Advanced Topics in Managerial Accounting

Undergraduate

An elective advanced topics course that explores the different types of organizational controls. It focuses on the key decisions that must be made in using controls, such as choices of performance measures, performance standards and targets, and performance-based incentives. Limitations of traditional financial performance measures are discussed (e.g., their tendency to make managers excessively short- term oriented) and recently developed approaches to deal with these shortcomings are analyzed (e.g., EVA, Balanced Scorecard). The course is designed to develop skills that are desirable in managers, management consultants, compensation consultants, financial specialists, or human resource specialists. The course is taught by the case method of instruction. The cases allow for the exploration of the management control issues in a broad range of settings such as start-up firms, manufacturing firms, 323 Winter 2027 Undergraduate Calendar service organizations of different sizes. (Prerequisite: 4th year students only, or by permission of the instructor.)