MAAW's Blog

Lean Company vs. Lean Enterprise

2012-01-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

What is the difference between a lean company and a lean enterprise?

I believe many people use the term "lean enterprise" incorrectly. Womack and Jones make a clear distinction between a lean company and a lean enterprise in their 1994 article: Womack, J. P. and D. T. Jones. 1994. From lean production to the lean enterprise. Harvard Business Review (March-April): 93-103.

See my summary for their explanation of the difference at http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumWomackAndJones94.htm

New journal bibliography on MAAW - Journal of International Accounting Research

2012-01-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

International accounting has become more important in recent years as indicated by the articles in recent accounting literature, particularly articles in the following journal.

The bibliography for the Journal of International Accounting Research is at
http://maaw.info/JournalOfInternationalAccountingResearch.htm

For many related articles see the bibliography for IFRS at
http://maaw.info/IFRSBibliography.htm

Pearltrees - A different way to organize web pages

2012-01-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

I have been playing around with the Pearler for several days. It allows you to collect web pages, place them in Pearltrees and add Pearls or links to the pages you like. You can use it on the Pearler site, or place your root tree, or individual Pearltrees on different pages on your own site. You can also work on your Pearltrees with team members. It's fun to play with, but somewhat addictive. For what it's worth, I organized MAAW's hundred + topics into 14 Pearltrees.

MAAW's Pearltrees on the Pearler site - http://www.pearltrees.com/#/N-reveal=5&N-fa=4029796&N-u=1_484552&N-p=32411065&N-s=1_4074700&N-f=1_4074700

MAAW's Pearltrees on the MAAW site - http://maaw.info/MAAWsPearltrees/MAAWsPearltreesMain.htm

A single Pearltree for MAAW's Journal bibliographies - http://maaw.info/MAAWsPearltrees/JournalBibsPearltree.htm

Brookgreen Gardens

2011-12-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

I took a few photos at Brookgreen Gardens a few weeks ago. Their tag line is "Ever Changing, Simply Amazing."

Check it out at http://maaw.info/Photos/BrookGreenGardens.htm

MAAW's new Forensic Accounting Journal Bibliographies

2011-12-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

I recently added the following journal bibliographies to MAAW:

Journal of Forensic Accounting - http://maaw.info/JournalOfForensicAccounting.htm

Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting - http://maaw.info/JournalOfForensicAndInvestigativeAccounting.htm

The JFIA is an electronic journal and all of the papers are available on the LSU web site.

Careers with a U.S. Government Department or Agency

2011-12-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

Accounting graduates should also consider a career with the U.S. government. For links to most U.S. Government departments and agencies see http://maaw.info/NonProfitLinks.htm

Look for Careers and Paid Student Intern Programs, or search the sites using those terms. There are a lot of opportunities available to current and recent college graduates that should not be ignored.

Training Programs for Accounting Graduates

2011-12-12T05:47:00.000-08:00

Going to work for a public accounting firm is one route to a successful career in both public accounting and corporate accounting. However, there are many other routes to a career in corporate accounting that do not involve going through a CPA firm first. The following list of companies provides some very good examples. All of these companies provide training programs for recent accounting graduates. You can apply to get into most, if not all of these programs whether they interview on your campus or not.

http://maaw.info/TrainingPrograms.htm

Forensic Accounting

2011-12-09T08:07:00.001-08:00

A Guide for those interested in Forensic Accounting or simply want to find our what it's all about. http://www.forensicaccounting.net/

New Addition to the Summaries on Lean Enterprise

2011-12-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

I just added a summary of the following interesting article to the lean enterprise sections of the MAAW site.

Staats, B. R. and D. M. Upton. 2011. Lean knowledge work: The "Toyota" principles can also be effective in operations involving judgment and expertise. Harvard Business Review (October): 100-110. (Summary).

A criticism of salary surveys and studies

2011-12-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

A criticism of salary surveys and studies like the one in my previous post is that they probably mislead the reader by implying causation from correlation. People who have various graduate degrees and certifications probably make more money because they out perform their colleagues in may other ways, not because they have another degree or are certified. In any case, I still agree with Simon's, a master's of accountancy and a professional certification are both in the "you're crazy if you don't get them" category.

Schiffel, L., K. A. Smith and D. L. Schroeder. 2011. IMA 2010 Salary Survey: How's that recovery workin' for you? Strategic Finance (June): 26-46.
http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSalarySurvey2011.htm

Simon, C. C. 2011. R.O.I.: Is graduate school worth the investment? The New York Times Education Life (July 24): 18-19.
http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSimon2011.htm

More support for the CMA Program

2011-12-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

In the following article Krippel and Mitchell estimate the total lifetime present value of the CMA and return per study hour for ages 22-59.

Krippel, G. L. and S. Mitchell. 2011. What's your CMA worth? We show you how to estimate the lifetime value of the certification. Strategic Finance (November): 41-47.

http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumKrippelMitchell2011.htm

Response to the following question on Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

2011-12-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know of any examples, problem sets, or articles that describe in detail Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing?

Some articles on time-driven ABC from http://maaw.info/ABCArticles.htm

Anderson, S. R., K. Prokop, R. S. Kaplan. 2007. Fast-track profit models. Cost Management (July/August): 16-28. (Using time-driven activity-based costing to identify where profit opportunities exist for potential acquisitions).

Dalci, I., V. Tanis and L. Kosan. 2010. Customer profitability analysis with time-driven activity-based costing: A case study in a hotel. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 22(5): 609-637.

Everaert, P. and W. Bruggeman. 2007. Time-driven activity-based costing: Exploring the underlying model. Cost Management (March/April): 16-20.

Everaert, P., W. Bruggeman and G. De Creus. 2008. Sanac Inc.: From ABC to time-driven ABC (TDABC) - An instructional case. Journal of Accounting Education 26(3): 118-154.

Everaert, P., W. Bruggeman, G. Sarens, S. R. Anderson and Y. Levant. 2008. Cost modeling in logistics using time-driven ABC: Experiences from a wholesaler. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 38(3): 172-191.

Gervais, M., Y. Levant and C. Ducrocq. 2010. Time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC): An initial appraisal through a longitudinal case study. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research (Summer): 1-20.

Kaplan, R. S. and S. R. Anderson. 2004. Time-driven activity-based costing. Harvard Business Review (November): 131-138. (Link).

Kaplan, R. S. and S. R. Anderson. 2007. The innovation of time-driven activity-based costing. Cost Management (March/April): 5-15.

Szychta, A. 2010. Time-driven activity-based costing in service industries. Social Sciences/ Socialiniai Mokslai. 1(67): 49-60. (Link).

Assumption-based metrics alternative to the Balanced Scorecard

2011-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

In a recent article the author begins by stating that surveys show 47-70 percent of executives are dissatisfied with their balanced scorecards because they include too many irrelevant factors. He recommends assumption-based metrics as a more powerful alternative because it allows for testing and revising various strategies. In addition he provides an assumption-based metric software application referred to as GoalScreen that is available free to IMA members through 2011. The application includes several steps. First, set a target or goal and list every major assumption needed for a successful outcome including those that are controllable and those that are not controllable. Second, choose a metric or driver (root cause) for each key assumption that has high impact and independence. Note that impact and independence make the metric or driver predictive. Third, for each metric or driver, list the expected outcome, a worse-case outcome, and a worse-case impact on the target or goal. Then rank your assumptions by worst-case impact. The next set of outcomes show if your assumptions were justified. If not, adjust them and keep testing. For more information see Apgar, D. 2011. Assumption-based metrics: Recipe for success. Strategic Finance (November): 26-33. For the GoalScreen application see http://goalscreen.com
The IMA publications have a lot to offer. For bibliographies that include all of their major articles from 1919-2011 see http://maaw.info/IMAMain.htm

CFO Magazine

2011-11-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

I recently started developing a bibliography for the CFO magazine. They publish short articles (mostly written by their editors) related to current issues in accounting, tax, banking, capital markets, risk, human capital, growth companies, strategy, and technology. I have found many interesting articles in the 2010-2011 monthly issues, and they are all available on the popular CFO web site.

For the bibliography see http://maaw.info/CFO.htm

For the CFO site see http://www.cfo.com/magazine/

Google Search Tricks

2011-11-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

These Google search tricks are very useful.

http://prezi.com/mohshuoe-qcf/google-search-tricks/

The Best Way to Study

2011-10-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

The Best Way to Study from the Wall Street Journal

Charles T. Horngren, Management Accounting Pioneer: 1926-2011

2011-10-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Charles T. Horngren, Management Accounting Pioneer: 1926-2011

IRS Publication 970 - Tax Benefits for Education

2011-10-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

College students should take a look at IRS Publication 970 - Tax Benefits for Education. This publication explains 12 different tax benefits including:
1. Scholarships, fellowships, grants and tuition reductions,
2. American opportunity credit,
3. Lifetime learning credit,
4. Student loan interest deduction,
5. Student loan cancellations and repayment assistance,
6. Tuition and fees deduction,
7. Coverdell education savings account (ESA),
8. Qualified tuition program (QTP),
9. Education exception to additional tax on early IRA distributions,
10. Educational savings bond program,
11. Employer-provided educational assistance,
12. Business deduction for work-related education.

