Managerial Accounting
Summer 2013
Instructor:
Office:
Telephone, fax
E-mail:
Lawrence Weiss
Mugar 252e
617/627-2735, 3712
larry.weiss@tufts.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Financing, production, and marketing decisions require facility with cost, revenue, and
profit analyses. Strategic decisions typically require understanding how an
organization’s cost and revenue structures compare with those of other organizations. The
underlying objective of management accounting is to encourage an informed use of
internal accounting information for such decisions.
This course goes beyond the traditional accounting model to integrate concepts from
other disciplines, particularly economics, quantitative methods, behavioral science, and
policy and strategy. Our emphasis will be on how to use accounting information for
managerial decision-making purposes as opposed to the external disclosure focus of the
financial accounting course. We will cover the basic vocabulary, concepts, procedures
and mechanics of managerial accounting, the design of management accounting systems
for different operations, and the role of management accounting information in
organizational operations.
Unlike financial accounting, there are no set rules or regulations dictating how
organizations should gather or report information used for decision making and control.
We will examine and evaluate different firm’s methods of data accumulation and
interpretation, with particular emphases on product/service costing and management
control. Examples from the for-profit, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations
will be used.
Readings and Cases
We will use a set of readings and cases that are made available in the course package and
on Blackboard. The required textbook is Management Accounting by Garrison, Noreen, and
Brewer, 14th edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin (ISBN 978-0-07-811100-6). You are encouraged to
discuss all the cases in groups, but for certain cases you will be required to individually
submit a one page case write. I also encourage you to keep abreast of the developments
in the fast-paced and changing business world by reading the business press (the Wall
Street Journal) regularly and keeping track of important events and emerging trends.
Please also read the international business press, (the Financial Times and the
Economist). During the course you may be requested to comment on matters that have
received wide press coverage.
Course Requirements and Grades
Contribution to the class
Case write ups
Mid-term
Final Exam
10 percent
20 percent
30 percent
40 percent
The exam is closed book but you are allowed to bring one, letter size, sheet of paper
(with one or two sides written on). The case write ups can be discussed with classmates
but each participant must then submit their own final version. They are due by 6 PM the
night before the class when the case will be discussed. You should email the one page
write up to the course TA (not to the Professor).
Expectations
I will cold-call students in each class, and note your contributions daily. Please
remember to bring your name card and have it in front of you. If you are unprepared for
a class, please tell me (the reason doesn’t matter) so that I don’t call on you; one such
“pass” does not adversely affect your class participation grade. Classes will start and end
on time. Please arrive and be ready on time, and please do not leave the room during the
class. Please turn off cell phones.
Teaching Methods
Much of what we will do in this course is common sense – which of course is only
common once you see it. The best way to learn the material is to gain experience through
problem solving. During the course we will spend a substantial amount of time applying
the material covered in the class on real world managerial issues. Each session will
normally involve a lecture and an analysis of a case study or exercises.
The case studies have been selected to raise substantive questions in the design and use of
management accounting and control systems. You should be prepared to present and
discuss each case in class. The questions you should address on each case will be
included on a separate page in the course package or distributed in class. These
supersede any questions show on the case studies themselves.
Tentative Course Outline – (subject to revision)
#
Topic
1.
Introduction
GNB-C1
The Nature of Costs GNP-C2
2.
Relevant Costs
Job Order Costing
Case – Alpha Metals (Case write up due)
GNB-3
3.
Job Order Costing
Process Costing
GNB-3
GNB-4
4.
Costing Systems
Activity Based
Case - Seligram (Case write up)
GNB-7
5.
Activity Based
Review
Case – Cooperative Bank (Case write up)
Practice Exam
6.
Mid-Term Exam
7.
Cost-Volume-Profit
Variable Costing
Material
GNB-5
Case – Baldwin Bicycle
GNB-6
8.
Control – Budgeting GNB–8
Kerr, Steven, On the folly of Rewarding A, while hoping for
B, 1995 Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 9, No. 1
Kaplan, R. S. and D. P. Norton, “The Balanced Scorecard –
Measures that Drive Performance", Harvard Business
Review, January/February 1992, pp. 71 - 79.
9.
Control Variances
GNP-9
GNP-10
10.
Corporate Structure
GNB-11
Case - Birch Paper (Case write up)
11.
Capital Budgeting
GNB-12
GNB-13
12.
Final Exam
GNB is the Managerial Accounting text by Garrison, Noreen, & Brewer
E = exercise, P = problem, & C = case
Cases in italics will be in the course package or on the BB.
About Your Professor:
Academic training
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Doctorate of Business Administration, Harvard University
M. B. A., McGill University
Diploma of Public Accounting, McGill University
Bachelor of Commerce, McGill University
Interest Areas
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Corporate Bankruptcy
Financial Accounting
Management Accounting
International Accounting
Biography
Born and raised in Montreal Canada, Professor Weiss began his career as a Canadian
Chartered Accountant (equivalent to a CPA in the US) working for KPMG. He received
his undergraduate degree in Accounting and his MBA in General Management from
McGill University. Larry earned his Doctorate in Accounting and Control from the
Harvard Business School.
Prior to coming to The Fletcher School, Professor Weiss served on the faculties of
McGill University, Babson College, Tulane University, INSEAD, M.I.T., HEC Lausanne
and Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. He has also taught at IMD, the
London Business School, Rochester/Bern, the Helskinki University of Technology,
KREMS and CEIBS. Larry received the teacher of the year award at MIT and has been
nominated for best Professor at Fletcher, INSEAD and Tulane University.
Professor Weiss' research focuses on three themes. The first is the reorganization of
financially distressed firms. He is a recognized expert on US corporate bankruptcy, and
has testified before the US Congress on bankruptcy reform. The second is how managers
gather and use information for decision making. The third is the transition from country
specific accounting standards (Local GAAP) to one set of global standards (IFRS). He
has over 40 publications, including: The Journal of Financial Economics; The Journal of
Law Economics and Organizations, The International Journal of Operations and
Production Management, The Journal of Applied Corporate Finance; Financial
Management, The Journal of Legal Economics; The American Bankruptcy Law Journal;
Bankruptcy Developments Law Journal; Regulation; several trade journals and
newspapers (including The New York Times and the Financial Times); numerous cases
(published at Harvard and INSEAD); and a book published by Cambridge University
Press. His work has been cited over 500 times and he has won the All Star Paper award
from the Journal of Financial Economics.