A piece of wire Essay Example for Free

A piece of wire Essay Using this graph, we can predict the resistance of any length up to 100cm. To test if these results are accurate, we can compare the experiment we have performed, with those of previous resistance experiments. The book value, in ohms, for the resistance of a 100cm length of 28swg wire is 4. 4?. This convinces me that these results are accurate as our result of 4? is very similar. It may seem a way off the mark but considering the difference in resistance a couple of swg makes (e. g. the resistance of a 30swg wire is around 7. 5? ) the similarity ensures success. The slight deviation may have been caused by a number of factors, like the variations of the power packs used and variations in the actual wire. I have recorded these results in a graph. From this graph, we can immediately see a few things. The line of best fit is a straight line through the origin with a positive correlation. This means that the resistance and voltage are directly proportional to one another, and that length of wire and resistance are directly proportional. This ties into ohms law. We can also measure the gradient of the graph. This is done by taking a y value under the line of best fit, and dividing it by the corresponding x value. On my graph, the y value I have chosen is 0. 9? , and the x value 23cm. The formula for this is: G = ? y ?x So G = ? y ?x = 0. 2 5 = 0. 04 So the gradient is 0. 04. We can examine the results further by referring to the resistivity formula: Resistance, R = Resistivity, p (? m) x length, l (m) or R = p l (? ) Cross-sectional area, A (m2) A The diameter of a 28swg wire is 0. 367mm, so, using the formula: A = ? r2 We can figure out the cross sectional area. Therefore, the cross sectional area is 0. 105784493mm2. Converting this to metres squared, this is 0. 000105784493m2 And, since we know that the resistance is 4. 0? , we can rearrange the formula to find the resistivity of the wire: We rearrange from this: R = p l to this: p = R A A l Now we can find out the resistivity (p) of the wire, in ohm meters (? m). Resistivity is a useful figure to have (much like resistance) but can also be used to check our work. To check the gradient of the graph, we can divide the resistivity of the wire, by the cross-sectional area. So Gradient   04 is the same value I got for the gradient directly off the graph, I can rest assured that it is the correct value. As this is the correct value, I can work backwards to see that the previous calculations were correct. In order to obtain this gradient value, I used resistivity, cross-sectional area, and resistance. So we can be sure that the calculations for these is correct as the outcome is the same as the separate calculation for gradient, using the graph. So, from these results we can see that:   Resistivity = 0. 00000423137972 ? m.   Gradient = 0. 04.   Cross-sectional area = 0. 000105784493m2.   Voltage is directly proportional to the length of the wire.   Resistance is directly proportional to the length of the wire.   As the length of the wire doubles, so does the voltage and so does the resistance. Conclusion From the consistency of the results I have gained, and the fact that proving the results using the gradient was successful, I can conclude that these results are reliable. The values that I noted were also very similar to the catalogued book values, which further supports the reliability of the experiment. The drawn line of best fit is accurate as the gradient drawn from it is identical to the one I figured out using the formula. If I were to repeat this experiment, I would change it only slightly. I would allow more class time for the analysis and possibly allow a shorter time for the practical as it is very quickly finished (in fact, to do all the results in one lesson minimises the chances of getting irregular results, because you know that the conditions are the same). The whole thing worked very well. The experiment went smoothly, and the inclusion of a preliminary experiment helped a great deal. The actual physics of this assignment were challenging, but understandable. It was a very well rounded task. Extension work that could be included may be to test the resistance of other wires and compare them, or to go up to 200cm and see if theres any difference. Also, by using another wire, other than constantan, we could see how temperature affects resistance, although, one would need to have done a constantan experiment in order to understand the dynamics of the other factors, otherwise the experiment would be to complicated. Daniel Moffat H11NF 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Family Trusts Law Problem Question