Publication 970 is on line at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

Social Responsibility Reporting

2011-10-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

For a more detailed summary of the Jones and Jonas article mentioned in the post below see http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumJonesJonas2011.htm

For some background on Social Accounting see Estes, R. 1992. Social accounting past and future: Should the profession lead, follow - or just get out of the way? Advances In Management Accounting (1): 97-108. http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumEstes92(2).htm

Opportunities for accountants related to Social Responsibility Reporting

2011-09-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Notes on a recent article in the CPA Journal*

From an accounting perspective their is considerable interest in the "triple bottom line" (economic, environmental, and social) as reflected by trends in corporate social responsibility reporting and the Global Reporting Initiative.

A recent survey by KPMG indicated that 80% of the global Fortune 250 companies issue CSR reports. In addition 45% of the largest 100 companies surveyed in twenty-two countries issue CSR reports. According to the Corporate Register more than 3,000 reports were prepared in 2009.

Three theories are used in attempts to explain why these companies voluntarily submit CSR reports. These include economic theory, stakeholder theory, and political cost theory.
Economic theory views CSR reporting as a form of marketing where CSR reports are only appropriate if they are used to promote the business. Stakeholder theory advocates argue that a company's performance should be based on how it satisfies all of its constituents including customers, employees, suppliers, the local community, and society at large. On the other hand, political cost theory views CSR reporting as a way to avoid mandated disclosures, regulation, or litigation.

Some reasons given for reporting by CSR reporting firms were: 1) to achieve competitive advantage and leadership, 2) to improve internal processes, and 3) to enhance the company's reputation and to promote trust and respect.

Global trends indicate that CSR reports are becoming a regular part of corporate reporting. To add credibility to their CSR reports companies have used professional assurance providers, stakeholder panels, and other external groups. However, most reports have not included external assurance, although the demand for assurance is increasing. These trends create opportunities for the accounting profession.

For links to several CSR reporting resources see http://maaw.info/SocialAccountingLinks.htm

*Jones, A. III and G. A. Jonas. 2011. Corporate social responsibility reporting: The growing need for input from the accounting profession. The CPA Journal (February): 65-71. (The purpose of this paper is to provide the what, who, and why of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), along with some practical guidance for accountants).

http://maaw.info/SocialAccountingMain.htm

Faculty Coverage and Familiarity with Lean Enterprise Concepts

2011-09-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Castellano and Burrows recently reported on a survey of 352 faculty listed in Hasselback's directory with cost or managerial accounting as a teaching or research interest (Castellano, J. F. and R. Burrows. 2011. Relevance lost: The practice/classroom gap. Management Accounting Quarterly (Winter): 41-48.)

The authors' motivation for the survey was based on their own textbook review process that indicated little or no coverage of lean enterprise concepts in the leading cost and managerial accounting textbooks. The results of their textbook review process provided two purposes for the survey. The first purpose was to determine whether management accounting faculty were covering lean enterprise topics in cost/managerial accounting courses, as well as the survey respondents' familiarity with various lean enterprise concepts. An additional purpose was to determine the extent that the absence of lean enterprise topics in the textbooks was being supplemented with IMA materials, journal articles, outside speakers, or student projects.

Survey results indicating the extent of faculty coverage and familiarity with lean enterprise topics were generated with a set of questions related to eight lean enterprise terms or topics. These terms, or topics, and the percentage of faculty who either indicated that the topic was not important, or that they were not familiar with the topic are as follows: Value stream mapping 44%, Value stream costing 43%, Lean manufacturing 26%, Lean accounting 33%, Toyota production system 48%, Toyota Way principles 53%, Visual control systems 45%, Performance measurements in a lean environment 25%.

The percentages of faculty indicating that the topics were not covered in the textbook that they were using were: Value stream mapping 65%, Value stream costing 62%, Lean manufacturing 38%, Lean accounting 51%, Toyota production system 70%, Toyota Way principles 77%, Visual control systems 73%, Performance measurements in a lean environment 54%.

The percentages of faculty indicating that they were not supplementing the textbooks were: Value stream mapping 84%, Value stream costing 84%, Lean manufacturing 68%, Lean accounting 72%, Toyota production system 83%, Toyota Way principles 90%, Visual control systems 87%, Performance measurements in a lean environment 70%.

An explanation for these survey results might be related to the terminology used in the survey, rather than the absence of familiarity with lean enterprise concepts since most of the lean enterprise concepts (focused factory, flexible manufacturing, cellular manufacturing, demand pull systems, kanban production control, non-financial performance measurements, etc.) have been in the just-in-time literature for over 25 years and there have been hundreds of articles published in the accounting literature related to these topics.

I would be interested to know what others think about this survey, but one thing is clear. There is no shortage of materials that could be used to supplement the concepts included in the Castellano-Borrows survey.

For example, a few articles are listed below in the order of the terms used by Castellano and Burrows. All of the summaries appear on the MAAW site and are offered here to supplement any management accounting course or self study program. However, the full text of all of these articles are available to most faculty and students via their university library data base subscriptions to sites such as ProQuest.

Value stream mapping
Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part I. Journal of Cost Management (March/April): 23-27. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(1).htm

Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part II. Journal of Cost Management (May/June): 24-30. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(2).htm

Womack, J. P. and D. T. Jones. 1996. Beyond Toyota: How to root out waste and pursue perfection. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 140-144, 146, 148-152, 154, 156, 158. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumWomackJones96.htm

Value stream costing
Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part II. Journal of Cost Management (May/June): 24-30. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(2).htm

Brosnahan, J. P. 2008. Unleash the power of lean accounting. Journal of Accountancy (July): 60-66. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBrosnahan2008.htm

Lean manufacturing
Brosnahan, J. P. 2008. Unleash the power of lean accounting. Journal of Accountancy (July): 60-66. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBrosnahan2008.htm

See MAAW's JIT section - http://maaw.info/JITMain.htm

Swank, C. K. 2003. The lean service machine. Harvard Business Review (October): 123-129. (How lean production principles are used by a life insurance company). Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSwank2003.htm

Lean accounting
See What is Lean Accounting? - http://maaw.info/LeanAccounting.htm

Baggaley, B. and B. Maskell. 2003. Value stream management for lean companies, Part II. Journal of Cost Management (May/June): 24-30. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBaggaleyMaskell03(2).htm

Maskell, B. H. and B. L. Baggaley. 2006. Lean accounting: What's it all about? Target Magazine 22(1): 35-43. Note - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumMaskellBagalley06.htm and Article link - http://ame.org/MagazineOnlinePDF.aspx?artid=3303

Toyota Production System
Spear, S. and H. K. Bowen. 1999. Decoding the DNA of the Toyota production system. Harvard Business Review (September-October): 97-106. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSpearBowen99.htm

Spear, S. J. 2004. Learning to lead at Toyota. Harvard Business Review (May): 78-86. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSpear2004.htm

Johnson, H. T. and A. Broms. 2000. Profit Beyond Measure: Extraordinary Results through Attention to Work and People. New York: The Free Press. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumJohnsonBroms2000.htm

Toyota Way principles
Liker, J. 2003. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles From The World's Greatest Manufacturer. McGraw-Hill. Briefly: 1. Base decisions on a long-term strategy, 2. Create a continuous process flow, 3. Use pull systems, 4. Level the work load to minimize waste, 5. Stop the production line to fix problems, 6. Standardize processes and tasks, 7. Use visual controls, 8. Use reliable thoroughly tested technology, 9. Develop leaders, 10. Develop teams, 11. Respect partners and suppliers, 12. Use go-and-see for yourself management, 13. Use consensus decisions, 14. Become a learning organization through continuous improvement.
Visual control systems

Goodson, R. E. 2002. Read a plant - fast. Harvard Business Review (May): 105-113. (How the rapid plant assessment (RPA) process can tell you if a factory is truly lean in as little as 30 minutes. The process includes two tools: The RPA rating sheet includes 11 categories for assessing leanness, and the RPA questionnaire includes 20 yes or no questions). Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumGoodson2002.htm

Most of the articles listed above mention visual controls.

Performance measurements in a lean environment
Fullerton, R. R. 2003. Performance measurement and reward systems in JIT and non-JIT firms. Cost Management (November/December): 40-47. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumFullerton03.htm

Fullerton, R. R. and C. S. McWatters. 2002. The role of performance measures and incentive systems in relation to the degree of JIT implementation. Accounting, Organizations and Society 27(8): 711-735. Summary - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumFullertonMcWatters02.htm

Maskell, B. H. and B. L. Baggaley. 2006. Lean accounting: What's it all about? Target Magazine 22(1): 35-43. Note - http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumMaskellBagalley06.htm and Article link - http://ame.org/MagazineOnlinePDF.aspx?artid=3303

See What is Lean Accounting? - http://maaw.info/LeanAccounting.htm and the just-in-time section in MAAW's Chapter 8 - http://maaw.info/Chapter8.htm#Process%20Oriented%20Performance%20Measurements

New Management Accounting Designation - the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA)

2011-08-22T11:02:00.001-07:00

According to a note in the JOA (Journal of Accountancy. 2011. AICPA, CIMA joint venture would offer new management accounting designation. Journal of Accountancy (May): 74-75.), the path to a new management accounting credential would vary depending on one's level of experience. AICPA voting members with three or more years of experience working in management accounting or financial management would qualify for an accelerated route to obtaining the designation. Nonvoting AICPA members would not be eligible to obtain the credential. The new designation is to be voted on separately in May by the CIMA and AICPA councils. If approved the joint venture would launch in 2012.

According to an article on the CIMA site the new designation was approved and will be called the Chartered Global Management Accountant. http://www.cimaglobal.com/en-gb/About-us/Press-office/Press-releases/2011/May-2011/cima-aicpa-joint-venture/

What is that +1 Button?

