APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

MAN 4072/4073/4074/4075 Consulting Services for Chartered Accountants and Auditors

Responsible for the course
Tor Olav Nordtømme, Erik Aadland

Department
Department of Accounting - Auditing and Law

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
30

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
Small and medium sized companies play an important role in Norwegian business life. Many of these companies are managed by persons without degrees in business and administration, and they often turn to their chartered accountants and auditors to discuss their business challenges. The accountants and auditors often lack competence exceeding Bachelor level within management accounting, management and strategy though, and need to study these areas more thoroughly in order to have a better professional basis to enabling them to place the consulting role in a more long-term and systematic perspective.

The target group for this program is therefore accountants and auditors that wish to expand their professional platform in order to be more successful in a structured consulting function for their clients, mainly in the small and medium sized company segment.

Learning outcome
This program is designed to give the participants a better knowledge about current theories that link management accounting, strategy and management together. Emphasize is put on giving the participants a holistic perception of the whole curriculum, so that the topics are not treated as separate theoretical areas.
We also focus widely only practical use of relevant models and tools, in adequate problem areas pertaining to the daily business of Norwegian small and medium sized companies.
After completing the program the participants are expected to be able to function in a “CFO for hire”-role and to coordinate the long term goals and resource management of an enterprise, by having a permanent function in a management team.

Acquired knowledge
The students shall acquire knowledge about:
- 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 budgeting and forecasting
- Measuring profitability of planned financial activity
- Measurement of financial performance and value creation
- Value chain descriptions of the firm as basis for process and activity analyses
- Activity based costing
- Multi-dimensional process analysis
- Concepts in strategic analysis
- Theoretical perspectives to explain companies’ competitive situation and advantages
- Relevant analytical framework, tools and methods in strategic planning
- Different management styles and sources of creating management efficiency
- Contributing and managing efficient management teams
- Values and principles in the Scandinavian management and consulting tradition
- The role as consultant, discussion partner and coach and the expectations in the role of the consultant
- Methods for organizational development and handling organizational change
- How to manage yourself in a consulting situation

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 design strategy maps in concrete cases
- 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 utilized and excess capacity
- The preparation of budgets and forecasts and assessment of behavioral and managerial aspects of different planning models
- The preparation and assessment of profitability analyses
- The adjustment of financial accounting data for efficiency and performance measurements, and the assessment of the firm’s overall efficiency
- The identification of relevant performance targets for strategic analyses
- The design of generic competitive strategies
- The understanding different markets and industries, value configurations and value drivers
- The use of analytical models relevant for these markets and industries
- The analysis of the resources of the firm, as well as relating these to competitive advantages in static and dynamic markets
- The analysis of how market changes have an impact on companies’ competitiveness and status
- The understanding of how existing customer relations and mental models influence managers’ attention and investment preferences and how this may prevent change and market adaptation.
- The understanding of how business models, strategy and innovation are related to each other
- The understanding of how value is created in cooperation with clients
- The different ways of analyzing value
- The identification of the strategic position of the firm
- The use of strategy processes as a driver for strategy projects
- The identification of different personality and management styles and how we as consultants relate to these in concrete situations
- The development of models to organize the management tasks of the client in a well-functioning structure
- The models for change management and organizational development
- The identification of criteria for efficient management

Reflection
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.

The students shall also in a strategic analysis focus on the importance of the market competitiveness and the position of the firm with regards to industry structure, value creation logics, stakeholders and access to resources.

The students shall reflect on the consulting role and the consultant’s function when developing and managing an efficient team with the client, enabling the firm to focus on long-term objectives. Increased awareness of different management styles and how to create efficient management will contribute to the student’s ability to advise his clients.

Prerequisites
180 ECTS credits and four year relevant working experience

Compulsory reading
Books:
Amabile, Teresa , Steven Kramer. 2011. The progress principle : using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work. Harvard Business Review Press. Utdrag, ca. 60 sider
Bjartveit, Steinar og Göran Roos, eds. 2005. Scandinavian perspectives on management consulting. Cappelen akademisk forlag
Collins, Jim and Morten T. Hansen. 2011. Great by choice : uncertainty, chaos, and luck? : why some thrive despite them all. Harper Business
Gjønnes, Svein H. og Tor Tangenes. 2014. Økonomi- og virksomhetsstyring : strategistøtte ved prestasjonsstyring, ressursstyring og beslutningsstøtte. 2. utg. Fagbokforlaget. Hele boken med unntak av kapittel 12 og 15
Johnson, Gerry ... [et al.]. 2014. Exploring strategy. 10th ed. Pearson. Kapitel 1-4, 6, 9, 11, 12 og 15
Neck, Christopher P. and Charles C. Manz. 2013. Mastering self-leadership : empowering yourself for personal excellence. 6th ed. Pearson Education
Quirk, Michael P. and Patricia M. Fandt. 2000. The 2nd language of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Yukl, Gary A. 2013. Leadership in organizations. 8th ed. Pearson Education. Utdrag ca. 150 sider
Yukl, Gary A., Richard Lepsinger. 2004. Flexible leadership : creating value by balancing multiple challenges and choices. Jossey-Bass