Family Trusts Law Problem Question This question concerns the law of trusts in the family home. Specifically, Mary requires advice on two questions: whether Philip is entitled to a share in the property, 8 Emerald Way, and whether she is able to sell the house now that she and Phillip have split up. TRUST OF THE HOME The starting point in any case is the identity of the legal owner. Here, the property is in the name of Mary. The prima facie position is that she also controls the beneficial interest[1]. Phillip has two arguments that could be used to claim part of the beneficial interest. The first, and stronger, is that there was an agreement that they should beneficially share the ownership. The second is that he has made direct contributions which lead to a presumption of a resulting trust. CONSTRUCTIVE TRUST This argument centres on a claim that when the title was put into Mary’s name, there was a common intention to share the beneficial ownership. Philip has only one way of demonstrating such an intention; the reason given for placing the property in Mary’s name. In Eves v Eves[2] the man put the property in his name, giving as an excuse that the female was under 21. Likewise another man claimed reasoned that it would prevent adverse effects on her divorce proceedings[3]. In these cases it was held that, but for the excuse, the property would have been registered jointly. Here, the excuse given was that to place it in Philips name would leave a trail for creditors to follow should his business run into trouble. This would appear to satisfy the Eves[4] and Grant[5] authorities except for a distinguishing feature. It appears that it was Philips suggestion and as such there may be a counter-argument stating that this is not a proper excuse case. The rationale of the authorities suggest that the courts would find that there was an intention that both would have ownership and that only the excuse prevented both being entered on the legal title. Philip would also have to show that he acted to his detriment. The courts have been imprecise on the requirements to satisfy this point. In Grant[6] a partner had contributed to the general expenditure which freed up money to pay the mortgage instalments. She was entitled to a share. In Lloyds Bank v Rosset[7] the House of Lords[8] said that merely maintaining the house would not entitle a partner to a share. In Hammond v Mitchell[9] the partner acted as an unpaid assistant to the business which again was an indirect contribution that was rewarded with a share of the beneficial interest. In this case Philip has paid for the new car; paid expenses for the house, and paid for the holiday to Corfu. While none of these are direct payments to the mortgage, all of them are payments which allowed Mary to pay the mortgage payments. Therefore, Phillip has a strong case under Grant[10] that he should be entitled to a share in the beneficial interest. RESULTING TRUST If the court were to find against Philip on either of the above points, he may still claim that a resulting trust arose. He would have to establish that he contributed money to the purchase price of the house. In Springette v Defoe[11], the court ruled that either an original contribution or contributions to the mortgage will suffice. In this case he has not contributed directly to the mortgage. When the house was initially purchased, the couple paid a 5% deposit, in real terms  £5,000. If he contributed anything towards this then he will be able to establish a direct contribution which will entitle him to a beneficial interest. THE SPLIT OF THE BENEFICIAL INTEREST Mary should also be advised on the possible divide that the courts will make should Philip prevail in demonstrating a beneficial interest. Traditionally, for a financial contribution the courts tended to follow the division of the contributions. Since Drake v Whipp[12] this has been less certain with the courts adopting, in their own words, a â€Å"broad brush† approach. In that case, a 20% contribution was rewarded with a 33% beneficial interest. In