Comparing U.S. and German Cost Accounting Methods
Kip Krumwiede, Ph.D., CMA, CPA, and Augustin Suessmair
During their in-depth study of German and U.S. costing systems, the authors found that German companies emphasize management accounting more than U.S. companies do, U.S. companies place their accounting emphasis on financial reporting, and more German companies are satisfied with their costing systems. These are some of the results included in this article, which is an expansion of “Getting Down to Specifics on RCA” that appeared in the June 2007 issue of Strategic Finance.

Current Practices of Enterprise Risk Management in Dubai
Ananth Rao, Ph.D., and Attiea Marie, Ph.D.
How important is enterprise risk management (ERM) for Dubai businesses? What types of risks are crucial for these businesses? How are the risks identified and measured? These are just a few of the questions the authors asked a sample of banks, nonbanking finance companies, manufacturers, hotels, service companies, and trading companies in Dubai. They found that while many businesses are implementing some aspects of risk management, more needs to be done through an integrated, strategic ERM process.

Will Your ABC System Have What It Takes?
DeWayne L. Searcy, Ph.D., CMA, CPA, CIA, and Doug Roberts, Ph.D., CPA
The debate over whether activity-based costing (ABC) is beneficial to a company is still going strong. The authors believe it is, but they also say that implementing a system that actually works and delivers on the expected benefits can be complicated.

Applying Lean Principles to Design, Teach, and Assess Courses
Lakshmi Tatikonda, Ph.D., CMA, CFM, CPA
The author shows how Lean principles that are used in manufacturing companies can be applied successfully to the classroom to help foster a better learning environment for students.

Helping Students See the “Big Picture” of Variance Analysis
Neal R. VanZante, Ph.D., CMA, CFM, CPA
Variance analysis is a critical part of management accounting, but many students have a hard time understanding it. So the author gives them the two case problems presented here. After doing the calculations, the students find they have a much better comprehension of the figures and the process.