2011-08-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

Check it out at http://www.google.com/+1/button/

IMA Salary Survey shows Master's + CMA = extra $24,000

2011-08-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

The IMA salary survey provides more specificity on the value of a master's degree and certifications in accounting. See my note for some graphics that promote both.

Schiffel, L., K. A. Smith and D. L. Schroeder. 2011. IMA 2010 salary survey: How's that recovery workin' for you? Strategic Finance (June): 26-46.

http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSalarySurvey2011.htm

Is grad school worth the investment?

2011-08-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

The theme of Pappano's article (my previous post) is that those with master's degrees are more competitive in the marketplace. Simon's supports the value of a graduate degree from a somewhat different perspective, i.e., that the return on investment for a graduate degree in many fields is worth the time, money, and effort required.

Simon, C. C. 2011. ROI: Is grad school worth the investment? New York Times Education Life (July 24): 18-19. http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumSimon2011.htm

The Master's as the new Bachelor's

2011-08-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

The following article provides some interesting statistics on advanced degrees in the U.S. Click on the link below for a brief summary supplemented with some graphic illustrations.

Pappano, L. 2011. The master's as the new bachelor's: Call it credentials inflation. A four-year degree may not cut it anymore. The New York Times Education Life (July 24): 16-18. (Summary).

Paraprosdokians

2011-07-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

The following humor was provided by Bob Jensen.

Paraprosdokians - "Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation."

1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

8. Evening news is where they begin with 'Good Evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'

13. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

19. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

20. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

21. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.

22. You're never too old to learn something stupid.

23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

24. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

26. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.

28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.

29. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

Gadgets work better in Firefox and Google Chrome

2011-06-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

The Friend Connect and Follower Gadgets do not work well in the Windows Internet Explorer Browser. However, they work in Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

You can down load the Firefox browser from
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/

and the Google Chrome browser from
http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/make/download.html?&brand=CHMA&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha

The 20 Most Useless College Degrees

2011-06-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

Journalism, Horticulture, Agriculture, Advertising, Fashion Design, Child and Family Studies, Music, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Chemistry, Nutrition, Human Resources, Theatre, Art History, Photography, Literature, Art, Fine Arts, Psychology, English, Animal Science

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2843/1/

What term should be used for accountants working within a business? Cost accountants, Management Accountants, or something else?

2011-05-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have been following this discussion related to terminology for many years. From 1919 to 1957 the term cost accountant was popular as indicated by the titles N.A.C.A. Bulletin and N.A.C.A Official Publications. (http://maaw.info/NACABulletin.htm)

In 1957 the term cost accountant was viewed as too narrow and the N.A.C.A. became the National Association of Accountants and its publication became the N.A.A. Bulletin. (http://maaw.info/NAABulletin.htm)

There were various attempts to define management accounting in the 1960s For example, see Singer, F. A. 1961. Management accounting. The Accounting Review (January): 112-118. ([http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0001-4826%28196101%2936%3A1%3C112%3AMA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S)], and the terms management accounting and management accountant were viewed as more appropriate. In 1965 the NAA changed the title of its publication to Management Accounting. (http://maaw.info/ManagementAccounting.htm)

For a while it appeared that the term controller and controllership would catch on (See Controllership & Treasurership Functions for the Financial Executives Institute's 1962 distinction made between accounting and finance - http://maaw.info/ControllershipTreasurership.htm), but the term management accounting remained popular.

The following articles (and many others) continued to promote the term management accounting. Keller, I. W. 1976. All accounting is management accounting. Management Accounting (November): 13-15. National Association of Accountants. 1981. MAP committee promulgates definition of management accounting. Management Accounting (January): 58-59. (Definition- http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumDefinitionOfManagementAcc.htm).

In the 1990s the term "accounting" had acquired an unfavorable connotation and many practicing accountants no longer referred to themselves as accountants or management accountants. Recognizing this trend (from survey and other results), the IMA changed the title of its publication to Strategic Finance. (http://maaw.info/Strategic%20Finance.htm)

For some survey results see Siegel, G. 2001. Accounting or finance? Strategic Finance (January): 71-72. (Survey of 800 U.S. practitioners: When asked which term they used to describe their work 39% said finance, 33% said accounting and 28% used a different term).

A recent IMA definition seems to indicate that the terms "management accounting" and "management accountant" have again become the popular terms.

Institute of Management Accountants. 2008. Draft statement on management accounting: Definition of management accounting and management accountants. Strategic Finance (August): 48-51. ("Management accounting is a professional discipline that has an integral role in formulating and implementing the organization's strategy. Management accountants are part of the management team, working within the organization at many levels: from top-level management to support-level accounting and finance professionals. Management accountants apply their knowledge and experience in accounting and financial reporting, budgeting, decision support, risk and performance management, internal control, and cost management.").

Placing the Friend Connect Gadget on MAAW's main topic pages

2011-05-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of placing the Google Friend Connect Gadget on all of MAAW's main topic pages so that we can communicate more effectively. It seems to work well in some browsers, but not in all browsers. If the Friend Connect gadget does not work in your browser send me a note at jmartin@maaw.info

Using Multiple Browsers

2011-05-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

I use several browsers to see how the web site looks. Some web pages and gadgets appear completely different in different browsers. Using different browsers is also handy when you want to view different web sites simultaneously.

I like Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/new/) and Google Chrome (http://tools.google.com/chrome/intl/en-US/welcome.html). You can download them from the links above.

New Books

2011-05-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

I have been updating books in both the textbook section and the book summaries, reviews, and Amazon links section. See http://maaw.info/BooksMain.htm for both links. The Amazon book links typically provide at least two or more reviews of a book and frequently the table of contents, a couple of chapters, and the book's index. Amazon links to many books also appear on each of the main topics pages.

New Cost Management Website

2011-05-08T07:50:00.001-07:00

The Society of Cost Management is developing a new website at http://www.costmgmt.org/

MAAW's new section - Advice for Accounting Ph.D. Students and New Faculty

2011-04-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

The new section includes a bibliography, some article summaries, notes, and links to other web sites. I think you will find it useful If you are considering a Ph.D. in accounting, or if you are considering teaching without a Ph.D.

http://maaw.info/AdviceforAccountingPhDstudentsMain.htm

Some additional thoughts on seeking an Accounting Ph.D.

2011-04-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some of my previous comments about teaching opportunities and tenure might have been somewhat misleading. Many of the top accounting programs do have a publish or perish revolving door, but most accounting faculty do not publish in the top "A" level journals, or even the "B" level journals. As noted in the Beyer, Herrmann, Meek and Rapley article, there are only about 90 schools in the top 3 tiers. However, Hasselback list accounting faculty from over 1,000 four year schools, and there are hundreds of two year community and junior colleges where accounting is taught. My point is that there are ample teaching opportunities for anyone with at least a masters degree in accounting, but more lucrative opportunities for those with a Ph.D. and the research skills needed to publish in the "A" and "B" level journals. I might also add that those publications provide a considerable amount of intrinsic reward to the authors. Money provides a current but fleeting benefit. On the other hand, accomplishments at that level provide intrinsic benefits for as long as you live, and beyond.

For more on the publish or perish tenure issue see Bob Jensen's Gaming for Tenure as an Accounting Professor.

More on seeking an Accounting Ph.D.

2011-04-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

To compete for a tenured faculty line at a major research university you have to do research. You have to like to teach and you have to like to write and you have to be pretty good at both of them. My recommendation is to start by reading some papers like the following to learn more about what an academic career is like.

Beyer, B., D. Herrmann, G. K. Meek and E. T. Rapley. 2010. What it means to be an accounting professor: A concise career guide for doctoral students in accounting. Issues In Accounting Education (May): 227-244.

Hermanson, D. R. 2008. What I have learned so far: Observations on managing an academic accounting career. Issues In Accounting Education (February): 53-66.

If an academic career sounds interesting, visit some Ph.D. programs and talk to the faculty and the Ph.D. students. Ask a lot of questions, e.g., Will you have to teach during the program? What sort of financial support do they have available? What is expected of Ph.D. students? In Ph.D. seminars there is little or no lecture and lots of student participation is required.

Then I recommend getting a masters degree (although you don't need one to get into a Ph.D. program) followed by a full or part time teaching position at some school (a community college for example) to see if you like to teach. If you like to teach an academic career might be just what your are looking for. If you don't want to do research there are lots of four year colleges where the teaching load is 12 hours per semester and the research requirement is low to zero. Those schools don't pay as well as the major research universities, but there are more teaching positions available at that level.

I developed a summary of the Beyer, Meek and Rapley paper mentioned above. There is a very interesting table in the paper that indicates the teaching and research expectations of faculty at different types of schools. See http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBeyer2010.htm

Research on the Student-Centered versus Teacher-Centered education model controversy

2011-04-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have been developing a bibliography for this issue from MAAW's education issues bibliography as well as the sources mentioned in the LinkedIn Higher Education group discussion. The following is a sample of what I have found.

A paper by Baker, Simon and Bazeli indicates that lecture is an effective method for certain types of students, but an ineffective method for many students.