Drake[13] the distinction between a common intention trust and a resulting trust was emphasised, with an equal split being more likely in the former. She should be warned though that it is possible for Phillip to be awarded an equal share of the property. THE PROBLEM OF SALE If Phillip has a beneficial interest Mary will be a trustee for herself and Phillip. Phillips reaction to an attempted sale will be important. If he consents then naturally there will be no difficulties. If Phillip objected then the crucial point would be the existence of one trustee. Mary would be unable to use the overreaching rules contained in the Land Registration Acts[14]. Mary could still attempt to sell the property but Phillip could attempt to block the sale by seeking relief under section 14 of the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996. This gives the court a wide discretion to grant an injunction. Given the discretion, it is difficult to predict whether Mary would prevail. The court would take into account the original intention of the parties when purchasing the parties, as well as individual factors that are case dependent.[15] CONCLUSION Mary should be advised that it is likely that Phillip will be awarded a share in the beneficial interest, either by way of common intention trust, or a resulting trust. If Phillip objects to the house being sold, he could seek an injunction pursuant to section 14 of TOLATA. BIBLIOGRAPHY Hanbury and Martin‘Modern Equity’ 16th Ed. pub by Sweet Maxwell Doherty M‘Equity and Trusts’ pub by Old Bailey Press Springette v Defoe (1993) 65 P CR 1 Drake v Whipp (1997) 60 MLR 420 Hammond v Mitchell (1991) 1 WLR 1127 Lloyds Bank v Rosset (1991) 1 AC 10 Eves v Eves (1975) 1 WLR 1338 Gissing v Gissing [1971] AC 886 Grant v Edwards (1986) Ch 638 1 Footnotes [1] Gissing v Gissing [1971] AC 886 at 900 [2] (1975) 1 WLR 1338 [3] Grant v Edwards (1986) Ch 638 [4] ibid n2 [5] ibid n3 [6] ibid [7] (1991) 1 AC 107 [8] ibid. obiter [9](1991) 1 WLR 1127 [10] ibid n3 [11] (1993) 65 P CR 1 [12] (1997) 60 MLR 420 [13] ibid [14] 1925 and 2002 Acts [15]

Spiritual War :: essays research papers

War is any active hostility, contention, or struggle. Throughout our lives we wage a constant mental war. This 'spiritual'; war is a languid process that shapes our lives and engenders many journeys in life. Conflict arises within our vibrant minds through decisions and emotions that we make from a day to day basis. This battlefield promotes failure and success.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decisions make up the main bulk of our inner conflict. In making a decision, two possible situations come to mind--one can either do this or that. The decisions can either be one of great complexity or a fairly simple one. An example of a complex decision can be the choice to take or refuse drugs if asked by a peer to use them. By refusing to take the drugs it shows self-confidence and strong character. A simple decision can be thinking of what to have for lunch. Complex or simple, regret accompanies the wrong choice. One fine example from the novel A Separate Peace comes when Gene made the decision to jounce the limb and make Finny fall from the tree. This, in the end, caused much of Gene's regret and ignorance because it finished Finny's athletic career and later causes Finny to die. Another decision in the novel came when Finny forgave Gene. Even though Gene ruined Finny's life, Finny made the hard choice to forgive and forget what Gene had done. The human mind is a cave swarming with a multifarious amount of emotions, from love to misery. Of all the emotions, misery becomes the greatest battle we wage in our war. We are most vulnerable to misery and depression. In one point in time we will come up against misery. Learning to cope with misery becomes one of the hardest stages in life. Misery is a hole that we must learn to climb out of. By continuing to remain miserable only digs this hole deeper and deeper until we are unable to get out. For example, in A Separate Peace, Finny dealt with his misery of a broken leg and no sports, by telling Gene to play sports for him. Another major fight going through our mind is against jealousy. Jealousy, no matter the amount, makes up the minds insidious side. The side that drives us to hurt others, like when Gene's jealousy drove him to cause Finny fall off the tree.

