The TBL concept was initially developed by John Elkington in 1994. In 2018, Elkington wrote an article titled “25 Years Ago I Coined the Phrase ‘Triple Bottom Line’: Here’s Why It’s Time to Rethink It”. He used the article as a call to strengthen how the TBL is used and to put more even more focus on sustainability and less on profit. In the article, he states:

But success or failure on sustainability goals cannot be measured only in terms of profit and loss. It must also be measured in terms of the wellbeing of billions of people and the health of our planet, and the sustainability sector’s record in moving the needle on those goals has been decidedly mixed. While there have been successes, our climate, water resources, oceans, forests, soils and biodiversity are all increasingly threatened. It is time to either step up—or to get out of the way.

Meanwhile, some believe that incorporating this framework into practice raises more questions than it resolves, especially around reporting, regulation, and a deviation from the financial bottom line of businesses.

In your initial post, address the following questions:

• Do you think that it is the responsibility of businesses to track and manage the social, economic, and environmental impacts of their actions? Why or why not?
• What value does using the TBL bring to a business, and is it worth the potential drawbacks of incorporating it?
• What value do businesses using the TBL bring to society, and how might society be impacted if TBL were not a common business practice?

Create a 9-slide presentation in which you analyze cost accounting practices to make a recommendation about whether or not to accept a purchase offer at a lower price than normal. You may either record the presentation or write a 2-3 page supporting report.

Scenario

The Acme Pickle Company has distributed pickles under the “Florida’s Best” brand for eight years from its production facility in Jacksonville, Florida. It sells the pickles to stores in the southeastern United States. Acme normally produces between 8,000 and 10,000 cases of pickles a month but has the capacity to produce 12,000 cases without adding equipment or personnel.

The owner of a twenty-store supermarket chain in Wisconsin, called Super Deals, visits friends in Florida and is impressed with the quality of “Florida’s Best” pickles. He approaches you, an Acme Pickle account manager, with an offer to buy 2,000 cases of pickles to use in a special promotion at his stores. He is thinking of something such as:

“Free jar of Florida’s Best pickles with every purchase of forty dollars or more—this month only!”

He offers Acme a price of $9.50 per case, knowing that it is a very substantial discount from the normal selling price of $20 a case. Acme’s management is inclined to turn the offer down, because their cost is calculated at $10.00 a case. They believe they would lose money if they sold at $9.50 a case. You, on the other hand, believe that some errors have been made in the cost accounting.

Your Role

You are the account manager for Acme Pickles.

Requirements

Your analysis for the Controller and Sales Manager is needed to suggest a different way of calculating the pricing of the pickles that may be lower. As part of your analysis, address the following items:

• Explain why some production costs are variable and some are fixed.
• Analyze the benefit of recalculating the cost of pickle production.
  • How would you recalculate it?
  • What would the result be?
  • What is the benefit to the company of recalculating the cost?
• Analyze how financial accounting of production cost differs from managerial accounting of production cost.
  • Explain the difference between the two accounting methods.
  • Identify the benefits and drawbacks of each method.
• Recommend a plan of action to management regarding Super Deals’ offer.

Below is the cost report for a recent month. In this month, Acme produced 9,000 cases and sold them at $20 per case, which is Acme’s normal selling price. Nine thousand cases are well beyond Acme’s break-even point, enabling Acme to record a substantial profit at the nine-thousand-case level.

Acme Pickle Company Cost ReportItemCostCucumbers$15,000Spices and vinegar11,000Jars and lids10,000Direct labor, paid by the case30,000Line supervisors, on salary10,000Depreciation on factory10,000Property taxes on factory3,000Insurance on factory1,000Total Costs:$90,000Cost per case (9,000 cases produced) $10.00

Deliverable Format

Your team lead wants to share this analysis across remote locations of the organization and is hoping you will set the standard for how analyses and decisions of this type should be presented and supported. Your team has requested either a recorded presentation (including slides and notes) or a presentation and supporting reporting that can be distributed as a model. Prepare a presentation of at least 9 slides using PowerPoint or software of your choice detailing your recommendation and the information you used to make your recommendation. You can either record the presentation or prepare a separate report supporting the presentation.

