Management Accounting:
A Strategic Focus

Shahid Ansari and Jan Bell,
California State University Northridge
Tom Klammer, University of North Texas
Carol Lawrence, University of Richmond

ABSTRACT

There has been little innovation in the teaching of management accounting in the last thirty-five years. Textbooks have been the medium of choice and new intellectual developments have been tacked on to existing frameworks, reducing the field to a set of tools that lack coherence. This exclusive reliance on traditional textbooks not only creates a lack of flexibility for instructors on the delivery side, it also fails to take advantage of electronic publishing and web-based delivery of teaching materials. For example, many schools experimenting with the introductory courses in accounting have faced the problem of how to draw material from a variety of sources, teach it in any order, and still maintain an integrated, cohesive package for the students.

Our series of curriculum support modules, Management Accounting: A Strategic Focus, combines state-of-the art content with a flexible and modern delivery method. It provides a powerful model for creating custom courses that have a solid pedagogical framework, yet are flexible and cost effective for classroom use. The Management Accounting Section of the AAA recognized our contribution in 1997 with the Jim Bulloch Innovation in Management Accounting Award and our publishers Irwin/McGraw-Hill recognized our achievement with their internal award, Best Selling New Title, in 1998.

We believe our pedagogical and delivery approach can be applied to any area of accounting. Further, it meets the criteria of innovation, improved performance and potential for wider implementation established for the Innovation in Accounting Education Award of the American Accounting Association. Appendix A provides a list of schools that have already adopted the modular series. As additional modules become available and awareness of the project grows, this impact continues to increase.

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