Studies in Management Accounting

This subject is not offered in 2013.

Estimated total time commitment of 144 hours per semester.

Admission into BH-COM and both of:

or as approved by Head of Department.

None

Please refer to Prerequisites and Corequisites.

None

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements for this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject introduces students to the major streams of research in Management Accounting. We examine research into the factors that influence the design of management accounting systems and the factors that influence the success of these systems. The subject content and delivery is designed around a framework of literature drawn from economics and behavioural theories. Students describe, discuss and critique research studies in management accounting, and build up to the development of their own research proposal.

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
• Evaluate the theoretical frameworks used to study management accounting;
• Apply alternative paradigms to explain managerial accounting practices;
• Critically evaluate research in major areas of managerial accounting, from both a theoretical and empirical perspective;
• Analyse the empirical findings of research that examine the impact of management accounting and other control mechanisms on organisational participants;
• Evaluate the effectiveness of management accounting systems and the consequences on organisation performance;
• Synthesise current research literature with a view to identifying research questions that are relevant to practitioners and that make a significant contribution to the research literature

An assignment totalling not more than 3000 words due late in the semester (30%), seminar presentations regularly throughout the semester and class participation (20%) and an end-of-semester take-home examination of not more than 4000 words (50%).

Selected readings - Studies in Management Accounting - Department of Accounting and Business Information Systems (current year version).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• High level of development: oral communication; written communication; statistical reasoning; application of theory to practice; interpretation and analysis; critical thinking; evaluation of data and other information; receptiveness to alternative ideas.

• Moderate level of development: collaborative learning; problem solving; team work; accessing data and other information from a range of sources.

• Some level of development: synthesis of data and other information; use of computer software.