C39MT

Management Accounting Techniques

and Decisions

Course Handbook
2022/23
1. Introduction
C39MT Management Accounting Techniques and Decisions is a mandatory course and an essential
component of the degrees of MA/BA in Accountancy and Finance and is a prerequisite for progress to the
Honours Managerial Accounting Courses: C30MX Managerial Accounting: Decision Making, C30PA Public
Sector Accounting, and C30AH Accounting History.

The aims of this Course are:

 To enable students to learn about being management accountants;

 To enable students to understand and to critically evaluate the contribution of management
accounting to organisational enterprises;
 To enable students to interact as a managerial colleague in decision-making and in measuring
performance.

2. Course Learning Objectives

On completion of this course you will be able to:

2.1 Knowledge based objectives:

 Describe and explain a range of contemporary management accounting techniques which are used
to support managerial decision making and enterprise;
 Understand and know about and use the new managerial developments that influence and shape
management accounting practice globally within different cultural contexts;
 Develop a framework to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of contemporary management
accounting techniques.
2.2 Skills based objectives:

 Apply management accounting techniques to provide relevant and useful decision-making

information;
 Analyse and evaluate the use of management accounting techniques in terms of organisational
objectives;
 Communicate accounting information to non-accountants; and to learn to act/behave as a
collegiate manager amongst others;
 Develop analytical and evaluation skills;
 Know about how to relate and work with other managers and colleagues.
2.3 Attitudes based objectives:

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  Explain coherently the subjective, uncertain nature of the environment within which management
accountants operate;
 Outline the difficulty of gathering, processing and communicating the information that is needed in
organisations;
 Assess the consequences of information provision, taking into account the ethical and cultural
dimensions;
 Participate in and be aware of the importance of open discussions.

3. The Global Teaching Team

The School of Social Sciences operates across three of HW’s 5 campus locations giving you the unique
opportunity via Canvas to access any online sessions offered by faculty in each location. This course is
offered by staff located in Edinburgh, Dubai and Malaysia.

Campus Role Name HW Email Office Hours (local time)

Global Course Leader

Students can book me a
Dr Xihui Chen Xihui.chen@hw.ac.uk
meeting via this link
Edinburg Lecturer
h
Tuesday 12.00 – 13.00
Tutor Aeisha Ali Aeisha.Ali@hw.ac.uk
(UK time)

Course Leader Mondays 11.30AM-

Dr Milica
Dubai M.Tadic@hw.ac.uk 13.00PM By Appointment
Dakovic Tadic
Lecturer / Tutor (Dubai time)

Course Leader Monday 9.00 – 11.00 by

Dr Appannan,
Malaysia J.Appannan@hw.ac.uk appointment (Malaysia
Jeya Santhini
Lecturer / Tutor time)

4. Course Structure
This course is divided into 11 learning units (one unit per week). Each unit is accompanied by one or more
lectures and supporting tutorials that will address a specific subject area. In each week folder on Canvas
you will find a range of online learning materials and instructions to guide your progress through a number
of tasks and activities to support your learning and to prepare you for lectures and/or tutorials. In total,
this course comprises 11 timetabled lectures delivered on-campus at the same time each week over the

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semester. In addition, you are expected to attend a number of on-campus tutorials in weeks 3 to 5 and
weeks 7 to 11 to explore theories and concepts in more detail.

Consolidation Week: Week 6 is reserved as a reading week free of any timetabled sessions across all HWU
courses. You should use this time to catch up with online learning materials and wider reading. This will
also give you time to work on coursework assessment.

5. Teaching Schedule
On-campus Lectures. There will be 11 timetabled lectures of two hour each. The date and time of lectures
will be different for each campus (see the detailed schedule in Section 9).

On-campus Tutorials: Lectures are accompanied by 8 timetabled tutorials starting in Week 3. Each tutorial
is a live interactive session lasting one hour and each will be available on-campus. There will be a number
of tutorial groups available, and you are required to sign up to ONE of these groups for your campus
location ensuring that you select a group that is scheduled at a time that suits your overall programme
timetable. You will need to join a group for the campus with which you are registered. In your tutorial
group you will solve numerical questions, discuss concepts, and explore the theories introduced in lectures
or in materials you will be directed to on Canvas. For specific dates and timings of different tutorial groups
please refer to the location specific tutorial timetables.

