Accounting and Financial Management Services Area
Business A724
DeGROOTE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Controllership
McMaster University
Summer 2004
COURSE SYLLABUS
SECTION: 01
COURSE LOCATION:
CERDIT VALUE: 3
PREREQUISITE: Business A621 or Business A610
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:
Name:
Y.C.L. Chan
Location:
MGD 325
E-Mail:
ylchan@mcmaster.ca
Web Site
n/a
Phone:
905 525-9140 Ext. 23974
Fax:
905-521-8995
Office Hours:
Thursday 6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. or
by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
1. Theoretical Coverage: This course focuses on the major aspects of controllership and the
management control system. It looks at the nature of management control and the functions and
organisational status of the controller.
This course is designed to help students to think through how they would manage the strategy
implementation dilemma in which operating managers find themselves. The course is also
designed to allow students to gain knowledge, insights and analytical skills related to how
corporations’ senior executives proceed with the design and implementation of formal systems
used to plan and control their firms’ performance. The key ideas underlying the course are: (a)
different organisations typically have different strategies and (b) different control systems are
needed to effectively implement different strategies.
2. Business Application Coverage: This is a case course. Students are expected to study the assigned
reading materials in advance, prepare and analyse the assigned cases thoroughly, and take an
active role in class discussion. The learning in the class focuses on the thought process in
analysing business situations, not just on the solution per se. In order to derive maximum benefits
from the cases, students should mentally “get inside” the case and take the role of the decisionmaker.
The cases included in this course represent broad organisational situations and encompass many
facets of a company’s control system. In some instances, the case may represent a good system
and students are expected to learn what makes the system works. In other cases, the system has
failed and the purpose here is to learn from the failure. It is unlikely that students will find an
absolutely perfect or a totally flawed system in the cases. The idea is to evaluate the weaknesses
and make recommendation for changes, taking into consideration the resources available to a
company. In preparing the cases, the following simple rules may be helpful:
(a)
Do not automatically assume that a case represents a good or bad system.
(b)
Adopt a management posture in analysing the case and evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of a system in a given situation.
(c)
Familiarise with the facts of a case taking into consideration the industry, the competitive
environment, and the core strategies of the company to excel.
(d)
Evaluate the control system of the company in the context of its strategy and support your
analysis with facts from the case.
3. Perspectives Covered: Ethical and global perspectives relevant to the organization’s strategy and
management control system will be covered in the course.
COURSE WEBSITE: n/a
TEXTBOOKS: We will use the following reading materials, available from the McMaster bookstore, in
this course.
•
REQUIRED: Anthony, R. N. and Govindarajan, V.
Edition, McGraw Hill/Irwin, New York, NY, 2001.
•
OPTIONAL: See Reading List.
Management Control Systems, Tenth
COMPONENTS OF COURSE EVALUATION:
•
EXAM:
There will be one comprehensive final examination (a case). The final exam is designed to be a
fair test of student’s comprehension of the ideas discussed in the classes. The best way to prepare
for the final is to prepare carefully for each of the classes.
•
CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Students are expected to come to class having thought through and analysed the cases. Each class
session will begin with one student assigned to provide an analysis of the case. This sets the tone
and quality level for the class discussion that will be opened to the remainder of the class. With
an effective lead-off, students would be able to probe more deeply into the issues of the case. The
instructor will try to ensure that all students have equal opportunities in being the lead discussant
of the cases.
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Some of the characteristics of effective class participation are as follows:
(a) evidence of thorough preparation and analysis of case,
(b) ability to distinguish data as facts, opinions, assumptions and interferences,
(c) relevance of discussion to enhance understanding of issues,
(d) ability to integrate fellow students’ comments into discussion,
(e) willingness to test new ideas, and
(f) willingness to interact with fellow students by asking questions or challenging conclusion.
Students as well as the instructor will be responsible for evaluating the class participation and
contribution of all students for each class. The Evaluation of Class Participation Form must be
submitted to the instructor at the end of each class. Students who do not submit the Evaluation of
Class Participation Form will receive a grade of ZERO on Class Participation for that class.
•
CASE STUDY (REPORT):
Three individual written case reports will be required for the course. These written assignments
will be an analysis and recommendation for any of the cases used in the course. The case reports
must be of professional quality, typed, double-spaced with reasonable fonts (size 11) and margins
(1”). The case reports should include (1) a brief introduction identifying the relevant issues and
problems, (2) a detailed analysis of the issues with recommendations and (3) a conclusion. The
reports must be short, i.e., no more than five pages of text plus exhibits. The written assignments
must be submitted at the start of class on the date that case will be discussed. Any late
assignment will not be accepted and a grade of ZERO will be assigned.
