Units
Strategic Management Accounting
Unit code: AYN506
Contact hours: 3
Credit points: 12
Information about fees and unit costs
Strategic Management Accounting develops a theory of organisations that provides an understanding of the information requirements of management to facilitate strategic planning, decision-making and control. This unit prepares students for a world of unstructured problem-solving and develops skills in managerial decision-making by the use of current research articles to ascertain how managers can design organisations to motivate individuals to make choices that increase firm value. Topics include: the management of control systems; performance evaluation and compensation incentives; transfer pricing. New management accounting practices, activity-based costing, the balanced scorecard, and economic value added, are evaluated using the latest research.
Availability
| Semester | Available |
|---|---|
| 2013 Semester 2 | Yes |
Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2012
Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.
Rationale
Important: There is a restriction on the total enrolments in this unit. Initial enrolment is restricted to students who have been pre-approved.
For continuing students, pre-approved study plans are provided on the School of Accountancy Postgraduate Student Community Blackboard site (the link for this site should appear on the QUT Blackboard homepage and listed under My Communities).
For students who are yet to commence their QUT study, your pre-approved study plan will also appear on the School of Accountancy Postgraduate Student Community Blackboard site which will be periodically updated to allow access to your pre-approved study plan. Alternatively, you may contact the Postgraduate Administration Officer (sarahjane.barker@qut.edu.au ) for study plan advice.
If resources permit, then consideration will be given to students who wish to seek approval to amend their pre-approved study plan.
Management accountants are value-adding members of management teams concerned with the provision and use of accounting information for strategy implementation, management planning, and control in organisations. The unit aims to provide in-depth understanding of how management accounting systems can be designed to support the strategy of an organization. It will enable students to design and evaluate systems for strategic planning, control and performance measurement and will give students an appreciation of the behavioral aspects of management accounting systems. The unit will familiarise students with the dynamism of contemporary management accounting practices based on documented real-life practices. This unit ensures students can identify problems and apply important analytical skills they will need when making decisions within firms.
Aims
This unit aims to provide students with a systematic, comprehensive framework for analysing organisational problems and an understanding of the latest research in this area. As well, this unit aims to help students to develop a better understanding of the internal processes of an organisation and the role of management accounting in organisational performance, including decision-making, planning and control. The unit purports to help students appropriate themselves the logic of management accounting beyond the mere application of techniques. After the unit, you should be able to reflect on the organisation as a management accountant understanding its specificities and constraints.
Objectives
Course Learning Goals (Postgraduate)
The QUT Business School has established the Assurance of Learning (AoL) Goals to meet contemporary industry needs and standards. Achieving these learning outcomes will assist you to meet the desired graduate outcomes set at QUT - aligned with other internationally renowned business schools. Students will develop the following capabilities relevant to a contemporary global and sustainable business environment:
Have knowledge and skills pertinent to a particular discipline (KS)
1.1 Well-researched knowledge and critical understanding applied to issues at the forefront of a specialised discipline area
1.2 Ability to select and use effectively a range of tools and technologies to locate and/or generate information appropriate to the disciplinary context
Be critical thinkers and effective problem solvers (CTA)
2.1 Apply logical, critical and creative thinking and judgement to generate appropriate solutions to problems in the disciplinary context
Be professional communicators in an intercultural context (PC)
3.1 Ability to create and present professional documents and/or reports using high levels of analysis/synthesis/evaluation for a range of contexts and audiences
3.2 Ability to orally communicate and justify ideas and information, at a professional level, for a variety of contexts and audiences, including peers and discipline specialists
Be able to work effectively in a Team Environment (TW)
4.1 Operate effectively and with flexibility to achieve common goals in collaborative settings, using a range of skills, including leadership, negotiation, reflection, proactivity and support for team members
Have a Social and Ethical Understanding (SEU)
5.1 Apply knowledge of the ethical, social and cultural dimensions relevant to business situations, including appropriate standards or codes of practice, to provide courses of action
Unit Objectives
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Reflect as a management accountant and be a worth partner or organizational members (CEO, CFO, employees)
2. Establish conceptual and practical connections between management accounting, strategy, organizational life and basics of capital markets and corporate finance
3. Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of organisational problems, the internal processes of an organisation and the role of management accounting in organisational performance, including decision-making, planning and control
4. Design a consistent and convincing management accounting system supported by strong arguments
5. Understand the human dimension of management accounting in practice and the impossibility of full rationality
The specific course learning goals and unit objectives that apply to this unit are shown in the assessment section of this unit outline.
