BMBA 5012 ACCOUNTING ANALYSIS FOR DECISION MAKING Fall 2011

I. Contact Information Instructor: Dr. Thomas Hodge Email: thodge@ulm.edu

Office: HMPH 342

Phone: 342-1116

Office Hours: Tuesday 9:00-11:00 am, 3:00-4:00 pm Wednesday 1:30-5:30 pm Thursday 9:00-11:00 am, 3:00-4:00 pm (Other times by appointment)

II. Course Prerequisites In order to enroll in BMBA 5012 the student must be admitted to the Masters of Business Administration program. Enrollment in BMBA 5012 requires prior completion of Accounting 2012 and Accounting 2013, or Accounting 5002. Accounting 5002 is intended for graduate students having no previous credit in accounting courses. Accounting 5002 cannot be utilized as an MBA elective. Please BE AWARE that you will be administratively dropped from this class if at any time during the semester you are found to be ineligible for this class.

III. Course Description Use of accounting information systems for profit planning, cost control, and capital budgeting. Study of cost terminology and behavior with emphasis on relevant costs for decision-making. Management use and analysis of financial information.

IV. Course Objectives and Outcomes The objectives of BMBA 5012 are to develop student competencies with regard to: 1) Verbal Communication Skills - Development will occur through required classroom presentations and discussions. Assessment will occur through the use of 20 possible points for classroom discussion and a presentation grade for the article review classroom presentation. 2) Written Communication Skills - Development will occur through required written homework assignments, article review and a research paper. Assessment will occur through written discussion questions on examinations and grades awarded on the article review and the research paper.

2) Written Communication Skills (Continued) To become effective communicators and in meeting expectations of producing acceptable graduate course work and assignments in the MBA program at ULM, MBA students are expected to write documents with minimum errors in spelling, grammar, sentence structure, format, and other writing conventions that illustrate adequate audience awareness and adaptation. Therefore, a writing component will be assigned in all graduate classes in which the instructor will factor in the above style elements in grading the writing component. To assist students in improving their writing skills, students may use the following books and web links in addition to teacher-provided resources:

Harbrace College Handbook by John C. Hodges (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich). Strunk and White. (2000). The Elements of Style. 4th ed. Longman Publishing, New York. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: http://www.apastyle.org/ The Chicago Manual of Style: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html The Modern Language Association Style Manual: http://www.mla.org/ The Oxford Guide to Style: http://www.ritter.org.uk/

IV. Course Objectives and Outcomes (Continued) 3) Analytical Skills - Development will occur through the assignment of homework problems that will require the student to analyze data and provide solutions. Assessment will occur through examinations. 4) Functional Knowledge - Development will occur through knowledge gained from reading assignments, homework assignments, lectures, classroom discussions, and student presentations. The students functional knowledge will be assessed through examinations. 5) Computer Knowledge and Skills - Development will occur through the assignment of classroom presentations. In addition, the article review will require the utilization of Microsoft PowerPoint for the classroom presentation and Microsoft Word for the write-up of the research papers. Assessment will occur through the grades awarded for classroom presentations.

V.

Course Topics The Changing Role of Managerial Accountants in a Dynamic Business Environment Basic Cost Management Concepts and Accounting for Mass Customization Operations Product Costing and Cost Accumulation in a Batch Production Environment Process Costing Activity-Based Costing and Management Activity Analysis, Cost Behavior, and Cost Estimation Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
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Course Topics: (Continued) Profit Planning and Activity-Based Budgeting Standard Costing, Operational Performance Measures, and the Balanced Scorecard Flexible budgeting and the Management of Overhead and Support Activity Costs Responsibility Accounting, Quality Control, and Environmental Cost Management Investment Centers Decision Making: Relevant Costs and Benefits Target Costing and Cost Analysis for Pricing Decisions Capital Expenditure Decisions

VI. Instructional Methods and Activities The primary method used for classroom instruction will be Instructor lecture and classroom discussion. Graduate students are expected (required) to participate in classroom discussions. This discussion should consist of questions, comments and answers to questions posed in the classroom. Students will be required to prepare a written journal article summary and make a presentation to the class concerning the content of the article. Homework will be assigned for students to prepare outside of the classroom. Homework assignments will be utilized to familiarize students with the material covered in class. Students will be required to prepare a research paper related to a management accounting topic that will be covered in this course.

