1. The product I have chosen is the Dell Laptop. Dell is a company that was founded in Texas and is currently head-quartered in Round Rock, Texas. They specialize in the technology industry and are most famously known for their collection of PCs and laptops. Before this product is distributed it goes through the process of being assembled and manufactured. This means raw materials are collected to make the product as well as indirect materials that are used to keep it together and functioning properly. Employees are subject to direct labor by assembling its hardware and external pieces and another team is subject to direct labor by assembling the software, storage, data, and internal parts. And of course, all of this work is overseen by supervisors to ensure employees are doing their jobs correctly and efficiently, which would be an overhead cost. I think with Texas being such a large state in terms of population and land mass, it gave the Dell company the opportunity to expand its production units statewide, so that they were able to cut cost on distribution. Also, the ability to open more warehouses or factories for manufacturing allowed for there to be warehouses that specialized in a certain job. Meaning the process of producing the product could be done on larger scales, and more efficiently because warehouses that focus on only one part of the job versus the entire product are more proficient in specified areas of production. The role of a compensation specialist in HR is to determine how much the direct labor is worth. Typically, this is done by comparing the jobs in your firm to ones similar in other firms. HR personnel would find out how much other organizations pay the similar job, and scale it to their organization's geographical location, the firm's size, and the firm's budget. Compensation specialist and managers in firms are the ones who determine what a job is actually worth.

2. The item I will be choosing for this costing method is cowboy boots. Cowboy boots are very common in Texas, and almost every Texan owns a pair. An aspect of this product that aligns with job costing would be that each boot that is created is made out of different materials and has many variations of designs that could be made. Regarding materials, the shoes can be made of cowhide leather, alligator, snake, or even elephant skin. Texas is one of the leading manufacturers of these boots, so as a result, for production purposes, it will be easy to find a factory to partner with. When partnering with a factory, there are still some costs I will need to consider, like direct labor, direct materials, and overhead costs. Since cowboy boots are so popular, this item can be sold in almost every shoe store and even some clothing stores. Nearly every city in Texas has a store that sells cowboy boots, so there's always a demand for this product. As a strategic decision maker in a firm of this product from a marketing standpoint, you should consider what would make these boots more memorable than the ones already being produced. Since cowboy boots are so common, I need to think out of the box to market and sell these shoes. I would add more specs to the boots, like more comfortable soles or designs that aren't as common and have some personalization. The more personalized, the more the consumer will want to buy them and will feel more connected to the item.

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1 Dell Laptop Process Overview The Dell Laptop undergoes assembly and manufacturing processes involv... View the full answer