Question 2

Great Eastern Holdings Limited is a leading insurance company in Singapore, Malaysia, and other Asian countries.  

The company operates through Life Assurance, General Assurance, and Shareholders segments. The Life Assurance segment provides life, long-term health and accident, annuity, and unit-linked insurance products. The General Assurance segment offers short term property and casualty products, including fire or burglary insurance contracts and/or business interruption contracts, and public liability insurance contracts; and short term medical and personal accident general insurance products. This segment distributes its products through bancassurance, agents, brokers, financial advisors, and direct channels. The Shareholders segment provides fund management services for various products, such as the Asia Pacific equities, and Asian and global fixed income securities portfolios for Singapore statutory boards, government-linked corporations, public and private companies, insurance companies, and charity organizations. The company is also involved in the asset management, and property investment.[1]  

In its 2017 Annual Report, the Chairman and Group CEO stated that they were glad to announce a set of sterling results that showed improvement in profitability. This clearly showed that the company has been able to deliver values for their shareholders and customers based on clear and consistent strategies and the harnessing of technology to further improve overall productivity and operational efficiency without accompanying increased in costs.[2]

In an article issued by McKinsey & Company, “Successfully reducing insurance operating costs”, it was observed that “costs at the bottom-quartile players can be more than double of that of top performers”.[3]

Source:

[1] http://www.sgx.com/wps/portal/sgxweb/home/company_disclosure/great_eastern_holding

[2] Great Eastern Holdings Limited, Annual Report 2017

[3] McKinsey & Company, “Successfully reducing insurance operating costs - Insights from McKinsey’s Insurance 360º benchmarking”


ACC203e Tutor-Marked Assignment
SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SUSS) Page 4 of 5
Required:

(a) Define costs and in the context of an insurance company like Great Eastern Holdings Limited, give four examples of costs.

(b) Explain why in the study of management accounting, so much attention is focused on costs and efficiency.

(c) Define cost objects. Give four examples of cost objects from the case above. Explain why managers might be interested in knowing the costs?

Use the following information to answer the first 5 questions:

Suppose we wanted to estimate the average age of a certain group of divorced men during 1988 and took a random sample of (n = ) 100 giving us x =35.2 years old.

1. this is the symbol that represents the average age of the population
2. this is the amount of people in the sample
3. this is the average age found from our sample
4. this is the symbol we use to represent the average age of the sample
5. this is the population

Answer choices

(a) 35.2 (b) 100

(c) m (d) x

(e) the average age of a certain group of divorced men during 1988

Suppose we wanted to estimate the average age of a certain group of divorced men during 1988 and took a random sample of n = 7 and received the following ages: 37, 22, 31, 43, 39, 61, and 26.

6) Calculate . You can use a Google Spreadsheet if you’d like since you should know by now how to calculate averages this way. We will learn another way soon (which most of you know at this time from previous courses).

x = 37 years old Answer choices: (a) True (b) False

Use the following information to answer the next three questions and choose the best answer::

To determine the average height of Cornell University males, two Sociology students sampled 50 males, yielding an average height of 5’10”.

7) What is the population parameter of interest?

(a) two Sociology students

(b) 50 males

(c) the average height of Cornell University males

8) What is the sample?

(a) two Sociology students

(b) 50 males

(c) the average height of Cornell University males

9) What symbol would we use to represent the average height of 5’10” ?

(a) n

(b) x

(c) m

Decide if the following statements are descriptive or inferential.

10) About 85% of women in the US have a job.  

11) The mean grade on the MA 161 final given last semester was an 83.

12) Drinking bubble tea can raise cholesterol levels by 10%.  

Answer choices: (a) Descriptive (b) Inferential

Decide if the following statements are quantitative or categorical (if categorical whether they are binary)

13) The age of a groom on his wedding day.

14) Whether a spun penny lands on heads or tails.

Answer choices:

(a) Quantitative

(b) Categorical - not binary    

(c) Categorical - binary

15) Any x found is a parameter Answer choices: (a) True (b) False

Sage Landscaping began construction of a new plant on December 1, 2020. On this date, the company purchased a parcel of land for $138,000 in cash. In addition, it paid $2,160 in surveying costs and $4,560 for a title insurance policy. An old dwelling on the premises was demolished at a cost of $3,360, with $960 being received from the sale of materials.

Architectural plans were also formalized on December 1, 2020, when the architect was paid $32,400. The necessary building permits costing $3,360 were obtained from the city and paid for on December 1 as well. The excavation work began during the first week in December with payments made to the contractor in 2021 as follows.