6. Course Assessment
Assessment on this course is designed to test your achievement of the learning outcomes listed in Section
2. This course is assessed by a combination of group coursework and a final invigilated examination. You
will be assessed using the following assessment components:

 Group Coursework (30% of course mark) – a case study

The case study will ask you to carry out the analysis of business environment, perform a number of
relevant calculations, interpret results and make specific recommendations for improving the efficiency
of company’s activities.
This case study will evaluate your performance against the following course learning outcomes:

 Describe and explain a range of contemporary management accounting techniques which are
used to support managerial decision making and enterprise;

 Develop a framework to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of contemporary management

accounting techniques;

 Apply management accounting techniques to provide relevant and useful decision-making

information;

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  Analyse and evaluate the use of management accounting techniques in terms of organisational
objectives;

 Develop analytical and evaluation skills;

 Explain coherently the subjective, uncertain nature of the environment within which
management accountants operate.

 Final Invigilated on-campus Examination (70 % of course mark)

The exam will be 2 hours in duration on campus during the final exam diet in December.
This Exam will evaluate your performance against the following course learning outcomes:

 Understand and know about and use the new managerial developments that influence and shape
management accounting practice globally within different cultural contexts;

 Communicate accounting information to non-accountants; and to learn to act/behave as a

collegiate manager amongst others;

 Know about how to relate and work with other managers and colleagues.

 Outline the difficulty of gathering, processing and communicating the information that is needed
in organisations;

 Assess the consequences of information provision, taking into account the ethical and cultural
dimensions;

 Participate in and be aware of the importance of open discussions.

Marking criteria for each assessment are available in the Assessment Module on this course Canvas
Module. These criteria are used to evaluate your work against the learning outcomes for this course and
therefore you should ensure that you understand the criteria and focus on what matters. Support to
complete course assessment is provided during lectures and tutorials, as well as in the assessment
documentation uploaded to Canvas. Drop-in sessions will be arranged to answer questions about each
assessment and a Discussion Board will be set up for each assessment to allow open discussion and to
answer any questions you might have about course assessment.

Group Coursework
You will be assigned to a group by the course leader. Follow the instructions in the Assessment Module.

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 The final group report is due no later than 11am (UK)/3pm (Dubai)/6pm (Malaysia) on Friday 28 October
2022.

Peer Assessment of Groupwork. All members of the group are expected to contribute to the group
work and final submission. If this does not happen, then each member of the group has the option to
complete a Peer Assessment Form in which you will evaluate the level of contribution made by other
members of the group (excluding your own contribution.) This is optional and is not required if you
believe everyone in your group contributed appropriately. Details will be made available in the
Assessment Module of the Canvas course when the Group work is introduced.

Submission of Coursework. An electronic Word file of your group coursework MUST be submitted to the
correct Turnitin link for your campus of registration via the Assessment module on CANVAS. Turnitin will
be used as the actual date stamp of submission. No hard copy of your work is required. For this
groupwork, only ONE member of the group should upload to Canvas by the submission deadline on
behalf of the whole group.

Will I get feedback on my coursework? Yes, you will receive general class feedback and group feedback
to help you improve your performance on the course and help you prepare for the final exam. Class
feedback, highlighting general strengths and weaknesses, will be provided to you during a lecture while
group feedback will be available up to 3 weeks after the assessment is due, as per HWU policy. Feedback
will be released to you via Canvas.

Late Submissions of coursework. In line with University Policy, any work submitted after the set date
and time will automatically have a penalty applied. The penalty is a reduction by 30% of the mark
awarded. Submission will be accepted up to five working days after the submission deadline - your work
will be marked, the late penalty applied, and you will receive feedback. Coursework submitted after five
working days will be awarded NO grade and you will not be entitled to feedback.

Extensions. No extensions for coursework are permitted unless an extension is given to the whole class
(in exceptional circumstances). The course leader cannot grant individual extensions. If you foresee
having issues submitting by the deadline, please contact your Personal Tutor and apply for Mitigating
Circumstances (MC) via the student portal.

The Final Course Exam

The final examination will be delivered on-campus during the December Exam and Assessment diet
(dates will be released later in the semester by Registry). You will have 2 hours to complete the exam.
This is an invigilated in-person closed book exam. The exam paper will comprise 4 questions from which
you will be required to answer 3 within 2 hours.

The exam paper will be a mix of computational and essay type examination questions. The questions will
be drawn from the whole of the Course syllabus - this includes lecture material, tutorial material and
material from the recommended readings. Word limits will be set.

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 You will not receive your mark for the exam, but you will receive your final overall course mark after the
Board of Examiners has approved the course results and results are released by Registry.

