Advanced Management
Accounting
Hemantha Herath
12-1
Decentralization
Prepared
Preparedby
by
Hemantha
HemanthaHerath
Herath
Brock
BrockUniversity
University
6
12-2
Why
Why Decentralize?
Decentralize?
Decentralization
The delegation of decision making authority to managers throughout the organization Centralization
Minimum freedom
Decentralization
Maximum freedom
Complexity of Firm’s Environment
Information Specialization
Timeliness of Response
Conservation of Central Management Time
Computational Complexity
Training for Local Managers
Motivation for local managers
Costs of Decentralization
Managers may make goal incongruent decisions
Duplication of services (accounting and advertising)
Increased cost of accumulating and processing information
Managers may waste time arguing about shared services
12-3
Decentralization
Decentralization
Most companies adopt a blend of decentralized and centralized functions
(decentralize marketing but centralize tax planning)
Decentralization is most successful when organization's segments are relatively independent Diversified
Product Line
No Problems
Single Industry
Multi-Product
Single
Product
Common Problems
Decentralization cannot work unless top management is willing to abide by its
managers' decisions
Stepping in and overriding managers' decisions will quickly result in
motivational problems
Profit Centres and Decentralization
Be careful to separate these two ideas
Profit centres hold a manager accountable for revenues & expenses
Decentralized manager has the freedom to make decisions
Cost centre may be more decentralized than a profit centre if the cost centre manager has more authority
12-4
Management
Management Control
Control Systems
Systems
An orderly, logical plan to coordinate and evaluate all activities
1.
Begin by specifying the organization's goals, sub-goals and objectives
Goals are what the organization hopes to achieve in the long run
Sub-goals or key success factors are more specific and provide more focus to guide daily actions
Objectives are specific benchmarks which management would like to see achieved
Important to keep all three in balance to avoid concentrating solely on short-run achievements at the expense of long run goals
2.
Establish responsibility centers
3.
Develop performance measures
4.
Measure and report on financial performance
5.
Measure and report on non-financial performance
12-5
Management
Management Control
Control Systems
Systems
Set Goals,
Measures,
Targets
Plan and Execute
Feedback and Learning
Evaluate,
Reward
Monitor,
Report
12-6
Responsibility
Responsibility Centers
Centers
Set of activities assigned to a manager or a group of managers/employees
Based on principle of responsibility accounting which holds that managers
should be evaluated on the activities which they can influence or control
Standard Cost Centre
Area for which cost data is accumulated such as an assembly department
Discretionary Expense Centre
Area dominated by discretionary expenses such as legal or accounting
Revenue Centre
Area primarily responsible for generating sales such as a sales office
Profit Centre
Area responsible for controlling costs and generating revenues
Investment Centre
Area responsible for income (revenues - expenses) in relation to its invested capital
12-7
Developing
Developing Performance
Performance Measures
Measures
Good performance measures will
1. Relate to the