The concepts that we’re learning this quarter underlie decisions made by managers every day around the world. I think we gain an important perspective on our studies when we understand the implications of the decisions in the real world. Managers also have to be able to communicate their decisions, so it is important to practice writing memorandums. In order to get full credit for this assignment, you need to do all of the following:

1. [8 points] Find a news article that relates to a topic we covered in Weeks 1-4 material (for example, you could find an article that discusses the importance of properly classifying costs, job order costing application, process costing application, companies that did not understand their product costs-i.e. any articles discussing direct materials, direct labor, or manufacturing overhead costs). Please note that we did not discuss pricing in any way in Weeks 1-4 so an article about prices only would not be okay.

•  Requirements:
• [4 points] While I want the article to be related in some way to the topics we’ve covered in Weeks 1-4, “related” will be interpreted loosely. You have a chance to explain how it is related (see below), and I want you to focus on finding an interesting article that in some way relates but we’re going to give leeway.
• [2 points] Article must have been written in the last 10 years.
• [2 points] Article must be from a reputable source.

2. [2 points] Post a link to the article on the Managerial Accounting in the News Assignment #1 Padlet. Link is available in the Canvas Assignment.

• Please search the Padlet before posting your article to make sure that we do not have repeat articles. I’d like to see some variety.
• If the article is behind a paywall, you must upload a pdf of the article so that everyone can easily read it.

3. [14 points] Write a summary of the article and upload the summary to Canvas, including the following information:

• [1 point] A link to your article
• [3 points] Paragraph 1: Summarize the article in your own words
• [3 points] Paragraph 2: Explain how the article relates to a concept we’ve covered in class (this paragraph could be one sentence or a few if needed).
• [3 points] Paragraph 3: Write a paragraph about the importance or significance of the information in the article.
• [3 points] Paragraph 4: Write an opinion paragraph in which you include what you think about the matter. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Is it good or bad? Why?
• [1 point] Uploading the summary to Canvas

Don’t forget to proofread your summary. While we will not be grading on writing quality, per se, we will take off a point if there are substantial spelling an grammatical mistakes. Your message is only as good as you can communicate it to your audience, so it is important to practice writing professional memos.

4. [6 points] Read another student’s article and comment on the article in the Padlet.

• Include the following in your comment:
• [2 points] 1 thing you learned from the reading
• [2 points] 1 thing you found particularly interesting
• [2 points] 1 question you still have about the information in the reading
• While you do not have to agree with the position in the article, please keep your comments polite and respectful.
• You do not need to do anything in Canvas for this part of the assignment, just pos the comment in the Padlet (don’t forget to include your name in the comment).