Baker, R. E., J. R. Simon and F. P. Bazeli. 1986. Assessment of the learning style preferences of accounting majors. Issues In Accounting Education (Spring): 1-12. These authors make a case for using multiple teaching/learning approaches based on Kolb's learning styles. Learning styles include: 1) concrete students who prefer learning from experience and find readings on theory of little value, 2) reflective observers who prefer lectures, 3) abstract students who prefer case studies and readings on theory, and 4) experimenters who dislike lectures and prefer small group discussion, projects and student feedback. Their conclusion is that no single method of teaching satisfies all students. Students with different learning styles need different approaches.

Another author provides some evidence that lecture is not effective when the learning objective involves complex skills. Bonner, S. E. 1999. Choosing teaching methods based on learning objectives: An integrative framework. Issues In Accounting Education (February): 11-39. Bonner indicates that the mapping of teaching methods to learning objectives provides two insights. A single method cannot create all the conditions needed for a given learning objective. Learning objectives involving complex skills require active learning methods, while learning objectives that involve simpler skills can be achieved with more passive methods.

Lavorie provides a method of faculty development focused on active learning. Lavoie, D. and A. J. Rosman. 2007. Using active student-centered learning-based instructional design to develop faculty and improve course design, delivery, and evaluation. Issues In Accounting Education (February): 105-118. Lavorie describes a four step active student-centered approach to faculty development, course design and delivery referred to as the Resource-Enriched Learning Model.

I remember that there are some arguments in the next two publications about the benefits of using the case approach, but they are lost in my office. It seems that Harvard would be a good place to look for research support for active learning since they are the case study gurus.

Gragg, C. I. 1954. Because wisdom can't be told, in The Case Method at the Harvard Business School, edited by M. P. McNair: 6-14. McGraw-Hill.
Harvard Business School. 1984. Hints for Case Teaching. Harvard Business School Publishing Division.

For the current and developing bibliography see the following link.
http://maaw.info/Teacher-CenteredVsStudent-CenteredBibliography.htm

More thoughts on the student-centered active-learning model

2011-03-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Although it is difficult to classify students, there are various classifications we could use in relation to the student-centered active-learning model. There are academically strong students and academically weak students with wide ranges of abilities and attitudes. There are also introverts and extroverts with a considerable range of personalities in between. If we ignore other characteristics for now such as sex, age, race, nationality, learning style etc. and the ranges within these groups we might simplify the classification to strong and weak introverts, and strong and weak extroverts. In a discussion class the extroverts (both strong and weak) will voluntarily discuss the issues and the introverts (both strong and weak) will be reluctant to participate even when their grade depends on participation. How to control the extroverts and get the introverts to freely contribute to the discussion is a real problem. As I noted in a previous related discussion I began converting to the discussion model in the early 1990s. In the beginning I assigned students to teams for a while and eventually changed back to individual assignments to be presented and discussed in class. Although I never really solved this problem, assigning students to teams was clearly not the answer because when the teams responded to questions the extroverts would take over and the introverts would remain silent. In my experience, the introverts contributed a great deal more and benefited more when they had to lead a presentation and discussion on their own. When you consider all the other characteristics it really does get messy. For example, some systems related facts can make or break a discussion class. Where, when, and if the students have had all the prerequisites. Is English their native language. How do other faculty teach their classes, etc. When a student discussion is going well, it is a joy. When it is going poorly it is painful and difficult to get back on track. As they say of old age, it is not for sissies. Christensen tells us that effective discussions require the classroom to become a risk-taking safe learning space. The teacher must be open and caring with patience, modest expectations, and faith in their students. However impressive your experience and knowledge, you will have difficulty questioning, listening, and responding while simultaneously observing, synthesizing, reflecting and evaluating the discussion and planning for the rest of the class. It can't be done alone.

Teacher-Centered vs. Student-Centered Active-Learning models of education

2011-03-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

I confess that for the first 20 years of my 35 years of teaching I used the teacher-centered, knowing-all-telling-all model of education. However, in the early 90s I read the following book and tried to convert to the student-centered active-learning discussion model.

Christensen, C. R., D. A. Garvin, and A. Sweet. (Eds.) 1991. Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

I was never very good at the discussion approach and found it to be noisy and messy as Christensen describes it in Chapter 6. But I agree with Piaget and Whitehead. True knowledge cannot be told (Piaget), and for real learning to occur students need to be active participants in the learning process, rather than passive recipients of information. (Whitehead 1929). Although the student-centered discussion approach is much more difficult than the teacher-centered lecture approach, I found it to be much more rewarding for both teacher and students when it works. As a cautionary note, I believe the education system frequently makes it difficult to implement the student-centered active-learning discussion approach. The system promotes the lecture method in many ways and tends to punish those who try to change.

Atlanta Blooms

2011-03-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

200,000 bulbs are blooming at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

I took over 200 photos at the Botanical Garden on 3/19/2011. For a sample of "Atlanta Blooms" see the following.
http://maaw.info/Photos/AtlantaBotanicalGardensMarch2011.htm

Do Schools Kill Creativity? Note and Video

2011-03-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting and amusing presentation by Ken Robinson that everyone should see, particularly educators. According to Robinson, we are educating people out of their creative capacity. For my notes and the video see Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Managers Not MBAs

2011-03-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

There are lots of ads for MBA programs all over the internet including some on my site, so I am not knocking the MBA, but I think anyone interested in pursuing an MBA should consider the issues raised by Henry Mintzberg in Managers Not MBAs...
Mintzberg argues that MBA programs are okay for what they are, but they shouldn't pretend to train students to be managers. According to Mintzberg, "You can't create a manager in a classroom."

For more see my note and an MIT Video related to the issues raised in Mintzberg's book. http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumMintzberg2004.htm

Management And Accounting Group on Linkin

2011-03-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

I invite you to join the new Management And Accounting Group on Linkin.

Linkin appears to be a very good platform for asking questions, getting answers, and discussing various issues. Click the link above to join and ask a question, or start a discussion.

The next ADS application, for enrollment in Fall 2012

2011-03-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

The next Accounting Doctoral Scholars application, for enrollment in Fall 2012, will be available online July 1, 2011.

The ADS program is specifically for those interested in auditing and tax and requires public accounting experience.

To prepare, see the requirements and check back for updates in May 2011.

Requirements: To be eligible to be considered as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar, candidates must meet the following criteria:
Have recent and meaningful work experience of at least three years in public accounting in auditing or tax;

Provide a written statement of a commitment to a career transition to teaching and research in auditing or tax at an AACSB International business accredited university in the United States upon completion of a doctoral program in accounting with an emphasis in auditing or tax;

Fulfill application requirements, e.g., have an academic record demonstrating potential for success in advanced graduate work; have a Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score no more than five years old that is competitive for admission to major doctoral programs in accounting, e.g., 650 or higher; and supply appropriate letters of recommendation;

Be a U. S. citizen or permanent resident; and

Commit, if selected as an ADS Program Scholar, to applying for admission to one or more doctoral programs in accounting at an ADS Program participating university to pursue auditing or tax as a teaching and research focus.

For more information on the ADS program see http://adsphd.org/

Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program (ADS) Launches Third Year:

2011-03-03T06:59:00.001-08:00

The Accounting Doctoral Scholars (ADS) Program is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications online from June 1 to October 1, 2010 for funding for individuals beginning their doctoral studies in the fall of 2011. Seventy of the largest accounting firms and 45 State CPA Societies have committed $17 million to help reverse a shortage of Ph.D. accounting faculty in auditing and tax at U.S. colleges and universities. The CPA profession has created the ADS Program to help reverse a shortage of PhD accounting faculty in U.S. colleges and universities. The development of the program is spearheaded by the largest accounting firms and is administered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Foundation. As of March 1, 2010, 70 accounting firms, 45 state CPA societies, and two other sponsors have committed approximately $17 million for the ADS Program. The firms recruit employees for the program and encourage them to become accounting professors in audit and tax disciplines. The ADS Program was launched in July 2008. The program provides funding for four years for up to 30 new candidates each year for four years for a total of 120 newly educated PhDs in audit and tax. In the first two years of the program, 30 candidates, with an average GMAT of 718, were selected for funding for enrollment in the fall of 2009 and 2010. Twenty seven ADS Program Scholars were placed for enrollment for the fall of 2009 and 29 for fall 2010 at participating universities. Applications for the third year of the program for enrollment in the fall of 2011 are being accepted online from June 1 through October 1, 2010. Applicants must have a minimum of three years of experience in audit or tax in public accounting with a portion of the experience being in the last three years. Potential candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents committed to a career as an accounting faculty member at a U.S. university accredited in business by AACSB International. From the applicant pool, candidates will be selected to be invited to a day-long Orientation Conference to learn more about the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, receive guidance on preparing for and applying to a university PhD program, and gain insight into the life and career of an accounting faculty member. They will also have the opportunity to visit with accounting doctoral program representatives of the participating universities at a programs fair. Once enrolled in a doctoral program at a participating university, each Accounting Doctoral Scholar will receive an annual stipend of $30,000 for a maximum of four years.
For further information about the Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, contact ADSprogram@aicpa.org or call 919-402-4524. The dedicated website is adsphd.org. The program address is: Accounting Doctoral Scholars Program, American Institute of CPAs Foundation, 220 Leigh Farm Road, Durham, North Carolina 27707.

Consider seeking an Accounting Ph.D.

