MMD7111 - Financial Decision Making

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Appraise critically the broader financial context in which organisations operate
Source and critically assess a range of financial information
With critical awareness explain the nature, scope and role of management accounting in organisations
Identify the key information from a complex business situation, formulate it as a problem and act autonomously in selecting the appropriate accounting techniques to solve the problem
With critical awareness apply a range of financial techniques for the effective allocation and control of financial resources

Content:

This module focuses on the financial information used by managers in decision making, including the calculation of product/service costs. The purpose of the module is to provide students with a critical awareness of the application of key principles, concepts and techniques of management accounting to a range of organisational scenarios. Students appraise the accounting based tools and techniques that managers can apply, but also develop a critical appreciation of the underlying assumptions and limitations of those techniques. The course emphasises the interpretation of financial information rather than its construction and employs a variety of theoretical concepts.
The financial environment
Information sources and decision-makers' needs:
sources of financial information, critique of published accounts, international divergences, use of software packages, ratio analysis
Short-term decisions: cost behaviour, cost drivers and cost prediction techniques, CVP, pricing decisions, optimal pricing, operational budgets and behavioural issues, costs absorption
Long term decisions: capital structure, risk return and gearing, investment appraisal, DCF tools, working capital cycle, working capital management
Budget allocation and control systems, behavioural issues in effective budget management, divisional performance, transfer pricing
Flexible Budgeting and the Management of Overhead

Learning and Teaching Information:

The module uses active learning workshops focussing on practical work-related issues. Students receive a learning package prior to the workshop to facilitate active participation. The management workshops give students practice in professional skills.

Lectures/workshops (online)
Hours: 15
Intended Group size: 25

Guided independent studies
Hiours: 80
intended group size: 1

Tutorials/consultation
Hours: 5
Intended Group size: 25

Further details relating to assessment
The in-course assignment requires elaboration of a financial analysis in a given context. The final assignment concerns the application of the appropriate management accounting techniques to solve relevant student-selected business problems. The in-course assignment and final report ensure that students' knowledge and skills are comprehensively assessed both during and at the end of the module.

Do all individual components need to be passed to pass the module overall? Yes
Is this module exempt from condonement of marginal failure? Yes

Other relevant matters
All modules and on-line support features are available to all students following registration for their chosen programme of study.

Assessment:

001 in course assignment 1000 words during the workshops 40%
002 Final report 1000 words end of module 60%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - PRS_CODE=
Level - 7
Credit Value - 10
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - S1

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