Articles:
Andersen, S.S & Sæther, Ø. 2007. Kompetansemobilisering for prestasjonsutvikling: Hvordan oppnå fremragende resultater med "alminnelige" medarbeidere. Magma. 10 sider
Argyris, Chris. 1991. Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business Review. 69(3): 99-109
Barney, J.. 1991. Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management. 17. s. 99-120 (21 sider)
Berglas S. 2002. The very real dangers of Executive Coaching. Harvard Business Review. 20 sider
Bower, J. L., & Christensen, C. M. 1995. Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave. Harvard Business Review. Vo. 73: 43-53. Harvard Business School Publication Corp
Christensen, C. M., Kaufman, S. P. & Shih W. C. 2008. Innovation Killers. Harvard Business Review. Vol 86. 98-105 (7 sider)
Coutu, D and Hackman, R.J. 2009. Why teams don't work. Harvard Business Review
Dutton, J.E. 2003. Fostering high quality connections through respectful engagement. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Winter 54-57
Grant, A.M. 2011. How customers can rally your troops: End users can energize your workforce far better than your managers can. Harvard Business Review. June. 97-103
Kanter, R. M. 2006. Innovation: The Classic Traps. Harvard Business Review. Vol. 84. 72-83 (11 sider)
Prahalad, C. K., & V. Ramaswamy. 2004. Co-creating Unique Value with Customers. Strategy & Leadership. 32(3). 4-9 (6 sider)
Quinn, R. 2005. Moments of greatness : entering the fundamental state of leadership. Harvard Business Review. July-August
Stabell, C. B. & Ø. Fjeldstad. 1998. Configuring Value for Competitive Advantage: On chains, shops, and networks. Strategic Management Journal. 19 (5). s. 413-437 (24 sider)
Teece, D. J. 2010. Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation. Long Range Planning. 43. s. 172-194
Tripsas, M. & G. Gavetti. 2000. Capabilities, Cognition and Inertia: Evidence from Digital Imaging. Strategic Management Journal. 21 (10/11). 1147

Recommended reading
Books:
Gjønnes, Svein H. og Tor Tangenes. 2013. Arbeidsbok til Økonomi- og virksomhetsstyring. 2. utg. Fagbokforlaget
Porter, Michael E. 1985. Competitive advantage : creating and sustaining superior performance. Free Press. 19 sider

Articles:
Vargo, S. L., & R. F. Lusch. 2004. Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing. Journal of Marketing. 68 (1). s. 1-17

Course outline
Each lecture is a combination of explaining conceptual topics, cases and exercises, where the students will work in groups. The lecturing hours are split equally between the three main areas management accounting, management and strategy, with seven lecturing days each.

1st session: The need for setting overall long-term goals
What is strategy and what shall the firm accomplish and for whom?
Introduction to organization and management – myself as a manager

2nd session: Implementing the Balanced Scorecard
Value creation on different industries; value chain, value workshops and value networks
Organizing – teams, team management and team development

3rd session: Improved budgeting models
Individual resources as basis for competitive advantages
Consultancy and the consulting role

4th session: Forecasting
Market changes and strategic changes in organizations
Change management and organizational development

5th session: Resource management and financial performance measurements
Improved models for cost allocation
Innovation and strategy

6th session: The Lean philosophy and models for improved operational efficiency
Value creation with clients
Strategy development and evaluation of alternative strategies.

7th session: Management and management efficiency
Personality and management styles
Self management and super management

Computer-based tools
itslearning

Learning process and workload
The program is lectured over seven three day sessions, with a total of approx. 150 hours. The program shall function as an arena for reflection, dialog, learning and action. It is based on active student involvement, with a mix between theoretical input, case discussions, short film clips, individual work, exercises and tests as well as plenary discussions and group works. There will be three sets of homework exercises during the program. These may be submitted in groups of 2-3 persons.

Student tutoring will be somewhat differently organized at the different Master of Management programs. There will be individual tutoring as well as tutoring during the lectures. In general may the students expect tutoring in the form of advises, rather than evaluations. The tutoring is in total estimated to two hours per student per Master of Management program. For those students who take the program as their final Master of Management program the tutoring is estimated to a total of six hours.


Examination
The students are evaluated through their project work (18 ECTS credits) and a written, individual exam (12 ECTS credits). Both parts must be passed in order to get the program diploma. The project work can be written individually or in groups up to three persons.

For the students that take this program as their final Master of Management Program, the following rules apply: The students are evaluated through their project work (24 ECTS credits) and a written, individual exam (6 ECTS credits). Both parts must be passed in order to get the program diploma. The project work can be written individually or by two persons together.

Examination code(s)
MAN 40721 – Project work, 18 ECTS credits, counts 100% in order to get a grade in the course MAN 4072
MAN 40731 – Individual three hour written exam, 12 ECTS credits, counts 100% in order to get a grade in the course MAN 4073
Both the project work as well as the exam must be passed in order to get the program diploma.

For the students that take this program as their final Master of Management Program, the following rules apply:
MAN 40741 – Project work, 24 ECTS credits, counts 100% in order to get a grade in the course MAN 4074
MAN 40751 – Individual three hour written exam, 6 ECTS credits, counts 100% in order to get a grade in the course MAN 4075
Both the project work as well as the exam must be passed in order to get the program diploma.

Examination support materials
BI-defined exam calculator. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS BA II Plus™

Re-sit examination
Re-sit at the next ordinary exam.

Additional information