Five years ago, Phil Coulson left his position at a large company to start Coulson Spy Solutions Co. (CSS), a software design and tracking company. CSS's first product was a unique software package that seamlessly integrates networked PCs. Robust sales of this initial product permitted the company to begin development of other software products and to hire additional personnel. The staff at CSS quickly grew from three people working out of Phil's basement to more than 70 individuals working in leased spaces at an industrial park. Continued growth led Coulson to hire seasoned marketing, distribution, and production managers and an experienced accountant.

Recently, Coulson decided that the company had become too large to run on an informal basis and that a formalized planning and control program centered around a budget was necessary. Coulson asked the accountant, Maria Hill, to work with him in developing the initial budget for CSS.

Coulson forecasted sales revenues based on his projections for both the market growth for the initial software and successful completion of new products. Hill used this data to construct the master budget for the company, which she then broke down into departmental budgets. Coulson and Hill met a number of times over a three-week period to hammer out the details of the budgets.

When Coulson and Hill were satisfied with their work, the various departmental budgets were distributed to the department managers with a cover letter explaining CSS's new budgeting system. The letter requested everyone's assistance in working together to achieve the budget objectives. Several of the department managers were displeased with how the budgeting process was undertaken. In discussing the situation among themselves, they felt that some of the budget projections were overly optimistic and not realistically attainable.

Required:

1.How does the budgeting process Coulson and Hill used at CSS differ from recommended practice?

2.What are the behavioural implications of the way Coulson and Hill went about preparing the master budget?