Assignment
Kanymoon University (KU) is one of the three largest public universities in Singland, which has eight public universities in total. KU obtains the vast majority of its revenue through government contracts for academic research and payments per head for teaching students. The economy of Singand has been in recession in the last year and this has caused the government to cut funding for all the universities in the country.
In order to try to improve cost efficiency, the chancellor of the university, who leads its executive board, has asked the head administrator to undertake an exercise to benchmark KU's administration departments against the other two large universities in the country, AU and BU. The government education ministry has supported this initiative and has required all three universities to cooperate by supplying information.
The following information has been collected regarding administrative costs for the most recent academic year:
|
Research
|
KU
|
AU
|
BU
|
|
contract management
|
$'000
|
$'000
|
$'000
|
|
laboratory management
|
14,430
|
14,574
|
14,719
|
|
facilities management
|
41,810
|
42,897
|
42,646
|
|
Student support services
|
26,993
|
27,263
|
26,723
|
|
Teachers' support services
|
2,002
|
2,022
|
2,132
|
|
Accounting
|
4,005
|
4,100
|
4,441
|
|
Human Resources
|
1,614
|
1,571
|
1,611
|
|
IT management
|
1,236
|
1,203
|
1,559
|
|
General services
|
6,471
|
6,187
|
6,013
|
|
Total
|
17,049
|
16,095
|
18,644
|
|
Drivers:
|
115,610
|
115,912
|
118,488
|
|
Student numbers
|
28,394
|
22,783
|
29,061
|
|
Staff numbers
|
7,920
|
7,709
|
8,157
|
|
Research contract value ($m)
|
185
|
167
|
152
|
The key drivers of costs and revenues have been assumed to be research contract values supported student numbers and total staff numbers.
The head administrator of KU wants you, as management accountant, to prepare a Management Report (in approximately 1,750 words) to complete the benchmarking and make some preliminary comment on your results.
Your report should:
• Have a table of contents, introduction, main body, & conclusion. (No executive summary is needed).
• Please include a bibliography if you use any references.
• Your report should cover the following:
i. Evaluate, as far as possible, Kanymoon University's benchmarked position.
ii. Define what you understand by the term, 'Strategic management accounting'; critically evaluate any academic literature and refer to recent developments on the subject.
iii. Recommend one technique (other than benchmarking) that might be considered to be a 'strategic management accounting' (SMA) technique and discuss how this technique could benefit KU.
• Assessment of your assignment will take into account:
- Relevance of your report to the case.
- Clarity of expression.
- Logical planning and sequence.
- Comprehensive coverage.
• Also, marks will be allocated for presenting your report professionally including:
- The use of logical headings and sub headings that are numbered and also referenced through a table of contents.
- The overall presentation, including appropriateness of format, style and structure of the report, correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• All students must submit their report through Tumitin.
• Please use Havard APA referencing which can be seen by visiting the UoP Library site on moodle.
• All students are encouraged to read the following journal papers available in the UOP online library.
Albright, Thomas L., Chad A. Gerber, and Paul Juras. 'How Naval Aviation Uses The Balanced Scorecard'. Strategic Finance (2014)
Benson, Angela Maria, and Steven Henderson. 'A Strategic Analysis Of Volunteer Tourism Organisations'. The Service Industries Journal (2011)
Rakocevic, Sladana B., and Snezana P. Knezevic. `Managament Accounting In Achieving Competitive Advantage And Bank Controlling'. Management (2005) Rezaie, K., B. Ostadi, and S. A. Torabi. 'Activity-Based Costing In Flexible Manufacturing Systems With A Case Study In A Forging Industry'. International Journal of Production Research (2008).