Cost managment∶accounting and control 第十五章解答手册.doc

CHAPTER 15productivity measurement and control questions for writing and discussion 1. Total productive efficiency is the point where technical and allocative efficiency are achieved. It is the point where the optimal quantity of inputs is used to produce a given output. 2. Technical efficiency means that for any mix of inputs, no more of any one input is used than necessary. Allocative efficiency means that the least costly and most technically efficient mix is chosen. 3. Productivity measurement is a quantitative assessment of productivity changes. 4. If the productivity ratio (output/input) has only one input, then it is a partial measure. If all inputs are included, then it is a total measure of productivity. 5. An operational productivity measure is expressed in physical terms, whereas a financial productivity measure is expressed in dollars. 6. Partial measures can be misleading since they do not consider possible trade-offs among inputs. They do, however, allow some assessment of how well individual factors are being used and, additionally, often serve as input to total measures. Total measures are preferred because they provide a measure of the overall change in productivity, and they allow managers to assess trade-offs among inputs. 7. A base period serves as a standard or benchmark for assessing changes in productive efficiency. 8. Profile measurement and analysis computes a series of operational partial productivity measures and compares this series with the corresponding series of the base period to assess the nature of the productivity changes. Profile analysis does not indicate whether productivity changes are good or bad when trade-offs among inputs exist. No value is attached to productivity changes. 9. Profit-linked productivity measurement and analysis is an assessment of the amount of profit change—from the base period to the current period—attributable to productivity changes. 10. Profit-linked productivity measurement allows managers to asses