2011-03-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Every accounting student in Beta Alpha Psi should consider seeking a Ph.D. in Accounting. Currently starting salaries for those with a new accounting Ph.D. are between $150,000 - $200,000 for nine months, probably more at the top schools. In addition, many schools offer summer research money for the first couple of years for new faculty. Ph.D. programs are not easy and you might not like the research emphasis, but an academic career offers many intrinsic rewards that you will not find in public or corporate accounting. The following links are to two articles related to this issue. The last link is to a list of Ph.D. programs with some contact information. A Google search on accounting Ph.D. programs will generate a lot of other links and a lot of specific school promotions. Since there is such a shortage of accounting PhDs there is lots of money around for those who quality. Talk to your faculty about it and give it some serious thought.

CPA Journal article - Pursuing a Ph.D. in Accounting: What to Expect - http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2007/307/essentials/p66.htm

Journal of Accountancy article - Pursuing a Ph.D. in Accounting: Walking in with Your Eyes Open - http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/PursuingaPhDinAccounting

Directory of Accounting PhD Programs - http://aaahq.org/ATA/public-interest/PhD-programs/phdschools.cfm?sort=name

What's new on MAAW?

2011-02-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

Some new subsection bibliographies for MAAW's financial reporting section:

Bonds Bibliography

Business Combinations & Consolidations Bibliography

Earning Per Share Bibliography

Fair Value Accounting Bibliography

Funds Statement Bibliography

Goodwill Bibliography

IFRS Bibliography

Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Bibliography

Securities and Exchange Commission Bibliography

Follower gadget

2011-02-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

I added a follower gadget here to go with the friend connect gadget on MAAW's home page. Of course followers can become members, and members can become followers. To help communicate what's new here and on MAAW, followers who have blogs get a notice when I add a new post.

These are funny, or are they when you consider that these people can vote.

2011-02-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

I handed the teller at my bank a withdrawal slip for $400.00
I said "May I have large bills, please"
She looked at me and said "I'm sorry sir, all the bills are the same size."
--------------------------
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked.'Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'it's open!' His reply: 'I know. I already got that side.'
----------------------------
We had to have the garage door repaired.
The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener.
I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.
He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4.
He said, 'NO, it's not..' Four is larger than two.'
----------------------------
My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill.
Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter.
She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.
She sighed and went to get the manager, who asked me to repeat my request.
I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said 'We're sorry but we can not do that kind of thing.'
The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change.
----------------------------
I live in a semi rural area.
We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office
to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road.
The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here!
I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'
----------------------------
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco.
She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.'
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceburg lettuce.
----------------------------
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,
'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?'
To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?'
He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'
----------------------------
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street.
I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for.
I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.
Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!'
----------------------------
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself
and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.
----------------------------
How would you pronounce this child's name?
"Le-a"
Leah?? NO
Lee-A?? NOPE
Lay-a?? NO
Lei?? Guess Again.
This child attends a school in Kansas City, Mo.
Her mother is irate because everyone is getting her name wrong.
It's pronounced "Ledasha".
When the Mother was asked about the pronunciation of the name, she said, "the dash don't be silent."
----------------------------
An accounting student ask me the following question.
I see you have 3 exams on your syllabus that each count 1/3 of the grade. What's the other 10 percent?
----------------------------
In today's L.A. Times was a story that doctors at USC Hospital put a kidney
in the wrong patient. A spokesperson for the hospital said, "No patients
were harmed."
----------------------------
On a less important level, our in house daily ePaper earlier this week
informed us that "the seminar on how to live to be 101 was canceled due to
illness"

What's new on MAAW?

2011-02-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

Some new Journal Bibliographies:

Accounting and the Public Interest

Advances in Accounting

Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management

Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory

Contemporary Accounting Research

Global Perspectives on Accounting Education

For all of MAAW's Journal Bibliographies see http://maaw.info/SelectedJournals.htm

What is a cost accounting system?

2011-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

A cost accounting system is somewhat like a puzzle. It requires five parts that include:
1) an input measurement basis,
2) an inventory valuation method,
3) a cost accumulation method,
4) a cost flow assumption, and
5) a capability of recording inventory cost flows at certain intervals.

There are many possible systems. For example, a typical cost accounting system might include normal historical inputs, a full absorption inventory valuation method, process cost accumulation, a weighted average cost flow assumption and a perpetual recording interval capability. Each part is a subsystem, and combined they form a cost accounting system.

For more, go to http://maaw.info/5partsofcostsystem.htm

Where would you start in developing an AIS program?

2011-02-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

I would go to the AIS faculty for recommendations. Many are on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Information Systems
(http://aaahq.org/infosys/JIS/Staff1/ed_board.htm).

I would also scan through the articles published in the AIS journals
(http://maaw.info/JournalOfInformationSystems.htm and

http://maaw.info/InternationalJournalofAccInfoSys.htm),

MAAW's AIS Section and Bibliography (http://maaw.info/AISMISMain.htm),

and the Education Section and Bibliography (http://maaw.info/EducationIssuesMain.htm) for articles on developing an AIS program.

The AIS section of AAA should have some advice on this. Their home page is
http://aaahq.org/Infosys/jis/index.htm

Journal of Universal Rejection

2011-01-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

For a laugh see Caleb Emmons Journal of Universal Rejection

200 years of Economic Development Illustrated in 4 minutes

2010-12-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

The following link is to my note about an interesting video illustrating the economic development of 200 countries over the last 200 years.

200 Years of economic development in 4 minutes

Perhaps this represents an argument for trickle down economics, but see my note on the Universal law of wealth.

A Sample of Free Google eBooks from the Google ebookstore

2010-12-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Google ebookstore provides a fairly large number of free ebooks related to accounting history. I will be adding a number of these to MAAW's topic pages and will include a complete list of the ones I have added (with links) on MAAW's Books Summaries page.

Of course there are also lots of books for sale. A search on Google accounting ebooks produced to following link:
http://books.google.com/ebooks?q=accounting+books&as_brr=5

A sample of some of the older free ebooks appears below.

Baugh, F. H. 1915. Principles and Practice of Cost Accounting for Accountants, Manufacturers, Mechanical Engineers, Teachers and Students. F. H. Baugh.

Bookkeeper Publishing Co. 1901. Retail Accounting: A text book for the use of book-keepers who keep the accounts of retail business, with special attention to the requirements of general stores, drug stores, bakeries, creameries and ice businesses. The Book-Keeper Publishing Company.

Borsodi, R. 1922. The New Accounting: Bookkeeping without books of original entry by use of a natural system of double entry bookkeeping. Dodd, Mead and Company.

Bunnell, S. H. 1911. Cost-Keeping for Manufacturing Plants. D. Appleton and Company.

Harrison, G. C. 1921. Cost Accounting To Aid Production: A Practical Study of Scientific Cost Accounting. The Engineering Magazine Company.

Hutchinson, J. H. 1914. School Costs and School Accounting. Columbia University.

Johnson, J. F., L. Greendlinger and J. W. Schulze. 1914. Accounting Practice: A comprehensive statement of accounting principles and methods, illustrated by modern forms and problems. Alexander Hamilton Institute.

Kester, R. B. 1917. Accounting Theory and Practice, Volume 1. The Ronald Press Company.

Moxey, E. P. Jr. 1911. Accounting Systems: A description of systems appropriate to different kinds of business. Alexander Hamilton Institute.

Nicholson, J. L. and J. F. D. Rohrbach. 1919. Cost Accounting. Ronald Press Co.

Racine, S. F. 1918. Accounting Principles. The Western Institute of Accountancy, Commerce and Finance.

Scovill, H. T. 1918. Farm Accounting. D. Appleton and Company.

Sikes, C. S. 1917. Railway Accounting, Volume 1. La Salle Extension University.

How to Add RAM to your old Laptop*

2010-11-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

If you have an old laptop that is slower than molasses, you can easily speed it up by replacing the RAM. I have six computers in my office and I keep them all because each one allows me to do things that the others cannot do, e.g., use programs downloaded that I can't move to a newer machine, read old 5.25 and 3.5 floppy disks, zips disks etc. So I found this tip from PCWorld* to be very useful.

How to add RAM to an old laptop. Turn the computer off, flip it over and remove the battery. You will need a small screwdriver. A little screwdriver used for screws in eye glasses works well. Then remove the panel where the RAM modules are located. There may be more than one panel, so keep looking until you find one or more small modules. Most laptops have two sockets. If only one socket is occupied, buy a module that matches the one that is there to double your system's RAM. (Note: Push the little springs back on each side of the module and it will pop up. Slide the new module in, push it down and it should snap right in.) There should be a label on each module to indicate the amount of RAM it has. For example, I found two 256MB modules in my five year old Sony. If both sockets are filled, as in my case, you will need to replace both of them according to Rick Broida.* I replaced my Sony's 256MB modules with two 512MB modules. According to a geek at Best Buy that is the maximum RAM my old Sony would allow. I found the 512MB modules at Staples. It's still not real fast, but I doubled the RAM from 1/2GB to 1GB and it performs much better. It cost about $85.

You can find out what size modules you need at http://www.crucial.com/, or just ask a geek.

* Broida, R. 2010. Laptop Tips, PCWorld (November): 116.

Update and History of the CMA Exam

2010-10-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

For an update and history of the CMA program see VanZante, N. R. 2010. IMA's professional certification program has changed. Management Accounting Quarterly (Summer): 48-51.

or my summary of VanZante's article at http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumVanZante2010.htm

The information provided in this paper is very similar to the information provided by Brausch and Whitney earlier this year. However, VanZante adds a chronological history of the CMA program and explains why the CFM exam was discontinued and merged into the new CMA exam.

For more information see MAAW's professional exams section at http://maaw.info/ProfessionalExamsMain.htm

Some new gadgets

2010-10-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

All work and no play does not make for a happy life, so I added some new gadgets to amuse MAAW's users.

