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2020/2021  KAN-CASCO1005U  Implementation of Accounting

English Title
Implementation of Accounting

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Peter Skærbæk - Department of Accounting (AA)
Main academic disciplines
  • Accounting
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 09-04-2021

Relevant links
Learning objectives
The purpose of the course is to offer the students the opportunity to develop their skills to understand and analyse the effects and conditions of accounting in practical settings in business life as well as the public sector. The focus is on a variety of theories from sociology, economic sociology and organizational theory that are used to understand empirically the processes of the use and implementation of accounting. The course is also designed to develop the students’ skills in applying interpretive case study methods that can be used in project work and thesis writing.

At the exam the students must be able to:
Understand the processes of the use and implementation of various accounting techniques and concepts.
Be able to apply and use the theoretical models for analysis of practical cases/examples
Evaluate and compare the use and strengths/weaknesses of each theory presented in the course.
Course prerequisites
Admission req.
Bachelor level
Examination
Implementation of Accounting:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Group exam
Please note the rules in the Programme Regulations about identification of individual contributions.
Number of people in the group 2
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
2 students have to write 10 pages. Please note students may choose to write individually. One student has to write 8 pages.
Assignment type Case based assignment
Duration 72 hours to prepare
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Summer and Summer
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Accounting systems, techniques, concepts and reports are used in organizations and companies to improve efficiency/effectiveness and facilitate internal and external accountability to third party agencies such as owners and the wider society. The course puts focus on how such accounting devices are developed and used in practice to understand how and weather expected effects are achieved in practice. The course contains the following core elements:
The processes of implementing accounting systems and concepts such as ABC and BSC
The strategies of external and internal reporting and how annual reports are part of strategy

The implementation of enterprise risk management systems
The link between accounting and strategy (from bean counter to strategic accountant
How accounting systems influence employees’ identities (the skepticisms and resistances to accounting change)

How accounting concepts are diffused globally and implemented in various local companies and organizations

The performativity of economic theories to strategy and the mediating role of accounting.

The roles of experts like consultants and auditors in strategic and organizational change processes.
Description of the teaching methods
Research and theory based dialog lectures are mixed with cases and student presentations. To maximize the outcome of the course it is highly recommended that the students establish groups for reading and discussion.
Involvement of the students is an important part of the learning principle – this done through dialog, casework and presentations.

The teaching is supplemented by short online lectures and assignments

Development of individual and social skills (competencies)
Through dialog and presentations the student will develop their oral skills. Since cases are prepared and presented in teams the students will also develop cooperative skills.
Feedback during the teaching period
Students get feedback on comments and questions in lectures and feedback on student presentations and exercises both in class and if they participate in online case work.
Student workload
Teaching 33 hours
Exam Preparation 80 hours
Preparation 93 hours
Expected literature

A collection of articles from books and scientific journals. Examples are:
Skærbæk and Tryggestad (2010). The role of accounting devices in performing corporate Strategy. Accounting, Organizations and Society.
Granlund and Lukka (1998). It is a small world of management accounting practices. Journal of Management Accounting Research.

Hayne and Free (2014). Hybridised professional groups and institutional work: COSO and the rise of enterprise risk management.  Accounting, Organizations and Society

Themsen, N. and Skærbæk, P. (2018). The performativity of risk management frameworks and technologies: the translation of uncertainties into pure and impure risks. Accounting, Organizations and Society.

Christensen, M., Skærbæk, P. and Tryggestad (2019) Contested organizational change and accounting in trials of incompatibility. Management Accounting Research.

Christensen and Skærbæk (2010). Consultancy outputs and the purification of accounting technologies. Accounting, Organizations and Society

Callon (1986) Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and fishermen of St. Brieuc Bay. In: Law (Ed). Power, Action and Belief: a New sociology of knowledge, pp. 196-233.
Last updated on 09-04-2021