Management Accounting (Top-Up)
BSc (Hons)

In this module you will develop the competencies and skills needed to formulate and implement a financial strategy which can support the overall business strategy of an entity. You will appraise the merits of alternative sources of finance for an organisation and propose an ideal finance mix. You will also evaluate the merits of potential investment opportunities for which you will be required to valuate corporate entities for mergers, acquisitions and divestments.

This module will also offer additional reading material with optional activities for students who aspire to sit CIMA’s F3 exam. These optional activities will also be available to those students who wish to widen their knowledge on Financial Strategy, in which case the module tutor will do a skills diagnostic based on the individual student’s formative activities prior to recommending these optional activities.

Please note the optional activities are intended to support you for your CIMA exam but will not lead to an exemption from it. In case you wish to attempt CIMA’s F3 it will be your responsibility to confirm eligibility and to enrol yourself with CIMA.

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Investigate the financial requirements of an organisation and propose an appropriate financial strategy
2. Analyse the corporate finance policy of an organisation
3. Appraise an organisations dividend decision

Module content

• Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module
• Strategic financial and non-financial objectives of different entities
• Strategic financial management policy decision
• Using information derived management accounting techniques to formulate financial strategy
• Financial requirements of an entity and making recommendations to meet these
• Dividend Policy that meets expectations of shareholders
• Acquisition, mergers and divestment
• Valuation of whole entities, subsidiary or division
• Pricing issues and post transaction issues 

The following content contains optional activities with formative/automated feedback for students aspiring to sit the CIMA’s F3 exam:

• Sustainability and integrative reporting
• Relationship between investment, financing and dividend decision
• Hedge accounting and disclosure of financial risk on financial statement
• Impact of changes in capital structure
• Validity of valuation methods

Risk management is a process whereby an organisations manager identifies the risk it faces, evaluates the likely effect of these risks, introduces a range of control measures and finally monitors and evaluates the success of these measures. It involves the application of a number of techniques which combine both knowledge and problem-solving skills. Information derived from management accountancy supports managers in performing this role effectively. This module draws heavily on advanced management accounting tools and techniques and aims to provide you with the opportunity to apply these techniques by evaluating risk management strategies in real life contemporary organisations.

This module will also offer additional reading material with optional activities for students who aspire to sit CIMA’s P3 exam. These optional activities will also be available to those students who wish to widen their knowledge on risk management, in which case the module tutor will do a skills diagnostic based on the individual student’s formative activities prior to recommending these optional activities.

Please note the optional activities are intended to support you for your CIMA exam but will not lead to an exemption from it. In case you wish to attempt CIMA’s P3 it will be your responsibility to confirm eligibility and to enrol yourself with CIMA.

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate critical understanding of how risks can be identified and categorised based on the impact they have on different organisations
2. Demonstrate awareness of the impact of various responses to strategic risks
3. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the internal control systems and management accounting strategies that an organisation can use to manage risks and examine ways in which risks associated with cash flows and capital investment decisions can be managed

Module content

• Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module
• Types of risks facing an organisation
• Response to risk
• Information needed by different decision makers and how this impacts their risk perception
• Use of management accounting principles and techniques and internal control systems to mitigate risks
• Auditing internal control systems
• Ethical issues facing an organisation and ethical impacts of risk
• Financial risks facing an organisation and using ratio analysis to identify these financial risks
• Limitations of tools of management accounting to mitigate risk
• Alternative risks management tools
• Investment appraisal and risks associated with capital budgeting
• Sensitivity analysis, risk and uncertainty
• Contemporary themes in risk management 

The following content contains optional activities with formative/automated feedback for students aspiring to sit the CIMA’s P3 exam:

• Quantification of risk exposure
• Risk map exposures
• Assurance mapping
• Appropriate measures for strategic control and direction
• Solutions to risk of dysfunctional behaviour
• CIMA’s code of ethics
• Financial risks associated with international operations and debt finance
• Conflicts from capital investment decisions
• Project post implementation

This module will help you to formulate critical awareness of how organisations implement their strategies by aligning people, projects, processes, structures and relationships. It will equip you with the skills and knowledge required as a manager to analyse the existing position of an organisation and device and implement strategic decisions to enable long-term sustainability of the organisation.

You will also examine key skills needed to manage change within an organisation.

This module will also offer additional reading material with optional activities for students who aspire to sit CIMA’s E3 exam. These optional activities will also be available to those students who wish to widen their knowledge on strategic management, in which case the module tutor will do a skills diagnostic based on the individual student’s formative activities prior to recommending these optional activities.

