Management Accounting

Management Accounting

Number of Aston credits: 6

Number of ECTS credits: 3

1. Staff Member Responsible for and Teaching the Module:

Finance, Accounting & Law Group, Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle

Birmingham B4 7ET, UK

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +44(0)121 204 3045 Dr. Simon Alcouffe

Associate Professor of Management Control Economics, Finance & Control Department EM Lyon Business School

23, avenue Guy de Collongue 69134 Ecully Cedex France Email: [email protected]

Phone: +33 04 7218 4635

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Ulrich Küpper

Institute of Production Management and Management Accounting, LMU Munich Ludwigstr. 28, RG, 80539 Munich

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +49 89 2180 3321

Others Contributing to the Module:

Institute of Production Management and Management Accounting, LMU Munich Ludwigstr. 28, RG, 80539 Munich

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +49 89 2180 3889 Dr. Pascal Langevin

Professor of Management Control

Economics, Finance & Control Department EM Lyon Business School

23, avenue Guy de Collongue 69134 Ecully Cedex France Email: [email protected]

2. Pre-requisites for the Module:

3. Module Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

This module emphasizes the use of accounting information to facilitate effective management decisions. It is intended to enable participants to develop a thorough understanding of the most important methods used in the practice of Management Accounting. Naturally, what accounting data are interesting and how they might be used depend on what the manager is seeking to accomplish and what other information is available. For this reason lectures comprise a wide variety of different instruments designed to get the suitable information for making proper management decisions. Studies centre on how accounting systems and accounting information are structured for managerial planning, decision-making and performance evaluation. Topics include cost determination, cost control and analysis, budgeting, capital investment analysis and managerial performance evaluation.

Specific objectives are:

• The primary focus of this course is to prepare students to think and act as members of the middle and senior management team and to develop critical skills to make rational and sound business decisions. Deduced purposes are:

a) To appreciate the relevance and importance of business planning and control in all types of organizations.

b) To develop knowledge and understanding of key theories, concepts and models in Management Accounting.

• An adjunct objective is also for the students to develop the skills to use the tools of Management Accounting.

4. Module Content:

Week 1 Lectures, case study seminars, individual & group learning & preparation

Lecture 1 (Day 1) Introduction to Management Accounting

Lecture 2 (Day 1) Partial costing systems: variable costing, direct costing, marginal costing

Lecture 3 (Day 2) Full costing systems (1): “traditional systems” (including job order/processing costing issues)

Lecture 4 (Day 2) Full costing systems (2): Activity-Based Costing, Target Costing

Lecture 5 (Day 3) Management Accounting data for short-run decision-making

Lecture 6 (Day 4) Management Accounting data for long-run decision making

Lecture 7 (Day 5) Budgets & standard costing/variance analysis

Each lecture takes 2 hours. Days 1 and 2 will be composed of one lecture in the morning and one in the afternoon. The case studies will be included in the afternoon sessions of days 3 and 4. Day 5 will again be composed of one lecture in the morning and one in the afternoon. Specific excercises will complement each of the lectures. Students are supposed to prepare the reading, the exercises as well as the case studies before and after the session they are scheduled for. During the sessions mainly questions concerning the reading and problems with parts of the homework will be discussed. The rest of the time is planned for highlighting and explaining the most important aspects in the literature for the scheduled concepts and methods. Lectures 3, 4 and 8 will include arguments concerning the cultural differences that can be found in Management Accounting.

Week 2 Individual Study

Individual Course Revision Assessment Preparation Office Hours

Examination

Individual reading and study, together with lectures, are designed to achieve the first learning objective.

Case study analysis and exercises, initially individually and subsequently in syndicate groups, are designed to achieve the second learning objective.

5. International Dimensions:

Case studies, readings and examples concern enterprises and market environments around the world. The influences the resulting cultural differences have on the design of Management Accounting and its instruments will be one of the major topics for the lectures. Throughout the course, there will be a strong emphasis on issues relating to Management Accounting in a global environment.

6. Corporate Connections:

Case studies of real world firms are used. From time to time outside speakers may be brought in to speak to Management Accounting research classes. This is done on an ad-hoc basis and probably not more than once or twice a year for any given module.

