1. Instructor:
 

2. Course Description:

Topics included in Accounting 312 include cost-volume-profit analysis, tactical decisions, capital asset acquisition decisions, pricing, profitability issues, decentralization, performance evaluation, transfer pricing, and contemporary issues. We will deal with the application of quantitative techniques and behavioral issues facing managers in making decisions and assessing performance. Our objective is to develop problem solving skills that include identifying problems, defining alternatives that might solve those problems and eliciting, processing, using, and communicating information and decisions.

This course differs from other accounting courses in that we assume the role of "decision maker" rather than limiting ourselves to the role of "preparer". This role suggests several changes in the way you approach this class. First, success in this course depends on more than "memorizing formulas and rules". This course requires analytical and logical thinking in addition to applying formulas and rules. Second, many problems that we will address in this class do not have one "right" answer. Depending on conditions and assumptions, several courses of action may be equally "correct". Finally, this course requires you to continue the development of communication skills. You will be required present information by discussing issues in class and writing cases and memoranda. You will also be required to elicit information from others and interpret that information in meaningful ways.

3. Procedures:

The course will be conducted as a combination of lecture and problem solving sessions with and emphasis on student participation. In most instances, the preliminary lecture on a topic will be conducted before you are asked to work problems in that area. However, you are expected to have read the related text material before the lecture.

4. Materials:

Textbook: Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis. Horgren, Foster, and Datar (Prentice Hall, 1998). (Available at textbook rental.) A study guide is available at the Bookstore as optional material. Use with caution.

Reference: Accounting and Communication. Maurice L. Hirsch, R. Anderson, and Susan Gabriel. (Southwestern Publishing, 1994) (Available at textbook rental.)

Readings: Outside readings will be distributed during class, placed on reserve in the library, or posted on my homepage.

5. Assignments:

Common syllabus information for all 311 and 312 sections: Assignments include regular homework, a series of memoranda, and cases. While all assignments and examinations will be evaluated based on both presentation and content, there are special requirements for the memoranda and cases. For these assignments, instead of responding to direct requirements in a "homework" fashion, you are expected to follow the guidelines in Appendix B of the text. Your memoranda and cases have you assume a particular role, present to a particular audience, and accomplish the task(s) set out. In all cases, you are to take the role, audience, and task into account when making choices about your report (e.g., length, language, tables or graphs, etc.). All require that you present well-justified and complete analysis (not description). Make sure you clearly discuss the issues, the alternatives, and the implications in a strategic management framework. Thus, you are expected to go beyond the specific issues in the case and to look at broader concerns as well.

Each of these assignments must be prepared using a word processing package, and, where appropriate, include sufficient supporting exhibits, schedules, or graphics. For all memoranda and cases, you are expected produce a finished product. This means that the report is professional in all respects: given your assigned role, audience, and task, you are to generate an appropriate written or oral report. You would not hand in a first draft in a work situation, and such will not be tolerated here either. You will be evaluated from the perspective of the audience assigned and held to standards such an audience expects.

The communication of ideas involves not only the ideas themselves, but also the form and context in which they are presented. Communication skills cannot be divided into content and technique; the two are intertwined. Ideas are meaningless if they cannot be communicated; excellent writing style is useless if no substantive ideas are communicated. Evaluation will reflect the above.

Fatal Error Policy: If a paper has a significant number (three or more on any one page or more than six in the full report) of errors (typographical errors, lack of conformity with assignment format, misspelled words, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, incorrect grammar or usage, capitalization problems, punctuation errors, lack of appropriate or proper references/citations, etc.), the paper will be rejected and returned without a grade or feedback. In addition, if an analysis does not follow the basic guidelines or does not follow the assigned role, audience, and/or task, the paper will be returned under this same policy. Only one resubmission is allowed; if an assignment is rejected under this policy a second time, a grade of zero will be recorded. When an analysis is resubmitted, it will be graded at that time with a one-grade penalty (e.g., if the revised paper rates a grade of 8 out of 10, a 7 will be recorded as the grade).

Homework: Homework will be collected several times, at random, during the quarter. Collection of homework will not be announced in advance. Each time homework is collected, it will be graded on a 5 point scale. A maximum of 30 points will be included in the final grade calculation.

You will find that a computerized spreadsheet like Excel will be very helpful in preparing many homework problems. I recommend that you make full use of the computer resources available to you. (One special homework assignment requires the use of a spreadsheet. Details are provided below under Special Homework.)

Information Elicitation Exercise: In order to continue developing your oral and written communications skills you will be participating in a group project in which you will analyze a case after collecting information by interviewing a "manager" who is familiar with the case. The primary issue in the case is a capital budgeting decision. The initial interviews to collect information will conducted during class time on March 30.  Follow-up questions can be submitted by E-mail or a second interview can be scheduled outside of class time. After collecting information, you will be required to prepare a case analysis following the instructions in the common 311/ 312 syllabus section. The written report is due on April 13. This project is worth 40 points in the final grade calculation. Your grade will depend on my assessment of your participation in the information elicitation stage, your teammates evaluation of your participation, and the quality of the final group report.

Special Homework: Some homework problems require special solutions. Three assignments require you to prepare well-developed written submissions as discussed in the common syllabus section. These assignments should clearly discuss the issues, alternatives, and implications of the situation and make a clear defense of the position that you select. Explicit instructions for each memo will be distributed as the due date approaches.

Another problem requires you to address a capital budgeting problem by preparing a spreadsheet solution using the template described in the handout entitled Capital Budgeting Template Construction. The problem also requires you to conduct sensitivity analysis on the computer. If you choose to use a template other than the one described in the handout, you must receive prior permission from the instructor.

In-class Assignments: Several in-class group assignments will be completed. These assignments typically ask you to go a step or two beyond a typical homework. Completing them in class and in groups of three or four helps you deal with the complexity. Each assignment will be worth 10 points in the final grade calculation.

6. Grading:

Your final grade will be based on a total of 500 points as follows:

7. Instructor Availability:

I will be on campus most days, Monday through Friday, from 9AM to 5PM and Tuesday evenings before class. If you need to see me outside my office hours, feel free to stop by. You may also call me either in my office or at home before 9PM.

8. Schedule:

I reserve the right to amend these assignments to enhance the coverage of material. You are expected to stay current -- if you miss class, check the website to find out if any assignments have changed.