•
CLASS PREASENTATION (LEAD DISCUSSANT):
Each student will be assigned one case that he/she is responsible for preparing an analysis and
leading class discussion on the case. This is an interactive process and the case leader (lead
discussant) should not dominate the class discussion but rather, serve as a facilitator of the
discussion in class.
•
IT-LAB ASSIGNMENT: n/a
•
TERM PROJECT: n/a
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WEIGHTING OF THE COURSE COMPONENTS OF COURSE EVALUATION: The components
of the course grade will be weighted as follows, tentatively. The instructor reserves the right to modify the
weightings to adjust for more or less material covered during the semester.
COMPONENT
Final Examination
Case Reports
Case Presentation (Lead Discussant)
Class Participation (Best of 10 Classes)
Total
PERCENT
30%
36
20
14
100%
The instructor reserves the right to adjust the student's final grade by one grade point based on his/her
class participation and overall performance for the course.
GRADING CONVENTION: A standard grading scale will be used. You can use them to answer
questions such as, "Can I get an A (or A- or C or whatever) in the course?" The instructor will inform you
of your marks for participation periodically.
LETTER GRADE
A+
A
AB+
B
B-
PERCENT
90-100
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
LETTER GRADE
C+
C
CF
PERCENT
60-64
55-59
50-54
0-49
CLASS ATTENDANCE: n/a
PLACES TO GET HELP WITH YOUR WORK: Library.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Your attention is directed to the ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY,
ANY VIOLATIONS will be dealt with according to this policy.
Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means and can
result in serious consequences, e.g., the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on
the transcript (notation reads: “Grade F assigned for academic dishonesty.”), and/or suspension or
expulsion from the university.
It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the
various kinds of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix
3, located at http://www.mcmaster.ca/senate/academic/ac_integrity.htm.
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:
1. Plagiarism, e.g., the submission of work that is not one’s own for which other credit has been
obtained.
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2. Improper collaboration in group work.
3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.
In this course we will be using a software package designed to reveal plagiarism. Students will be
required to submit their work electronically and in hard copy so that it can be checked for academic
dishonesty.
For this course, students are required to submit all their written assignments electronically to
www.turnitin.com. The submission can be done by creating a user profile with your email address at
McMaster and login with class id: 11038302 and password ynohtna. Students who do not submit their
written assignments electronically to www.turnitin.com will receive a grade of ZERO for the assignment.
STUDENT EVALUATION OF TEACHING:
It is the policy of the School of Business to administer the Student Evaluation of Teaching forms towards
the end of the semester and students are expected to participate in these evaluations.
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TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE
Date
April 29
Topics
The Nature of Management
Control System
Readings
Ch. 1
Cases
Case 1-3: Stewart Box Company
May 6
Behaviour in Organizations
Ch. 2
Case 1-1: Nucor Corporation (A)
Case 2-1: Nucor Corporation (B)
Case 2-3: Rendell Company
May 13
Responsibility Centres:
Ch. 3
Revenue and Expense Centres
Case 3-1: Vershire Company
Case 3-2: New Jersey Insurance Company
May 20
Profit Centres
Ch. 4
Case 4-2: North Country Auto, Inc.
Case 4-4: Abrams Company
May 27
Transfer Pricing
Ch. 5
Transfer Pricing Problems
Case 5-2: Birch Paper Company
Case 5-3: General Appliance Corporation
June 3
Measuring and Controlling
Assets Employed
Ch. 6
Case 6-3: Quality Metal Service Centre
Case 6-4: Aloha Products
June 10
Strategic Planning
Budget Preparation
Ch. 7
Ch. 8
Case 7-4: Emerson Electric Company
June 17
Analyzing Financial
Performance Report
Balanced Scorecard
Ch. 9
Case 9-3: Galvor Company
June 24
Performance Measurement
Ch. 10
Case 10-1: Analog Devices, Inc.
Case 10-3: Enager Industries, Inc.
July 1
CANADA DAY – NO CLASS
July 8
Management Compensation
Ch. 11
Case 11-1: Lincoln Electric Company (A)
Case 11-3: Anita’s Apparel
July 15
Service Organizations
Ch. 13
Case 13-2: Williamson and Oliver
Case 13-6: Metropolitan Bank
July 22
Multinational Organizations
Controls for Differentiated
Strategy
Ch. 14
Ch. 12
Case 14-1: AB Thorsten
Case 12-3: 3M Corporation
July 29
FINAL EXAMINATION DUE 7:00 P.M.
Tentative course outline is subject to change.
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