ACC804 Advanced Management Accounting

Tutorial Activity Sheet

Week 1 & 2

Reading: Lecture 1
Question 1

Outline the major processes that management accounting systems use to

create value and manage resources.

Question 2

Explain the concept of competitive advantage and provide examples of the

different types of business strategies that can be used to achieve it.

Question 3

What types of management accounting information might assist management

in a business that followed a strategy based on cost leadership?

Question 4

You are recently appointed as the senior management accountant for a large
organisation. In your first meeting with the CEO you suggest that you should
be included in the strategic leadership team (SLT). The CEO is surprised by
this suggestion as the previous incumbent had been happy to submit monthly
financial reports to the SLT rather than being a member of the team. He asks
you to prepare a report making a case for your inclusion in the SLT.
Required:
Prepare the report for the CEO identifying the contribution that you could
make as a management accountant to the activities of the SLT.
Reading: Lecture 2
Question 1

What are the main tenets of contingency theory? How do they influence MACS?

Question 2

Explain with an example the cybernetics notion of control.

Question 3

Critically examine the notion of goal congruence in large decentralized entities.

Question 4

Identify management accounting information that could assist managers in

making each of the following decisions. Remember to consider non-financial
information where relevant.

1. A marketing manager is considering whether or not to launch a new

product.
2. A travel company is considering whether it should increase its staff
numbers by one-third
3. A production team leader is considering whether an important customer
order should be produced next week, or during overtime hours tonight
4. A fast-food chain is considering a site for a new store

Question 5

Use the internet to access the website and the annual report for any company.
Find the director's report (or chairman's review) and discuss how management
accounting information may have contributed to the management of the
company during this year.