Modulbeschreibungen

Business Administration

The objective of this module is to give students an overview of the state of the art performance management tools and teach them how to critically apply them in various situations.

Seminar with case studies

1. Accounting for decision making
Variable costing versus absorption costing  
Activity-based costing
Capital investment decisions
2. Planning and budgetary control systems
Budgets and responsibility accounting
Master budget
Static budgets and flexible budgets
Static Budgets: variance analysis
Flexible budgets: variance analysis
3. Performance measurement
Financial and non-financial performance measures
ROI and residual income
Benchmarks and relative performance evaluation
4. Strategic Management Accounting
Basics of strategy
Key aspects of strategic management accounting
Balanced Scorecard

Horngren, Harrison, Oliver (X):  Accounting (current edition) (will be made available in the library) Free online website provides a free comprehensive textbook and learning center for accounting and management accounting! http://www.principlesofaccounting.com/

Additional Readings Numerous articles and complex case studies will be made available during the course

Introduction to Financial Accounting
Introduction to Managerial Accounting

Seminar with case studies (4 SWS, contact time: 60 h, face-to-face, day and evening courses)

After successful completion of the module, students will have acquired the following competencies:

• ILO 1 They are able to recall and describe important problems, concepts and methods of management accounting and their context in business administration.

• ILO 2: They are able to explain fundamental performance management concepts like the Accounting for Decision Making, Planning and Budgeting, Performance Measurement and Strategic Management Accounting, etc., apply them to given problems and interpret the results.

• ILO 3: They can critically analyze theoretical methods and concepts with respect to their applicability in practice and transfer the solving methods to new problems

Prerequisite in particular for specialisation in Accounting, prerequisite for bachelor thesis
The module is available for students of the following programs: Business Administration, IBAEX, Economics (1st stage of studies).

Verification of competence acquisition:

The assessment is an exam (90 minutes). The exam consists of several problems, which test different areas of knowledge and competencies.

• Knowledge questions require students to describe definitions, concepts or facts. Thus, knowledge about and correct understanding of these is examined. (ILO 1)

• Problems containing calculations test the understanding of the given problem statement and the ability to solve it with an adequate method. (ILO 2, ILO 3)

• Essay questions test the critical analysis competency (ILO 3) and the ability to put the management accounting issue at hand into the wider business context (ILO 1).