Introduction to Manangement Accounting (Reflective Journal)

You are required to report your learning experience in the process of attempting this assignment.

When you walk into a room filled with new and lost faces that you will soon have to be familiar with, and there is this one person you know that is hard to deal with, and that is Management Accounting. This module introduces about the subject and unlike a jelly, this is hard both inside and outside. Just a few more weeks before finals will be lurking around the corner and Management Accounting is definitely one of my liabilities to score high this semester. On the bright side, I have a very experienced and intelligence tutor, Mr James Lu, and also some friends who are good at this subject to guide me and assist me in the difficulties and uncertainties.

At first, it was extremely daunting when Mr James Lu told us that the Management Accounting assignment was an individual assignment rather than a group work. Thus, I performed tons of research weeks ago before the due date because I wanted the assignment to be perfect.  To my dismay, the research was unable to provide me with a clearer picture to the solution of the assignment.  The difficulty in separating mixed cost is the hardest among all explanation as because this topic was covered yet in neither lecture nor tutorials. After brainstorming with my fellow friends, the calculation part was attemptable. We referred to the tutorial solution and library books to calculate the total and product cost. After trial and error, we managed to find some solutions for the calculation part. The most interesting part is the pros and cons for the options as it requires me to think out of the box, no fixed answers. After analyzing, I manage to come out with some splendid suggestions for all the explanation. This assignment costs me a lot of blood, sweat and tear and I was confident with my answers.

Besides that, it allowed me to experience the use of Management Accounting within an organization and the true importance of it. Not just that, this assignment will be accomplished only with proper teamwork, attitude and patience. This assignment holds a huge weightage and we have to support each other’s back or this weight will eventually push us down. Since high school Accounting has been the one subject I have always favored. Hopefully, with more practice and determination I can ace this module with flying colors.  

Introduction To Accounting (Reflective Journal 3)

" With the Final Exam fast approaching, how are you prepared to cope with it? Do you think this module needs improvement? If so, suggest areas which you think can be improved."   

 

Introduction to Accounting has been my favorite module as it has always been since I my high school days. As I have previously learned Accounting in high school and again during my foundation year at Sunway College, the accounting concepts that are being taught now have been similar. This helped me to keep a good grasp on this subject. However, the only problem that I had was with the topic on depreciation of fixed assets. It was significantly different to the way I originally learned it in high school and during my foundation. Hence, I have to practice a little extra on depreciation questions in order to be prepared for the final examination. Besides that, the entire semester I enjoyed doing my weekly tutorials on MyAccountingLab because all this while I have been doing my Accounting homework with regular paper and pencil and this seems to be interesting. In a nutshell, this module is pretty easy to cope with hard work, determination and effort.

Introduction to Management (Reflective Journal)

• First day of lecture: What do you expect to learn in Introduction to Management module?
• After 12 weeks: What are your feelings regarding the module? Is it important for working life?

Management can be defined as the organization and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives and goals. Since I never had the opportunity to take up Introduction to Management during my foundation, I have the privilege to do so in my first year of undergraduate studies at Taylor’s University. However, I did have an idea of what Management was about since I studied Commerce during my high school years in which few concepts of Management was briefly covered in Bahasa Melayu.

After the first lecture, I was expecting to learn that Introduction to Management was all about the management functions, roles and management theories. During the first lecture I learnt about the importance of managers in an organization and their roles, skills and responsibilities. The first topic was relatively easy to understand and comprehend. However, questioned the importance of learning management and the field that I intend to pursue is Accounting. Sooner or later, I realize that it is important to understand how an organization is managed in order to be a productive employee.

The following lectures I learnt a number of topics, ranging from management history and the approaches people have used in management, to how business environment and culture affects decisions made by management. After these several informative lectures, I was able to learn from blunders and mistakes made by management before and avoid them. I also learnt to use management approaches which are more aligned to the culture of the organization in order to ensure smoother and efficient management of the business.

Besides that, I also learnt about organizational structure and design. Learning this topic helped me to realize that choosing a structure based on the size and type of business is important because each business is different and unique in its own way. Motivation of employees was also another topic which I learnt and captured my interest. In this topic, I learnt that managers are responsible to motivate employees in order to obtain the best outcome and productiveness from employees. Hence, the various motivational theories which were covered during the lectures and tutorials would help me to further get an idea on how to motivate employees in an organization. Leadership is also another very essential topic which I learnt as the various leadership theories and views would give me guidance on which leadership approach to take when dealing with different employees. Another important topic which is planning was fruitful because planning would ensure better control of the business activities and helps in accomplishing business goals and strategies.

After 12 weeks, I feel that learning this module has benefited me because it acts as guidance for me on how to work in various places with different types of people. In addition, I'm also able to identify the needs that I need to fulfill before I proceed to the next level of needs. For example, according to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs I know that I need to achieve the physiological needs before fulfilling the social needs or esteem needs. Furthermore, it will also be an advantage for having the knowledge on how to manage a company as it could come in handy if I am planning to set up a business of my own in the future. I might know how to manage my business efficiently and effectively with the appropriate ways of management. In a nutshell, I believed that a person with the knowledge and skills of management are more capable in handling people, their welfare and the organization as a whole better.