Performance Management and Control (5op)

Osaamistavoitteet (Opintojakso)

This course offers the students a chance to enhance their knowledge and managerial skills of financial planning and control as well as performance measurement and evaluation to a professional level.

The course is based on modern management accounting methods, frameworks and practices, laying a solid foundation on which continuing business studies and a serious business career in the field of accounting and finance can be built later on. The contents and learning experiences of the course are planned to be useful and generally applicable for every business professional.

After completing the course, students will be able to:

Prepare the major budgets of a company and participate in creation of budgeting systems.
Analyze business performance and participate in decision-making and business planning using standard budget reports.
Create business forecasts for the future, based on budget reports and other relevant business information.
Calculate the value of economic value added (EVA®) measure and utilize the DuPont approach to the return on investment (ROI) measure.
Participate in planning and implementing tailor-made strategic performance management solutions for various business cases.
Consider and try to include the effects of latest technological innovations and human aspects in any of their later business development projects.

Sisältö (Opintojakso)

Which budgets does a modern budgeting system – “The Master Budget” – include, and how can a tailored version be constructed?
How can the planning and control processes of a decentralized organization be managed using budgets, reports and supporting IT tools?
What different approaches are there for strategic performance measurement and evaluation?
What are the roles of human considerations, e.g. gaming, intangible assets and management myopia, as part of system creation?
How are the values of advanced measures such as economic value added (EVA®) calculated, and how can business reporting become more lively through visualization?
How can technology help in planning and control; what kind of insights do e.g. ERP systems, business intelligence and the current strong development of digitalization, mobile services and Internet of Things (IoT) offer to companies?
How is a strategy-bound performance management framework built and used in practice?

Arviointikriteerit, tyydyttävä (1-2) (Opintojakso)

Student is able to determine and use the concepts and methods of financial planning and control as well as the performance measurement and evaluation theme sufficiently. Student can take responsibility of his individual financial planning and reporting duties in routine activities, and is able to produce some contribution in a group.

Arviointikriteerit, hyvä (3-4) (Opintojakso)

Student has achieved the competence of applying and explaining the concepts and methods of financial planning and control as well as the performance measurement and evaluation theme in controllable situations. Student works actively and cooperates responsibly and constructively both individually and in a group. Student can solve financial planning and measurement problems, and his courses of action are well justified.

Arviointikriteerit, kiitettävä (5) (Opintojakso)

Student can analyse even complex situations and produce alternative solution proposals to various financial planning and control as well as performance measurement and evaluation tasks and problems. Student is able to apply his extensive knowledge and skills of the subject matter creatively in problem solving, solution tracing, new experiments, and when generalising his well-justified courses of action. Student can work strongly individually and produces remarkable contribution to group work, cooperating responsibly, constructively and flexibly with excellent commitment.

Aika ja paikka

First class: Jan 8, 2020.
Last class: Feb 19, 2020.

Tenttien ja uusintatenttien ajankohdat

The exact timing of the little course exam will be agreed upon together with the students during the first part of the course. The time will most probably be there during one of the last contact teaching lessons of the course implementation.
If necessary, two retake exams will be arranged flexibly in EXAM, after the end of the course, later on this spring.

Arviointimenetelmät ja arvioinnin perusteet

The course grade will be mainly based on the overall performance and activity (weight of some 60 - 67 %). The little course exam needs to be passed to get an acceptable course grade, but its weight is only 33 % - max. 40 %.
In the case the student's exam grade is better than his/her other performance and activity, the weight of 40 % is applied, for the student's benefit.
Performing all the required assignments and exercises acceptably and/or very well has a key role in the evaluation of overall activity.

Arviointiasteikko

0-5

Opiskelumuodot ja opetusmenetelmät

Contact teaching, assignments, exercises, problem-based learning, study conversation, cooperative learning, workshop, little exam.

Oppimateriaalit

Horngren, C.T., Datar, S., Rajan, M. V. 2015. Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis. 15th global ed. Pearson Education Limited.
ISBN 10: 1-292-01822-4. ISBN 13: 978-1-292-01822-5.
Other learning material will be agreed on during the course.

Opiskelijan ajankäyttö ja kuormitus

As a 5 cr course, a student's total workload is defined as max. 130 hours.
This includes some 16 hours of contact teaching. In addition to that, there might be need for some additional daytime working hours because of e.g. the potential company visit(s).
The workload is preplanned to be rather evenly splitted into the course weeks; this is possible thanks to the social approach of letting the students' assignment, case and exercise performances have a large role in their evaluation, instead of evaluating based on just the course exam.

Sisällön jaksotus

Main Themes of the Course:
I Budgeting - The Master Budget
II Strategic Performance Measurement and Evaluation
III Selected Advanced Topics in Management Accounting, as well as the little Course Exam

Toteutuksen valinnaiset suoritustavat

None.

Harjoittelu- ja työelämäyhteistyö

Company visits and/or guest lectures - if any - will be informed to the students during the course implementation.

Kansainvälisyys

International guest lecturers or relevant business professionals are basically always very welcome to visit and/or otherwise co-operate with this course.

Lisätietoja opiskelijoille

Pasi Kuusijärvi, M.Sc.(Econ. and Bus. Adm.)
Senior Lecturer, Accounting and Financial Management
Tampere University of Applied Sciences
Tampere Universities
Kuntokatu 3
FI-33520 Tampere
Finland
pasi.kuusijarvi@tuni.fi
Tel. +358 40 846 3052