The first gadget is the speaking avatar on MAAW's home page. If you go to the Voki web page (http://www.voki.com/) you can create your own speaking avatar.

I also added some ESPN college football gadgets that I like. I included two gadgets for the teams that I follow, Alabama and Virginia Tech. If you get the team gadget, you can change the team to any college you like. The link is http://maaw.info/GadgetsandGames/CollegeFootballGadgets.htm

For other gadgets and play see http://maaw.info/GadgetsMain.htm

Lean Assessment Technique

2010-10-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

The following article describes a lean assessment technique referred to as the rapid plant assessment (RPA) process.

Goodson, R. E. 2002. Read a plant - fast. Harvard Business Review (May): 105-113.

According to Goodson, using the RPA process during a plant tour can indicate if a factory is truly lean in as little as 30 minutes. The process includes two assessment tools, the RPA rating sheet, and the RPA questionnaire. The information provided by these tools can be used to influence decisions related to benchmarking, continuous improvement, competitor analysis, and acquisitions. It is also a very useful tool for teaching students about lean enterprise concepts.

For a summary of the RPA process see http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumGoodson2002.htm

The Universal Law of Wealth

2010-09-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

Although the following article was published eight years ago, it is relevant to some current political-economic issues.

Buchanan, M. 2002. Wealth happens. Harvard Business Review (April): 49-54.

The purpose of the article is to describe a universal law of wealth based on a network effect that appears to have some important implications for economic policy.

According to Buchanan, the universal law of wealth is simply stated in the following way. Each time you double the amount of wealth, the number of people involved falls by a constant factor to form a Pareto curve, e.g., in the U.S. approximately 80% of the wealth is held by 20% of the people. In some other countries it might be 90% of the wealth held by 20%, or 95% held by 10%, but the point is that in any society a small percentage of the people always own a large proportion of the wealth. This Pareto curve distribution of wealth appears to be based on a network effect that is applicable across societies and has little to do with differences in backgrounds, talents, and the education of an area's citizens.

For what this has to do with economic policy see my note at
http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumBuchanan2002.htm

What is a learning organization, why do so few learning organizations exist, and how can a company become a learning organization?

2010-09-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

In the Fifth Discipline Peter Senge defined the "learning organization" as "an organization that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future." Learning organizations must combine survival learning, or adaptive learning with generative learning. Generative learning enhances the organization’s capacity to create.

In an interview published in the Harvard Business Review, Edgar H. Schein (a world-renowned psychologist) argues that very few organizations become "learning organizations" because this requires a transformation of the organization into something entirely different. But there is a way to promote transformational change based on what most people would refer to as "brain washing." Schein prefers the term "coercive persuasion." Coercive persuasion is when people are pressured into adopting new beliefs in situations where they cannot physically escape. Although brain washing, or coercive persuasion is routinely used on children by their parents, and has been used effectively on prisoners of war, it can also be used effectively to promote organizational learning.

To read more go to the summary of Coutu, D. L. 2002. The anxiety of learning. Harvard Business Review (March): 100-107.

.

Thanks to MAAW's Members

2010-09-25T07:08:00.000-07:00

I want to thank all of MAAW's members for supporting the site. Many visitors never get to the home page. They just bounce in, look at a page or two and then bounce back to their Google or other search list. They never discover the thousands of pages on MAAW patiently standing by to help provide information. You can help by telling others about MAAW. Imtiaz recently referred to the site as a beautiful resource. One user referred to MAAW as a treasure chest. Another called it an accounting depot of free information. Whatever it is, I will keep building it towards a comprehensive source of management and accounting information. The more people use the site, the more motivated I am to keep building.

If you are not a member, Go to MAAW's home page and sign up.

How to Search MAAW?

2010-09-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

To Search by Main Author: Go to the Main Bibliography

To Search by Topic: Go to the topics on MAAW's Main Page

To Search by Journal: Go to MAAW's Journal Bibliographies Page

To Search by Word or Phrase: Go to MAAW's Search Page

Additions to MAAW's Chinese Section

2010-08-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Additions include:

1. A summary of the following article:

Graham, J. L. and N. M. Lam. 2003. The Chinese negotiation. Harvard Business Review (October): 82-91. (Summary). The authors describe some interesting conflicts between American and Chinese negotiators.

2. Approximately 200 additional articles were added to the Chinese Bibliography.

China is becoming more and more important in the global economy and recently passed Japan as the second largest economy. It appears that learning to negotiate with the Chinese will become even more important in the future.

New Section on MAAW: Chinese Accounting and Management

2010-08-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Recent articles in the media indicate that China has become, or will soon become the second largest economy. With this in mind, I have developed a new section for Chinese Accounting and Management.

I will add more to this section in the future, including some article summaries and related books.

Previous country specific sections include German Accounting and Management and Japanese Management.

Materials related to accounting and management in other countries are currently placed in the International Aspects section.

New Section on MAAW: Marketing, Sales and Advertising

2010-08-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Marketing, Sales and Advertising section includes any accounting related materials (e.g., marketing costs, marketing cost allocations etc.) as well as any other marketing articles and books I find.

This new section is in addition to the older section on Logistics and Distribution Cost that I have been developing for several years.

Flash Slide Show on MAAW

2010-07-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

I developed a Flash slide show for MAAW's home page to provide a sample of the information available on the site. The show includes a few comments and some of MAAW's graphics.

To gain some control over the slide show, right click on any scene and you can move forward or backward. Each graphic has link to the relevant section on MAAW.

If you need the Adobe Flash Player, you can download it at http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

I also placed a Flash slide show on the Photos main page with a few photos from each of the photo sections.

Leave a comment here, or on MAAW's home page if you have an idea about how I can use my new toy to better advantage.

More From MAAW's Manage Yourself and Other Advice Section

2010-07-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

I summarized another paper in the Manage Yourself and Other Advice section that provides some pretty good advice.

Wademan, D. 2005. The best advice I ever got. Harvard Business Review (January): 35-44. (Summary).

The purpose of this article is to provide some answers to the questions; Where, when, and how do successful executives get their life changing counsel, and what kind of advice influences senior business leaders? The answers discussed in this paper are based on interview responses from six chief executives. The questions were; What is the best piece of personal advice you've ever gotten that you've used at work, who gave it to you, and how have you used this advice on the job?

More on How to Manage Yourself

2010-07-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

The How to Manage Yourself Main page includes links to the bibliography and to the various article summaries.

I have included one additional summary that involves seeking only positive feedback.
Roberts, L. M., G. Spreitzer, J. Dutton, R. Quinn, E. Heaphy and B. Barker. 2005. How to play to your strengths. Harvard Business Review (January): 74-80.(Summary).

The purpose of this article is to describe a method of seeking and using feedback referred to as the Reflected Best Self (RBS) exercise. The authors recommend it as a tool that can help people understand and leverage their individual strengths and find a sense of their "personal best". The RBS exercise is based on an area of research called positive organizational scholarship. The feedback exercise was developed from studies indicating that people tend to remember criticism, but respond to praise. Criticism makes people defensive and less likely to change, while praise produces confidence and the desire to improve.

Manage Yourself

2010-06-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have also added a summary of an article by Kaplan in MAAW's Manage Yourself section.
Kaplan, R. S. 2008. Managing yourself: Reaching your potential. Harvard Business Review (July-August): 45-49. (Summary)

The purpose of this article is to provide some career advice, particularly to those who are frustrated with their current positions. The main thrust of the paper however, is to help everyone avoid self-inflicted problems and become proactive in reaching their career potential. The key ideas are deceptively simple. To manage yourself you need to know yourself, learn to excel at critical tasks, and to demonstrate character and leadership. It's about accepting the responsibility for your own career, defining your own success, and then developing a way to get there.
Click on the summary link above for more.

New Section on MAAW: How to Manage Yourself and Other Advice

2010-06-26T06:03:00.000-07:00

I am developing a new section: How to management yourself and other advice. So far the section includes a bibliography for the topic
and a summary of an article by Peter Drucker,
Drucker, P. F. 2005. Managing oneself. Harvard Business Review (January): 100-109.

The purpose of this article is to provide some advice to today's knowledge workers who will need to know themselves, their strengths, weaknesses, how they learn, how they work with others, their values, and where they belong. It was originally published in 1999 and reprinted in the Best of HBR section in January 2005.

Drucker's advice would have been very helpful to me fifty years ago when I was starting my career. So, I recommend the paper to everyone and particularly to educators who advise students about how to learn, and their future careers. Click on the link above to read the summary.

What's new on MAAW? MC Questions for Management Accounting

2010-05-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

I have added a summary page of links to multiple choice questions for 17 management accounting topics at
http://maaw.info/ManagementAccountingMCQuestions.htm

Links to a solution page are at the bottom of each set of questions. I will finish the other sections within the next couple of weeks. Links to each of these sections are also on each topic's main page and each topics discussion questions page. Most of the questions are generic to the topic, although some questions are related to specific articles, or to the work of specific individuals, e.g., Deming, Goldratt, Kaplan, Cooper, Johnson, etc. All of the questions should be useful for self study.

Links to Management Accounting Discussion Questions

2010-05-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have developed a summary page with links to the graduate course management accounting discussion questions.

Links to management accounting discussion questions.

I am also in the process of adding multiple choice questions for each of these topics. I will provide a link on the blog when that section is complete.

