David E. Stout has joined the Blocher author team for the fourth edition. Dr. Stout brings years of teaching experience at Rider University, Villanova University, and most recently Youngstown State University, to this new edition. David earned his Ph.D. degree (1982) from the University of Pittsburgh and teaches primarily in the cost/managerial accounting area.

In this edition, the authors made extensive changes to nearly every chapter. They increased focus on the strategic role of cost management, both in the text and in the exercises and problems for each chapter. Careful revisions were made in each chapter to enhance the clarity and exposition, with the goal of presenting the content in a student-friendly manner. Numerous Real-World Focus items were added or revised in each chapter, along with additional Cost Management in Action boxes. The Blocher team made many critical changes for this edition, and retained the following key features:

• New brief exercises (10-12 per chapter) provide a valuable resource for the instructor to ask short questions, most of which require a short calculation. These can be used to assess student preparation of the material or to begin the class discussion with some focused questions on the chapter material. In contrast to the questions, the brief exercises focus on calculation; in contrast to the exercises, brief exercises can be used in class without prior assignment to the students.


• A new supplement, the Excel Solutions Manual, is provided for all end-of-chapter problems and exercises. This manual is provided in two versions: an instructor version (containing both data inputs and solutions) and a student version (containing data inputs only). Instructors now have the flexibility to make assignments where students prepare Excel solutions to any exercise or problem in the text. Because all input data are provided to students, data-entry errors on the part of students are minimized--all students begin each spreadsheet assignment with the same set of data. At the instructor’s discretion, completed spreadsheets can be printed or posted to the Web for access by students.


• A significantly enhanced Test Bank features new multiple-choice questions and problems linked to learning objectives and level of difficulty.


• New cases are provided for use with the activity-based software of SAS Institute; improvements in the tutorials and materials have been made for increased ease-of-use, by students and instructors alike.


• The book is organized to emphasize the role of cost management information in each of the management functions - strategic management, planning and decision-making, operational control, and management control. In this way, each cost management method is clearly linked not only to the firm’s overall strategy, but also to the management function that uses the method.


• Activity-based costing is integrated throughout the text by using examples and problem material in cost-volume profit analysis, relevant cost decision-making, process costing, operational, and management control. The SAS ABC software is also fully integrated with the text, ensuring students’ success at using modern cost accounting technology.


• Case Emphasis – The authors have gathered and used many cases and readings, and developed new approaches for using cases in the cost management course (the authors present these cases and methods at a CPE session entitled “Teaching Strategic Cost Management” at the AAA annual meeting each year). These cases and readings are collected in a supplemental book, Cases and Readings in Strategic Cost Management. These cases give instructors an opportunity to explore strategic issues in practical situations. They also provide excellent material to integrate the more contemporary ways of teaching accounting: group work, written exercises, and presentations.