7. Contribution of Research:

EM Lyon contributes to the Management Accounting Module integrating its research in the following areas: (1) adoption and diffusion of management accounting & control innovations, (2) relationships between management control systems and organizational behaviour, and (3) strategic cost management. Research in the first area contributes to the module as whole regarding the cultural aspects of management accounting practices across different countries. Research in the second area specifically aims at contributing to lectures 7 and 8 in their behavioural dimensions. Research in the third area mostly contributes to lectures 4 and 8.

Munich contributes to the Management Accounting Module integrating its research regarding the investment theoretic foundation of cost accounting. The main goal in doing so is to integrate the short run perspective of lectures 1 to 5 with the long-run perspective which is in the focus of lecture 6. This will enable students to get a thorough understanding for some of the most important connections between the different methods and tools discussed throughout the course.

Ongoing studies highlighting various problem sets arising for the subject of Management Accounting in the light of the emerging field of business ethics (i.e. regarding cultural differences) as well as possible solutions are also addressed during the course. This way participants will learn about future challenges for the subject and possible directions for its further development.

8. Method of Teaching:

Individual reading, study and exercise preparation, lectures and case study analysis. For the contribution of each to the learning objectives see Module Content above.

9. Method of Assessment:

The module will be assessed via an examination worth 100% of the final grade. The exam is designed to test subject knowledge, analytical skills in applying that knowledge to the case study, and ability to communicate through the written word. Its main purpose is to ascertain that the two student learning objectives outlined in section 3 of this module outline have been achieved. As a result, the 2 hour examination will comprise of a set of questions concerning various aspects of Management Accounting as covered in the lectures, readings and case analyses.

10. Learning Hours

Lectures 16

Office hours (lecturer availability) 2 Individual case prep/analyses 8 Individual exercise prep/solution 12 Private study/directed reading 20

Assessment 2

Total 60

11. Essential Reading:

Demski, Joel S. (2004): Managerial Uses of Accounting Information, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Horngren, Charles T./Sundem, Gary L./Stratton, William O. (2004):Introduction to Management

Accounting, 13th Edition, Prentice Hall International.

Drury, Colin (2006): Management and Cost Accounting, 6th Edition, Thomson Learning.

12. Indicative Bibliography:

Atkinson, Anthony A./Kaplan, Robert S./ Young, S. Mark S. (2003): Management Accounting, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall International.

Cooper, Robin (1993): Activity-Based Costing for improved Product Costing, in: Handbook of Cost Management, edited by Barry J. Brinkner, New York 1993, S. 103-152.

Cooper, Robin/Kaplan, Robert S. (1998): The Design of Cost Management Systems: Text and Cases of Cost Management Systems, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall International.

Küpper, Hans-Ulrich (1991): Multi-Period Planning and Managerial Accounting, in: Modern Production Concepts – Theory and Applications, edited by G. Fandel and G. Zäpfel, Heidelberg et.al. 1991, S. 46-62.

Küpper, Hans-Ulrich/Friedl, Gunther/Pedell, Burkhard (2005): Relevance Added: Combining ABC with German Cost Accounting, in: Strategic Finance, June 2005, S. 56-61.

Küpper, Hans-Ulrich/Mattessich, Richard (2005): Twentieth Century Accounting Research in the German Language Area, in: Accounting, Business and Financial History (15) 2005, S. 345-409.

13. Useful Journals and Magazines Include:

Accounting and Business Research Accounting Horizons

Accounting, Organizations and Society Advances in Management Accounting Contemporary Accounting Research International Journal of Accounting

International Journal of Accounting Information Systems Journal of Accounting and Economics

Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance Journal of Accounting Literature

Journal of Accounting Research Journal of Cost Management

Journal of Management Accounting Research Management Accounting Research

Research in Accounting Regulation Review of Accounting and Finance Review of Accounting Studies

Studies in Managerial and Financial Accounting The Accounting Reciew

Campaign Economist Financial Times Fortune

Marketing Week (CIM publication until March 2004) The Marketer (CIM publication post March 2004)