Learning outcomes and personal development reflections

Designing, conceptualizing, and computing the costs of production involved critical thinking at each step of the project. From the time we developed the idea of a garden ornament, we had envisioned our target market and determined most of our fixed and variable costs. We learned what goes into the entire system of production, and how each step of the process influences the next. Using a systems approach, we could also understand how changes to either fixed or variable costs would affect the total costs. We learned to differentiate clearly between different methods of costing. For example, our lawn ornament is not custom-designed and the materials are relatively uniform in price. Therefore, process costing methods make more sense than job order costing in determining the price per unit.

We learned also how to perform an overall accounting analysis. Because the project was similar to a real-world situation, the assignment enhanced understanding of the managerial accounting process. We can therefore apply what we learned during this assignment to helping businesses with their managerial accounting.

The most challenging aspects of the project included determining contribution margins and ratios. We had to estimate a certain number of sales. Also, we determined a target profit and the break-even point. These procedures involved quite a bit of brainstorming and critical thinking and showed how such analyses might affect project management. Computing cycle time, process time, throughput and production rate were all extremely helpful exercises that helped enhance our overall understanding of the managerial accounting process.

What we learned during this assignment also included the hands-on work of production and project management. The actual labor that went into the manufacturing process helped us to better quantify the value or cost of that labor. Working as a team, we also learned valuable leadership lessons such as how to delegate authority, organize tasks, prioritize, and manage time.

We spent a lot of time thinking about the investment into our fixed costs including the welding machine and work shed. During the design phase, we also evaluated the cost of each and every item that went into the manufacture of the lawn ornament. Knowing that the cost of every screw would affect the eventual price, we kept in mind the cost of other similar products on the market. For example, we noticed that similar lawn ornaments do not sell for much more than $20 and we therefore wanted to keep our product within that range. We differentiated our product because of its inclusion of familiar items in the manufacturing process, which offer a "green" look and feel to the ornament. For example, we painted washers white then used them as eyes instead of finding a supplier of specially-made eyes. This not only kept costs down, but was integral to the design process.