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This question can be interpreted in three different ways:
Take a look at Exhibit 1–4, which portrays the organization, deployment, and physical location of managerial accountants in The Walt Disney Company.
Organization ChartFirst, let’s focus on panel A of the exhibit, which depicts The Walt Disney Company’s organization structure.7 Notice that the company’s top management group consists of the board of directors, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), vice chairman, and chief of corporate operations.
Line and Staff Positions The other positions in Disney’s organization chart are of two types: line positions and staff positions. Managers in line positionsPositions held by managers who are directly involved in providing the goods or services that constitute an organization’s primary goals. are directly involved in the provision of goods or services. For example, Disney’s line positions include the chairman and president of Disney Consumer Products, the chairman and president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, and the chairman and president of Walt Disney Attractions, which is the division responsible for the company’s theme parks in Florida, California, and Japan. Also in line positions would be the thousands of managers in the various operating units of the divisions shown in the organization chart. For example, the general manager of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the manager of food and beverage services at the Magic Kingdom, and the manager of the Disney Store in the Carousel Mall in Syracuse, New York, would all be in line positions. Managers in staff positionsPositions held by managers who are only indirectly involved in producing an organization’s product or service. supervise activities that support Disney’s overall mission, but they are only indirectly involved in operational activities. Disney’s staff positions include the general counsel, the executive VP for government relations, and the chief financial officer (CFO), among others.
CFO or Controller In many organizations, the designation given to the top managerial and financial accountant is the chief financial officer (CFO)An organization’s top managerial and financial accountant. (Also see controller.). In other organizations, this individual is called the controllerThe top managerial and financial accountant in an organization. Supervises the accounting department and assists management at all levels in interpreting and using managerial-accounting information. (Also, see chief financial officer.) (or sometimes the comptrollerThe top managerial and financial accountant in an organization. Supervises the accounting department and assists management at all levels in interpreting and using managerial-accounting information. (Also, see chief financial officer.), particularly in nonprofit or governmental organizations). The CFO or controller usually is responsible for supervising the personnel in the accounting department and for preparing the information and reports used in both managerial and financial accounting. As the organization’s chief managerial accountant, the CFO or controller often interprets accounting information for line managers and participates as an integral member of the management team. Most controllers are involved in planning and decision making at all levels and across all functional areas of the enterprise. This broad role has enabled many managerial accountants to rise to the top of their organizations. Former accountants have served as top executives in such companies as General Motors, Singer, General Electric, and Fruehauf. In addition to the CFO or controller for the entire corporation, most companies, including The Walt Disney Company, have divisional controllers. Thus, Disney’s detailed organization chart would show a controller for ABC, Inc., Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios, and so forth. Treasurer The treasurerAn accountant in a staff position who is responsible for managing an organization’s relationships with investors and creditors and maintaining custody of the organization’s cash, investments, and other assets. typically is responsible for raising capital and safeguarding the organization’s assets. In addition, the treasurer is responsible for the organization’s assets, the management of its investments, its credit policy, and its insurance coverage.
Internal Auditor Most large corporations and many governmental agencies have an internal auditor. An organization’s internal auditorAn accountant who reviews the accounting procedures, records, and reports in both the controller’s and treasurer’s areas of responsibility. is responsible for reviewing the accounting procedures, records, and reports in both the controller’s and the treasurer’s areas of responsibility. The auditor then expresses an opinion to top management regarding the effectiveness of the organization’s accounting system. In some organizations, the internal auditor also makes a broad performance evaluation of middle and lower management. Cross-Functional DeploymentOn a formal organization chart, accountants generally are in a staff capacity, as explained in the preceding section. However, managerial accountants are increasingly being deployed in cross-functional management teams. Managerial accountants work with executives from top management, marketing and sales personnel, design engineers, operations managers, legal experts, quality-control personnel, and virtually every other specialized type of employee in an organization. Managerial teams are formed to make decisions, engage in planning exercises, or address operational problems from many perspectives. Since financial and other managerial accounting issues often are critically important in addressing business problems, managerial accountants routinely play a major role in these cross-functional teams. Panel B of Exhibit 1–4 depicts several plausible cross-functional teams formed to address a variety of hypothetical business problems at The Walt Disney Company. Notice that each of these teams pulls together individuals from a variety of specialties, such as marketing, operations, general management, customer relations, and the general counsel’s office (legal issues). Given Disney’s overall business strategy, creative talent is almost always present in these cross-functional teams; moreover, managerial accountants play an important role as well. Physical LocationFinally, where do managerial accountants actually do their work? The answer is “just about everywhere.” As Panel C of Exhibit 1–4 highlights, managerial accountants are not sequestered in some remote corner of the business. To the contrary, they are located in every part of an enterprise, from corporate headquarters to the locations where goods and services are being produced. At Disney, for example, managerial accountants would be present on location when a feature film is being produced, near the ABC news room when decisions are made about deploying journalistic resources, and in the various Disney hotels, such as the Disney Ambassador Hotel in Tokyo. Exercise 1-27 Case 1-33 7The information for the organization chart comes from a recent annual report for The Walt Disney Company. | ||||||||
