EXC 2122 Strategic Management Accounting
EXC 2122 Strategic Management Accounting
Strategic management accounting focuses on defining and describing important causal relationships between factors that contribute to creating long-term values for the firm. By designing controlling systems that help us to evaluate the companys ability to implement its overall strategies and plans, management theory, strategic planning and accounting together form a holistic framework for long-term decision-making.
The course focuses on theoretical models, various tools and techniques to support the decision-making process for management with real-life cases and exercises.
After completed course students shall have acquired knowledge about:
- The link between the various activities carried out by an organization and its consumption of costly resources
- How the design of a value chain model can be used as a tool to analyze the various activities contribution to value creation as well as how multi-dimensional process analyses can be used to improve process efficiency.
- Allocation of costs to various cost objects by using traditional methods as well as activity based costing techniques.
- The need to establish long-term goals and to determine critical success factors and Key Performance Indicators, as well as designing strategy maps.
- How strategic decisions may tie up the organizational resources on a long term and the link between strategies, plans and budgets.
- How the organization can measure the implementation of its current strategy plan by the use of Balanced Scorecards.
- How traditional budgeting models can be improved to better facilitate different control purposes.
- How the lean-philosophys continuous focus on reducing organizational waste can contribute to long-term value creation.
- Challenges of achieving success by efficiently implementing processes that require actual change in organizational behavior.
After completed course students shall be able to:
- Identify relevant cost drivers in a given organization, an activity or a business process
- Design a value chain for a given organization or business process
- Design models for allocation of direct and indirect costs to given cost objects
- Define critical success factors, suggest relevant KPIs, design a strategy map and a scorecard as a basis for implementing Balanced Scorecard.
- Measure the efficiency of various business processes
- Design tools for budgeting and other financial planning
- Identify sources for organizational waste by the use of lean-philosophy methods
- The students shall reflect on management accounting in a strategic and long-term perspective, where the goal is to use resources optimally to create operational efficiency and value creation.
Part one - Strategic Performance Management: Management control challenges, The Balanced Scorecard, definifing well-functioning KPIs, strategy mapping and measuring
Part two - Financial planning and budgeting: Budgets as a tool for financial simulation, cash flow forecasting, balance sheet budgeting.
Part three Understanding cost behavior and The Value Chain: Cost driver, primary and supporting activities, The Positioning School vs. The Resource Based View
Part four - Cost allocation and more advance costing models: Activity Based Costing, finding the costs for excess capacity
Part five - Business Process Analyses and The Lean Philosophy - Improving process efficiency with Lean concepts
The course consists of lectures and self-tuition (reading the syllabus and doing exercises/assignments that are both mandatory and voluntary). Throughout the course, the students shall discuss and solve a number of case-oriented business problems from the private and public sector.
Students are expected to use spreadsheets (e.g. Excel) when solving and submitting assignments.
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EXC 3442 Managerial Accounting and EXC 3452 Financial Reporting and Analysis, or equivalent
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 5 Hour(s) Exam code: EXC 21221 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination every semester |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 26 Hour(s) | Participation in theory-based lectures. |
Feedback activities and counselling | 16 Hour(s) | Participation in exercise and case based lectures |
Group work / Assignments | 18 Hour(s) | Participation in exercise seminars organized by student tutor |
Group work / Assignments | 60 Hour(s) | Solving assignments alone and in student groups. |
Student's own work with learning resources | 50 Hour(s) | Text book, articles and class preparation |
Examination | 30 Hour(s) | Including preparation |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.