Course Administration
Course
Objectives:
After successfully completing this course, students will be able to
-
compare and contrast management accounting and financial accounting;
-
identify microeconomic concepts and tools used in management
accounting;
-
combine cost allocation techniques, such as absorption costing,
activity-based costing, and joint costing, to generate relevant cost
information for specific decision-making and financial reporting purposes;
-
choose among common capital budgeting techniques for planning and
performance evaluation purposes;
-
evaluate divisional performance using return-on-investment and residual
income;
-
use sales forecasts to plan a cash budget and forecast financial
performance and financial position;
-
appraise whether a management accounting performance evaluation system
achieves goal congruence;
-
assess the appropriate role of cost in setting price in a variety of
market settings, including regulated industries and cost-plus contracts;
-
select among transfer pricing schemes for performance evaluation and
tax planning;
-
judge the extent to which a management accounting system
supports corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices.
Course
prerequisites: BA 321 (Cost Management I) with a grade of C or better, and BA 357, or
equivalent courses at another university. Students must be reasonably
proficient at expressing themselves in writing, and in performing simple
mathematical calculations without a calculator.
Course
materials:
The following materials are required for this course:
1.
Management Accounting: Concepts and Techniques, by Dennis Caplan. These
course notes are available from the University Bookstore, and also may be
downloaded from the course website.
2.
Cost/Managerial Accounting: Exam Questions and Explanations, by Irvin N. Gleim (7th edition). This study guide is
available from the OSU Bookstore, and also may be purchased from the
publisher’s website.
Some students will benefit from referring to a
traditional textbook for supplementary explanations of the material, for
additional numerical examples, and for the end-of-chapter problems. I encourage
those students to obtain a used copy of the 11th edition of Cost
Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, by Horngren, Datar and Foster (copyright
2003). Because the 11th edition of this textbook is now out of
print, used copies are available on the web for approximately $20.
Additional required readings and homework
assignments will be distributed in class throughout the term.
Course format: The course is four credit
hours, and meets four hours per week, in two-hour blocks on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. Class time will consist primarily of lectures, case discussions, student
team exercises, numerical exercises, and outside speakers.
Course requirements: Your course grade will be based on the following components:
|
Component
|
Points
|
Dates
|
|
Exam 1
|
40
|
April 27
|
|
Exam 2
|
40
|
May 16
|
|
Exam 3
|
40
|
June 1
|
|
Class participation
|
30
|
|
|
Final exam (this exam is
cumulative)
|
50
|
during finals week
|
|
Total points
|
200
|
|
Exams during
the term:
There will be three exams during the term. The format of these exams will vary,
and the format of each exam will be announced in class approximately one week
prior to the date of the exam. Some exams might be comprehensive. Some exams
might be closed-book while others might be open-book. Some exams might not
allow the use of calculators. If you become aware of a conflict that might
cause you to miss an exam, you should inform me immediately.
Class participation: This portion of your grade depends on my assessment of
the quality of your contribution, when you are called upon to discuss a case,
exercise or problem. You start the term with all 30 points, and you lose points
only if you are absent on a day when you are called on, or if your contribution
in class when you are called on shows an inadequate understanding of the
material. The selection of students who will be called on is determined
randomly, and this determination is independent from day to day (so that on any
given day, you are as likely to be called on as any other student, no matter
how often you were called on in the past). With the exception of the first and
last days of class, and the three exams, you might be asked to participate on
any day of class. The maximum number of points that you can lose on any given
day is 5, and you can earn some or all of these points back only if you are
called on subsequently and excel in your contribution to the class at that time.
(Basically, I want you to come to class prepared, and there will be serious
repercussions if you are not.)
Final exam: The final exam will be held
during finals week, and will be comprehensive. If you become aware of a
conflict that might cause you to miss the final exam, you should inform me
immediately.
Extra credit: Opportunities for extra credit may be provided in
connection with one or more of the exams.
Homework: Homework is self-study and self-graded, and generally
will not constitute a formal part of your grade.
Blackboard: Grades will be posted to Blackboard throughout the term. Please do not
send me email via the communications link in Blackboard. Email correspondence
should be sent to capland@bus.oregonstate.edu.
Calculation of
Overall Grade:
Your course grade will be determined by comparing your total points and your
class rank against the following criteria, beginning at the top and proceeding
down the list, until your total points or class rank satisfy the cutoff:
If you rank in the top 10%
of the class, or earn at least 186 points overall, you will receive an A.
If you rank in the top 15%
of the class, or earn at least 180 points overall, you will receive an A-.
If you rank in the top 25%
of the class, or earn at least 174 points overall, you will receive a B+.
If you rank in the top 50%
of the class, or earn at least 166 points overall, you will receive a B.
If you rank in the top 55%
of the class, or earn at least 160 points overall, you will receive a B-.
If you rank in the top 65%
of the class, or earn at least 154 points overall, you will receive a C+.
If you rank in the top 80%
of the class, or earn at least 146 points overall, you will receive a C.
If you fail to receive a C
or better, but earn at least 140 points overall, you will receive a C-.
If you fail to receive a C- or better, but earn at least 120 points
overall, you will receive a D. Grades of D+ and D- will not be assigned. Students
who earn less than 120 points overall can expect to fail the course.
Class rank will be determined as the percentage of
students with your score or higher, divided by the total number of students
registered for the course at the end of the term. This ranking will be
determined for both spring 2006 sections of BA422 combined, unless there are
material differences in the distribution of scores between sections, in which
case the ranking will be section-specific. Note that this grading system
assures that at least half of the class will receive a grade of B or better, at
least 80% of the class will receive a grade of C or better, and it places no
upper limit on the overall class GPA.
At
my discretion, I may consider class participation and other subjective
course-related factors when assigning grades to students whose overall score is
just below 140 or 120.
If
you have any questions about any aspect of the grading, please speak with me as
soon as possible.
Students with
disabilities: Accommodations
are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Services for Students
with Disabilities (SSD). Students with accommodations approved through SSD are
responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to
or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who
believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained
approval through SSD should contact SSD immediately at 737-4098.
Academic
Integrity:
I define academic dishonesty in this class as offering or receiving help on an
exam or quiz, or otherwise compromising or attempting to compromise the
integrity of an exam or quiz. All cases of suspected academic dishonesty are
handled in strict accordance with University policy, which can be viewed at the
following University web address: http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm.
Tips for success: Plan on spending about eight hours weekly on this course, outside of
class. Read the assigned material before class. Be an active learner in class. Focus
on following class discussion, not on taking extensive notes. Attempt the
homework questions before class, on your own. Give each question a reasonable
effort before you look at the answer, but don’t spin your wheels. Most students
will benefit from working in study groups.
