Management control (2020/2021)

Learning outcomes

The course supplies the conceptual and methodological basis of management control within the context of the development of tools for business decisions. The course aims at giving students the knowledge about the purposes and the functioning of the main tools used for planning and controlling companies’ activities, in the light of effectiveness and efficiency in management. In particular the course focuses on the issues related to costs analysis, budgeting, cost accounting, variance analysis, information supporting short term decision making and key tools used to translate the business strategy into performance measures to improve managerial behaviours and companies’ results.

1. Origins and evolution of management control
2. The administrative activity and the costs measurement system
3. Measuring the full cost per unit of product: the resources orientation and the cost centers system
4. The measurement system of full cost-based activities
5. The measurement of products cost in order productions and in continuous flow processes
6. The costs measurement system based on estimates values
7. The analytical detection of costs and revenues: methods and flows
8. The measurements systems based on direct variable costs and operative risk conditions
9. Economic information supporting short-term decision making
10. The economic control and the role of budget
11. Reporting for business performance measurement

The course consists in frontal lessons concerning the theoretical notions on which management control is based, and also exercises on the functioning of different management control tools (cost accounting, cost of products, what if analysis, budgeting…)

The final exam is a written test, composed of both excercises and theoretical questions - open and closed-, and is aimed at checking the knowledge of the topics in the course program and the ability to apply the management control tools to the different cases included in the excercises.