BA 321 - Cost Management I
Spring 2007

[Class Schedule]

Course Administration

Classroom: 207 Bexell Hall

Instructor: Professor Dennis Caplan

Office: 218 Bexell Hall

Phone: 737-2727

Email: capland@bus.oregonstate.edu

Office Hours: Monday 4:00 – 5:00; Wednesday 3:00 – 4:00; Thursday 3:00 – 4:00; and by appointment

Course Objectives: After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

- compare and contrast the roles of management accounting and financial accounting in supporting decisions about the allocation of scarce resources;

- identify the types of organizations that use management accounting, and the types of decisions to which management accounting provides input;

- distinguish variable costs from fixed costs, and direct costs from overhead costs;

- evaluate alternative courses of action using cost-volume-profit analysis;

- choose from among alternative courses of action using the economic concepts of incremental cost, sunk cost and opportunity cost;

- judge organizational performance using a flexible budget and cost variances;

- select, apply, and combine product costing methods and techniques, including normal costing, standard costing, activity-based costing, absorption costing, variable costing, equivalent units, and joint costing, to generate relevant cost information for specific decision-making and financial reporting purposes;

- select among transfer pricing schemes for performance evaluation and tax planning;

- assess the extent to which a management accounting system supports the marketing, production, and strategic planning functions of an organization.

Course prerequisites: BA 213 (managerial accounting), BA 317 (financial accounting), and BA 340 (finance), or equivalent courses at another university, are enforced prerequisites. Students must be reasonably proficient at expressing themselves in writing, and in performing simple mathematical calculations without a calculator.

Course materials: Management Accounting Concepts and Techniques, by Dennis Caplan. These course notes can be purchased from Beta Alpha Psi during the first week of classes.

Some students will benefit from referring to a traditional textbook for supplementary explanations of the material, for additional numerical examples, and for additional end-of-chapter problems. I encourage those students to obtain a used copy of any recent edition of Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, by Horngren, Datar and Foster. Because the 11^th edition of this textbook is now out of print, used copies of this edition are available on the web for approximately $20.

Additional required readings and homework assignments will be distributed in class or otherwise made available to you 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 and individual exercises, and numerical exercises.

Course requirements: Your course grade will be based on the following components:

Component	Points	Dates
Exam 1	25	April 12
Exam 2	30	April 26
Exam 3	30	May 15
Exam 4	30	May 31
Homework	25	various dates throughout the term
Final exam (this exam is cumulative)	60	during finals week
Total points	200

Exams during the term: There will be four 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 before the exam. Some exams will be comprehensive. Some exams might be closed-book while others will be open-book. Some exams might not allow calculators. If you become aware of a conflict that might cause you to miss an exam, you should inform me immediately.

In-class exercises and quizzes: There will be from six to ten in-class exercises, quizzes or activities that will count toward this portion of your grade. Points will be earned based primarily on effort. There will be no opportunity to make up missed exercises due to absence from class, for any reason whatsoever. However, students can receive full credit for this portion of their grade without participating in all of the exercises. Tentative dates for most of these exercises are indicated on the syllabus, although some in-class exercises might be unannounced, and others might be cancelled.

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.

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. 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. 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 and attempt as many of the end-of-chapter problems as possible, before class. Be an active learner in class. Focus on following class discussion, not on taking extensive notes. Most students will benefit from working in study groups.