Professor A Bhimani, A307 and others

Optional for BSc Accounting and Finance and other undergraduate/Diploma programmes and other students with the permission of the Accounting Departmental Tutor.

Students must have completed AC100 Elements of Accounting and Finance.

The course addresses contemporary issues in management accounting, financial management and organisational control.  It focuses on cutting-edge concerns in practice and research, and seeks to foster a critical understanding of both.  The course consists of four modules, all of which are taught by faculty with specific expertise in the area.  The exact composition of the course may vary from year to year, but issues which are typically addressed include financial controls in internet-based firms and management accounting in the digital economy, supply-chain management and hybrid organisation structures, performance measurement and incentive systems, and public-sector financial management.

Strategic Finance, Digitization and Extended Enterprises: Management and strategic finance, e-business cost management, cyber-marketing and financial controls, internet entrepreneurship and management controls, e-business pricing strategies, extended enterprise management.

Economic Perspective on Management Accounting: Information economics, agency theory applications in management accounting, the role of information and agency issues in a supply chain management context.

Management Accounting in its Organisational Context: Decentralised decision-making and organisational architecture, the control function of management, (financial) results accountability, performance measurement, incentive systems, planning and budgeting, and strategy implementation.

Accounting in the New Public Sector: Management accounting and financial management in the 'New Public Sector', including performance measurement, cost accounting, cost management and pricing; the roles of accounting controls in the health system reforms in the UK and elsewhere.

20 Lectures of two hours and 20 classes of one hour given in MT and LT.

Students will be expected to present cases and produce written work for classes. Some of this work may be done in groups. Case studies will be used extensively. All students will be expected to contribute to class discussion.

Detailed reading lists will be given out at the start of each part of the course.

Illustrative references include: A Bhimani, Management Accounting in the Digital Economy, OUP (2003); Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting, OUP (2006); O Olson, J Guthrie & C Humphrey (Eds), Global Warning: Debating International Developments in New Public Financial Management, Cappelan Akademisk Forlag As, Oslo (1998); K Merchant & W Van der Stede, Management Control Systems: Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Incentives, FT/Prentice Hall (2007)

A three-hour unseen examination will take place in the ST.