CHAPTER THREE:
METHODOLOGY
I. INTRODUCTION
So far we have already tried to lay the bases for the
continuation of our study; much has been done to give the reader an insight
into the theory of job costing and the related costing techniques that can be
used in conjunction with that costing method. An overview of the pricing theory
has also been done and we have tried to relate the costing theory to that of
pricing and we can now assume that it is possible to draw or formulate a
pricing policy depending on our cost information.
In order to make these theories relevant, we need to apply
them to a particular or real-life case. It was mentioned at the beginning of
the study that SOPECAM and its product, the newspaper Cameroon tribune,
constituted our area of interest. We will therefore try to adapt the costing
and pricing theories to the case of SOPECAM. Before we reach that level, some
specifications have to be made about the way the study will be conducted and
this constitute the core of this chapter.
As such, this chapter will be aimed at first providing a
background information on the area of study, it will then concentrate on the
techniques that will be used to analyse the situation by specifying the
variables of the study, the model that will be used to analyse the data, which
may have been collected using particular techniques and finally, some
precisions will be made about the sampling plan.
II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON
THE STUDY AREA
The Cameroon News and Publishing Corporation (SOPECAM) is a
State-owned enterprise whose headquarters are located in Yaoundé, the
Nation's Capital. The principal activities of this enterprise consist in
publishing and printing the bilingual daily newspaper «Cameroon
Tribune», the collection and sale of news, and finally some printing and
publishing works. This commercial and industrial enterprise placed under the
administrative supervision of the Minister of communication, is today 25 years
old.
On the 1st July 1974, date of the launching of the
daily newspaper «Cameroon Tribune», SOPECAM has not yet been given
birth; the publishing, printing and distribution of this newspaper was done
through three enterprises, namely:
Ø AGRACAM: The French acronym for «Ateliers
Graphiques du Cameroon»
Ø SCP S.A.: The French acronym for Societe Camerounaise
de Publication
Ø ACAP: The French acronym for «Agence
Camerounaise de Presse».
These three enterprises continue to assure the publishing of
«Cameroon Tribune» until the creation of SOPECAM by the presidential
decree N° 77/250 of the 18 July 1977 aimed at the creation and
organisation of SOPECAM. This corporation was the result of the vertical merger
of the three preceding enterprises. The capital of this enterprise amounted to
CFA 250,000,000. Concerning the legal side of the operation, this corporation
is a complete legal entity having its life distinct from that of its unique
owner (the State) and financially, this enterprise is also completely
autonomous; finally the enterprise is ranked at the second category of the
State-owned enterprises.
When creating this enterprise, the Cameroonian State was
trying to solve two mains problems:
Ø Firstly, there was a political wish to organise into
a unique entity the vast sector of the public written press, in order to ease
the collection and spreading of the news and the printing and publishing of
newspapers.
Ø Secondly, from an economic point of view, there was a
need to reduce the operating costs of AGRACAM, SCP and ACAP.
Later run, SOPECAM was reorganised through a second decree,
the decree N° 85/1716 of the 12 December 1985; this decree brought about
some changes in the structure of SOPEACM
As it is common with any human organisation, SOPECAM had some
major goals to be achieved when the enterprise was created, we will try to list
and explain these goals.
OBJECTIVES OF SOPECAM AT ITS CREATION
On the 18th July 1977, SOPECAM had as main goals
the following:
Ø To try by all the appropriate means to obtain the
components of complete news in and out of Cameroon.
Ø Through alliances and contracts with foreign news
agencies, make sure that international news will be constantly available to the
public.
Ø To make all the national and foreign news available
to all users, be them public or private users from within and without the
National territory, in the form of newspapers, periodicals, telegraphic means,
at some cost, with a view of providing the world with better information about
the life, political, economic, social and cultural activities.
Ø To provide public and private users with publishing
services.
Ø To provide public and private users with printing
services.
But, in order to achieve these objectives, SOPECAM needs to
have enough resources, especially financial resources.
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