After completing her analysis, Benzo shows the results to Fred Duval, the Applewood division president.
Duval does not like what he sees. “If you show headquarters this analysis, they are going to ask us to phase
out the Regal line, which we have just introduced. This whole costing stuff has been a major problem for us.
First Monarch was not profitable and now Regal.”
“Looking at the ABC analysis, I see two problems. First, we do many more activities than the ones
you have listed. If you had included all activities, maybe your conclusions would be different. Second, you
used number of setups and number of inspections as allocation bases. The numbers would be different
had you used setup-hours and inspection-hours instead. I know that measurement problems precluded
you from using these other cost-allocation bases, but I believe you ought to make some adjustments to
our current numbers to compensate for these issues. I know you can do better. We can’t afford to phase
out either product.”
Benzo knows that her numbers are fairly accurate. As a quick check, she calculates the profitability
of Regal and Monarch using more and different allocation bases. The set of activities and activity rates she
had used results in numbers that closely approximate those based on more detailed analyses. She is confident
that headquarters, knowing that Regal was introduced only recently, will not ask Applewood to
phase it out. She is also aware that a sizable portion of Duval’s bonus is based on division revenues.
Phasing out either product would adversely affect his bonus. Still, she feels some pressure from Duval to
do something.