MAAW's Book Extra MC Questions

2010-05-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have added a section of extra multiple choice questions for MAAW's Chapters 1-13. The following page includes links to all of these additional questions.

MAAW's Book Extra MC Questions

Links to a solution page are at the bottom of each group of questions.

Savannah in April

2010-04-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

I took a few photos in Savannah last week. It is a very pretty place this time of year. See: http://maaw.info/Photos/Savannah2.htm

My response to a question related to ABC issues

2010-03-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

There are a number of issues related to ABC in a paper I wrote a few years ago that are still relevant today.

See my summary of the following: Martin, J. R. 1994. A controversial issues approach to enhance management accounting education. Journal of Accounting Education 12(1): 59-75.

Also see my outline for a graduate course in management accounting for some additional ideas.

The theme of all this is to get students to debate the issues.

My response to a question about Accounting Theory Courses

2010-03-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

There is a considerable amount of literature on accounting theory, but
there appears to be very little literature on accounting theory courses.
See MAAW's Accounting Theory and Education Issues bibliographies.

You might find some additional articles in the bibliographies for Issues in Accounting Education and the Journal of Accounting Education.

I found a few papers that discuss accounting theory courses as follows:(See the accounting theory bibliography for the JSTOR links to The Accounting Review articles).

Carlson, M. L. 1967. An application of concepts in the theory course. The Accounting Review (July): 596-598. (JSTOR link).

Cluskey, G. R. Jr., C. R. Ehlen and R. Rivers. 2007. Accounting theory: Missing in action? Management Accounting Quarterly (Winter): 24-31. ("Even in our doctoral programs, where one would expect accounting theory to be studied and promulgated, little evidence exists that accounting theory consists of anything more than a cursory review of current FASB issues or economic transactions and firm value. Based on our recent review of 88 accounting doctoral-granting institutions in the United States, we identify several different approaches to teaching accounting theory that have been or currently are used in accounting doctoral curricula").

Homburger, R. H. 1957. The graduate course in accounting theory - Seminar style. The Accounting Review (July): 485-487. (JSTOR link).

Kircher, P. 1951. The course in accounting theory. The Accounting Review (January): 106-111. (JSTOR link).

Robinson, L. E. 1984. Accounting theory: Undergraduate coverage of the FASB conceptual framework. Issues In Accounting Education: 144-148.

Seidler, L. J. 1967. International accounting - The ultimate theory course. The Accounting Review (October): 775-781. (JSTOR link).

Smith, J. E. 1972. The need for a senior level theory seminar. The Accounting Review (July): 613-614. (JSTOR link).

Walden, R. E. 1951. A course in accounting theory. The Accounting Review (April): 221-225. (JSTOR link).

Systems Thinking - The In2:InThinking Network

2010-03-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

For those who would like to learn more about "systems thinking", I recommend joining the In2:InThinking network.

The purpose of the In2:InThinking Network is to promote study, insight, and application of individual and collective awareness of sub-systems, psychology, variation, knowledge, and their interactions. This non-profit organization welcomes new members who would like to receive their monthly newsletter. There's no membership fee to join.

The following is from the In2:InThinking Network home page:

"The concept of “inThinking” derives from “awareness of our own thinking and the assumptions" we make in how we act when we allocate resources (time, money, space, materials, inventory, equipment, ideas, etc.) where thinking is defined as “a way of reasoning.” Fundamental to resource allocation is whether our activities are proactive or reactive, and whether the resources involved belong to the enterprise ("ours") or to one's own department, function, district, part, etc. ("mine"). InThinking invites an individual to learn to perceive the patterns of interdependencies surrounding him or her and to reason and judge with new insight and thereby engage in the activities of Purposeful Resource Management and Purposeful Resource Leadership across their enterprise. Such efforts would be commonplace in an environment of "Enterprise InThinking."
Such a personal transformation of awareness builds upon the theories of Deming, Ackoff, de Bono, Senge, Johnson, and Taguchi, among many others.

Join this network at http://www.in2in.org/

For more on systems thinking see MAAW's section on Whole Systems.

Rating system for journals

2010-03-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

This may be perceived as no more than a goofy idea, but consider it anyway. A graduate student might ask the following question. If the people who write for this journal are so smart, why can't I understand what they are saying? Is this a legitimate complaint about a journal or the authors who's papers are published in the journal? In my view the answer is no because those who can not understand the papers published in a particular journal are usually not part of that journal's intended audience. For example, to become part of the intended audience for The Accounting Review or the Journal of Accounting Research takes a lot more effort than most people are willing to put forth considering their limited background in theory, statistics, quantitative methods, and mathematics. At least part of the problem with the sometimes negative perception of research journals is that the journals' intended audiences are not widely understood. Perhaps what is needed is a rating system somewhat like the TV ratings. The following, or something similar, could be used as a beginning with content labels added for various levels of theory, quantitative methods, statistics, economics, and mathematics.

Journal Y2 - for accounting students in principles of accounting.
Journal Y3, IF - for accounting students in intermediate financial accounting.
Journal Y3, IM - for accounting students in intermediate managerial or cost accounting.
Journal Y4, A, T, Ad, MA - for accounting students in upper level auditing, tax, advanced, and management accounting.
Journal Y5 - General accounting audience - For those with accounting degrees.
Journal Y6 - For those in a Masters of Accountancy program, and experienced accountants.
Journal Y7 - For those in Ph.D. programs with somewhat limited theory, quantitative methods, statistics, and math backgrounds.
Journal Y8 - For Ph.D.s with strong backgrounds in theory, quantitative methods, statistics, and math backgrounds.
Journal Y9 - For Ph.D.s with upper level backgrounds in theory, quantitative methods, statistics, and math.
Journal Y10 - For top researchers with very strong backgrounds in theory, quantitative methods, statistics, and math.

Clearly, editors, reviewers, and authors should understand who the intended audience is for the journals that they edit, review for, or in which they hope to publish. And they probably do, but many students and others have no clue.

I think this confusion about intended audiences also applies to textbooks and courses, but that is a different issue.

The state of accounting research

2010-03-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

One wonders sometimes if we have moved closer to, or farther away from the research environment Kenneth Boulding mentions in his 1956 paper below.

"One wonders sometimes if science will not grind to a stop in an assemblage of walled-in hermits, each mumbling to himself words in a private language that only he can understand." Boulding, K. E. 1956. General systems theory - The skeleton of science. Management Science (April): 197-208.

Become a follower of this Blog

2010-03-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

Become a follower of this blog to make comments, ask questions, and to keep up with changes and additions to MAAW. You can sign using your Google, twitter, or YaHoo! account.

"Stock taking" related to Scholarly Journals

2010-03-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

I ran across the following article while updating the JSTOR links for the ASQ and it occurred to me that all those connected with the scholarly accounting journals should do a "stock taking" from time to time. I suspect some have and some have not, but this note is directed to all who are involved in scholarly endeavors, or who aspire to get involved.

Palmer, D. 2006. Taking stock of the criteria we use to evaluate one another's work: ASQ 50 years out. Administrative Science Quarterly 51(4): 535-559. (http://www.jstor.org/stable 20109887).

Palmer embraces Weick's definition of stock taking as "a complex mixture of appreciation, wariness, anticipation, regret, and pride, all fused into thoughts of renewal." Palmer reviews the vision of organization studies established when the ASQ was first published in 1956, identifies seven controversies related to whether ASQ scholars have clung too closely to, or strayed to far from, the founder's vision for the journal, and offers his own thoughts on the concerns and challenges that ASQ scholars might do well to contemplate. The seven controversies relate to concerns about the field's: 1) object of inquiry, 2) devotion to theory building, 3) paradigmatic heterogeneity, 4) mode of building theory and conducting research, 5) disciplinary status and foundation, 6) relevance to practitioners, and 7) anglocentrism.

The issues facing accounting scholars and scholarly journals are perhaps somewhat different, but the theme of "stock taking" is certainly applicable. A link to MAAW's ASQ bibliography is:
http://maaw.info/ManagementJournals/AdministrativeScienceQuarterly.htm

The New Two Part CMA Exam 2010

2010-03-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

For a brief description of the new CMA Exam, and explanation of the ICMA board's underlying logic for the changes see my summary of the following article:

Brausch, J. M. and D. Whitney. 2009. CMA: The quest for increasing value. Strategic Finance (December): 9-10, 12.

An Ambitious Plan to Obtain the CMA and CPA Designations

2010-03-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

See my note on the following article for a plan to have obtained both designations shortly after graduation.

Hargadon, J. M. and L. R. Fuller. 2010. Take less - and earn more. Strategic Finance (March):47-53.

More on Virtual Social Worlds and How to Use Them

2010-02-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

See my summary of the following article:

Kaplan, A. M. and M. Haenlein. 2009. The fairyland of Second Life: About virtual social worlds and how to use them. Business Horizons 52(6): 563-572.

Word Clouds

2010-02-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

Have a little fun.

See MAAW's word cloud and develop your own.

Second Life

2010-02-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

For those who would like to learn more about Accounting in the Second Life environment, I've developed a section on Second Life with a summary of the Johnson-Middleton article, a bibliography, and a links page. See http://maaw.info/SecondLifeMain.htm

When I find more and learn more I will place it on those pages.

Second Life

2010-02-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

The following article discusses the opportunities for accountants in Second Life. Johnson, R. A. and J. M. Middleton. 2008. Accounting for second life. Journal of Accountancy (June): 54-58.

