You Are a Cost Accountant for a Firm That Specializes

question 10

Essay

You are a cost accountant for a firm that specializes in "small" (under 10 billion dollars) defense contracts for specialty electronics products, such as fully portable, miniaturized CD-ROM imaging stations and global positioning transmitters/transponders. Your company is well respected in this field. One project up for competitive bids is a Field Service, Hands-Free, Individual Multi-Protocol Secure Communicator (a battlefield version of a cellular telephone, but built into each soldier's helmet, and containing necessary encryption technology). The Department of Defense wants 8 of these experimental devices to test their practicality. You have reviewed the contract specifications, and estimated that the first FSHFIMPSC should require 2350 hours, and that the product is subject to a 75% learning curve. All costs of the project (machine purchase, machine time, direct and indirect labor, and materials) have been bundled (allocated) into an hourly labor rate of $172 per hour. Determine the total project cost using the provided data.

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Definitions:

Personality

The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character, involving patterns of thought, feelings, and behaviors.

Sigmund Freud

An Austrian neurologist and the founding father of psychoanalysis, a method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst.

Social Psychologist

A scientist who studies how individuals think, influence, and relate to each other within a social context.

Personality Traits

Enduring characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinct character, influencing behaviors and attitudes.