The building was completed on July 1, 2021.

To finance construction of this plant, Sage borrowed $609,600 from the bank on December 1, 2020. Sage had no other borrowings. The $609,600 was a 10-year loan bearing interest at 10%.

Compute the balance in each of the following accounts at December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2021. (Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 5,275.)

Crane Landscaping began construction of a new plant on December 1, 2020. On this date, the company purchased a parcel of land for $145,200 in cash. In addition, it paid $2,400 in surveying costs and $3,840 for a title insurance policy. An old dwelling on the premises was demolished at a cost of $3,360, with $720 being received from the sale of materials.

Architectural plans were also formalized on December 1, 2020, when the architect was paid $31,200. The necessary building permits costing $3,360 were obtained from the city and paid for on December 1 as well. The excavation work began during the first week in December with payments made to the contractor in 2021 as follows.

The building was completed on July 1, 2021.

To finance construction of this plant, Crane borrowed $612,000 from the bank on December 1, 2020. Crane had no other borrowings. The $612,000 was a 10-year loan bearing interest at 8%.

Compute the balance in each of the following accounts at December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2021. (Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 5,275.)

Grouper Landscaping began construction of a new plant on December 1, 2020. On this date, the company purchased a parcel of land for $146,400 in cash. In addition, it paid $2,880 in surveying costs and $4,560 for a title insurance policy. An old dwelling on the premises was demolished at a cost of $3,360, with $960 being received from the sale of materials.

Architectural plans were also formalized on December 1, 2020, when the architect was paid $36,000. The necessary building permits costing $3,360 were obtained from the city and paid for on December 1 as well. The excavation work began during the first week in December with payments made to the contractor in 2021 as follows.

The building was completed on July 1, 2021.

To finance construction of this plant, Grouper borrowed $608,400 from the bank on December 1, 2020. Grouper had no other borrowings. The $608,400 was a 10-year loan bearing interest at 8%.

Compute the balance in each of the following accounts at December 31, 2020, and December 31, 2021. (Round answers to 0 decimal places, e.g. 5,275.)

Explain briefly the need for establishing credibility of a central bank. In particular, how does credibility help resolve the problem of ‘time inconsistency”. What institutional features are included in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Act 1989 to help maintain the credibility of monetary policy. What is the most crucial part of the ‘inflation targeting regime’ introduced by New Zealand in 1990 and copied by many countries around the world? Exactly how is this operationalized? How might the Federal Reserve’s introduction of “average inflation targeting” in 2020 help (or not) the US economy recover from the COVID-19 shock? In answering this question first explain what average inflation targeting is, how it is different from inflation targeting, and how it might affect inflation expectations. What are the problems regarding the credibility of average inflation targeting?

QUESTION 1

Explain briefly the need for establishing credibility of a central bank. In particular, how does credibility help resolve the problem of ‘time inconsistency”.

What institutional features are included in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Act 1989 to help maintain the credibility of monetary policy.

What is the most crucial part of the ‘inflation targeting regime’ introduced by New Zealand in 1990 and copied by many countries around the world? Exactly how is this operationalized?

How might the Federal Reserve’s introduction of “average inflation targeting” in 2020 help (or not) the US economy recover from the COVID-19 shock? In answering this question first explain what average inflation targeting is, how it is different from inflation targeting, and how it might affect inflation expectations. What are the problems regarding the credibility of average inflation targeting?

1. Explain briefly the need for establishing credibility of a central bank. In particular, how does credibility help resolve the problem of ‘time inconsistency”.                                                                                                    

2. What institutional features are included in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Act 1989 to help maintain the credibility of monetary policy.                                                                                                                  

3. What is the most crucial part of the ‘inflation targeting regime’ introduced by New Zealand in 1990 and copied by many countries around the world? Exactly how is this operationalized?                                                       (5 MARKS)

4. How might the Federal Reserve’s introduction of “average inflation targeting” in 2020 help (or not) the US economy recover from the COVID-19 shock? In answering this question first explain what average inflation targeting is, how it is different from inflation targeting, and how it might affect inflation expectations. What are the problems regarding the credibility of average inflation targeting?           

Could you please recommend some thesis statements, Research questions, problem statements for my MBA Thesis,

Topic: Block chain Technology

Starting with various types of cryptocurrencies

Q5. What is the role and importance of market analysis in marketing planning?

(Please the Expert needs to submit a detailed answer which must be a standout in a very competitive MBA Marketing Class).