VII. Evaluation and Grade Assignment Grading System: The semester grade will be based on total points, using a ten-point scale on exams, research paper, article review, homework, presentations and class participation. Possible Points Mid-term Exam 150 Final Exam (Comprehensive) 250 Research Papers 100 Journal Article Review & Presentation 30 (20 points write up,10 points presentation) Cases and Other Homework 70 Total 600 Exams: There will be two exams during the semester, a mid-term exam valued at 150 points and a comprehensive final exam valued at 250 points. If you miss the mid-term exam and you have a excuse, your final will count 400 points. Homework Assignments: Homework assignments should be completed for the dates indicated on the assignment schedule. You should complete the homework as a basis for understanding the material covered in class.
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For most of the homework assignments McGraw Hill Connect will be utilized to prepare and transmit the homework. More details on the Connect homework platform will be discussed in class. Journal Article Review and Presentation: Each student will be required to prepare a written journal article review and make a formal presentation to the class. The journal article must be relevant to a topic covered in this course. Articles taken from internet websites will not be accepted. Your article should be selected from a legitimate journal. Some examples of these journals are: Journal of Management Accounting Research, Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of Cost Management, Management Accounting, Management Accounting Research, Journal of Accountancy, and CPA Journal. These journals can be found in the ULM electronic library. All students will be responsible for the information presented in the article reviews and this information will be tested on the midterm and final exams. The journal articles will be awarded on a first-come first-serve basis. The article review should include the journal name, date, title of the article and the author(s) of the article. Your are required to email the Instructor a copy (Word format only) of the journal article review in order to provide fellow class members with access on Moodle. You must attach a copy of your journal article with the review when it is submitted to the Instructor. The presentation will be graded based on the standards of a professional business presentation. Vulgarities, jokes, slang terms and any offensive information should not be included as part of a presentation. Some suggestions: Dress professionally, be organized, do not read your presentation (use PowerPoint as your guide), keep your eyes on the audience, display confidence, speak at an appropriate voice level but not too loudly, and be prepared to answer questions.

Research Paper: A research paper is required for this course. The instructions for this assignment follow: 1. Your research paper should contain no less than 8 to 10 references from legitimate referred journals. Although the internet is a widely used source of information, much of the cited information found in a research paper should be obtained from legitimate referred journals. Some examples of these journals are: Journal of Management Accounting Research, Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of Cost Management, Management Accounting, Management Accounting Research, Journal of Accountancy, and CPA Journal. These journals can be found in the ULM electronic library. Your research paper should relate to one of the topics that we will be covering during the semester. The topic areas will be awarded on a first-come first-serve basis. 2. Your research paper topic must be submitted for prior approval no later than Wednesday September 14, 2011.
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Research Paper: (Continued) 3. If your research topic is rejected you must submit another topic for approval no later than the next class meeting. 4. Your complete submission (due no later than the November 16 class meeting) should include a title page (with your name), 8-10 pages of text (double-spaced typewritten) and a bibliography. Footnotes should be used rather than endnotes. DO NOT PLAGARIZE!!! If you quote another author's work word for word, enclose the quote and cite the author. If you summarize another author's work provide a cite. I will utilize a special software program to check for plagiarism. If a student has plagiarized another author's work a score of zero will be assigned to the research paper. You must provide the Instructor with a copy of all journal articles cited in your paper. In addition, you must submit a copy of your paper in "Word" format on a 3 1/2 inch disk. 5. A summary of your research should be provided to the Instructor. Your summary should include a description of the primary issue(s) under investigation, a discussion as to why this issue is important to managerial accounting/accountants, and an evaluation of what you have learned from this research project. You may not agree with everything you discover in conducting your research. If so, state the issues you disagree with, and your recommendations. You may discover some unresolved issues that you believe are important. If so, please note these additional issues, stating why and how you think they would make a difference for the issues being investigated. 6. Total points for the research paper will be assigned based on: (1) The topic you have chosen (difficulty level, subject matter, etc.) (10 points) (2) Clarity in writing style (grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, flow, etc.) (10 points). (3) Thoroughness with which you identify and discuss the issues in your research paper (80 points).

VIII. Class Policies and Procedures At a minimum all policies stated in the current ULM Student Policy Manual & Organizational Handbook should be followed (see http://www.ulm.edu/studentpolicy/) Additional class policies include: A. Textbook(s) and Materials: Ronald W. Hilton, Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a Dynamic Business Environment, 9th Edition (2011), Publisher: McGraw Hill with ISBN 978-0-07-811091-7. McGraw Hill Connect online homework access card with ISBN 978-0-07-731752-1.

B. Attendance Policy: Graduate students are expected to be present and on time at each class meeting and are expected to participate in classroom discussions. Students are expected to be present during the entire class period. Leaving class before the class in dismissed will not be tolerated. Attendance and classroom participation are essential to the successful completion of the course. The workload of this course is demanding and requires consistent preparation, active participation, and a strong commitment on the part of the student. C. Make-up Policy: Students are expected to take all examinations as scheduled. If the mid-term exam is missed for a valid reason the final exam will be valued at 400 points. D. Academic Integrity: Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to such actions as plagiarizing, cheating, lying, stealing and copying another student's work. Any student who copies another students work from the current or previous semesters will be subject to significant disciplinary action. This action could include removal from the course with an F and dismissal from graduate school. Students must observe the ULM published policy on Academic Dishonesty (see Page 4 in ULM Student Policy Manual http://www.ulm.edu/studentpolicy/). E. Course Evaluation Policy: Students are EXPECTED to complete on-line course evaluations. F. Student Services: Information concerning ULM student services can be found at the following locations. Student Success Center (http://www.ulm.edu/cass/) Counseling Center (http://www.ulm.edu/counselingcenter/) Special Needs (http://www.ulm.edu/counselingcenter/special.htm) Student Health Services (http://www.ulm.edu/studentaffairs/) Students are required to use Arrow to update address and other information that has been provided to the Registrar's Office

G. Emergency Procedures: Safety Issues: In case of an emergency evacuation of the building (classroom HMPH 160), exit the building through the exit doors straight ahead as you exit the classroom. If this exit is blocked you should take the exit at the opposite end of the hallway. Once you have exited the building you should meet your Instructor in the School of Nursing parking lot so the Instructor can take roll and make sure all students have exited the building.