亨格瑞管理会计英文第15版练习答案01(15)

查尔斯亨格瑞 管理会计 英文版第15版 北京大学出版社 练习答案01

(10 min.) Financial information is important in all companies. But how managers get and use financial information can differ depending on the culture and philosophies of the company.

Top executives of a company often represent a functional area critical to the

competitive economic advantage of the company. When technology is crucial, engineers generally hold important executive positions. If marketing differentiates the company from others, marketing executives usually dominate. But regardless of the source of a company’s competitive advantage, its success will eventually be measured in economic terms. They must attend to financial aspects to thrive and often even to survive.

Management accountants must work with the dominant managers in any

organization. The modern trend toward use of cross-functional teams places management accountants at the center of the action regardless of what type of managers and executives dominate. Most companies realize that there is a financial dimension to almost every major decision, so they want the financial experts, management accountants, involved in the decisions. But to be accepted as an important part of these teams, the management accountants must know how to help managers in various functional areas. In General Mills, if accountants can’t talk the language of marketing, they will not have great

influence. In ArvinMeritor, if they do not understand the information needs of engineers they will not provide value.

(10-15 min.)

1. Boeing's competitive environment and manufacturing processes changed greatly

in recent years. An accounting system that served them well in their old

environment would not necessarily be optimal in today. Boeing's management probably thought that changes in the accounting system were necessary to produce the kind of information necessary to remain competitive.

2. A cost-benefit criterion was probably used. Boeing's management may not have

quantified all the costs and benefits, but they certainly assessed whether the new system would help decisions enough to warrant the cost of the system.

Many of the benefits of a better accounting system are hard to measure. They

affect many strategic decisions of an organization. Without accurate product costs, management will find it difficult to accurately assess the consequences of their decisions.

3. More accurate product costs will usually result in better management decisions.

But if the cost of the accounting system that produces the more accurate costs is too high, it may be best to forego increased accuracy. The benefit of better

decisions must exceed the added cost of the system for a change to be desirable.