Advanced Management Accounting

BMAN70232 Advanced Management Accounting 15 Semester 2 Postgraduate Taught Level 7 Chunlei Yang Unit coordinator Sven Modell Unit coordinator Alliance Manchester Business School 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 In this course, students develop an advanced understanding of how management accounting operates in real organisational settings. They explore key practices such as costing, budgeting, performance measurement and strategic management accounting, while also examining how these practices evolve in response to digital technologies, organisational change and wider societal developments. Through lectures, discussions and case-based activities, they learn how management accounting information shapes strategic choices, influences behaviour and contributes to organisational control. By engaging with contemporary debates and research, they build the analytical insight needed to interpret, question and apply management accounting techniques in complex professional environments. In this course, students develop an advanced understanding of how management accounting operates in real organisational settings. They explore key practices such as costing, budgeting, performance measurement and strategic management accounting, while also examining how these practices evolve in response to digital technologies, organisational change and wider societal developments. Through lectures, discussions and case-based activities, they learn how management accounting information shapes strategic choices, influences behaviour and contributes to organisational control. By engaging with contemporary debates and research, they build the analytical insight needed to interpret, question and apply management accounting techniques in complex professional environments. The unit aims to: provide students with advanced-level knowledge of the theory and practice of management accounting, with a special emphasis on the ways in which contemporary changes in organizations and society shape management accounting practices. Analyse advanced management accounting theories and practices that address strategic, organisational and technological developments.Evaluate strategic management accounting techniques, including costing, budgeting and performance measurement, in contemporary organisational contexts. Analyse empirical and theoretical evidence to explain how management accounting practices differ across organisational settings.Evaluate accounting change processes, focusing on how new practices affect organisational behaviours, decision-making and control. Design management accounting system proposals, integrating analytical tools, contextual factors and relevant theoretical frameworks. Communicate complex management accounting insights clearly to managerial audiences. Syllabus:The unit covers advanced topics in management accounting, focusing on how accounting practices evolve in response to organisational change, strategic demands, and broader societal and technological developments. Indicative curriculum content includes:Cost management: traditional costing systems, activity-based costing (ABC), and strategic and technology-enabled cost management.Accounting for profit planning and strategy: budgeting and its limitations, Beyond Budgeting, and strategic management accounting techniques such as the Balanced Scorecard, Economic Value Added, and customer profitability analysis.Accounting for organisational forms: divisionalisation, transfer pricing, performance measurement, and accounting in inter-organisational, supply chain, and network settings.Management accounting relevance and digitalisation: the relevance lost debate and the implications of digital technologies, analytics, and automation for management accounting roles and practices.Accounting for uncertainty: informational versus personal uncertainty and the behavioural and organisational consequences of accounting systems.Management accounting change: diffusion of practices and alternative interpretive and critical perspectives on management accounting research.Alternative perspectives on core techniques: critical and institutional analyses of costing, budgeting, and strategic performance measurement. 0 Other 100% Assessed Groupwork (20%)Examination (80%) written feedback is provided via Canvas within 15 working days of the submission deadline BMAN70232 Programme Req: BMAN70232 is only available as a core unit to students on MSc Accounting and MSc Accounting & Finance. MSc A&F students must take at least one of BMAN70232 or BMAN72912Elective/Core Course Unit on MSc A&F, Core Course Unit on MSc Accounting, Free for MSc Finance N Core Text• Wickramasinghe, D. and Alawattage, C. (2007; 2012). Management Accounting Change: Approaches and Perspectives. Routledge.Indicative Journal Articles and Supplementary ReadingsStudents are expected to engage with a wide range of contemporary and classic research, including articles from leading journals such as:• Accounting, Organizations and Society• Management Accounting Research• Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal• Critical Perspectives on Accounting• European Accounting Review• Contemporary Accounting Research• Harvard Business ReviewIndicative topics include cost management (e.g. ABC), budgeting and Beyond Budgeting, strategic performance measurement (e.g. Balanced Scorecard), management control and transfer pricing, accounting for uncertainty, digitalisation, and alternative interpretive and critical perspectives on management accounting.A detailed weekly reading list, including required articles and case materials, is provided in the course outline and made available sonline Lectures 30 0 120