Ateneo - UPO

The current competitive context, characterized by fast changes requires companies to adopt consistent and innovative managerial mechanisms. Among them, cost accounting tools are particularly relevant. These tools are represented by the entire set of managerial mechanisms that, supporting company’s strategies, deal with cost planning and management, and, ultimately, profitability.
The course presents tools and methodologies supporting the planning of costs and profitability both under firm’s performance and sustainability point of view.

Adopted books, both for attending and non-attending students, are:
- L.Brusa, Sistemi manageriali di programmazione e controllo, Giuffrè, 2000;
- L.Brusa, Analisi e contabilità dei costi, Giuffrè, 2009

Only some parts of the cited texts have to be studied by students. Some texts will be available to students in pdf format.

Didactic material is in English. Didactic material is available on DIR course web site at https://www.dir.uniupo.it

The course aims at presenting design criteria and operating modes of cost accounting, making students able to use them in different contexts.
Consequently, course objectives are:
1. Learning of cost accounting and management tools;
2. Developing skills to use acquired knowledge;
3. Developing skills to exploit cost accounting tools in different contexts;
4. Developing skills to balanced scorecards including all non-financial measures

None

The course exploits three different teaching methods:

1. Traditional lessons, in which issues, problems, solutions and tools are presented to students;
2. Case studies, that present theoretical issues in practical and real situations (also multi-media case studies will be used);
3. Companies /professionals presentations by entrepreneurs, managers, foreign professors, and experts.

The course is highly interactive considering students’ involvement through teamwork, monographic insights and real case studies discussions.

Course attendance is not mandatory but is highly recommended.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents- physical-or-learning-disabilities Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

Both for attending and non-attending students, the exam will consist in a final written exam with open question to verify the skills acquired during the course, and with the discussion of a case to verify the ability of students to apply knowledge and to judge and deal independently with a specific business environment

The topics of the course are the following: 1. Company’s profitability determinants; 3. Strategic cost accounting: general framework; 4. Costs improvement methodologies and tools: activity based costing and activity based management, kaizen costing, etc; 6. Strategy implementation: methodologies and tools for the evaluation of firm performance (balanced scorecard, performance pyramid, etc) Gender mainstream: Approaches to grant equal benefits in actions and activities for eliminating gender inequalities.

At the end of the course students will able to:
1. design, understand and use autonomously tools to plan and manage the future cost level, and mechanisms to measure and evaluate costs and corporate performance for a strategic point of view;
2. design, understanding and use systems to measuring corporate performance.