Helen Auger Has Seen the Centicle Group, a Not-For-Profit, In-Home

question 6

Essay

Helen Auger has seen the Centicle Group, a not-for-profit, in-home health care organization, grow during the past 10 years to a $500 million revenue, multi-state organization. Helen was promoted to her controller position six months ago, after serving capably in several financial accounting positions at the Centicle Group.
At a Budget Review Committee meeting last Friday, several committee members expressed frustration with the pace of the budget development. They described the newly introduced "bottom up" system of participative budgeting as "unwieldy," "slow-paced," and "repetitive." Helen's objective in introducing the participative approach was to involve to a much greater extent lower level supervisors and employees. Helen is meeting with the Budget Review Committee again tomorrow when she plans to explain the advantages of "bottom up" versus "top down" approaches to the budgeting process.
Required:
Helen has asked you to help her prepare for tomorrow's meeting by preparing the following:

1. A 40-50 word description of participative budgeting, including some basic advantages of this approach to budgeting.
2. A brief, one-paragraph explanation of the concept of "budget ownership," one of the values that participative ("bottom up") budgeting is said to have.

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Definitions:

Reward Systems

Organizational mechanisms designed to recognize and compensate employees for their contributions and performance.

Reduce Competition

Strategies or actions taken by companies to lessen the intensity of competition within a market or industry.

Policies and Procedures

Established guidelines and systematic steps designed to achieve efficiency, quality, and compliance in business operations.

Direct Behaviour

The act of influencing or guiding actions and conduct through explicit instructions or leadership.