Costs may be classified in a variety of ways.One approach classifies costs into three categories,manufacturing,upstream,and downstream.These costs are sometimes referred to as an organization's value chain.Costs incurred by the Branscome Bicycle Company are described in the following table:
1234567891011121314 Decription of Cost Depreciation on the finished goods warehouse Cost of bicycle chains Cost of testing a new prototype Research and development costs Salary cost of the Vice President of Research Sales commissions Transportation costs for shipping bikes to retailers Costs of indirect materials such as bicycle chain oil Costs of customer service representatives Labor costs of plant manager Rent costs for the factory Depreciation of machinery used to test new manufacturing procedures Labor costs of production employees Costs of advertising the company’s products Upstream Manufacturing Downstream Required:
Classify each of the above costs as being an upstream,manufacturing,or downstream cost by inserting a check mark in the appropriate column.
Distribution
In statistics, the way in which values of a variable are spread or dispersed across possible values.
Contribution Margin
The amount remaining from sales revenue after all variable expenses have been deducted, indicating the contribution towards covering fixed costs and generating profit.
Scarce Resource
An economic term referring to a resource that has limited availability in relation to its demand, leading to allocation decisions.
Opportunity Cost
The cost of forgoing the next best alternative when making a decision.