If you choose to record your presentation, you may use Capella-supported Kaltura Media or another technology of your choice that produces a shareable URL. Kaltura is recording software that can be used to create webcam, screen, and audio recordings. Refer to the MBA Program Resources for the Using Kaltura tutorial to prepare for this option. If you choose to use something other than Kaltura Media, ensure that it creates a shareable URL and can be embedded in the courseroom to ensure faculty can access your recording.

Note: If you require the use of assistive technology or alternative communication methods to participate in these activities, please contact [email protected] to request accommodations.

Recommendation requirements:

• Presentation slides:
  • Create at least 9 slides detailing your recommendation and the information you used to make your recommendation.
  • Include additional details as slide notes.
• Supporting information. Choose one of the following options:
  • Record your presentation.
  • Create a 2–3 page report to support your slides.

Related company standards:

• The recommendation report is a professional document and should therefore follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines, including single-spaced paragraphs.
• In addition to the presentation or report materials, include:
  • Title (slide or page).
  • References (slide or page).
  • Appendix with supporting materials.
  • At least two APA-formatted references.

Evaluation

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Explain how accounting concepts and practices impact financial reporting.
  • Explain why some production costs are variable and some are fixed.
• Competency 2: Apply principles of accounting to assess financial performance.
  • Analyze how financial accounting of production cost differs from managerial accounting of production cost.
• Competency 3: Analyze accounting information to support business decisions.
  • Analyze the benefit of recalculating the cost of pickle production.
  • Recommend a plan of action to management.
• Competency 4: Communicate financial information with multiple stakeholders.
  • Communicate accounting information clearly.

 

Module 02 Content

1. Social media has changed the way that companies do business and interact with customers; it has also changed how customers interact with and provide feedback to companies. For this assignment, you need to identify one popular social media website and select a company that utilizes this site on a regular basis to interact with its customers. Then, write a 1-2 page paper that addresses the following:
   • Review the company’s page on this social media site and explain how they use the site to provide customer service, respond to customer concerns, and highlight customer satisfaction.
   • Based on your review, provide an example of one situation where the company used the site to address a customer concern or complaint.
   • Finally, describe some specific ways that you would use social media to enhance customer service and improve communication with customers if you were in charge of customer service for the company.
   • Your submitted assignment should be proofread for correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

     Submit your completed assignment to the drop box below. Please check the Course Calendar for specific due dates.

     Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. (Mac users, please remember to append the “.docx” extension to the filename.) The name of the file should be your first initial and last name, followed by an underscore and the name of the assignment, and an underscore and the date. An example is shown below:

Instructions

Supporting Lectures:

Review the following lectures:

• Formative vs. Summative Evaluation
• Measuring Knowledge
• Formative Evaluation

Throughout this course, we have assessed how the instructional design model ADDIE—analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation—can be applied to a real-world organizational training need or to a higher education curriculum project. Each week, we assessed each step, creating relevant documents for a specific problem of interest. To date, you have created an analysis document, design template, and a project plan/staffing budget estimate.

Week 5 Instructions:

This week, the deliverable will add to your Course Design Template with a specific learning assignment or activity, a corresponding evaluation rubric, and a summative evaluation plan.

Tasks:

• Integrate work from previous weeks’ work into the Week 5 Course Planning and Budget Template, updating information to show ongoing development in your thinking.
• Propose a student learning assignment or activity for Week/Unit 1 of your curriculum.
• Propose a grading rubric and notes that the instructor can use while assessing the student learning assignment/activity.
• Summarize a summative evaluation plan for your curriculum with at least two different types of data or data collection methods to demonstrate how you will measure whether the course achieves its goals and objectives.
• Compose a 1-2 paragraph self-reflection on the most important takeaways from the INS7200 course project.

To support your work, use your course and textbook readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Submission Details:

• Submit the course design document. As much material as possible should be embedded in the document. Provide additional material as supplemental attachments.
• Name the document SU_INS7200_W5_A2_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.