Reference no: EM132442985 , Length: word count:3000

HI5017 Managerial Accounting Assignment - Holmes Institute, Australia

Purpose: This assignment aims at developing your understanding of the purpose and use of management accounting systems, and its usefulness in aiding managers make informed decisions. You are to critically evaluate the literature (using journal articles) to analyse the practical use of management accounting systems by contemporary companies, in terms of their relevance to the real-life companies' decision-making by managers and achievement of business goals.

Assignment Task: Journal Article Critique

You are required to conduct a literature search and discussion in this assignment.

You are to choose a peer reviewed journal article (from any country) on the:

- Use of Standard Costing in a real-life company; and

- Use of Target Costing in a real-life company.

Register the two article names and details with your Lecturer in class. The articles should be published between 2010 - 2019. Choose your articles only after you have accessed several relevant articles, and then choose the best articles that will answer the assignment question below.

Required: Critically evaluate the relevance and challenges of both costing systems by answering the 5 questions below:

Questions -

1. Briefly discuss the features of standard costing as a planning and control system.

2. Based on your standard costing article, discuss the relevance of standard costing as a planning and control system in your real-life case company. Did it satisfy the features discussed in (i)? Why or why not? Include examples in your answer from your standard costing article.

3. Discuss what target costing is and compare and contrast it from standard costing.

4. Is target costing relevant in today's competitive and (in most cases), uncertain business environment? Explain with examples from your target costing article.

5. Based on your literature findings (above), which of the two systems would you recommend for contemporary organisations to use for planning purpose and which system you would recommend for control purpose? Explain.

You are encouraged to choose the journal article from the Accounting and Management Accounting Journals.

Chosen Articles -

Rao, M.H.S. & Bargerstock, A. 2011, "Exploring the Role of Standard Costing in Lean Manufacturing Enterprises: A Structuration Theory Approach", Management Accounting Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 47-60.

Cooper, R. & Slagmulder, R. 1999, "Develop Profitable New Products with Target Costing", Sloan management review, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 23-33.

Assignment Structure: The report should include the following components:

a. Assignment cover page clearly stating your name and student number

b. Abstract (one paragraph)

c. Table of contents

d. A brief introduction or overview of what the report is about.

e. Body of the assignment with appropriate section headings

f. Conclusion

g. List of References.