Expectancies As A Predictor Of Adolescent Alcohol Use :: essays research papers

INTRODUCTION This paper examines the use of an idea referred to as expectancy as a predictor of teen alcohol use. Expectancies are concepts that a society reinforces which go on to influence a person's behavior. Current clinical and field studies show that alcohol expectancies are reasonably accurate tools in estimating future drinking patterns. This paper sets out to determine the practical applications of this knowledge in the real classroom. HISTORY Prior to the early 1960s, virtually no clinical studies were available on the topic of teen drinking, as literature mostly focused on negative social and moral implications of the activity (Maddox and McCall, 1964). Contrary to somewhat popular notion, however, adolescent drinking is not unique on to the last few decades. In fact, the best indicators show that "drinking among youth has been a longstanding phenomenon" that has shown no significant change over the course of the last 120 years (Barnes, 1982). In the sixties, the issue grew in prominence probably due to the rise of the counterculture and an increase in teen drinking and driving accidents. A number of pioneering social scientists set out to determine basic information about the commonalty and frequency of alcohol use in this age group. Though specific data varied from study to study due to methodology and demographics, a striking picture emerged that "alcohol use is very prevalent among teenagers and young adults." In fact, Barnes (1982) co n Once research findings established the basic foundations, further questions soon arose on the psychological reasons behind the increase in consumption. Though the answers are still not definitive by any means, a few commonly accepted theories arose. Teens almost consistently report one of three reasons for drinking: partying, self-expression, and anxiety (Maddox and McCall, 1964). None of this information, however, is of particular alarm. Regardless of the reason, most adolescent drinkers consume only occasionally and generally responsibly (Barnes, 1982; Finn, 1979). In fact, a few authors contend that teenage drinking can be a fairly normal step in the process of identity development (Finn, 1979). "Drinking," claims Maddox and McCall (1964), "is important for validating their self-conceptions as adults or their claims to adult status." A great deal of controversy exists on whether time spent with peers in reckless activities such as drinking is a positive aspect of the socialization process as well. E PROBLEM DRINKING In the late 1970s and into the 1980s researchers begun to realize that they had not designed their studies to examine this much more destructive phenomenon of problem drinking.

Al Capone :: essays research papers

ALPHONSE CAPONE a.k.a. AL, SCARFACE Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, of an immigrant family. He lived with his father Gabriele and Mother Teresa and his brothers and sisters. Al did quite well in school until the sixth grade when his steady record of B's deteriorated rapidly. At fourteen, he lost his temper at the teacher, she hit him and he hit her back. He was expelled and never went to school again. About this time, his family moved from their house on Navy Street to 21 Garfield Place. This move would have a lasting impact on Al because in this new neighborhood he would meet the people who would have the most influence on his future: his wife Mae and the gangster Johnny Torrio. A few blocks away from the Capone house on Garfield Place was a small unobtrusive building that was the headquarters of one of the most successful gangsters on the East Coast. Johnny Torrio was a new breed of gangster, a pioneer in the development of a modern criminal enterprise. He was a role model fo r many boys in the community. Capone, like many other boys his age, earned pocket money by running errands for Johnny Torrio. Over time, Torrio came to trust the young Capone and gave him more to do. Meantime, young Al learned by observing the wealthy successful respected racketeer and the people in his organization. In 1909, Torrio moved to Chicago and young Al fell under other influences. At this point in his life, nobody would ever have believed that Al would go on to be the criminal czar that he ultimately became. For approximately six years he worked faithfully at exceptionally boring jobs, first at a munitions factory and then as a paper cutter. Eventually he met a guy named Frankie Yale. He opened up a bar called Harvard Inn. And he hired Al to be a bartender. Capone's job at the Harvard Inn was to be the bartender and bouncer and, when necessary, to wait on tables. In his first year, Capone became popular with his boss and the customers. Then his luck turned suddenly when he waited on the table of a young couple. The girl was beautiful and the young Capone was entranced. He leaned over her and said, "Honey, you have a nice ass and I mean that as a compliment." The man with her was her brother Frank Gallucio. Al Capone :: essays research papers ALPHONSE CAPONE a.k.a. AL, SCARFACE Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, of an