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This course digs deeper into the management accounting techniques that you have learned about in BMAN21040. The course examines the behaviour, social, and political issues that arise from the use of management accounting in organisations. In addition, the course considers how the roles of management accountants have changed over time. The course adopts a critical, historical perspective, and in so doing tries to unsettle some of the taken for granted norms and beliefs associated with the study of management accounting.

BMAN21040 is a pre-requisite of BMAN31040.

To provide a historically informed understanding of the changing role of management accounting information.

To locate changes in management accounting practice theoretically within the context of technological, organisational and broader social and economic change.

To increase students’ awareness of how management accounting is used in the processes of managing an organisation.

To explore debates on why change is occurring in management accounting, how change is implemented and how relevant are theoretical frameworks in explaining that change.

Semester one adopts a behavioural lens, focusing on efforts to align employee conduct with organisational goals. This issue is examined through the Object of Control framework. Unintended consequences, paradoxes, and critical perspectives are discussed throughout.

Semester two adopts a strategic lens, considering the ways in which the role of the management accountant has changed and continues to change over time. Specific management accounting tools, such as the Balanced Scorecard, are examined in detail. As in semester one, we reflect critically on these issues throughout.

The course is delivered via a combination of in person, synchronous lectures and workshops.

Lectures: One 2-hour lecture per week, for 10 weeks, in both semesters.

Workshops: Two 1-hour workshops in both semesters. There will be three groups to ensure that workshops are of an appropriate size.

Understand the different mechanistic and post-mechanistic approaches to management accounting

Explain the complex links between management accounting, management control and modes of accountability in contemporary organizations

Identify how managers, through planning, budgeting, costing and performance management, achieve organizational control and understand the differences between organizational control in the private and public sectors

Understand how management accounting had to evolve to close much of the gap in the ‘relevance lost’ era by more closely aligning to the key debates in the strategy arena

Explain and provide examples of how management accountants translate strategic agendas through performance measurement systems (PMSs) for value creation, and the impact of resistance in limiting the effectiveness of PMSs

Discuss the defining attributes of the strategy discourse and how it can be applied to explain strategic management accounting practice

Critically evaluate the assumptions underpinning functionalist approaches to management control

Critically analyse contemporary research on why and how management accounting is changing and the associated problems and methods of implementing that change, and gain an appreciation of the theoretical debates explaining developments in management accounting practice

Examination (100%) - Semester 1
 

Examination (100%) - Semester 2
 

The course reading list comprises a core textbook and relevant academic journal articles. The core textbook is as follows:

Merchant, K. & Van der Stede W. (2023) Management Control Systems: Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Incentives, Prentice Hall, 5th Edition.

An indicative reading list from last year’s course is available at: