Purchase Solution

Cycle Time and Cost and Employment Consiquences

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

As the chief executive officer of a large corporation, you have decided after discussion with production and accounting personnel to implement activity based management concepts. Your goal is to reduce cycle time and, in turn cost. A primary way to accomplish this goal is to install highly automated equipment in your plant, which would then displace approximately 60 percent of your workforce. Your company is the major employer in the area of the country where it is located.

a. Discuss the pros and cons of installing the equipment from the perspective of your
(1) Stockholder, (2) employees, and (3) customers.
b. How would you explain to a worker that his or her job is a non value added activity?
c. What alternatives might you have that could accomplish the goal of reducing cycle time but not create economic havoc for the local area.

Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary

With regard to the stockholders, the cost savings over time in eliminating 60% of the employees needs to be weighed against the capital outlay for the installation of the automated equipment. The initial cost will be reflected on the earnings for the quarter and stockholders will have to be shown how the future increases in revenues will counterbalance, and eventually outweigh the upfront cost. What must also be weighed ...

Solution Preview

Dear Student,

Relax, you have time and all will be well. Good luck!

McAllister 107075

With regard to the stockholders, the cost savings over time in eliminating 60% of the employees needs to be weighed against the capital outlay for the installation of the automated equipment. The initial cost will be reflected on the earnings for the quarter and stockholders will have to be shown how the future increases in revenues will counterbalance, and eventually outweigh the upfront cost. What must also be weighed is the cost of public opinion ...

Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Academic Reading and Writing: Critical Thinking

Importance of Critical Thinking

Employee Orientation

Test your knowledge of employee orientation with this fun and informative quiz. This quiz is meant for beginner and advanced students as well as professionals already working in the HR field.

Team Development Strategies

This quiz will assess your knowledge of team-building processes, learning styles, and leadership methods. Team development is essential to creating and maintaining high performing teams.

Marketing Management Philosophies Quiz

A test on how well a student understands the basic assumptions of marketers on buyers that will form a basis of their marketing strategies.

Learning Lean

This quiz will help you understand the basic concepts of Lean.

View More Free Quizzes
Related BrainMass Solutions

  • Evaluate staffing process results using yield ratios

    This resulted to a high yield rate and low cycle time (shortest duration from recruitment to final selection and hiring of employees).

  • The University Computing Center

    Staffing requirements vary by four-hour time periods and by day. The requirements for a two-day cycle are given in the table provided in file (These requirements repeat every two days). Staff can work either a four-hour shift or an eight-hour shift.

  • Benefits of Tariffs to each Category of Stakeholders

    Tariffs would also help in developing domestic industry (may be a little higher cost) which may in turn increase the employment and income level for the local population and hence would further refuel the growth cycle for the country.

  • General Motors - Economic Indicators

    This inverse relationship shows that there is unfortunate trade-off in the economy in which the inflation is the cost of full employment and the unemployment is the cost of price stability (Sennholz).

  • Tightening of fiscal policy

    Using your own employment experiences (and be sure to identify the sector in question), how would you relate the hiring practices of that industry or industries to fluctuations in the business cycle?

  • Airline Industry Economic Indicators

    In expansion and boom cycle of business, both the output and employment increase till the full employment of resources and production at the highest possible level (Ahuja, 2007).

  • Draw an AS/AD diagram

    When employees see things getting costlier they demand more in wages, and thus we get into a cycle of higher wages leading to higher prices to higher wages and on and on.

  • Inventory Model Problem : Economic Order Quantity, Cycle Time and Annual Ordering Cost

    Economic Order Quantity, Cycle Time and Annual Ordering Cost are investigated. The solution is detailed and well presented.

  • inflation rate

    Paying higher taxes means that our A) Standing of living has decreased B) Cost of living has increased C) Cost of living has increased and our standard of living has increased D) Standard of living has increased B) Cost of living has increased

View More Related Solutions