The Commando Motorcycle Company has decided to become decentralized and split its operations into two divisions, Motor and Assembly. Both divisions will be treated as investment centers. The Motor Division is currently operating at its capacity of 30,000 motors per year. Motor's costs at this level of production are as follows: Motor sells 10,000 of its motors to a snowmobile manufacturer and transfers the remaining 20,000 motors to the Assembly Division. The two divisions are currently in a debate over an appropriate transfer price to charge for the 20,000 motors. Motor currently charges the snowmobile manufacturer $200 per motor. The final selling price of the motorcycles that Commando produces is $7,200 per cycle. This selling price will not change regardless of the transfer price charged between the two divisions. Motor has no market for the 20,000 motors if they are not transferred to Assembly. Variable selling and administrative costs are incurred on both internal and external sales.
-Division N has asked Division M of the same company to supply it with 10,000 units of part P782 this year to use in one of its products. Division N has received a bid from an outside supplier for the parts at a price of $25.00 per unit. Division M has the capacity to produce 50,000 units of part P782 per year. Division M expects to sell 46,000 units of part P782 to outside customers this year at a price of $26.00 per unit. To fill the order from Division N, Division M would have to cut back its sales to outside customers. Division M produces part P782 at a variable cost of $17.00 per unit. The cost of packing and shipping the parts for outside customers is $1.00 per unit. These packing and shipping costs would not have to be incurred on sales of the parts to Division N.
Required:
a. What is the range of transfer prices within which both the Divisions' profits would increase as a result of agreeing to the transfer of 10,000 parts this year from Division N to Division M?
b. Is it in the best interests of the overall company for this transfer to take place? Explain.
(Note: Due limitations in fonts and word processing software, > and < signs must be used in this solution rather than "greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to" signs.)

Question

The Commando Motorcycle Company has decided to become decentralized and split its operations into two divisions, Motor and Assembly. Both divisions will be treated as investment centers. The Motor Division is currently operating at its capacity of 30,000 motors per year. Motor's costs at this level of production are as follows:  Motor sells 10,000 of its motors to a snowmobile manufacturer and transfers the remaining 20,000 motors to the Assembly Division. The two divisions are currently in a debate over an appropriate transfer price to charge for the 20,000 motors. Motor currently charges the snowmobile manufacturer $200 per motor. The final selling price of the motorcycles that Commando produces is $7,200 per cycle. This selling price will not change regardless of the transfer price charged between the two divisions. Motor has no market for the 20,000 motors if they are not transferred to Assembly. Variable selling and administrative costs are incurred on both internal and external sales.
-Division N has asked Division M of the same company to supply it with 10,000 units of part P782 this year to use in one of its products. Division N has received a bid from an outside supplier for the parts at a price of $25.00 per unit. Division M has the capacity to produce 50,000 units of part P782 per year. Division M expects to sell 46,000 units of part P782 to outside customers this year at a price of $26.00 per unit. To fill the order from Division N, Division M would have to cut back its sales to outside customers. Division M produces part P782 at a variable cost of $17.00 per unit. The cost of packing and shipping the parts for outside customers is $1.00 per unit. These packing and shipping costs would not have to be incurred on sales of the parts to Division N.
Required:
a. What is the range of transfer prices within which both the Divisions' profits would increase as a result of agreeing to the transfer of 10,000 parts this year from Division N to Division M?
b. Is it in the best interests of the overall company for this transfer to take place? Explain.
(Note: Due limitations in fonts and word processing software, > and < signs must be used in this solution rather than "greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to" signs.)

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer of The Commando Motorcycle Company has decided to become decentralized and split its operations into two divisions, Motor and Assembly. Both divisions will be treated as investment centers. The Motor Division is currently operating at its capacity of 30,000 motors per year. Motor's costs at this level of production are as follows:  Motor sells 10,000 of its motors to a snowmobile manufacturer and transfers the remaining 20,000 motors to the Assembly Division. The two divisions are currently in a debate over an appropriate transfer price to charge for the 20,000 motors. Motor currently charges the snowmobile manufacturer $200 per motor. The final selling price of the motorcycles that Commando produces is $7,200 per cycle. This selling price will not change regardless of the transfer price charged between the two divisions. Motor has no market for the 20,000 motors if they are not transferred to Assembly. Variable selling and administrative costs are incurred on both internal and external sales.
-Division N has asked Division M of the same company to supply it with 10,000 units of part P782 this year to use in one of its products. Division N has received a bid from an outside supplier for the parts at a price of $25.00 per unit. Division M has the capacity to produce 50,000 units of part P782 per year. Division M expects to sell 46,000 units of part P782 to outside customers this year at a price of $26.00 per unit. To fill the order from Division N, Division M would have to cut back its sales to outside customers. Division M produces part P782 at a variable cost of $17.00 per unit. The cost of packing and shipping the parts for outside customers is $1.00 per unit. These packing and shipping costs would not have to be incurred on sales of the parts to Division N.
Required:
a. What is the range of transfer prices within which both the Divisions' profits would increase as a result of agreeing to the transfer of 10,000 parts this year from Division N to Division M?
b. Is it in the best interests of the overall company for this transfer to take place? Explain.
(Note: Due limitations in fonts and word processing software, > and < signs must be used in this solution rather than "greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to" signs.)

The Commando Motorcycle Company Has Decided to Become Decentralized and Split