The Discussion Board (DB) is part of the core of online learning. Classroom discussion in an online environment requires the active participation of students and the instructor to create robust interaction and dialogue. Every student is expected to create an original response to the open-ended DB question as well as engage in dialogue by responding to posts created by others throughout the week. At the end of each unit, DB participation will be assessed based on both level of engagement and the quality of the contribution to the discussion.
At a minimum, each student will be expected to post an original and thoughtful response to the DB question and contribute to the weekly dialogue by responding to at least two other posts from students. The first contribution must be posted before midnight (Central Time) on Wednesday of each week. Two additional responses are required after Wednesday of each week. Students are highly encouraged to engage on the Discussion Board early and often, as that is the primary way the university tracks class attendance and participation.
The purpose of the Discussion Board is to allow students to learn through sharing ideas and experiences as they relate to course content and the DB question. Because it is not possible to engage in two-way dialogue after a conversation has ended, no posts to the DB will be accepted after the end of each unit.
James Williams (fictitious) was recently hired as the executive director for the Reach The World Mobile Telephone Company (RTWMTC). As part of his goal to manage and improve the company’s spending and income, he asks you to explain the importance of budgeting for the RTWMTC.
For this assignment, you must answer the following questions:
- Why is budgeting necessary for RTWMTC?
- Identify and explain at least three reasons.
- Who should be involved in the budgeting process and why? Explain in detail.
- What will happen if RTWMTC does not properly budget?
- Explain two specific possible outcomes in detail.
In your own words, please post a response to the Discussion Board and comment on at least two other postings. You will be graded on the quality of your postings.
Response to this classmate post:
Unit 1 Discussion Board
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American Intercontinental University
Budgeting is the process in which an individual or company uses a spreadsheet to create an itemized summary of likely income coming in and expenses going out for a given period of time (Duke University, 2014). In the business aspect, budgeting is a very important and necessary tool for a company to use in order for executives and other insiders to completely understand the breakdown of the flow of money that takes place every day. A budget can provide the company with a concrete and organized view of what expenditures are wasteful, and can also assist the company in adapting quickly to financial changes.
When it comes to the recently hired executive director for Reach The World Mobile Telephone Company (RTWMTC), James Williams, a budget would definitely help him in achieving his goal of managing and improving the company’s spending and income. Budgeting is necessary for RTWMTC because it will allow them to manage the money that is flowing in and out of the company. They will easily be able to see what expenditures can be terminated due to wastefulness or redundancy. Using an annual or future time budget can help them outline the expected needs of each department within their company and whether or not these needs can be easily met. The company can also use a budget to plan for future growth and expansion. This can be done by the company reviewing previous budgets and identifying that there was left over capital due to unexpected growths in sales revenue or left over money that was not used for that year (Vitez, 2014). Any saved capital can then be placed in a reserve account designated for new business opportunities. Therefore, the company will have a reserve amount of money on hand when quick decisions are needed and a rare and opportunity comes along that needs to be acted upon.
The insiders of the company that need to be involved in the budgeting process are many. Everyone with authority within the company should be aware of the budget that they need to be basing their transactions. Every department head should be intimately aware of the amount of money that the executives have allocated to them in order to run their department efficiently. The executives of the company will have the biggest influence when creating the budget but department heads should have a role in creating the budgets since they know what is needed within their department to keep production at the required levels. Furthermore, the accounting and administrative departments should be involved with the creation of the budget since they will be involved with the company’s finances on a daily basis. All of these people must work together in order to create a budget that will reflect the company’s priorities and that will act as a strict guide for spending and decision making (University of North Carolina, 2014).
There are many different negative outcomes that can result from a company not creating and adhering to a budget. Not having a budget would rob the company of a detailed financial plan. First of all, they will not know and will not be aware of any financial concerns for that period and will not be able to immediately know how much money is in their accounts and what amounts are going in and out at any given period. The company could be spending out of their means and they would not be aware of it and could end up with a negative balance. Another consequence of not having a budget would be missed business opportunities due to the fact that the company would not be able to react quickly to a possible investment. Finally, when a company does not have a budget, the right amounts are not allocated to the different departments within the company and this could be detrimental. Departments or the whole company could fail due to increased spending.
Duke University. (2014). What is a budget and why is it important? Retrieved from:
http://www.personalfinance.duke.edu/manage-your-finances/budget/overview
University of North Carolina. (2014). How do we prepare a budget? Retrieved from:
http://www.unc.edu/~wfarrell/SOWO883/Readings/preparingabudget.htm
Vitez, Osmond. (2014). Why is it important for a business to budget? Retrieved from:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-business-budget-385.html
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