Management and Control

The course contains two central components. The first is the product costing. The second is the performance evaluation related to the strategy and goals of the firm. The performance evaluation is an important element of management control which ties together the decisions and the organization of the firm in business units. Performance evaluation is to a large extent based upon accounting information and is used to obtain goal congruence within the organization. 

The course emphasizes and extends the students’ knowledge of the firm’s management accounting system and enables the student to understand how the decisions and the performance evaluation systems are tied together. It is also demonstrated how the accounting system is part of the wider problem of designing the organization.  

Product costing and performance evaluation are analyzed separately. However the close connection among the product costing, performance evaluation, the organizational design and the accounting system will be analyzed. The will show the importance of the accounting system as part of the organizational control.  

Content of the course:  

• Product costing 
• Activity Based Accounting Systems 
• The interrelation between costing and profitability. 
• Performance evaluation in organizations and ties to the strategic goals of the firm.
• Tools to measure performance. 
• Balanced Scorecard, 
• Internal markets and transferprices 
• Profit centers 
• Pros and cons of accountings systems in specific cases. 
  

Example: 

Kapland & Atkinson: Advanced Management Accounting, 3. Ed. 1998. Prentice Hall.

Lectures, student presentations and class discussions. 

The purpose of the lectures is to support the student’s accumulation of knowledge and to provide a survey of the content of the course. The purpose of the student presentations and the group discussions are to enhance and apply the theories and models in a specific context. The feedback obtained through discussions will help the student to evaluate his/hers own learning. 

The students are encouraged to present one or two cases for the class during the term. These assignments are to be performed in groups of up to 4 students. These presentations are a vehicle to enhance the understanding of the subjects and provide a basis for feedback to the students regarding their level of understanding. The case presentations are important for the learning experience and a good performance in these will increase the likelihood of a successful completion of the course.

Scheduled classes:

2 hours weekly in 15 weeks.

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The estimated average workload associated with this course are as follows:  
Lectures: 30 hours
Preparation for lectures: 45 hours
Preparation for student presentations 30 hours
Preparation for the exam: 30 hours
Total: 135 hours