University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2005
ACCY 302 Sections AE2&AE5
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Accountancy
ACCY 302- Decision Making for Accountancy
Spring 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Section AE5
12:00 - 1:50 pm
MW
36 Wohlers
Section AE2
2:00 - 3:50 pm
MW
36 Wohlers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Professor: Cynthia W. Turner, Ph.D., CPA
Phone: 333-4538
Office: 283 Wohlers Hall
E-mail: cwillims@uiuc.edu
Office hours: MW 4:00pm-5:00pm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TA (Section ____): Cecil Matthews
E-mail: cjmatthe@uiuc.edu
TA (Section ____): Helena Butters
E-mail: butters@uiuc.edu
Office: First floor of Survey Building
Phone: 265-5155
Cecil Matthews’ Office hours (Section ____):_____________________________
Helena Butters’ Office hours (Section ____) :_____________________________
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Textbook:
A custom text entitled Decision Making For Accountancy for Sections AE2&AE5.
Includes chapters from Hansen and Mowen and Anderson, Sweeney and Williams, and
cases from Harvard Business School and other sources.
ACCY 302 Lab:
Everyone enrolled in this course must enroll in a concurrent Accy 301/302 lab. This lab
supplements this course by providing technical skill support in the areas of product
costing, variance analyses, probability revision and decision tree analysis. Should you
not be concurrently enrolled in Accy 301, you need only attend the sessions dedicated to
this course. Lab performance accounts for 10% of the course grade.
Course Overview:
The mission of the firm is to create value. The accounting function supports this mission
by providing a framework by which the firm can coordinate and control its organizational
unit. This semester, we investigate this role of the accounting function by first looking at
the influence of incentives on rationale individuals’ decision behavior, and how such
incentives influence the scope of the firm. Next, we will look at how the accounting
function (via performance evaluation and reward systems) seek to provide organizational
coordination and control over individual decision behavior within the firm. We will then
look how both incentives and accounting content and format affect decision making.
Lastly, we will explore the role of uncertainty in decision making.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2005
ACCY 302 Sections AE2&AE5
Prerequisites:
1. Students should have completed both Accy 201 and 202, or the equivalent.
2. Students should be familiar with concepts of basic probability and statistics as covered
in Econ 172 and Econ 173, or the equivalent.
3. Students should be familiar with the use of spreadsheet and/or statistical software
applications such as Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 and basic use of the Microsoft
Windows or Macintosh operating systems. If you do not have these computer skills,
you should seek appropriate training at the earliest possible date. The Office of
Information Management (located in the basement of David Kinley Hall), offers a
comprehensive series of short courses throughout the year.
Class Format:
This course relies heavily on active learning and the case method of instruction.
Consequently, the use of traditional lectures will be minimized and student learning will
depend largely on active participation in the class. During the beginning of the semester,
each student will be assigned to groups of 4-5 team members. Classroom discussion and
in-class assignments will be performed in groups. Homework assignments and written
case assignment are to be completed individually.
Group participation. Groups will be involved in performing various in-class problem
assignments and case assignments throughout the semester. Each week, group members
will be required to choose a group leader that will lead the discussion for his/her group
regarding their solutions and findings. The arrangements of who will be determined by
the group members. Evaluation of group participation is provided on a subsequent page.
Individual participation. When time permits, Professor Turner will open the floor for
general discussion after group leaders have presented their solutions and findings. This
time provides the opportunity for students to individually participate in class. While such
participation is not formally graded, Professor Turner may consider such participation
when computing final grades.
Homework assignments/Written case assignments. Students will be assigned
homework and written case analyses periodically throughout the semester. Students may
work with anyone they wish to produce computations, but their explanations (write-ups)
are to be completed individually. In the case of written assignments, students are to
provide two copies of their write-ups. Such write-ups will be graded for both
grammatical form and content (50% each). In general, neither excused nor unexcused
absence will affect the deadlines imposed for class assignments. If a student expects to
miss a class in which an assignment is due, s/he will be expected to deliver the
assignment early, either to Professor Turner’s office (283 Wohlers Hall), or to her
mailbox in 284 Wohlers Hall.
Further details regarding the grading criteria of the written assignment will be provided.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2005
ACCY 302 Sections AE2&AE5
Oral Presentation. Group members will be required to complete a final project to to be
determined by Professor Turner. Group members will receive feedback regarding
organization, visual aids and style, and will be graded on both the presentation and its
content. More information about this assignment will be provided.
Written and oral communications support is available to students through the Department
of Accountancy. Contact Joanne Slutsky at 213 DKH, 333-4567, or e-mail her at
slutsky@uiuc.edu.
Quizzes. Professor Turner will periodically administer quizzes throughout the semester.
These quizzes will allow her to assess the students’ grasp of the subject matter discussed.
