For students enrolled in or before 2014
K0220
Management Accounting in Japan
【JPN MNGTMT ACCNTING】
2 credits
Fall 2015
INSTRUCTOR: Gustavo Tanaka
Course Description
The focus of this course is Management Accounting with emphasis on management
accounting in Japanese corporations. It includes some innovative techniques of
management accounting, which were invented at Japanese companies, such as Target
Costing, Kaizen Costing, Quality Costs and Productivity, Target Costing, Lean
Accounting, Micro Profit Center, Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) etc. as well
as other “foreign” concepts adopted by corporate Japan like ABC and ABM, Balanced
Scorecard, among others.
Course Objectives
This course focus on real aspects of management accounting practices at Japanese
companies. At the end of this course the student will be able to understand not only
management accounting but also Japanese style management.
Course Requirements and Assignments
a) Attendance, Readings and Participation
You are required to attend the lectures. You are responsible for completing the
readings for the day they are assigned and come to class prepared to discuss them. You
are expected to actively participate in group discussions.
b) Case presentation
Your group will be assigned a case and you will be required to submit a solution and
present the solution.
c) Final Paper and Presentation
You are required to present one paper on Japanese invented theories that will be
assigned to you during the course. For your presentation you will critically analyze and
summarize the paper and show your understanding of management accounting at
Japanese companies. You will prepare a one page handout with bullet points, A4 single
spaced, and make copies for all students.
d) Final Exam
At the end of the course you are required to take the final exam.
Evaluation Criteria & Grading
Grading for the course will be determined as follows:
1. Attendance and Participation 10%
2. Case 30%
3. Final paper and presentation 30%
4. Final Exam 30%
Additional Information: Classroom Policies
1. Since discussion is an essential part of this course please come to class prepared and
on time.
2. Let me know if you have an emergency and will not be able to come to class.
3. Please turn off your mobile phones. It is inappropriate to go outside to make calls or
to send or read text messages during class.
4. No sleeping in class.
5. Plagiarism and Cheating.
Doshisha University does not tolerate plagiarism, cheating, or helping others to cheat.
These actions will result in an automatic “F” in the course. Plagiarism is defined as
misrepresenting the work of others (whether published or not) as your own. It may be
inadvertent or intentional. Any facts, statistics, quotations, or paraphrasing of any
information that is not common knowledge, should be cited.
For more information on paper writing, including how to avoid plagiarism and how to
use citations, there are many resources to help you in the Library. Please speak with
the Librarian.
Course Materials
Textbook
Blocher, Stout, Juras, Cokins, Cost Management: A Strategic Emphasis, McGraw-Hill,
6th edition, 2013.
Other references
Ansari S. and J.E. Bell, Target Costing: The Next Frontier in Strategic Cost
Management, Mountain Valley Publishing, 2009.
Atkinson, A. Management Accounting: Information for Decision-Making and Strategy
Execution, Pearson/Education, 2011.
Monden, Y. and M. Sakurai (ed.), Japanese Management Accounting: A World Class
Approach to Profit Management, Productivity Press, 1989.
Cooper, R., When Lean Enterprises Collide: Competing Through Confrontation,
Harvard Business School Press, 1995.
Johnson, H.T. and R.S.Kaplan, Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management
Accounting, Harvard Business School Press, 1987.
Johnson,H.T., Relevance Regained: From Top-Down Control to Bottom-Up
Empowerment, Free Press,1992.
Kato,Y. G. Böer and C.W. Chow, ”Target Costing: An Integrative Management
Process,” Journal of Cost Management, Vol.9 No.1,1995.
Tani,T., H. Okano, N. Shimizu, Y. Iwabuchi, J. Fukuda and S. Cooray, Target Cost
Management in Japanese Companies: Current States of the Art, Management
Accounting Research, Vol.5. pp. 367-382, 1994.
Week 1: Topics
Chapter 1: Cost Management and Strategy
Chapter 2: Implementing Strategy: The Value Chain, the Balanced Scorecard, and
the Strategy Map
Week 2: Topic
Chapter 3: Basic Cost Management Concepts
Week 3: Topic
Chapter 4: Job Costing
Week 4: Topic
Chapter 5: Activity-Based Costing and Customer Profitability Analysis
Week 5: Topics
Chapter 6: Process Costing
Week 6: Topics
Chapter 9: Short-Term Profit Planning: Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis
Case 1
Week 7: Topic
Chapter 10: Strategy and the Master Budget
Chapter 11: Decision Making with a Strategic Emphasis
Case 2
Week 8: Topics
Chapter 12: Strategy and the Analysis of Capital Investments
Case 3
Week 9: Topic
Chapter 13: Cost Planning for the Product Life Cycle: Target Costing, Theory of
Constraints, and Strategic Pricing
Week 10: Topic
Chapter 14: Operational Performance Measurement: Sales, Direct-Cost
Variances, and the Role of Nonfinancial Performance Measures
Case 4
Week 11: Topics
Chapter 15: Operational Performance Measurement: Indirect-Cost Variances and
Resource-Capacity Management
Week 12: Topics
Chapter 18: Strategic Performance Measurement: Cost Centers, Profit Centers,
and the Balanced Scorecard
Week 13: Topics
Chapter 19: Strategic Performance Measurement: Investment Centers
Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA)
Week 14: Topics
Final Evaluation
Week 15: Topics
Final presentations
Note: This syllabus may be subject to changes and/or revisions