Abstract
•Case examines how economic forces impact revenue & cost functions of a scrap metal recycler.•Global economic data, commodity prices, wages, trade balance & currency exchange rates are considered.•Introduces scrap metal recycling as a component of sustainability.•This international case can be used independently, or with the Atlas managerial accounting companion case.
Atlas Scrap Metal is an automobile recycler that reclaims and sells steel and other mixed metals. The purpose of the Atlas international business case is to allow you to explore how revenues, costs and production functions vary across countries and are influenced by global economic forces. The case requires you to research and analyze global economic data to determine which export markets are likely to offer the highest bids for Atlas’ product of reclaimed mixed metals. Often revenues and costs such as direct labor, materials and overhead are given in accounting cases and problems. This case provides you with an opportunity to consider the economic forces, and volatility, that influence revenue and cost assumptions. There is a companion case, Atlas managerial accounting case: Examining joint products in the international scrap metal recycling industry, which quantitatively analyzes the company’s decision to export the mixed metals or to process the metals further. The Atlas scrap metal cases were inspired by Adam Minter's 2013 book Junkyard Planet and introduce you to the business of recycling scrap metal as a component of sustainability.