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SUNDERLAND BUSINESS SCHOOL

Module Title: Strategic Management Accounting

Module Code: APC309

Submission Date: Monday 11th April 2011

Individual assignment

General Information

Weighting – 100% of the marks for this module

This is an individual assignment of 3,000 words (+/-10%), excluding appendices and bibliography. The word count MUST be shown on the front of the assignment.

There are TWO questions to be answered in this assignment. Each question carries a maximum mark of 50%.

All of the learning outcomes for the module are being assessed in this assignment. The learning outcomes are shown in the section entitled “Marking Guide”, which is further on in this document.

The University’s policy on cheating collusion and plagiarism will be applied to this piece of work.

You are required to produce a report which answers the following TWO questions:

Question 1
You have been asked to advise two entirely different businesses about the benefits and problems associated with what is termed the “traditional approach to budgeting and budgetary control”. One of the businesses operates in a very stable and static market place, where there is little change in either products or demand year on year, whereas the other business operates in a very dynamic, rapidly changing, innovative environment.
If your findings suggest that the traditional approach is inappropriate for one or both of the businesses, please summarise some alternative approaches.
The “traditional approach” typically involves the following processes: 1) Development of assumptions and plans about the factors influencing next year’s budget in advance of the budget year starting; 2) Approval of the budget before the commencement of the budget year; 3) Once the budget year has started, there are monthly comparison reports which compares budget and actual performance