The course is included in these curricula and study modules

Im 2005 - 2006 - Economics and management

Level/category

Professional studies

Teaching language

English

Type of course

Compulsory

Recommended year of study

2

Total number of ECTS

5 cr

Competency aims

Objectives of the course

Contents

The objective of the course is to learn about the cost structure in a company and how to manage costs effectively. Cost drivers, cost allocation and performance measurement are important tools for projects and companies.

The strategy process is vital for understanding company objectives. This course will concentrate on microeconomics and companies? decision and accounting processes in order to meet the competitive edge that today?s global competition includes. Therefore tools such as the Balanced Scordcard will be included, as well as measurements in that tool. Macroeconomics is also included in the discussion.

The financial statements will be analysed and at the end of the course the students should be able to build financial statements themselves as well as analyse the financial statements for each company. The student will also know the difference between a traditional financial statement and ABC accounting.

The student will use the budget as a tool for control and supervision in companies considering the economic structures, and know how to use standard variance and strategic profitability analysis. The students will also know different financial measures for investments and investment decisions.

The constructive pedagogical process for students is vital, whereby the knowledge of how a company functions and what processes are important are included in the course. Internet learning and virtual companies form a complementary information source, which enables more understanding of the real world of the economics.

Learning outcomes

Having successfully completed this course the student will be able to:

1. Understand the difference between financial and economic management
2. Understand the importance of cost management in companies
3. Build the financial reports for a company.
4. Construct a budget for a company and use it as a control tool in the company.
5. Decide what projects can financially be finalised and to what extent.
6. Use some management tools, i.e. Balanced scorecard, ABC accounting.
7. Decide upon different investment alternatives.
8. Use the cost allocation tool.
9. Recognise different costs and cost structures for units and processes.
10. Use some tools for measurement and benchmarking, i.e. equilibrium and cost-volume-profit analysis.

Course contents

Lectures, two assignments, two final exams. 75% presence of the lectures is needed to get a final score.

Prerequisites and co-requisites

Course in Economics

Additional information

Date of examination
1 and 3 November 2006
75% presence in the courses

Recommended or required reading

Horngren & Datar & Foster: Cost Accounting. A Managerial Emphasis. New Jersey 2003.
Colin Drury: Management and Cost Accounting, latest edition.

Study activities

  • Lectures - 70 hours
  • Exercise based learning - 30 hours
  • Tuition managed by students but supervised by the teacher - 10 hours
  • Project work and productions - 10 hours
  • Individual studies - 10 hours
  • Web-based and web-supported studies - 10 hours
  • - 0 hours

Workload

  • Total workload of the course: 140 hours
  • Of which autonomous studies: 30 hours
  • Of which scheduled studies: 110 hours

Mode of Delivery

Participation in tuition

Assessment methods

  • Exams
  • Reports and productions
  • Essays

Examiner

Fellman Veronica

Group size

No limit

Assignments valid until

Until date 2008-09-01

Assessment methods

  • 2006-11-03 - Exams
  • 2006-09-22 - Reports and productions
  • 2006-10-18 - Essays

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