BØK 3541 Managerial Accounting and Control

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

BØK 3541 Managerial Accounting and Control


Responsible for the course
Tor Tangenes

Department
Department of Accounting - Auditing and Law

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
This course builds on BØK 3411 Finance and Managerial Accounting I, BØK 3421 Finance and Managerial Accounting II og BØK 3531 Financial Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis. The course is structured according to a generic management cycle and relate to real business problems. The course focuses on planning and management of value creation process and relevant decision support for value creation, both in situations where the strategy is given and in situations of strategic corrections, based on learning.

Learning outcome
Acquired knowledge
The students shall acquire knowledge of:

  • How the field of management accounting and control relates to value creation, and how the strategic process can be managed by means of the balanced scorecard.
  • Business planning by means of budgets.
  • The resource-based and the positioning-based view as main explanations of value-creation and competitive advantage.
  • Value chain descriptions of the firm as basis for process and activity analyses.
  • Cost relevance
  • Activity-based costing.
  • The lean philosophy and multi-dimensional process analysis.
  • Value analysis, including revenue and cost relevance.
  • Financial performance metrics and the measurement of effectiveness.

Acquired skills
The students shall acquire skills about:
  • The causality and suitability of objectives and measures in a balanced scorecard model, and be able to elaborate strategy maps in concrete cases.
  • The preparation of budgets and analysis of budget information with respect to the financial implications of intended activities
  • The allocation and analysis of costs in an activity structure, including allocation of costs between departments and between activities, from activities to products and customers, and between used and unused capacity.
  • The preparation and assessment of profitability analyses.
  • The adjustment of financial accounting data for effectiveness and performance measurements, and the assessment of the firm’s effectiveness.

Reflection
After taking the course, the students shall acknowledge management control as a contextual field, where conflicts of interest and ethical norms affect management actions .

Prerequisites
(BØK 3411 Finance and Managerial Accounting I and BØK 3421 Finance and Managerial Accounting II), (BØK 1113 Managerial Accounting and BØK 1121 Finance I) or equivalent.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Gjønnes, Svein H. og Tor Tangenes. 2013. Arbeidsbok til Økonomi- og virksomhetsstyring. 2. utg. Fagbokforlaget
Gjønnes, Svein H. og Tor Tangenes. 2014. Økonomi- og virksomhetsstyring : strategistøtte ved prestasjonsstyring, ressursstyring og beslutningsstøtte. 2. utg. Fagbokforlaget


Recommended reading

Course outline
Part 1: Planning and management of value creation process
About Managerial Accounting and Control
Goals and objectives
Strategy maps and strategic issues
Measures, validity and reliability
The budget roles and interaction with other tools
The budget as a tool to test the financial and capacity-related impact of possible plans
Performance measurement of financial metrics

Part 2: Decision Support for the creation
Value drivers, cost drivers and the value chain analysis
Resource and cost concepts
cost relevance
Allocation of costs and the cost centers
ABC-costing

Part 3: From analysis to improvement
Lean philosophy
Multidimensional process analysis


Computer-based tools
Students are expected to use spreadsheets (e.g. Excel) when solving and submitting assignments. Students must use It's learning to submit mini-exercises.

Learning process and workload
The course consists of lectures, assignment reviews by the lecturer and self-tuition (reading the syllabus and doing exercises/assignments that are both mandatory and voluntary). Each student must hand in three mandatory assignments.

Throughout the course, the students shall discuss and solve a number of case–oriented business problems from the private and public sector.

Recommended workload in hours:
Activities
Hours
Participation in theory-based lectures
14
Participation in assignment reviews by lecturer
14
Participation in case discussions and solutions
14
Preparations for case solutions, individually and team-based, organized by the students
48
Preparations for lectures (approx. 1.5 hours per hour of lectures or assignment reviews by lecturer)
63
Work on mandatory assignments (approx. 3,5 hours per assigment)
12
Preparation for exams
35
Recommended total hours used
200

The plenary sessions will consist of lectures on parts of the syllabus and review of assignments. Students are expected to work on those parts of the syllabus that are not covered by the lectures or the assignment reviews. The lectures and assignment reviews are based on students having prepared for the lectures (i.e. that the students have read the syllabus and have solved the assignments before the lectures start).


Required work (mandatory assignments)
There are three mandatory assignments during the semester, of which students must get approved two. The assignments are to be submitted through It's learning.

A minimum level of performance is required for the exercises to be approved (e.g. a minimum number of questions must be correctly answered). Further information will be given in the lectures and through It's learning. The students will be allowed to take the tests repeatedly before the deadline of each test. Information about the time period for the tests to be taken, will be announced on It's learning.

Feedback to the students during the semester will be given in the following ways:
  1. During the lectures the students will be told which excercises are to be solved for the next lecture. The lecturer will review some of these excercises in class. The feedback will consist of the students comparing their solutions with the one that is explained by the lecturer.
  2. Feedback on the mandatory assignments will be given automatically through It’s learning. In addition a recommended solution will be made available.

E-learning
The e-learning platform It’s learning is used by the e-learning centre to administrate the mandatory exercises, and make students able to communicate with each other ant the Lecturer. Module sessions are carried out at the beginning of the semester and before exams. The e-learning students are also offered a study guide which is an educational guide to the syllabus.

Recommended workload in hours:
Activities
Hours
Participation in theory-based lectures
8
Preparations for case solutions, individually and team-based, organized by the students
30
Work with litterature, mandatory assignments and activities at It's learning
127
Preparation for exams
35
Recommended total hours used
200

    Coursework requirements
    To be able to sit for the examination, the students must get approved two of three mandatory assignments. See learning process and workload.

    Examination
    A five-hour written exam concludes the course, which counts for 100 % of the grade.

    Examination code(s)
    BØK 35411 - Written exam, counts for 100 % of the grade in the course BØK 3541.

    Examination support materials
    Interest tables and a BI-defined exam calculator are allowed. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS BA II Plus™
    Examination support materials at written school examinations are specified on @BI. Please notice what is said about the use of calculator. https://at.bi.no/EN/Pages/Exa_Hjelpemidler-til-eksamen.aspx


    Re-sit examination
    Re-sit examination is offered every term.
    Students that have not got approved two of the mandatory assignments must re-take the exercises in connection with the next scheduled course. The coursework requirements must be approved in order to sit for the examination.
    Students that have not passed the written examination or who wish to improve their grade must re-take the examination in connection with the next scheduled examination.


    Additional information