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Q.1 – What caused the existing system at ETO to fail?
The primary reason for the failure of Electronic Testing Operations’ (ETO) existing cost accounting system is ETO’s reliance on a labour-based overhead allocation system, which relied on an arbitrary cost-driver (i.e. overhead rate based on total pooled overhead costs and direct labour costs) (Turney, 1988, p. 2-3). The cost driver is based entirely on direct labour and assumes that all the components utilise direct labour and overheads in an equal proportion, but does not allocate overheads based on machine usage. Excluding this last point is not convenient due to the high utilisation of mechanical inputs that most of the components require (Turney, 1988, p.9). The labour-based overhead allocation system did not permit fluctuations in direct labour (for example, a decrease in direct labour hours dramatically increased the overhead rate across all customers) and thereby led to inaccuracy in determining costs (Turney, 1988, p.3). Since overheads constitute a huge proportion of the total costs, an inaccurate distribution of these overheads lead to inaccurate cost predictions and, in-turn, lead to unfavourable management decisions since managers have difficulties in identifying components that are unprofitable and products that are overpriced.

The inaccuracy in allocation of overheads has increased over time due to the following factors: * Steady decline in the direct labour hours per lot tested as a result of (a) dependence on vendor certification, (b) shift from simple inspection services (direct labour) to broader-based test technology (indirect labour) and (c) highly automated technology (Turney, 1988, p.3); * Dependence on vendor certification that led to a decrease in the number of tests performed; * Introduction of high technology equipment (Turney, 1988, p.3); and * High equipment

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