All business people must make decisions. Decision-making involves critical evaluation and analysis of the information at hand, and this takes practice. Thoughout FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING the authors have integrated important tools to help students develop strong decision-making skills.

CASES FOR DECISION MAKING

This text features three kinds of cases to give students opportunities to practice making decisions in realistic business situations.

• Conceptual Cases offer a wealth of resources to help instructors and students pull together the learning for the chapter. This section offers problems and projects for those instructors who want to broaden the learning experience by bringing in more real-world decision making, analysis, and critical thinking activities. The elements of the Conceptual Cases are as follows:
  • Group Decision Cases help students build decision-making skills by analyzing accounting information in a less structured situation. These cases require evaluation of a manager&s decision, or they lead to a decision among alternative course of action. As group activities, these cases promote teamwork, thus helping prepare students for the business world, where they will be working with teams of people.
  • Communication Activities give students practice in communicating to different audiences in varying writing modes¥letters, reports, memos, explanations, and analysis. These are skills much in demand by employers.
  • Since the ability to read and understand business publications is an asset over the span of one&s career, Research Assignments direct students to annual reports or articles published in The Wall Street Journal and other popular business periodicals for further study and analysis of key topics.
  • Ethics Cases contain typical ethical dilemmas and ask students to analyze the situation, identify the stakeholders affected, describe the ethical issues involved, and decide on an appropriate course of action.

• Using Your Judgement at the end of the text requires students to use the decision tools presented in the chapters in realistic business situations. They are intended to be richer and more challenging than a traditional problem but are still targeted at an introductory level student. Elements include:

  • Financial Reporting Problems
  • Financial Statement Analysis Cases
  • Comparative Analysis Cases
  • International Reporting Cases

• AICPA Cases, developed and distributed under the AICPA Case Development Program, aim to strengthen the interaction between practitioners and educators, and better acquaint educators and students with practical issues in the profession. Cases in the text are:
  • Kingfisher Insurance Company
  • Global Candy Company
  • The Tampa Bay Renegades
  • Evaluating the Valuation Allowance
  • New FASB Statement, Letís Change the Contract
  • Hilburn Technology, Inc.
  • New Horizons, Inc.
  • Johnston Gin Company, Inc.
  • The Leslie Fay Companies Case
  • Introducing the ARC Plan

DEVELOPING SKILLS THROUGH PRACTICE

• TAKE ACTION Interactive CD and Web Site Technology offers many opportunities to for interactive skill development.

• End of Chapter Assignment Material
  The authors have provided a comprehensive set of review problems and homework material at the end of each chapter to help students cement their understanding and refine their analytical skills. The material includes:
  • Questions which provide a full review of chapter content and help students prepare for class discussions and testing situations.
    
  • Brief Exercises that build students’ confidence and test their basic skills. Each exercise focuses on one of the Study Objectives.
    
  • Each of the Exercises focuses on one or more of the Study Objectives. These tend to take a little longer to complete and present more of a challenge to students than Brief Exercises. The Exercises help instructors and students make a manageable transition to more challenging problems. Certain exercises help students practice business writing skills.
    
  • Each Brief Exercise, Exercise, and Problem has a description of the concept covered and is keyed to the Study Objectives.
    
  • Spreadsheet Exercises and Problems, identified by an icon, can be solved using Solving Managerial Accounting Problems Using Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel for Windows.