MBA Curriculum Reform in the Accounting Discipline

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The Aspen Institute Corporate Governance and
Accountability Project

• MBA Curriculum Reform in the Accounting
  Discipline
• Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• Presented by Jane Cote, PhD
• Associate Professor Accounting
• Washington State University

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• Accounting Measurement for Leaders
• Preparing MBA students with tools they will need
  as future business leaders.

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Course Theme

• What should be measured and How should it be
  measured?
• Accounting as a measurement discipline.
• Builds on traditional accounting concepts to
  emphasize the consequences that choices made in
  the process of accounting measurement have on
  strategic direction, stakeholder commitments, and
  performance expectations.

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Curriculum Design Philosophy

• Focus on a few topics to be explored in depth,
  rather than exposure to a broad set of topics.
• Students enter course with basic understanding of
  financial accounting.
• WSU MBA program uses stakeholder theory as
  organizing framework for curriculum.
• Faculty using these course materials can choose
  the extent to which they want to emphasize
  stakeholder issues.

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Curriculum Design Philosophy Continued

• With a student population comprised mainly of
  mid-career professionals, class is enriched by
  encouraging them to bring their organizational
  issues into the classroom.
• Live case format encourages students to identify
  important issues they are facing and create
  solutions using class framework. In essence,
  students are creating their own case studies.

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WHAT IS IT THAT BUSINESS LEADERS NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT MEASUREMENT?

• The course materials are presented in 6 modules.
• Professors can choose all or some of them to
  build their own course.
• Causality and Measurement
• Non-financial Performance Measurement
• Internal Control and Risk Assessment.
• Cost Behavior and Decision Making
• Planning and Analysis
• Activity Analysis

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Causality measurement

• Primary Learning Goal Demonstrate an
  understanding of causality with particular
  emphasis on how to identify causal linkages
  between inputs and outcomes.
• Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner serves as the
  primary reading. It demonstrates the concepts of
  causality and measurement using everyday
  language.

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Non-Financial Performance Measurement

• Primary Learning Goal Develop a casual
  framework that demonstrates how to measure
  progress in achieving strategic goals can be
  measured.
• The Balanced Scorecard is the tool used in this
  module.
• Stakeholder issues take center stage in this
  module

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Internal Control Risk Assessment

• History will be kind to me, for I intend to
  write it Winston Churchill
• Here we change the focus from information
  relevance to reliability.
• Primary Focus Creating quality control
  environments.
• Viewed through organizational individual lens.

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Cost Behavior Decision Making

• This is the first of the more traditional
  quantitative accounting topics.
• Choices made about appropriate cost structure for
  a firm have long and short term consequences for
  risk and opportunities.

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Planning Analysis

• Ones philosophy is not best expressed in words
  it is expressed in the choices one makes -
  Eleanor Roosevelt
• This module provides many opportunities to look
  at how resource allocation decisions affect
  various stakeholder relationships.
• The social and cultural dimensions of budgeting
  are also explored in this module.

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Activity Analysis

• Using the Activity Based Costing framework, we
  explore causality and measurement again.
• Key takeaway is to understand how to determine
  which inputs lead to observed outputs.
• Focus is on customers and customer profitability.

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Summary

• This is but a quick snapshot of the teaching
  materials develop in this project.
• Themes running through this curriculum effort
  are
• Understanding causality is the key to meaningful
  measurement systems.
• Measurement system design influences stakeholder
  relationships.
• Materials are available at http//www.caseplace.or
  g/references/references_show.htm?doc_id682995
  and I would enjoy conversations with you about
  this project. You can contact me at
  janecote_at_vancouver.wsu.edu