The quizzes will first be completed individually by each student. These quizzes will be
collected, and then the quizzes will be completed again within each group. Hence, for
each quiz, students will receive a score that is comprised of two components- an
individual grade and a group grade. Generally, the individual grade makes up threequarters of the score while the group grade makes up one-quarter of the score. All
quizzes are announced.
Exams. Professor Turner will administer two exams (one midterm and one final)
throughout the semester. There will be no make-up exams. If a student has to miss a
midterm due to an emergency, illness or death in the family, s/he must be excused by the
Dean’s office. Consequently, his/her final exam’s weight will be adjusted accordingly.
Under no circumstances will a student pass this course when a regularly scheduled final
is missed.
Grading. The student’s grade will be determined as follows:










Participation (17.5%)
In-class group assignments/group homeworks (5%)
Group case analyses (7.5%)
Peer evaluations (5%)
Class Lab (10%)
Individual homework assignments (5 %)
Individual written case assignments (10%)
Quizzes (7.5%)
Final case analysis and presentation (10%)
Two exams, one midterm (20%) and a final (20%)
Other policies. This syllabus should be considered tentative. Professor Turner reserves
the right to change dates or modify assignments during the course of the semester.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2005
ACCY 302 Sections AE2&AE5
______________________________________________________________________________________
COURSE SCHEDULE
______________________________________________________________________________________
Course Introduction
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Jan 19
Introduction
(1)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Organizational Control, Coordination and Management
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Jan. 24
(2)
1) The nature of man (Jensen and Meckling)
2) Learning with cases
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Jan. 26
1) Self-Interest, Altruism, Incentives and Agency Theory (Jensen)
(3)
2) Case: Tom Monaghan: In Business for God
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Jan. 31
Specific and general knowledge and organizational structure (Jensen and Meckling)
(4)
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Feb. 2
(5)
1) Compensation & Incentives: Practice vs. Theory (Baker, Jensen and Murphy)
2) Case: Al Dunlap at Sunbeam
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Feb. 7
Case: Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.: Rewarding Our People
(6)
Group discussion and presentations
______________________________________________________________________________________
Budgets, Control, Performance Evaluation
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Feb. 9
Decentralization (Hansen and Mowen , Ch. 10, p. 355-371)
(7)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Feb. 14
(8)
1) Brief Introduction to Cost Accounting
2 ) Product and Service Costs (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 2, pp. 32-42)
3) Basics of Cost Behavior (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 3, pp. 62-67)
______________________________________________________________________________________
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2005
ACCY 302 Sections AE2&AE5
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Feb. 16
Measuring Profit (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 22, pp. 862-867)
(9)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Feb. 21
(10)
Continued
1st individual case due:
Cirque du Soleil
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Feb. 23
1) Flexible Budgets for Planning and Control (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 16, pp. 621-625)
(11)
2) Analysis of profit-related variances (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 22, pp. 874-877)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Feb. 28
Budgeting for Planning and Control (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 8, pp. 278-295)
(12)
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Mar. 2
QUIZ ONE
(13)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Mar. 7
MIDTERM EXAM
(14)
(evening exam)
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Mar. 9
Midterm review
(15)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Fr, Mar. 11
Last day to drop class
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Mar. 14
Cost Estimation and Regression Analysis (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 3, pp. 72-90)
(16)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Accounting for Decision Making
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Mar. 16
Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 20, pp. 768-789)
(17)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Mar. 21 &
W, Mar. 23
NO CLASS- SPRING BREAK
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Mar. 28
(18)
1) Relevant Costs and Revenues
2) Tactical Decision Making (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 21, pp. 818-834)
______________________________________________________________________________________
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Spring 2005
ACCY 302 Sections AE2&AE5
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Mar. 30
QUIZ TWO
(19)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Apr. 4
Case: Superior Manufacturing Company
(20)
Group discussion and presentations
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Apr. 6
1) Pricing Policies (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 22, pp. 856-861)
(21)
2) Transfer Pricing (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 10, pp. 371-380)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Apr. 11
NO CLASS: Group strategy planning session
(22)
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Apr. 13
Constrained Optimization and the theory of constraints (Hansen and Mowen, Ch. 24,
(23)
pp. 964-973)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Decision Making Under Uncertainty
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Apr. 18
(24)
Probability Review
2nd individual case due:
Salem Telephone Company
W, Apr. 20
1) Decision Analysis
(25)
2) The value of information
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, Apr. 25
1) Decision Analysis (continued)
(26)
2) The value of information (continued)
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, Apr. 27
QUIZ THREE
(27)
______________________________________________________________________________________
M, May 2
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
(28)
(Group written presentation due)
______________________________________________________________________________________
W, May 4
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
(29)
(Peer evaluations due)
______________________________________________________________________________________
FINAL EXAM TO BE ANNOUNCED
______________________________________________________________________________________
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