important way, in terms of features, innovation, service

or quality

5 E Marketed in different ways to different groups

RTP Corp is developing a new computer processor to compete against Intel's successful product line RTP has already

determined the market price and the required profit margin on each processor sold in order to be successful Which costing method will RTP most likely use to reduce costs and obtain the desired results?

1 A Target Costing.B Product costing

2 C Relevant costing

3 D Cost management

4 E Life cycle costing

Which of the following is considered to be an advantage that nonfinancial information has over financial information?

1 A Nonfinancial information is most helpful in analyzing a company's current period performance

2 B Nonfinancial information is more reliable than financial data

3 C Nonfinancial information reflects the company's current and potential competitive advantage, while financial information tends to focus only on a firm's current situation

4 D Nonfinancial data is more confidential than financial data

If a company is working on strategic positioning, what aspect of the firm is being developed?

1 A How the firm is perceived by its external environment, its competitors, and customers

2 B Where the firm's physical plants, buildings, and warehouses will be located

3 C The firm's position on important issues, such as the environment and government regulations

4 D Which competitive strategy the firm will use to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage

Which of following statements is/are true concerning strategy?

1 A Once a firm has chosen a strategy, it is unwise to change it, even though the company or business environment might change

2 B If a firm does decide to compete on more than one strategy, it must carefully execute both strategies to be successful

3 C Since the business environment is always changing, rather than stick constantly with one strategy, firms should pay close attention during times of change, and adjust their strategies accordingly

4 D Commodity type products are usually produced by differentiated firms

The following problems have occurred at your company:

management seems to be making decisions based on guesses and intuition, there's a lack of clarity concerning direction and goals, and profitable opportunities are being missed What is your company suffering from?

1 A A lack of strategic information; management has not determined its strategic competitive position

2 B Managers have too much information

3 C The company is not familiar with business reengineering and value chain analysis

4 D The company has an inappropriate mission statement

Due in part to increased global competitiveness and changes in management techniques and processes, what has changed about the role of the management accountant?

1 A Management accountants have started to place a greater emphasis on financial information, in hopes of ensuring continued earnings

2 B Rather than to focuses solely on financial data, the role of the

management accountant has shifted to encompass more of a strategic management perspective

3 C Management accountants have devised new financial measures for corporate success, such as the balanced scorecard and value chain

analysis

4 D There has been a renewed emphasis on short-term profitability, since product life cycles have started getting shorter

With the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, all public companies are now required by the SEC to disclose whether or not the company has:

1 A An audit committee

2 B Human resources guidelines

3 C A code of ethics

4 D A management compensation plan

The competitive strategy in which the firm succeeds by

developing and maintaining a unique value for the product, as perceived by the customer, is termed:

1 A Differentiation

2 B Specialization advantage

3 C Design strategy

4 D Benchmarking

5 E Product Specialization

Which of the following most accurately describes what is included

in cost management information?

1 A Only the most up-to-date, accurate financial information available on a firm