ØKB3122 Strategic Management Accounting and Control

Contents and structure

The course introduces key ideas, concepts, and tools of strategic management accounting and control. We will focus on the issue of aligning management accounting and control systems with an organization's strategy and discuss the role management accounting plays for implementing strategy. Additionally, topics for reflection include the changing role of management accountants and possible dysfunctional effects of performance measurement and incentive systems.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge

The student:

• Knows the difference between operational and strategic management accounting and understands the latter's significance for sustainable organizational success;
• Is aware of the changing role of management accountants in companies and other types of organizations;
• Knows the major concepts and tools of strategic management accounting and control; and
• Is familiar with specific critical issues of management accounting and control systems, specifically problems of traditional budgeting and incentive systems.

Skills

The student:

• Can apply the most common instruments of strategic management accounting to evaluate an organization's performance and to support strategic decision-making;
• Can apply the techniques of target costing;
• Can calculate financial performance measures; and
• Can design and use a balanced scorecard for evaluating performance.

General competence

The student:

• Understands the relationships between management accounting and control systems and a company's or organization's strategy;
• Is able to evaluate the contribution and appropriateness of specific management accounting tools for supporting management in specific situations;
• Understands which requirements management accountants face in organizations; and
• Can reflect on the functional and dysfunctional effects of performance measurement systems.

Entry requirements

None

Recommended previous knowledge

Autumn  

Teaching methods

Teaching will be intensive over two seminar weeks and is based on lectures, group work, and student presentations.

Compulsory learning activities

Oral presentation in seminarweek two

Assessment

Project 50%

Written exam 4 hrs 50%

Grades A - F

Examination support material

Part 1, Prosject; All written materials allowed

Part 2, Written exam; Dictionary; The calculator of Stord/Haugesund University College (Texas TI 84) will be handed out

More about examination support material