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BA 321 - Cost Management I
Winter 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: Tuesday 10:30 – 11:30; Wednesday 3:00 – 4:00; Thursday 10:30 – 11:30; 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, throughput costing, equivalent units, and joint costing, to generate relevant cost information for specific decision-making and financial reporting purposes;

-        choose from 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 supports 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 the marketing, production, and strategic planning functions of an organization, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable business practices.

 

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 through Beta Alpha Psi.

 

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 11th 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 exercises, numerical exercises, homework review, and outside speakers.  

 

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

 

Component

Points

Dates

Exam 1

25

January 18

Exam 2

30

February 6

Exam 3

30

February 22

Exam 4

30

March 8

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 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.

 

Homework: There are fourteen homework assignments. Each student is required to submit ten assignments, and is not permitted to submit more than ten. Each assignment is graded out of a total of 2.5 points. You can receive full credit on an assignment even if some answers to some questions are incorrect.

 

Each homework assignment is due by 11:30 AM on the day indicated in the syllabus. Each assignment can be submitted in class or during office hours. No credit will be given for late homework. Each student must submit an individual, handwritten assignment. No credit will be given for homework produced from a printer or a copier, submitted via email, or submitted without a name. Some students may wish to collaborate with each other on the homework, and this is permitted. However, please indicate on your assignment the names of all students with whom you worked.   

 

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: Occasional opportunities for extra credit may be provided in connection with one or more class sessions or on one or more of the exams. These opportunities may or may not be announced beforehand, but they will never involve more than three or four points towards your overall 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. 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 the homework 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.