1-24 Management accountants guidelines and roles in a company. (LO 4) Stephen Bergstrom is the new corporate controller of a multinational company that has just overhauled its organizational structure. The company is now decentralized. Each division is under an operating vice-president who, within wide limits, has responsibility and authority to run the division like a separate company.

Bergstrom has a number of bright staff members. One of them, Bob Garrett, is in charge of a newly created performance analysis staff. Garrett and staff members prepare monthly division performance reports for the company president. These reports are division statements of comprehensive income, showing budgeted performance and actual results, and they are accompanied by detailed written explanations and appraisals of variances. In the past, each of Garretts staff members was responsible for analyzing one division; each consulted with division line and staff executives and became generally acquainted with the divisions operations.

After a few months, Bill Whisler, vice-president in charge of Division C, stormed into the controllers office. The gist of his complaint follows:

Your staff is trying to take over part of my responsibility. They come in, snoop around, ask hundreds of questions, and take up plenty of our time. Its up to me, not you and your detectives, to analyze and explain my divisions performance to central headquarters. If you dont stop trying to grab my responsibility, Ill ra