immigrant family. He lived with his father Gabriele and Mother Teresa and his brothers and sisters. Al did quite well in school until the sixth grade when his steady record of B's deteriorated rapidly. At fourteen, he lost his temper at the teacher, she hit him and he hit her back. He was expelled and never went to school again. About this time, his family moved from their house on Navy Street to 21 Garfield Place. This move would have a lasting impact on Al because in this new neighborhood he would meet the people who would have the most influence on his future: his wife Mae and the gangster Johnny Torrio. A few blocks away from the Capone house on Garfield Place was a small unobtrusive building that was the headquarters of one of the most successful gangsters on the East Coast. Johnny Torrio was a new breed of gangster, a pioneer in the development of a modern criminal enterprise. He was a role model fo r many boys in the community. Capone, like many other boys his age, earned pocket money by running errands for Johnny Torrio. Over time, Torrio came to trust the young Capone and gave him more to do. Meantime, young Al learned by observing the wealthy successful respected racketeer and the people in his organization. In 1909, Torrio moved to Chicago and young Al fell under other influences. At this point in his life, nobody would ever have believed that Al would go on to be the criminal czar that he ultimately became. For approximately six years he worked faithfully at exceptionally boring jobs, first at a munitions factory and then as a paper cutter. Eventually he met a guy named Frankie Yale. He opened up a bar called Harvard Inn. And he hired Al to be a bartender. Capone's job at the Harvard Inn was to be the bartender and bouncer and, when necessary, to wait on tables. In his first year, Capone became popular with his boss and the customers. Then his luck turned suddenly when he waited on the table of a young couple. The girl was beautiful and the young Capone was entranced. He leaned over her and said, "Honey, you have a nice ass and I mean that as a compliment." The man with her was her brother Frank Gallucio.

Providian Trust: Tradition and Technology Essay

Business Context/Key Business Drivers * Providian Trust was headquartered in New York. In 1994 it was the 10th largest provider of financial and fiduciary services through its network of 216 branches. * The company has 3 divisions, Pension and Institutional Trust Services, Personal Trust and Trust Operations * The company’s lending products—including residential and commercial mortgages and consumer and corporate loans. * The Company slowly slipped away from profitability and competition due to the lack of efficient business processes and information technology. * Michael LeBlanc the Senior VP of Trust, Investment and Treasury took the initiative to handle the project and address the problems faced by Providian Trust. Le Blanc was required to not just implement the new technology but also improving Providian Trust’s business processes by implementing Access Plus, a major software system developed by Select One. * With a budgeted cost of $18 million and lead-time of 20 months the board finally approved the project in April 1994. * The Key Drivers behind this new initiative was intense client demand on the part of PITS division. Low operational efficiency outdated reporting systems, lack of control and discipline in the trust division only made the case stronger. Initiative Objectives/Benefits * Increase Control and Discipline-  * PITS and Personal Trust Employees (front office) and Trust Operations Employees (back office) constantly blamed each other in case of any fault. The New centralized system is supposed to increase accountability, improve transparency and force discipline across divisions. * As mentioned in the case the clients had to wait for 2 to 3 months to get a statement. To decrease the cycle time and improve operational efficiency was a major objective. * Sometimes due to inaccurate or late statements Providian  had to waive or discount fees, which some times cost the company between $2 – $5 Million. * The total expected saving by implementing these changes was supposed to be inline with $9.2 million every year. Initiative challenges * Most of Providian trust officers had 20-30 years of experience in managing client relationships at a personal level and had never used or touched a personal computer. The old school employees were extremely reluctant and resistant to change. The implementation of these changes required employees to become more sales and service oriented instead just answering and responding to client phone calls. * Internal Auditor Peter Storey was a strong critique of the whole process. * Todd Benari, the vice president of Trust Operations, headed the project management team of 15 representatives formed Le Blanc. Le Blanc had no project management experience himself so he relied heavily on his very inexperienced project management. Results I believe even though the reasoning behind the project is very strong and praiseworthy, and my understanding of the case, I am skeptical about the possible success of