Will I get feedback on my exam? Individual feedback on your exam performance is not routinely
provided. However, if you have failed the exam or performed below your expectation, then you can
contact the course leader to book an appointment within 3 weeks of the exam marks being released.
During your appointment you will receive verbal feedback.

Further detail on course assessment is available in the Assessment Module of the Canvas course.

7.Course Revision and Exam Preparation

Before the final revision session in week 12, you should have worked your way through all your lecture
notes, the online learning materials and activities and covered the prescribed textbook and journal article
readings. The following broad topics will be covered in the final revision session:

 Exam format and question types

 Grading standards/expectations
 Review of key concepts

You should prepare for the revision session and bring along any questions you have and areas of difficulty
you would like to raise or review during the session. You may be asked to work through practice
examination questions before, during or after the revision session.

Examples of excellent and poor answers to exam questions will be posted in the Assessment Module of the
Canvas course no later than one week before the exam date.

Revision Homework: Work through the practice examples in Assessment Module (Exam Preparation) and
answer the questions within the indicated word limits. Examples of excellent and poor answers will be
posted in Assessment content area no later than one week before the exam date.

8. Academic Misconduct
At Heriot-Watt we expect all students to apply the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty in
all aspects of learning and assessment. You must read and adhere to the University’s policy on Academic
Integrity and complete the Academic Integrity Module included in the Canvas course.

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To deal with academic misconduct, including activities associated with contract cheating, plagiarism and
collusion, the University has Student Discipline Policy and Procedures that apply to all students of the
University.
The University understands that assessment can be stressful for students, for a wide range of reasons.
Therefore, if you are feeling anxious about your assessment(s), please contact the Student Advice Hub, the
Student Well-Being Services, your Personal Tutor or your course leader for guidance and/or advice. If there
are circumstances out with your control preventing you from effectively engaging with and completing
assessed work, you should seek advice and consider applying for Mitigating Circumstances.
It’s vital that you seek support rather than resorting to cheating. If you are found guilty of academic
misconduct this will be reflected in your final degree transcript and you will be expected to resubmit your
work or resit the course; this may delay progression to the next stage of study and / or delay the award of
your degree.

To gain access to the Assessment on this course you need to complete the
Academic Integrity Module contained within the Canvas Course.

9. Reading, Preparation and Additional Resources

Within each Module in the Canvas Course you will find what will be covered in each lecture and tutorial and
how you can best prepare for these sessions. Each Module details the learning outcomes and topics to be
covered. Please read through these carefully in advance. There are clear instructions for the activities,
exercises and tasks you need to complete before each tutorial.

Tutorials will be interactive and student participation will be expected. To maximise the benefit of the
tutorials students are normally required to have attempted pre-set questions, and to have done the
relevant reading as suggested. The tutorials are NOT designed as a space for you to DO the tutorial
exercises but rather to explore problems, issues that arise from the tutorial material and complete other
learning activities required to meet the learning outcomes of this course. Solutions to the exercises will be
provided in the tutorial meetings and will be uploaded on Canvas in the following week to assist with
revision.

Any required pre-work involves selected aspects of the online course and readings; if pre-work is indicated
for a lecture or tutorial this should be considered a minimum required level of preparation. If you have time
and would like to do more work beforehand or after a seminar or tutorial, you should work through the
additional activities and readings indicated in the Module.

The digital library is available giving access to a full range of resources, including e-books, databases and
journals. Resource lists, subject guides, skills development and online tutorials will also be available to
support your study. If you have any questions, our specialist Librarian Marion Kennedy, EBS and
Psychology, +44 131 451 3583 (m.l.kennedy@hw.ac.uk) will be ready to help with one-to-one advice.

Core Textbook. The core textbook for this course is available via the HWU library as an e-book:

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  Bhimani, A., Horngren, C. T., Datar, S. M., Rajan M. (2015) Management and Cost Accounting.
Harlow: Pearson Education (and the 7th edition, available in print and as an eBook).
 Chapter 12 “Decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty” from Drury, C. (2015)
Management and cost accounting. 9th edition (here is the link to download Chapter 12
https://contentstore.cla.co.uk/secure/link?id=68e96d8e-5f1d-ed11-bd6e-a04a5e5d2f8d).
Additional books (optional). For further background, those seeking additional sources might find the
following books useful:

 Drury, C. (2015) Management and cost accounting. 9th edition (available as an eBook).
 Best Practices in Management Accounting (2011) Ed. by Gregoriou, G. N., Finch, N.N. Gregoriou
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (available as an eBook).
 Issues in Management Accounting (2007) Ed. by Hopper, T., Scapens, R., Northcott, D. Harlow:
Pearson Education (available in print and as an eBook).
 Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting (2006) Ed. By Bhimani, A. Oxford: Oxford
University Press (available as an eBook).
 Management Accounting in the Digital Economy (2003) Ed. by Bhimani, A. Oxford: Oxford
University Press (available as an eBook).
 Baum, M. B. (2013) Service Business Costing. Cost Accounting Approach for the Service Industry.
Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, Springer Gabler (available in print and as an eBook).
Additional resources.

