Challenging economic conditions in several countries have pushed freight ship companies to look for additional sources of revenues in addition to the revenue generated by hauling freight across the ocean. In recent years, one additional source of revenue for these freight companies has been to take on cruise passengers in addition to regular cargo. Generally […]
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What happens to the breakeven point when Sports Illustrated lays off all six staff photographers and uses freelancers instead?
March 13, 2015 
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Sports Illustrated announced in late January 2015 that it would be laying off all six of its staff photographers. Instead, it will be using freelance photographers around the world. Sports Illustrated is one of 90 magazines owned by Time Inc. (TIME). Published 56 times a year, Sports Illustrated is read by over 23 million people […]
Continue readingShould the City of Ravenna outsource its income tax department?
January 13, 2015 0 Comments
The City of Ravenna in Ohio has an income tax on its residents of 2%. For many years, the City had its own income tax department with two employees who processed all of the tax returns from residents. The annual cost of that income tax department was most recently estimated to be $173,000 (“Ravenna will […]
Continue readingHow should the French grocer, Intermarché, set prices for ugly produce?
December 23, 2014 0 Comments
At least one third of fresh produce is discarded, according to estimates from the United Nations Environment Programme (see “Students from France, Mexico and United Kingdom Recognized for Taking up Fight against Food Waste,” United Nations Environment Programme, December 16, 2014, http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2814&ArticleID=11110&l=en .) Some of the produce is discarded because it is less than perfect […]
Continue readingHow does the change in selling price impact the break even point for Amazon’s Fire Phone?
November 18, 2014 0 Comments
In July of 2014, Amazon came out with a smartphone, the Amazon Fire phone. The phone sports 3-D visuals and is tightly integrated into the Amazon ecosystem. For example, the Firefly feature can scan and recognize over 70 million products that the consumer is able to purchase or look up immediately from his or her […]
Continue readingShould the original cost of the planes for Afghanistan’s air force purchased by the U.S. Air Force influence its decision to scrap those planes?
October 31, 2014 0 Comments
The U.S. Air Force recently destroyed 16 transport planes (refurbished G222 planes) that it had purchased for $486 million in 2011. These transport planes were to be used by Afghanistan’s air force but were abandoned due to persistent high maintenance costs. An Afghanistan company paid $0.06 per pound for the scrap, or a total of […]
Continue readingHow will selling more trucks than cars affect automobile manufacturers’ profits?
May 16, 2014 0 Comments
According to a recent article in USA Today (“Crossovers, trucks beating cars in sales,” Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press, March 16, 2014), the sales mix for automobile manufacturers such as Ford and GM has shifted to a ratio of approximately 47% cars and 53% trucks. “Trucks” includes light trucks, crossovers, and SUVs. In 1980, cars […]
Continue readingWhy might Ford be shifting some jobs from Mexico to the United States?
May 1, 2014 0 Comments
Ford is moving production of its 2016 Ford F-650 and F-750 medium-duty trucks to its Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, near Cleveland, Ohio. Currently those medium-duty trucks are produced in Mexico. Ford will be investing $168 million in the Avon Lake facility to retool the plant since it is currently set up to produce […]
Continue readingShould the original cost of the leftover 10 million pounds of Mighty Wings matter to McDonald’s decision makers?
January 20, 2014 0 Comments
In the first half of 2013, McDonald’s bought and stockpiled about 50 million frozen chicken wings for a promotion it was planning for fall 2013. In the fall 2013, McDonald’s debuted Mighty Wings, a menu item that would be available only through the end of November 2013. When Mighty Wings came out, McDonald’s did not […]
Continue readingShould the town of Allentown, PA, outsource its pension check-writing?
December 30, 2013 0 Comments
For years, the City of Allentown, PA, has had its payroll clerk write the pension checks to its retirees every two weeks. The pension check-writing system is based in an older accounting system that was installed in 1983. The only person who has been trained to use the older accounting system to write the pension […]
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Accounting in the Headlines 