Please note the optional activities are intended to support you for your CIMA exam but will not lead to an exemption from it. In case you wish to attempt CIMA’s E3 it will be your responsibility to confirm eligibility and to enrol yourself with CIMA.

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Analyse the influence of the external environment on an organisation
2. Critically appraise the strategic position of an organisation and evaluate its strategic options
3. Propose methods to implement organisational change after analysing the effect of various change management strategies on an organisation
4. Appraise the suitability of using various tools in implementing strategy and analyse the role played by Information Systems to facilitate this

Module content

• Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module
• Tools of strategic analysis
• Influence of key external factors on an organisations strategy
• Ethical issues arising from the organisations interaction with the environment
• Process, tools and techniques used by management accountants for strategy formulation and making strategic choices
• Evaluate tools and methods to implement a change programme
• Recommending change leadership process in support of strategic implementation
• Tools and techniques of strategic implementation
• Information system requirements for successful strategic implementation
• Strategic impact of IT and IS on an organisation
• Contemporary themes in strategic management 

The following content contains optional activities with formative/automated feedback for students aspiring to sit the CIMA’s E3 exam:

• Drivers of external demand for environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility
• Building and managing strategic relationship with stakeholders
• Responsibility of directors in strategy formulation and implementation
• Manage product portfolio
• Value chain
• Impact of organisational change
• Leadership styles for organisational change
• Strategic performance management

For the purpose of data collection and analysis, this module will provide you information on various primary and secondary data collection techniques and on qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. As a result of this module, you will explore the ethical issues involved in undertaking research, the suitability of various techniques and methods used to assist research.

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module you will be able to:

1. Propose appropriate quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods to analyse different data sets and present your findings using suitable approaches
2. Critically analyse the impact of sampling and non-sampling errors on the interpretation of research findings
3. Critically analyse ethical issues a researcher may face in an applied context

Module content

• Academic writing and digital literacy and scholarship skills appropriate to the module
• Research design
• Primary and secondary data collection techniques
• Quantitative data gathering and analysis, eg normal distribution, confidence interval, parametric and non-parametric tests, correlation and regression, variance analysis, sample size
• Qualitative data gathering and analysis, eg observation, interviews, focus group research, open questionnaires and surveys, documentary analysis, case studies
• Contextualising qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
• Strengths and weaknesses of quantitative, quantitative and mixed methods
• Data presentation methods
• Ethical issues in research
• Theoretical principles of using mixed methods

Your Independent Study dissertation allows you to analyse and test the theories, principles and concepts addressed in the classroom environment in the reality of a private, public or community sector organisation by means of a pathway-related report. The independent study represents an individual piece of research completed under the guidance of an academic supervisor. It may be a research study which makes a contribution to the body of knowledge in your discipline area or professional background, or a study in which you critically analyse and evaluate existing knowledge and produces observations and conclusions of relevance to the particular field of study.

Module learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

1. Prepare and critically articulate a research ethics-approved proposal and translate this into a feasible research plan relevant to your overall programme of study, which for some students will be within a named pathway
2. Identify and critically review literature and other appropriate contextual sources pertinent to the issue, theme, subject or applied problem as identified within the proposal submission
3. Critically evaluate a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods and to select data collection and analysis tools and techniques appropriate to their Independent Study
4. Working independently present a substantive piece of research in an applied aspect of business and management critically articulating; evaluating and reflecting upon the outcomes to an appropriate critical depth

Module content

The module will seek to equip students with the necessary skills to prepare, design and carry out complex business research projects using a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods.

The nature of the independent study will vary from student to student and from programme to programme. The study could take the form of a critical case study or a dissertation on a subject of the student's choice, with the supervision of a member of staff. The content will include an elaboration of the background factors involved in the situation, an evaluation of the relevant theories and concepts from the programme pathway, and a critical analysis of the subject selected.

This module will cover the following:

• Introducing business research
• Developing research skills
• Understanding research philosophy
• Understanding research ethics
• Reviewing the literature
• Understanding research methodology and design
• Developing a research proposal
• Understanding research methods, populations and sampling
• Using secondary data and archival sources
• Using observation
• Using interviews and focus groups
• Using questionnaires and scales
• Managing data and introducing data analysis
• Analysing quantitative data
• Analysing qualitative data
• Drawing conclusions and presenting research