Content
The following provides a brief overview of indicative content:
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
The teaching and learning strategies used in this unit are designed to facilitate the achievement of aims and objectives of the unit. Before the seminar, students will prepare both the background readings and the research articles for presentation. As well, the students will prepare written answers to the problems and case studies (detailed in a handout). For each case and problem, there is no expected solution. Any numerical answer must be detailed with plain text. Data in the cases are deliberately truncateed for students to reflect on ways to reconstruct them and compute them. Assumptions must be clarified, hypotheses must be explicitly made and tested through computations. Numerical figures should in no way be considered the end of the case; they should serve to support a decision. All cases should be written as if you were in the shoes of a management accountant reporting to the CEO, CFO or assembly of shareholders. Redaction and persuasiveness are crucial to this course unit.
The approach taken in the seminars involves:
Assessment
Students will receive feedback in various forms throughout the semester which may include:
- Informal: worked examples, such as verbal feedback in class, personal consultation
- Formal: in writing, such as checklists (e.g. criteria sheets), written commentary
- Direct: to individual students, either in written form or in consultation
- Indirect: to the whole class
Assessment name:
Case Study Reports
Description:
Objective: To convincingly articulate a working management control solution in a specific organisational and strategic context and to prove a deep knowledge of management control technologies and their applicability in a specific context.
The case studies consist of practical questions that should apply to real-life cases from the unit's texts. Answer should rest on theoretical issues and concepts of managerial accounting and strategy. The project will involve two comprehensive case studies. Students will be required to prepare a report to management that outlines suggested organisational changes and a working management control solution.
Length/Duration: Two case study reports, each of 2,000 words (maximum). Each case study is worth 20%.
Formative or Summative:Formative and Summative
Relates to objectives:
Unit objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and AOL goals: KS (1.1), CTA (2.1,) PC (3.1)
Weight:
40%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Group
Due date:
Weekly in class
Assessment name:
Academic paper discussion
Description:
Students are expected to identify the management control/accounting issue addressed and how the case company coped with it. In a nutshell, students are expected to compare the case proposed against what they have known from prior courses on the topic. They are expected to explain the extent to which the situation observed is representative of the accounting topic, surprising, or just different. In case of differing or surprising situations, students should endeavour to explain the reasons what handbooks prescribe.
Length/Duration: 2,000 words (maximum)
Formative or Summative: Formative and Summative
Relates to objectives:
Unit objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and AOL goals: KS (1.1), CTA (2.1,) PC (3.1)
Weight:
20%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Group
Due date:
TBA
Assessment name:
Final examination
Description:
The final examination will be a take-home exam. Students will be placed in a novel strategic management accounting situation in which they are to make a decision in the capacity of a management accountant or a consultant in management control. For that purpose, they will be expected to clarify the assumptions they make in the design of a management accounting system or model. The latter should be consistent with organisational peculiarities and strategy.
Length/Duration: 2,000 words (this does not include coverpage, references, notes)
Formative or Summative: Summative
Relates to objectives:
Unit objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and AOL goals: KS (1.1), CTA (2.1,) PC (3.1)
Weight:
40%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Central exam period
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.
A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.
Resource materials
Prescribed Text
The course booklet is available on the unit blackboard.
Recommended Reference
Berry, A., Broadbent, J. and Otley, D. (2005). Management Control: Theories, Issues and Performance . London: Palmgrave McMillan.
Hopper, T., Northcott, D. & Scapens, R. (2007). Issues in Management Accounting. 3rd edition. London: Prentice Hall.
Hoque, Z. (2003). Strategic management accounting: concepts, processes and issues. Sydney: Spiro Press.
Risk assessment statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with lectures or tutorials in this unit. You should, however, familiarise yourself with evacuation procedures operating in the buildings in which you attend classes and take the time to
view the Emergency video.
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Last modified: 20-Jul-2012
