BA 321 - Cost Management I
Winter 2006

[Class Schedule] [Textbook]

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 10:00 – 11:00; Tuesday 4:00 – 5:00; Wednesday 2:00 – 3:00; and by appointment

Course Objectives: The objective of this course is to help students develop a conceptual framework and become proficient with a set of tools for analyzing management accounting information and systems. The course will also survey important contemporary management accounting topics. Specific student learning outcomes include the following:

- Each student will understand the types of organizations that use management accounting, and the types of decisions to which management accounting provides input.

- Each student will understand the relationship between management accounting and the fields of financial accounting, marketing, operations management and strategy.

- Each student will understand the microeconomic foundations of management accounting and the principles of relevant cost analysis, and will be able to apply the economic concepts of marginal cost, sunk cost and opportunity cost to management decisions.

- Each student will understand the distinction between fixed costs and variable costs, the distinction between direct costs and overhead, and be able to prepare and interpret flexible budgets and cost variances.

- Each student will be able to perform and interpret cost-volume-profit analysis.

- Each student will understand the merits and limitations of activity-based costing (ABC), and be able to apply ABC to organizations in all sectors of the economy (manufacturing, merchandising, and service sector).

- Each student will be able to apply the product costing methods of variable costing, absorption costing, throughput costing, normal costing, standard costing, and equivalent unit calculations, and understand the relative merits of these methods.

Course prerequisites: Students must have successfully completed BA 213 (managerial accounting), BA 317 (financial accounting) and BA 340 (finance), 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 (7^th 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 11^th edition of Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, by Horngren, Datar and Foster (copyright 2003). The University Bookstore may have used copies of this textbook.

Additional required readings and homework assignments will be distributed in class throughout the term.

Course format: The course meets four hours per week, in two-hour blocks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The first nine weeks of the course will consist of four modules. Each module will run four to five class sessions and will end with an exam. The last week of the term will include a class discussion of a case intended to review and reinforce key concepts covered during the term, and to help prepare students for the final exam. Class time will consist of a combination of lectures, cases, student team exercises, and working through numerical problems.

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

Component	Points	Dates
Exam 1	25	January 19
Exam 2	30	February 2
Exam 3	30	February 21
Exam 4	30	March 9
Quizzes, case discussions, and other types of class participation	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 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.

Quizzes, case discussions, and other types of class participation: You should receive full credit, or nearly full credit, on this portion of your grade if you attend class regularly, come to class prepared, and participate during in-class activities. No opportunity will be provided to make up for missed points from this part of your grade that arise because you miss class, for any reason whatsoever. However, these opportunities will generally be announced beforehand (the first such opportunity will occur on the first day of class). Also, more than 25 points will be available towards this portion of your grade (although the total points you can earn is capped at 25), so that missing one or two classes should not adversely affect this part of your grade in a significant way.

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 all winter 2006 sections of BA321 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.