BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
Management control system is a fundamental dimension in any organisation (profit, non-profit and public administration). By exploring connections between strategies, accounting numbers, behavioral and cultural dimensions, and managerial decisions, this course aims at providing a deep understanding of management control systems from a strategic perspective. On completing this course, students will: i. be aware of the historical developments in management accounting and the more recent developments drawing in the area; ii. identify the aims, characteristics and functioning of management control systems and their links with strategies; iii. illustrate the design, implementation, use and review of management control systems; iv. apply the knowledge to support organisational decision-making; v. apply specific management accounting tools such as responsibility centres, budgets, activity-based costing, balanced scorecard and strategic map; vi. describe how and why properly combine social, ecological/environmental and technological issues into the traditional strategic management systems.
Course Prerequisites
Teaching Methods
The classes provide for the active participation of students, according to the approach known as "active-learning" (i.e. group work, case discussions, integrated exercises).
An e-learning platform is used, on which the materials used during the lectures and the exercises will be published.
The course will include 6 classes provided by an expert visiting professor.
Attendance is strongly recommended.
All students are expected to be in class, fully prepared, and to actively participate in class.
Students will be required to communicate if they want to be considered "attending students" or "non-attending students". Different assessment activities are provided for attending and non attending students.
Assessment Methods
For attending students the assessment is based on three parts: - individual work to be done during the teaching period (written production) - group work to be done during the teaching period (case presentation to the classmates) - final written exam (multiple choices, exercises, case discussions). For attending students the final exam will be shorter than the exam of non-attending students.
For non attending students: - the assessment is based on a final written exam (multiple choices, exercises, case discussions). Written exam willl be assessed on the completeness of acquired knowledge and the ability to provide analysis aimed at problem solving through specific exercises.
Contents
The course will cover the following topics:
- role, functioning and structures of management control systems and their connections with organizational strategies;
- activity-based costing and responsibility centers;
- budgeting and performance analyses;
- performance measurement models (balanced scorecard, strategy map);
- specific focus on the integration of management control systems and sustainability issues (with their social, ecological/environmental, and technological dimension);
- hystorical perspectives on management accounting.