Module BUSI45S15: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND CONTROL (ONLINE)

Department: Business School (Business)

BUSI45S15: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND CONTROL (ONLINE)

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To build on the core concepts of financial management by:
• developing students’ understanding of the financial control processes of business and their systems context;
• providing students with the ability to evaluate alternative mechanisms to deliver information for management control and decision making;
• providing students with a critical understanding of the centrality of management accounting information to wealth creation.

Content

• Understanding cost behaviour;
• Short term budgeting;
• Resource allocation and capacity costs;
• Activity based costing systems and activity based management;
• Financial measures of performance, international dimensions;
• Strategic management accounting;
• Balanced scorecard;
• Incentive measures and performance;
• Social and environmental reporting.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module, students will have:
• a knowledge of the behaviour of costs;
• a critical understanding of the context of the information needs of management;
• a critical appreciation of recent relevant academic literature and its implications for current management practice;
• a critical understanding of the impact of management accounting on key strategic issues faced by organisations;
• a critical appreciation of the implications of globalisation and national culture for financial planning and control.

• By the end of the module, students will:
• be able to critically evaluate the role of budgeting in effective management control.

• Written communication;
• planning, organising and time management;
• problem solving and analysis;
• using initiative;
• computer literacy.
Written communication; planning, organising and time management; problem solving and analysis; using initiative; computer literacy.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is delivered via online learning, divided up into study weeks with specially produced resources within each week. Resources vary according to the learning outcomes but normally include: video content, directed reading, reflection through activities, opportunities for self-assessment and peer-to-peer learning within a tutor-facilitated discussion board. Tutors provide feedback on formative work and facilitate discussion board communication as well as being available for individual consultation as necessary (usually by email and Skype). 
• The summative assessment of the module is designed to test the acquisition and articulation of knowledge and critical understanding, and skills of application and interpretation within the business context.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

A written assignment of 1,500 words, or its multimedia equivalent, which may involve some group work.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University