According to these authors, Second Life is an engaging 3-D virtual world with economic implications and opportunities for the real world, and CPA Island is the current center of the public accounting profession in Second Life.

Is this just fun and games, or is there something to be gained by developing an avatar and flying around in the second life environment?

Music video for accountants on YouTube

2010-02-13T06:21:00.000-08:00

"If I were an auditor, and you were a lady
Would you marry me anyway?"
http://www.youtube.com/user/feiblog#p/a/u/0/Q-FR_fkTFKY

What's New on MAAW?

2010-02-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

I took a little time out from building management and accounting web pages to develop a photo section that includes 12 subsections. Although photos won't help you pass an accounting exam, or develop a research paper, they can be used in a variety of ways. For example, you can use them as desktop wallpaper, send them in e-mail messages, print and send them as (4x6) post cards (particularly to old folks like mothers and grandmothers that don't use computers), use them in your screen saver, and even create slide shows and animations. Most of the photos you'll find on MAAW's photo sections have been or will be used as post cards to cheer up some of our old relatives stuck in nursing homes. Try it with your photos, or my photos. I expect the recipients will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

See Photos for the various photo sections.

Designing Corporate Governance Systems

2010-01-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

The following is my response to a question related to designing corporate governance systems.

A Google search on corporate governance systems generates a large number of articles on this subject. Most of this literature is in finance and economics journals.

For example:
Allen, F. and D. Gale. 2000. Corporate governance and competition. In Vives, X. (ed) Corporate Governance: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Cambridge University Press.

Demsetz, H. and K. Lehn. 1985. The structure of corporate ownership: Causes and consequences. Journal of Political Economy (93): 1155-1177.

Harris, M. and A. Raviv. 1988. Corporate governance: Voting rights and majority rules. Journal of Financial Economics (20): 203-235.

Jensen, M. and W. Meckling. 1976. Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics (3): 305-360.

Jensen, M. and R. Ruback. 1983. The market for corporate control: The scientific evidence. Journal of Financial Economics (11): 5-50.

John, K. and L. Senbet. 1998. Corporate governance and board effectiveness. Journal of Banking and Finance (22): 371-403.

Shleifer, A. and R. W. Vishny. 1997. A survey of corporate governance. Journal of Finance (June): 737-775.

You may find some useful articles in the agency theory and capital markets sections of the MAAW site.

What is Green Accounting?

2010-01-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

The following is my response to a question about Green Accounting. The term Green Accounting is a little confusing because it refers to both green national accounting (e.g., the deficiencies with GDP etc.) and green corporate accounting (environmental reporting). The economics literature on green national accounting is fairly large. Green corporate accounting is a relatively new topic in comparison, but there still seems to be a lot of related literature on the subject. I don't know of an accounting course on green accounting, but if I had to develop such a course I would start with the following paper: Fleischman, R. K. and K. Schuele. 2006. Green accounting: A primer. Journal of Accounting Education 24(1):35-66. These authors provide a discussion of the past, present, and future issues associated with environmental reporting and a rather considerable reference section. The Fleischman-Schuele paper and the references they provide could be used to develop a course on green corporate accounting. For some other papers on environmental cost issues see:
http://maaw.info/EnvironmentalCostsArticles.htm particularly the series of papers by M. J. Epstein.

The "Big Zero"

2009-12-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

Paul Krugman refers to the past decade as the "Big Zero". It was a decade of zero gains for job creation, household income, home values, stocks and economic progress in general. And accounting was a big part of the problem. See Paul's column for the complete article.

Another good explanation for the CMA format change

2009-12-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

Jim,

I am currently on the ICMA board and wanted to respond to your comment on the listserv privately. My first thought about the new CMA exam was exactly the same as yours. The popular perception seems to be that the rigor has decreased along with the length of the exam. However, I do not believe this to be true...and I have seen the evidence first hand that supports this conclusion.

The new exam does not cover the breadth that it did in the past, but I believe that is a good thing. The management accounting focus is much greater now than in the past. Previously there was a lot of ancillary information that was only marginally attributable to the core focus of management accounting. In fact, there was quite a bit of focus on external reporting, which I honestly think should not have ever been there. That content was removed. Economics, although useful from a basic background level, is not a focus that I try to stay current on. Moreover, testing on the information systems content was never very useful in my view since the technology changes so rapidly. These were areas that were just necessary to plow through and mostly forget about for me. At any rate, I am much happier that the focus is on core management accounting skills now.

Another feature of the new exam is that the rigor has been "increased." Yes, although the content (in terms of volume) has been reduced, the level of testing of the essential management accounting content has increased in depth and difficulty level. So I had to ask myself which approach I would rather see...more depth in core MA areas with less or no emphasis on economics, IT, and external reporting...or lower rigor (i.e. what we have now) but more breadth? Personally, I think the former is better than the latter.

From my view, the new CMA exam is all about keeping the main thing the main thing. This is important from my view. I am also aware of the fact that perception is reality. So, from that perspective, time will tell if the change was a good idea. For my part, I believe it was. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but I wanted to just share my personal view that I believe the change will be beneficial to the profession rather than detrimental.

My very best regards,
Doug

Larry White's explanation related to the new CMA format

2009-12-18T07:59:00.000-08:00

The following is a response from Larry White to my comments about the new CMA format. My response follows Larry's comments.

Dear James, I saw your comments on the revised CMA exam on Linked Up IMA and wanted to share my thoughts as a member of the Committee that developed the concept for the revised CMA Exam. First, I wanted to say how much I admire and appreciate all you do for the profession through MAAW. You set the standard in embracing and distributing new information and ideas within the profession. The problem IMA faced was the CMA Exam wasn't drawing the US market. Unfortunately, US accounting education is overwhelmingly CPA focused. IMA needed to attach accountants and financially oriented professionals to management accounting. However, management accounting suffers from a professional recognition problem......no one defines them self as a management accountant in business today...its all called "finance". We concluded that we needed to focus the CMA on a body of knowledge needed by the CFO organization, but not well addressed by a CPA curriculum, and MBA curriculum, or a combination of CPA and MBA.....but that were critical to the CFO. What we observed was the rise of a group within the CFO office that did "Financial Planning & Analysis" or FPA. It was not a purely accountant staffed domain. We found parallels in government - Budget, Planning, and Program Analysis. Based on this observation IMA did fairly extensive market research - focus groups, CFO interviews exposing the concept, etc. We also found achievability was an issue, particularly when many of the CMA candidates are not entry level, but into their career - early to mid. They didn't want to waste time on basic knowledge topics. IMA, of course, wanted to keep the CMA exam rigorous and high quality. The conclusion was to narrow the topical focus to key topics that differentiated Management Accounting and test every topic to great depth. The exam now assumes the candidate has basic undergraduate financial and cost accounting (for financial reporting) knowledge, as well as a number of other topics in business. I believe it focuses on the key differentiators in today's management accounting practice for people working inside companies, and it will provide a quality certification that provides skills and knowledge CFO's want their people to have. I know the reduction in parts sounds like a diminishment, but the CMA really isn't being used as an entry level certification any longer. Unfortunately, the CPA and MBA are the bodies of knowledge being hired. However, CFO's are finding problems with the lack of management accounting knowledge...most MBA programs have dropped their management accounting course and most undergraduate accounting curricula only teach enough management accounting to get students past the CPA exam. I'm confident the new exam will only certify individuals that have the knowledge and ability required of the old exam, but by being more focused, it will also promote the core differentiating skill sets of management accounting. I hope this short summary helps you understand and respect what the IMA has done with the revision to the CMA. The support of key professional mavens like you is very important to keeping the profession of management accounting alive and vital. Thanks for reading this and all you do on MAAW. Larry R. White, CMA, CFM, CPA, CGFM

My response:

Larry, Thanks for helping me understand the changes. Your explanation of the new CMA format sounds much more convincing than most of the arguments I have seen. I realize that academic folks like me are frequently out of the loop, so I will shut up and take a wait and see approach. I really hope the new plan works.

The effect of the change to the CMA Exam

2009-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

According to Brausch and Whitney (Strategic Finance, December 2009, p. 9) the changes to the CMA exam are intended to dramatically increase the value of the CMA in the market.

Beginning in the spring of 2010 the exam will include only two four-hour exams, each consisting of 100 multiple choice questions and two 30-minute essay questions. For more specifics see http://www.imanet.org/certification.asp

When I became a CMA in 1977, (Certificate 733) the exam was made up of five 3.5-hour exams spread out over three days. My initial reaction to the current change is that more people will take and pass the exam, but the value of the CMA will decline. I hope I am wrong about this.

I would like to know what other people think about the change, particularly those who are CMA's. Will the effect of the change on the value of the CMA be positive or negative?

Another thought: Someone could do a survey of current accounting faculty, practicing accountants, and CMA's, and get a publication out of this.

The Sex of a Hippopotamus

2009-12-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

For an interesting book see:

Starkman, J. 2008. The Sex of a Hippopotamus: A Unique History of Taxes and Accounting. Twinset Inc. (JOA Review Link).

Ideas for research papers

2009-11-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

I frequently have ideas for research papers that I will probably never pursue.

For 12 ideas see http://maaw.info/Ideas.htm

Student memberships in the IMA and AICPA

2009-11-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Students can join the Institute of Management Accountants for $39 (Link to Join). To view the benefits of IMA membership see the Why join IMA page.

Students can also join the AICPA as a student affiliate for $35 (Link to Join). To view the benefits of a student affiliate membership see the Benefits and Info Guide page.