Instructions for preparation (30 minutes)

The preparation for this workshop will help you recall your understanding of the
main features of academic writing and preview the material we will be looking at in
more depth in the workshop.

1. Read the document ‘review of features of academic writing’ (6 minutes)

2. Read this introduction:

In recent year, many companies have been experiencing change in their business
environment, especially in competitive environment and information technology
development. It is argued that traditional management accounting with an internal focus is
too narrow for strategic decision-making. Following wide discussion of "relevance lost"
(Johnson and Kaplan 1987), new management accounting techniques have rapidly developed
for better decision-making and management control. (Tuan Zainun. 2010) This essay will
discuss about the how management accounting has changed to regain its relevance in
supporting decision-making. It consists of following three parts: Firstly, it analyses two key
environmental changes that drive organizational change. In the second part, it introduces
two strategy priorities in the competitive environment, followed by a discussion of how
management accounting techniques and practices have adapted to support strategy priority
in the new environment. Lastly, it examines the corresponding changes in the role that
management accountants play.

Identify one or more features which makes this a good introduction.

Presence of thesis statement
Provide background
Show how the following essay will be structured
(7 minutes)

3. Read this conclusion:

To conclude, external environment changes require organizations to operate in a customer
focused and cost efficient way. The traditional management accounting system can no longer
provide support for strategic decision-making in the new business environment. As a result,
new management accounting techniques such as activity based costing system and balanced
scorecard system are developed and adopted by companies in both the manufacturing and
service industry to support their strategy priority (low cost and differentiation). The new
techniques have overcome the drawbacks of the old techniques by providing information
needed in the new business environment. With these developments, management
accounting arguably finds its way back to regain its relevancy as a tool to support
management decision making. With the change of accounting practice and technique, the
role of management accountants is changing as well. Accountants are transforming from
bean counters to business partners who are involved in more strategic issues. Management
accountant are expected to take new roles such as IT implementation and strategic planning.
However, it is also argued that the traditional gatekeeper role of accountant should not be
overlooked to ensure the sustainable development of the organization.

Identify one or more features which makes this a good conclusion.

• Fulfill the purpose of the essay/assignment
• Reach a final conclusion on the topic / give a final take away message

(7 minutes)

4. Read this section from the body of the essay:

…Since the bank does not have to compete with other providers of capital, its costs may be
higher and its structure will be less efficient.
Levine (1996) and Amel and Liang (1997) find evidence in the situation when the competition
in the banking sector increases. According to their studies, the increase in competition leads
eventually to the decline of the profit margins in the banks. This is indicated by the lowering
of the difference between the lending interest rate and the interest rate on deposits. The
reduction of the profit margins drives the banks to cut their administrative costs to become
more effective and stable. Furthermore, the economy becomes more effective and economic
growth is stimulated as banks provide affordable financing and do not have excessively high
profit margins.

Identify one way the writer connects ideas in this text

(5 minutes)

5. Identify the sources the writer uses in the following short paragraph:

Read this paragraph and hihlioght toe sources the writer uses sources:

Globalisation generates a borderless economy, and results in fierce competition and

more complex environments, leading to shorter product life cycles and shorter periods
of competitive advantages (Burns et al, 2013). Such conditions are reinforced by
advanced technologies, especially in developing countries (Kassim et al, 2003). As a
result, managers require faster and more feed-forward-oriented information to flexibly
react to opportunities and threats (Burns et al, 2013), and organizations start to
incorporate risk into ongoing management and focus more on customers and market
(Scarpens et al, 2003).
(5 minutes)