(a) During a month, 4500 units were introduced into process A. The normal loss was estimated at 8% on input. At the end of the…

(a)(i) Statement of equivalent production

Input is 4,500 units. Normal loss is 8% of 4,500 = 360 units, and actual scrap is 500 units, so abnormal loss is 500 − 360 = 140 units. Output accounts for 2,600 + 1,400 + 500 = 4,500 units.

Normal loss is excluded from the statement. Abnormal loss is treated as 100% complete in all elements, as the scrapped units have passed through the whole process.

Material: finished units 2,600, work in progress 1,400 × 80% = 1,120, abnormal loss 140, total equivalent units 3,860.

Labour: 2,600, 1,400 × 60% = 840, and 140, total 3,580.

Overheads: 2,600, 1,400 × 50% = 700, and 140, total 3,440.

(a)(ii) Cost of abnormal loss, finished goods and closing stock

Material cost = ₹10,500 + ₹2,400 = ₹12,900, less the scrap value of normal loss (360 × ₹3 = ₹1,080) = ₹11,820. Labour is ₹5,460 and overheads ₹3,490.

Cost per equivalent unit: material ₹11,820 ÷ 3,860 = ₹3.0622; labour ₹5,460 ÷ 3,580 = ₹1.5251; overheads ₹3,490 ÷ 3,440 = ₹1.0145. Total = ₹5.6018 per unit.

Abnormal loss: 140 × ₹5.6018 = ₹784. Finished goods: 2,600 × ₹5.6018 = ₹14,565. Closing work in progress: material 1,120 × ₹3.0622 = ₹3,430, labour 840 × ₹1.5251 = ₹1,281, overheads 700 × ₹1.0145 = ₹710, together ₹5,421.

Check: 784 + 14,565 + 5,421 = ₹20,770, which equals total cost ₹21,850 less normal-loss scrap ₹1,080.

(a)(iii) Process A account and abnormal loss account

Process A account. Debit side: input 4,500 units ₹10,500; direct material ₹2,400; direct labour ₹5,460; production overheads ₹3,490; total ₹21,850. Credit side: normal loss 360 units ₹1,080; abnormal loss 140 units ₹784; finished goods transferred 2,600 units ₹14,565; closing work in progress 1,400 units ₹5,421; total ₹21,850.

Abnormal loss account. Debit side: Process A account ₹784. Credit side: sale of scrap, 140 × ₹3 = ₹420, and transfer of the balance ₹364 to the costing profit and loss account, giving a total of ₹784 on each side.

(b) Objectives of portfolio management and evaluation ratios

Objectives: (i) safety of principal; (ii) stable current income; (iii) capital growth; (iv) diversification to cut unsystematic risk; (v) liquidity; (vi) tax efficiency; (vii) returns that suit the investor's risk appetite and horizon.

Evaluation ratios: (i) Sharpe ratio, (portfolio return − risk-free return) ÷ standard deviation; (ii) Treynor ratio, the same excess return ÷ beta; (iii) Jensen's alpha, actual return minus the return expected from CAPM; (iv) beta, sensitivity to the market; (v) standard deviation of returns; (vi) information ratio, active return ÷ tracking error; (vii) Sortino ratio, excess return ÷ downside deviation; (viii) coefficient of determination, R².

(c) Non-profit marketing: the challenge and its dimensions

Marketing is harder for non-profit organisations for several reasons. There is no profit or sales figure to judge success, and the aims, such as social change, are hard to measure. They serve several publics at once: beneficiaries, donors, volunteers, government and the public, each needing a different approach. What they offer is often an idea or a behaviour change, such as hygiene or vaccination, which people resist and which has no immediate personal reward. Budgets are limited, depend on donations, and the sector is under public scrutiny, so promotion spending is questioned. Services are intangible and the beneficiaries are often not those who pay.

The dimensions of non-profit marketing, after Kotler, are these. Organisation marketing builds image and trust, as the Red Cross does. Person marketing promotes a leader or candidate. Place marketing attracts visitors or investment, as tourism boards do. Idea or social marketing promotes causes and behaviour change, as in Pulse Polio, Swachh Bharat and anti-tobacco campaigns. Service marketing delivers health, education or relief, as in the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme. It also works in two markets, a resource market of donors and volunteers and a client market of beneficiaries, with a marketing mix adapted to each.