Modulhandbuch (Module manual)

This course gives students the opportunity to perform case‐based group work in the field of management accounting. Management accountants provide essential information for business decision making. Their methods are continually evolving. Nurtured by a vital exchange between academia and managers, several applied methods have progressed significantly over the past decades. The enhanced assessment of relevant internal and external information is central to these developments, finally resulting in better managerial choices and company performance. The role of management accountants therefore progresses with their increased capability to provide value‐added comprehension of business dynamics.

This course combines theoretical and practical aspects. In a primary seminar in October, methods such as Business Data Analysis, Variance Analysis and Customer Profitability Analysis are introduced in general. Cases on these and similar topics will then be assigned for more in‐depth group work. Guidance is provided by the review of relevant literature and feedback sessions with the lecturer. Students are required to hand in brief seminar papers on their assigned topics and cases to prove their proficiency in literature research and written expression. In a block seminar in January, students will present and discuss insights from literature reviews along with solutions to their case studies.​

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Students acquire in depth knowledge in selected methods in management  accounting, e.g. Data Analysis, Profitability Analysis, Capacity Costing, and/or  Variance Analysis. Sub‐topics such as Resource Consumption Accounting,  T ime‐Driven Activity‐Based‐Costing, product mix decision support and the  design of Key Performance Indicators receive further attention during specific  group work, while the course as a whole presents these concepts within a  connected framework.

Students acquire transfer competencies through assessing and applying  methods in management accounting by solving and discussing case studies  which are typically based on existent business situations. Practical experience  in group work and presenting in front of a familiar audience is also provided to  students.

​Students expand their ability to assess modern methods in management accounting from the viewpoint of a decision maker.​