GROUP ASSIGNMENT PART I List the six steps in the decision-making process.

Explain the difference between the two steps: specifying the criterion and developing a decision model. i. In which step is the management accountant most heavily involved? Explain. ii. Assume that a decision-making process has been underway for a while and that three alternatives have been developed. At the last step in the process, the managers suddenly realise there is another alternative. Describe which steps in the decision-making process will have to be revisited in order to consider this new alternative. PART II i. Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative characteristics. ii. At what point in the six-step decision-making process do the qualitative characteristics have an impact? PART III i. One characteristic of information that is essential in order for the information to be useful for decision making is relevance. What are the other two characteristics? ii. Frequently there is a conflict between the two characteristics requested in Question (i), describe why this conflict exists. iii. What distinguishes relevant information from irrelevant information? PART IV i. The managers of firm ST are facing a decision to further process product J2 before sale. J2 is one of three joint products provided by a manufacturing process. Product J2 presently is sold immediately after split-off. However, product J2 can be processed further and sold for a higher price. The overall volume of activity is not expected to change. Are the joint costs allocated to product J2 relevant for this decision? Explain your answer. ii. The managers of firm LT are facing a decision to discontinue the operation production process. This process begins with a joint process that yields three products. Each of the three products is further processed after the split-off point. The costs of the entire production process are broken down into two major categories: costs of the joint process before split-off and after split-off. Discuss the relevance of each of these categories of costs to the decision to discontinue the entire production process.