the initiative. * Lack of proper leadership because of LeBlanc inexperience in project management and Le Blanc seems to be the only person driving the project. A major reason I observed was resistance of staff to changes. The Human Resources poor management and awful timing did not help the cause. The decision to reduce the full time staff by 25% or 180 employees further sent a wrong signal and the resistance to change was employee’s way of expressing concern and emotions. * Lack of proper time and quality management has created unexpected roadblocks and hurdles. The Simulations Work Environment (SWE) testing was originally planned to check the effectiveness of the new tool. The unrealistic initial deadlines, SWE testing never got introduced and LeBlanc was not feeling comfortable enough. His concerns were validated since the main users where mostly technologically handicapped. Due to lack of sufficient testing it is next to impossible to understand the potential problem that they may face in the future after implementation and also to know what kind of training is required by the employees to accept and adopt the change. LeBlanc Admits  to being bull headed and does not listen or take into considerations and ignored concerns of PITS and Personal Trust officers. Relevance and analysis Relevance – * I would like to summarize the points discussed and mentioned above- * Clear Channels of Communication, communicate the changes (via the CEO) to all employees, then identify and address the reasons for resistance. * Get employees involved in the reengineering process and participate in the process and explain the need to do so? * Have realistic and achievable timelines – Compile a detailed project plan. Divide the project into small milestones and set realistic deadlines against each milestone. Keep track of actual progress vs. planned progress on a regular basis. Implement strict internal and external audit process to ensure quality is not compromised for the sake of meeting deadlines. Learning’s- We face organizational changes in real-life. Some of these changes can be very drastic. We as managers may have an IT background or may not have an IT background. The success of the project does not always depend on our knowledge of the change, in our case the IT infrastructure update it depends on a managers project management skills. There ability to track and maintain time, cost, human resource management and communication skills. .

Birdgeton Case

Memorandum To: Mike Lewis From: Overseas Consulting Group Date: December 9th 1990 Subject: Manifolds Retention vs. Outsourcing Analysis Our team of financial analysts has taken an in depth look at the consultant’s recommendation to potentially outsource the manifold production line. Through our analysis you will see that the consultants have not considered the full financial impact that this outsourcing would have on the company. This is likely because the recommendation has not taken into consideration the range of costs affecting Bridgeton industries.Through our analysis it becomes clear that the decision to retain the manifold production line will be more financially beneficial to the company. We will begin with some of the assumptions of our analysis, and the conclusions from our various analyses of Bridgeton Industries Costs. Please refer to the attached excel file for detailed analysis of the numbers. We know that Bridgeton uses an absorption costing system which does no t easily distinguish between fixed and variable costs.The problem with that system makes it very challenging to forecast appropriately the cost of excess capacity and furthermore the impact of outsourcing the manifold production line. Therefore the reported costs are not appropriate for this type of analysis. Our team began our own analysis of the costs to evaluate the recommendation. We began by calculating gross margin for each product, by first identifying how much overhead should be allocated to each category. We broke out the overhead by using Direct Labor (DL) as a % since most of the overhead accounts are labor related.As a result, overhead allocation for each product in 1987 is the following: Fuel Tanks 17%, Manifolds 24%, Doors 11%, Muffler/Exhausts 23%, and Oil Pans 26% for 1987. Muffler/Exhausts, manifolds and Oil Pans are both labor intensive, so under this method, they bear a higher percentage of the overhead costs. Now that Bridgeton stopped producing Muffler/Exhausts and Oil Pans, the manifold line carries an even greater proportion of the overhead costs of 46%. Therefore, the cost per manifold goes up because of the larger share of overhead it has to absorb.Please refer to the analysis file, tab 2 for 1991 forecasts. We assumed the sales and costs for each category would increase close to the same percentage as previous year. The overhead forecast required greater detailed analysis. The question is how to anticipate how much overhead would go down due to discontinuation of manifolds. In 1989, DL and direct material (DM) went down 46% and 47% respectively from the outsourcing of the other production lines. If manifolds were to be outsourced and all DL and DM were eliminated, then