• Read, analyse and interpret management accounting reports concerned with economic analysis of multi-product or multi-segment organizations and ask significant questions regarding the costing practices used to prepare such reports
• Describe and understand different management accounting systems and discuss their strengths and limitations from a decision making perspective
• Critically reflect on and assess the value and relevance of specific management accounting systems in a particular organizational setting.

Objectives

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of management accounting’s role as a facilitator of timely and relevant management information for decision making. The course provides a framework for analysing and understanding these accounting systems (like budgeting, management reporting, analysis and management of cost, responsibility accounting and transfer pricing as well as the design of comprehensive approaches to performance management). Moreover, the course aims at equipping students with relevant skills for supporting decision making based on an economic foundation.

Class preparation

The material for this course consists of one textbook with corresponding exercises/cases as well as supplementary readings. It is expected that all students prepare all readings and exercises/cases for each class.

It will significantly enhance your learning in the course if you have been able to identify the kind of management accounting decision that each case or exercise addresses and made an attempt at applying the appropriate technique(s) to the questions presented in the exercise/case using a spread sheet before coming to class. However, there will also be some time in class to discuss the assignments with your fellow classmates before we go through the solutions together.

Given the centrality of spreadsheets as a working tool for management accounting we will address some basic matters of good spread sheet design during the first class (MA1).

Class participation

The lectures will be conducted in a dialogue manner. Issues and models will be presented, and their potential merits will be open for discussion.

Cases and exercises will take up a good part of the teaching because management accounting is an applied discipline that is best learned by doing.

A thorough analysis of the issues in the exercises/cases, and suggestions for their solution, will be expected. The participants’ job experience can often be a particularly useful source for adding to our mutual understanding, and is therefore most welcome!

Textbook:

• Seal, W., Rohde, C., Garrison, R.H. & Noreen, E.W. (2015) Management Accounting, Fifth Edition (SRGN)
   

Additional readings:

• CGMA (2014) Executive Summary: Global Management Accounting Principles, available to download: http:/​/​www.cgma.org/​Resources/​Reports/​Pages/​GlobalManagementAccountingPrinciples.aspx?utm_source=cimaglobal&utm_medium=principles
• Kaplan, R. S., & Anderson, S. R. (2004). Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing. Harvard Business Review (November), 131-138.
• Libby, T. & Lindsay, M. (2010). Beyond budgeting or budgeting reconsidered? A survey of North-American budgeting practice, Management Accounting Research (21), 56-75
• Kaplan, R. S. & Norton, (1996) Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system. Harvard Business Review (Jan/Feb), 75-85
• Shank, J. K. & Govindarajan, V. (1988). Making Strategy Explicit in Cost Analysis: A Case Study. Sloan Management Review, 29(3), 19-29.