Abrams Company
ACCOUNTING 823: COST AND MANAGEMENT
Spring Quarter 2002
INSTRUCTOR: Professor D. L. Jensen
428 Fisher Hall
jensen.7@osu.edu (I check my e-mail several times daily and will respond ASAP)
292-2529 at office (Please leave recorded message; if I'm not in, I'll return your call.)
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, following class and by appointment or chance
STUDENT CONSULTANT: Prakash Mulchandani (mulchandani.3@osu.edu)
REQUIRED TEXT MATERIALS:
Anthony and Govindarajan. Management Control Systems, Tenth edition. Homewood: Irwin, Inc., 2001 (abbreviated A&G)
Supplementary materials (abbreviated [S]) are either sold in a package by CopEz or distributed by the instructor.
OPTIONAL MATERIALS FOR REFERENCE:
Horngren, Foster and Datar. Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis. Tenth edition. Prentice-Hall, 2000 (abbreviated HFD).
Hansen and Mowen. Cost Management: Accounting and Control. Third edition. South-Western, 2000
(abbreviated H&M)
Ronstadt. The Art of Case Analysis. Third edition. Lord Publishing, 1993. (1-800-525-5673)
COURSE OBJECTIVES: The objective of 823 is to develop an understanding of the interface between accounting information and management. Following a review of some fundamentals of cost measurement, some of which were introduced in MBA 801, the course uses a series of cases to explore the role of accounting information in strategy implementation, organizational control, budgeting, and performance measurement.
COURSE METHOD: Requiring reading for the course includes cases, chapters, and articles contained in the assigned textbook and supplementary materials. The early sessions of the course will consider both conceptual and computational aspects of basic management accounting measurement topics. Following these sessions, most class sessions will be organized around cases and in-class activities. Written work will take the form of case analyses and examinations.
CASES
Cases are descriptions of real-life problem situations. Most cases are based on the actual observations and experiences of a case writer. No matter how many pages the writer employs to set forth the case, the description is necessarily incomplete. Consequently, the student or reader of the case must be prepared to "fill in the blanks" by reference to his or her own knowledge and experience about business situations. Thus, unlike homework exercises, cases do not emphasize numerical computation and closed-end analysis.
Preparation of Cases
Unlike problems or exercises, cases do not have solutions. Cases require the reader to make interpretations of factual matters, and these interpretations will differ from one reader to another. Furthermore, cases require the reader to make judgments on issues that may be a source of unreconciled difference between readers. One of the benefits of case work is that it prepares us for a world in which different interpretations and judgments are the rule rather than the exception. Accordingly, cases should be viewed as vehicles for discussion rather than problems for solution. I recommend the following procedure in preparing a case for class:
1. Read the case quickly (invest no more than 5 minutes in this initial reading) and note the study questions (if any) at the end of the case.
2. Read the assigned chapter or article(s) making brief written notes of [next page]