we are looking at approximately 44% decrease in DL and 49% decrease in DM.We assumed for the purpose of our analysis, that the reductions in DL and DM for these two year are comparable. Thus, we applied the same percentage of overhead reduction in each account to the 19 89 to the 1991 overhead accounts. Once we established these overhead accounts, we then analyzed how the costs are allocated across the remaining lines. As you can see in detailed spreadsheet, the most profitable product, the fuel tanks, now has to absorb 61% of the overhead cost and its gross margin is down to 33% from 43%. The doors’ gross margin also went south from 27% to 17%.Clearly the fixed costs, which weren’t removed with the outsourcing, have eroded the profitability of all of the remaining products. The consultant’s suggestion to outsource production is actually not a good option after all. Fix costs embedded in the cost per unit won’t go away because less profitable parts are outsourced. If Bridgeton industries wants to seriously considering outsourcing the manifold line or any other some significant overhead restructuring is necessary to try and reduce the fixed cost profitability dilution. Changes to cost structureAs we mentioned previously B ridgeton currently uses a single overhead pool for the entire plant that allocates costs based on direct labor hours. Since the production process of the various product lines vary greatly, this causes the overhead allocation to be inaccurate. The products have different levels of automation and manual work (refer to descriptions in exhibit 1). While one product line may be diligently working to reduce costs, another product line can simply reduce production and receive the same relative decrease in overhead costs.Also, the overhead percentage is calculated only once a year at budget time and is used throughout the entire model year. With an annual calculation, there is little to no incentive for employees to continuously reduce their costs month to month. Bridgeton should recalculate the overhead percentages on a monthly basis to be more accurate if possible. We recommend creating multiple overhead pools by taking the overhead cost elements and assigning them to the product lines t hat are truly driving those expenses (basically link overhead to the product).Having a product specific allocation of OH expenses will allow management to have better visibility to the product cost reduction efforts of the employees. Variable Costs, Fixed Costs & Excess Capacity Ultimately the problem Bridgeton is facing is related to fixed costs due to excess capacity. Once production lines are outsourced, the remaining fixed costs in OH which are not outsourced represent the excess capacity. This is a cost problem for the company as the other products must absorb this. The two obvious solutions to this problem are to cut these costs as much as possible.Through restricting initiatives this can be made possible. The other solution would be to increase demand of existing product lines. In the case of Bridgeton industries there is a need for a strategic shift to increase that demand. Continuing cost reduction initiatives are necessary, but a strategy to differentiate Bridgeton’ s products through quality, reliability, service, etc. could help increase demand and furthermore reduce the impact of excess capacity costs. Additionally if new overhead pools are created, as we recommended above, management should set standards for the activity on each product line.This will help control variable costs and keep the lines accountable for their own expenses. Supplies and small tools should only be purchased as need and overtime hours should be kept to a minimum. Fixed costs are absorbed evenly by each line, but can still be reevaluated by management. For example, a fixed asset audit can be performed to ensure that all assets that are being depreciated are truly in-service. Calculate the OH Rates The 1987 overhead rate used in the study was 435% of direct labor dollar costs. Bridgeton’s actual rate was 437% that year.Overhead rates for the remaining years are calculated below (OH / DL): As you can see the overhead rate for 199, which would be 752% without mani folds, is severely detrimental to the company financially. Clearly the consulting firm did not factor in the fixed costs associated with production when recommending the outsourcing of the manifold production line. Our conclusion is to continue producing manifolds going forward, and to adjust our cost reporting structure to better be able to analyze future strategic shifts such as outsourcing a product line.As a company if Bridgeton does not do a better job to understand the costs of the business, it will be very challenging to make the best business decisions in the long run. Calculations: GM% = (Sales – Direct Material – Direct Labor – Overhead) / Sales Product GM% = (Product Sales – Product DM – Product DL – Product Overhead) / Product Sales Product Overhead = Dept Overhead * DL Rate for product Product Costs = Direct Material + Direct Labor + Overhead DM Rate: (Direct Material / Total Direct Material) DL Rate: (Direct Labor / Total Direc t Labor)