GRA 6232 Management Control
GRA 6232 Management Control
The management accounting or controller role has recently undergone drastic changes. The former “bean counter” has made room for the internal business consultant, acting as a translator of financial information into meaningful business scenarios for managerial decision making at senior and/or divisional or business-unit level.
The context of accounting has become one of flexible, decentralized organizations with a strong strategic and service orientation. The accounting toolkit itself has experienced similar changes, and now includes tools and approaches that explicitly incorporate competitive strategy arguments while adopting multiple levels of analysis. The active use of technology for analytical and reporting purposes has equally increased in importance, and is embedded in the various topical elements of this course.
This course addresses the knowledge and skills as necessary to fulfil a Controller or CFO role in organizations, and is closely related to the course Advanced Management Accounting (P2) of the CIMA professional qualification as Chartered Global Management Accounting™.
After completing the course, students should have knowledge about:
- Performance measurement and management; including financial and non-financial performance measurement, performance report generation and integration with responsibility centers, budget control and its behavioral consequences, alternatives to budgeting as a control mechanism, and transfer pricing.
- Project appraisal and pricing decisions including cash flow prognosis and identification of cash drivers, the time value of money and capital budgeting techniques, and pricing techniques and strategies for various competitive situations and business models.
- Cost planning and profitability analysis including activity-based costing & management tools and techniques total quality management (TQM) techniques, target costing, life-cycle costing, value analysis, and learning curve-based cost prediction.
- Management control & risk including financial sensitivity analysis under conditions of risk and uncertainty, business risk management, and analytical systems for information acquisition and use.
After completing the course, students should be able to:
- Make decisions using accounting and control information
- Manage projects and processes (people skills)
- Use information systems and analytical technologies
- Drive performance management initiatives (leadership skills)
Reflective skills acquired are in the managerial awareness that numbers drive behaviour, and, vice versa, behaviour drives numbers. Furthermore, that the integration of financial and non-financial information requires professional integrity and an ethical stance towards business consequences and computational outcomes.
Topics covered include:
- cost planning and analysis for competitive advantage;
- control and performance management of responsibility centres;
- long-term decision-making tools and analytics;
- management control;
- accounting information systems and business analytics.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on itslearning or text book.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
Computer-based tools: There is a consistent and continuous integration of computer-based tools across all course topical areas, both for analytical casework and decision support as for computational exercises and reporting scenarios in different business and competitive contexts (B2C, B2B, SMEs, and MNCs). Students can expect to perform most, if not all, coursework online, using various computer tools.
The course is designed as a continuous flow of interaction and exchange that is not limited to the days of face-to-face classroom encounters, but also takes place online. Participants can expect a fast-paced exchange of information and frequent online communication for the full duration of the course. The teacher is an active participant in these learning dialogues and will not limit himself to a classroom presence.
The course revolves around casework and exercises (the trees), with lecture inserted to explain the purpose and the role within a larger, managerial framework (the wood). Students are required to see the wood for the trees, as well being able to cut a tree and make (decision-making) furniture.
Cases and exercises questions need to be answered online and analytically supported, using relevant software and technology platforms. Cases focus on the integration of computational aspects of an encompassing business situation while exercises focus on the narrower computation and analysis of a single decision-making situation. Cases are purposely selected to reflect the uncertainty and complexity context of managerial decision-making, requiring both interpretation and judgement as well as analytical prowess. Cases will change and be updated every single teaching period.
Coursework might involve collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) for purposes of assessment and certification examination.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Class participation Weight: 30 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Class participation Exam code: GRA62321 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation and discussion Weight: 30 Grouping: Group (5 - 7) Duration: 20 Minute(s) Comment: Groups are decided by the teacher in the 3d course session. Students will present their casework as a group for an audience of all class members and selected external professionals. The case discussion is moderated by the teacher. Exam code: GRA62321 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 40 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Comment: Written examination under supervision Exam code: GRA62321 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.