Relevant professional journals include:

• Financial Management (formerly: Management Accounting UK)
• Strategic Finance (formerly: Management Accounting USA)
Relevant academic journals include:
• Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
• Accounting, Organizations & Society
• Critical Perspective on Accounting
• Management Accounting Research

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10. Detailed Course Schedule
All times are local. Lectures are two hours in duration, tutorials are 1 hours in duration. All sessions are
delivered on-campus.

Reading and Required

Week Lectures Edinburgh Dubai Malaysia
Pre-work

Lecture 09.00/12
13.00/13 13.00/13 Bhimani et al. (2015)
1. Pricing, Target Costing &
Sep Sep Sep Chapter 12
Profitability Analysis

Lecture 13.00/20 13.00/20 09.00/19 Bhimani et al. (2015)

2.
Capital Investment Decisions Sep Sep Sep Chapter 13

Lecture
13.00/27 13.00/27 09.00/26
Risk and Uncertainty (Probability Drury (2015) Chapter 12
Analysis) Sep Sep Sep
3.

Tutorial 1 To attempt questions

Costing Products & Pricing from Tutorial 1

Lecture
13.00/04 13.00/04 09.00/03 Bhimani et al. (2015)
Motivation, Budgets &
Oct Oct Oct Chapter 14
Responsibility Accounting
4.
Tutorial 2
To attempt questions
Capital Investment Decision
from Tutorial 2
Making

Lecture
Flexible Budgets, Variances and 13.00/11 13.00/11 09.00/10 Bhimani et al. (2015)
Management Control I & Group Oct Oct Oct Chapter 15
Coursework Assessment Q&A
5.
Tutorial 3
Decision Making under To attempt questions
Conditions of Risk and from Tutorial 3
Uncertainty

6. Consolidation week: Free to catch-up and work on assessments

Lecture
13.00/25 13.00/25 09.00/24 Bhimani et al. (2015)
Flexible Budgets, Variances and
Oct Oct Oct Chapter 16
Management Control II
7.
Tutorial 4
To attempt questions
Motivation, Budgets &
from Tutorial 4
Responsibility Accounting

8. Lecture 13.00/01 13.00/01 09.00/31 Bhimani et al. (2015)

Measuring Yield, Mix and Nov Nov Oct Chapter 17
Quantity Effects

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 Reading and Required
Week Lectures Edinburgh Dubai Malaysia
Pre-work

Tutorial 5 To attempt questions 1-4

Flexible Budgeting and 8 from Tutorial 5

Lecture
13.00/08 13.00/08 09.00/07 Bhimani et al. (2015)
Control Systems & Transfer
Nov Nov Nov Chapter 18
Pricing
9.

Tutorial 6 To attempt questions

Transfer Pricing from Tutorial 6

Lecture
13.00/15 13.00/15 09.00/14 Bhimani et al. (2015)
Control Systems & Performance
Nov Nov Nov Chapter 19
Measurement
10.
Tutorial 7
To attempt questions
Divisional Performance
from Tutorial 7
Management

Lecture
13.00/22 13.00/22 09.00/21 Bhimani et al. (2015)
Quality and Throughput
Nov Nov Nov Chapters 20 and 21
Accounting for JIT Systems
11.

Tutorial 8 To attempt questions 1-5

Quality Reporting and 7 from Tutorial 8

Lecture
Course Review 13.00/29 13.00/29 09.00/28 Bhimani et al. (2015)
12.
Revision & Exam Guidance and Nov Nov Nov Chapter 21
Preparation

Session times are all local time: Dubai is 3 hours ahead and Malaysia 7 hours ahead of UK time up until Sunday 30th
October 2022, on this date the UK moves from BST (British Summer Time) to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) and then
Dubai will be 4 hours and Malaysia 8 hours ahead of the UK through until Sunday 26 th March 2023.

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