Strategic Management Accounting 7,5 credits
Fall2011
Course content
The course focuses on the strategic perspective of management accounting. Strategic decisions
determine the overall direction of an enterprise. Several taxonomies of strategic positioning
have been developed that enterprises may find themselves in. Concept of strategy and different
strategic positions are presented and discussed. The roles of management accounting methods
and techniques are to support the development and implementation strategic decisions.
Enterprises will place different emphasis on particular management accounting methods and
techniques, depending on which strategic position the enterprise takes. Different strategic
management methods and techniques are demonstrated and the ways in which these methods
and techniques can be applied in developing and implementing strategy.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course the student will
1) be able to describe and understand the concept of strategy and different strategic positions
2) be able to show an understanding of the relationship between development and
implementation of strategy and the use and design of strategic management accounting
methods
3) based on the course literature, be able to discuss and problemize strategic management
accounting from different perspectives
4) together with other students, anchored in theoretic knowledge and based on cases, identify
and formulate both problems and solutions in strategic management accounting
Assessment
The assessment is done through one written exam and four case assignments. Learning
outcomes 1, 2 and 3 are assessed through a written exam. Learning outcome 4 is assessed
through a written case assignment and oral presentation.
Examination
The examination consists of
1) Written exam
25 points
2) Case 1
5 points
3) Case 2
5 points
4) Case 3
5 points
5) Case 4
5 points
Sum
45 points
You need 23 points for Pass of which at least 12 points must come from the written
examination, for Pass with distinction you need round 32 points of which 17 points from the
written examination. The grades on each case will be presented together with the points from
the written examination after the course in finished.
Education
The course will start the 1 of September 2011. Further comments on the course will be given
the first lesson. The class consist of more than 60 students. This big group will be divided into
teams of 3-5 students. It is up to the students to create teams. As responsible teacher I will help
1
to organize that all students will be included in a team. The cases will be done in the teams.
It is important to realize that only a small part of the content in the course will be discussed
during the lessons. You have to spend a lot of time to study the literature included in the course.
In the written exam can include questions on all the literature.
Language
The course will be held in Swedish. Cases and examination may be written in Swedish or
English. All the presentations and discussion shall be held in Swedish.
Cases
The teamwork with the cases is a very important part of the education. All students in the team
must be involved in the solution and be prepared to answer questions during the case
discussions. Each team must have a written solution of the case (normally 5-15 pages) and
leave it to the teacher when the lecture starts or earlier.
The following cases are included in the examination:
1) Baldwin Bicycle Company
2) Southwest Airlines
3) Mobil USM&R
4) Strategic management control - Corporate governance
Required reading
Books
• Grant, R M. Contemporary Strategy Analysis (7th edition). Johan Wiley and Sons,
Chichester. Chapter 1-10, 13, 15-16
• Simons, R. Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy.
Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River. Chapter 1-6, 8-14
Compendium
• Articles
• Cases
Articles
The following articles can be downloaded from the Economic Library’s website:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ax C, Greve J & Nilsson U (2008). The impact of competition and uncertainty on the
adoption of target costing, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 115, pp 92103. Section 2
Casadesus-Masanell R & Ricart, J E (2011). How to Design A Winning Business Model.
Harvard Business Review, January-February, Vol. 89. pp 100-107.
Cooper R & Chew B W (1996). Control tomorrow’s costs trough today’s design, Harvard
Business Review, January-February, pp 88-97.
Cooper R & Slagmulder R (1999). Develop profitable new products with target costing,
Sloan Management Review, summer, pp 23-33.
Durden, C. (2008). Towards a socially responsible management control
system. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Vol. 21 No 5, pp 671-694.
Gray, R. (2006). Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organizational
value creation? Whose value? Whose creation? Accounting, Auditing & Accountability
Journal Vol. 19, No 6, pp 793-819.
2
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jensen, M (2001). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective
function. European Financial Management, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp 297-317.
Shil, N C (2008). Accounting for good corporate governance, JOAAG, Vol. 3. No. 1
Sivaloganathan S, Andrew P T J & Shahin T M M (2001). Design function development,
Journal of Engineering Design, Vol. 12, pp 59-74.
Porter, M E (1988). From competitive advantage to corporate strategy. McKinsey
Quarterly, Spring, No 2, pp 35-66.
Porter, M E (1996).What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, November-December, Vol.
74, No 6, pp61-78.
Porter, M E (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business
Review, January, Vol. 86, No 1, pp 78-93.
Content of the course
Here follows a preliminary description of the content of the lectures, and suggested readings.
Content
Lecture 1
• Introduction
• What is financials?
• Development trends in management accounting
• Why strategic management control?
• Strategy in different levels of the organization.
• Introduction to cases 1-3
• Creating case teams
Lecture 2
• Corporate governance
• Introduction to case 4: Sustainable Development
& Corporate Strategy
Lecture 3
• Profitability models and financial objectives
Lecture 4
• Corporate and Business strategy
• Industry analysis
• Porters Strategy concepts - part 1
Lecture 5
• Porters strategy concepts - part 2
• Cost drivers
Literature
Books
• Grant: Chapter 1-2
• Simons: Chapter 1-2, 5
Compendium
• Cases 1-3
Compendium
• Fera
• Case 4
Articles
• Jensen
• Shil
Books
• Grant: Chapter 1
• Simons: Chapter 6, 8
Book
• Grant: Chapter 3-4, 15-16
Articles
• Porter (From corporate strategy to
competitive advantages)
• Porter (The five competitive forces
that shape strategy)
Book
• Grant: Chapter 7-10
Articles
• Durden
• Gray
Lecture 6
• Sustainable development
Lecture 7
• Case discussion: Case 1, Baldwin Bicycle
3
Company
Article
• Porter (What Is Strategy?)
Lecture 8
• What is Strategy?
Lecture 9
• Case discussion: Case 2, Southwest Airlines
Lecture 10
• Resource based strategy models
• Business models
• Case discussion: Case 3, Mobil USM&R
Lecture 11
• Management information systems
• Corporate Performance Management
Lecture 12
• Beyond Budgeting
• Strategy Maps
• Balanced Scorecard
Lecture 13
• Strategic management accounting
• Innovation, entrepreneurship and management
control
Lecture 14
• Target costing
Lecture 15
• Case discussion: Case 4, Strategic management
control - Corporate governance
4
Book
• Grant: Chapter 5-6, 13
Books
• Grant: Chapter 7
• Simons: Chapter 4, 9-11
Book
• Simons: Chapter 9
Book
• Simons: Chapter 14
Compendium
• Davila
Articles
• Cooper & Chew
• Cooper & Slagmulder
• Sivaloganathan, Andrew & Shahin
• Ax, Greve & Nilsson