General information


Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Núria Masferrer Llabinés

Trimester: Third term

Credits: 6

Teaching staff: 

Jose Luis Martinez Fernandez
Axel Ehberger 
Francesc Masoller Arias 

Teaching languages


  • Spanish
  • English

Check the schedules of the different groups to know the language of teaching classes. Although the material can be in any of the three languages.

 

 

Skills


Basic skills
  • B4_That students can convey information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialized and non-specialized audiences

     

Specific skills
  • E12_Generate strategic skills by considering the operating environment as a project and establishing long-term, large-scale guidelines

     

General competencies
  • G2_Be able to innovate by developing an open attitude to change and be willing to re-evaluate old mental models that limit thinking

Transversal competences
  • T3_Show entrepreneurial leadership and leadership skills that build personal confidence and reduce fear of risk

     

Description


Analyze and understand the meaning of the concepts of quality and innovation and their systematic application to companies: the quality to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of internal operations, the commitment to the customer, the improvement of results, and the company's responsibility with the internal and external environment (ethics and innovation), innovation as the process of transforming ideas with value, with the aim of generating competitive advantages.

Given the changes and current complexity in the world of organizations, progressively characterized by a network layout, with greater decentralization in decision-making and greater breadth in their activities, as well as a globalized and interconnected environment, it is increasingly necessary to make a good analysis and monitoring of the management that allows to study the critical factors that define the business success and its concretion in controllable objectives. Helping to face these new challenges is the object of study of this subject.

COVID-19

This subject has methodological and digital resources to make possible its continuity in non-contact mode in the case of being necessary for reasons related to the Covid-19. In this way, the achievement of the same knowledge and skills that are specified in this teaching plan will be ensured. The Tecnocampus will make available to teachers and students the digital tools needed to carry out the course, as well as guides and recommendations that facilitate adaptation to the non-contact mode.

Learning outcomes


  • Identify the main strategic problems of the company.
  • Develop strategies to manage costs and generate revenue that make the model sustainable.
  • Apply the main computer tools to provide the information needed for decision making.

The general learning objectives can be summarized as follows:

  • To train for the professional task in control units of management of the organizations, as controllers
  • Learn to use management planning and control tools to facilitate operational and strategic decision making.
  • Learn to define the critical success factors of a business, know how to translate them into controllable goals and monitor them using advanced management control tools.

These general objectives can be specified in the following specific objectives:

  • Identify and manage useful information for business decision making
  • Recognize and evaluate different types of management control
  • Design and evaluate different incentive systems
  • Prepare and monitor the company's financial budgets
  • Define control indicators and dashboards
  • Prepare control reports
  • Learn to formulate corrective measures

Working methodology


Theoretical sessionss

MD1. Master class: Expository class sessions based on the teacher's explanation attended by all students enrolled in the subject.

MD2. Conferences: Face-to-face or streaming sessions, both in the university classrooms and in the framework of another institution, in which one or more specialists present their experiences or projects to the students.

MD3. Presentations: Multimedia formats that support face-to-face classes.

Guided learning

MD5. Seminars: Face-to-face format in small work groups (between 14 and 40). These are sessions linked to the face-to-face sessions of the subject that allow to offer a practical perspective of the subject and in which the participation of the student is key.


MD6. Debates and forums: Face-to-face or online conversations, according to the objectives that the teacher responsible for the subject pursues. The debates have a start and end date and are energized by the teacher.


MD7. Case study: Dynamics that starts from the study of a case, which serves to contextualize the student in a specific situation, the teacher can propose different activities, both individually and in groups, among their students.

Autonomous learning MD9. Resolution of exercises and problems: Non-contact activity dedicated to the resolution of practical exercises based on the data provided by the teacher.

 

Contents


SUBJECT 1: THE FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT CONTROL AND THE TASK OF CONTROLLER

  1. The levels of planning and control of business management
  2. The different styles of management control
  3. Who develops the control function within the company: the figure of the controller
  4. Human behavior and control: incentive systems
  5. The management control process
  6. Management control reporting: control reports

 

TOPIC 2: THE INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR THE ANALYSIS AND MONITORING OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

  1. Types of information needed for the analysis and monitoring of business management
  2. Sources of information and how to create an information system for the analysis and monitoring of business management
  3. Key success factors and indicator systems
  4. Integrated information systems or ERP
  5. Sector and competition analysis (benchmarking)
  6. The dashboards and the Balanced score card

 

SUBJECT 3: THE CENTERS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ANALYSIS AND MONITORING OF THE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

  1. Criteria for the establishment of responsibility centers
  2. The control process in the responsibility centers
  • Operating cost centers
  • Discretionary cost centers
  • Revenue centers
  • Profit and investment centers

 

SUBJECT 4: THE BUDGET FORMULATION FOR THE MAKING OF BUSINESS DECISIONS

  1. Concept and objectives of budgets
  2. The company's budget cycle
  3. The composition and elaboration of the general budget of the company
  4. TAM and FORECAST concepts
  5. Budget negotiation techniques in the context of a company's budget cycle

Learning activities


  1. Preparation of business management monitoring reports and resolution of exercises and cases.
  2. Practical work: study and analysis of a company's management control and identification of critical success factors, management evaluation and monitoring indicators (KPIs) and the elaboration of a scorecard.
  3. Active participation in the classroom, either in person and / or virtually.

Evaluation system


The subject will be evaluated through a continuous assessment during the course. This assessment will consist of developing different activities throughout the term, as well as active participation in the classroom. The resulting final grade will come from the following 4 items:

  • Individual and / or group work: Business management monitoring reports, resolution of exercises (30% of the mark)
  • Presentation: Practical work (study and analysis of a company's management control and identification of critical success factors, management evaluation and monitoring [KPI] indicators and the elaboration of a scorecard (20 % of grade)
  • Final theoretical-practical exam (50% of the mark)

To pass the subject, a minimum of 5 points must be taken in the final theoretical-practical exam.. The final grade of the course will be configured as follows:

  • if the average of the marks obtained in all the activities proposed in the continuous assessment is approved, this will be the final mark of the subject.
  • in the event that the average mark is not passed and / or there is a mark of less than 5 points in the final theoretical-practical exam, the student must appear in the resit exam.

Recovery exam: in case the subject has not been passed by means of the continuous evaluation, the student will be able to present in the proof of recovery. Only the theoretical-practical exam can be retaken in the resit exam. In this case, the notes of the remaining items will be saved and cannot be retrieved. To pass the course, the mark of the resit exam must be at least 5 points and the final average of the marks must be passed.

A student who has not applied for the first call CANNOT apply for recovery.

The evaluation system will not change in the event that the classes must be held entirely in virtual format.

REFERENCES


Basic

International Association of Controllers: https://www.icv-controlling.com/en.html

Global Chartered Controller Institute - GCCI (https://www.globalcci.org/) (promotes CCA (Chartered Controller Analyst) certification)

IGE International Group of Controlling: www.igc-controlling.org

ControllingWiki: https://www.controlling-wiki.com/en/index.php/Main_Page

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION STANDARDS (IBCS®) https://www.ibcs.com/resource/revista-de-contabilidad-y-direccion-vol-24-ano-2017-pp-81-109/

Amat, Oriol & Campa, Fernando (2013). Controller manual. ACCID Management Accounting Commission. Barcelona: Ed. Profit.

MUÑIZ, Luis. (2013) How to implement and evaluate a management control system. Ed. Profit.

MUÑIZ, Luis. (2009): Budgetary control. Budget planning, preparation and monitoring. ACCID.

Complementary

LINKEDIN-group: Spanish Network of Controllers and Planning and Control Professionals

LINKEDIN-group: Spanish Association of Controllers

ACCID- Gemma Cid-Salvador, Marc Oliveras-Villanueva and Natàlia Pascual-Argenté (2017): New trends in controlling. Editorial Profit

LÓPEZ VIÑEGLA, Alfonso (2003): Strategic management and measurement. The dashboard as a complement to the Balanced Scorecard. Ed. AECA.

ANTHONY, Robert N. and GOVINDARAJAN, Vijai (2008): Management Control Systems. Ed. McGraw-Hill

Colin Drury (2018), Management and Cost Accounting (10th Edition), Cengage Learning EMEA