Battles in the costing war: UK debates, 1950-75

In the UK, 1950-75 was a lively period in the long-running debates between proponents of absorption and marginal costing. In the nexus of competing interests, management accountants advocated and defended rival costing systems with much vigour and passion. Expressed in the language of the times, these debates were 'battles' in the costing 'war'. We focus on these battles, analysing the various forces that operated upon the combatants, and locate them in the wider costing war. We conclude that no final resolution of the conflict was achieved in the twentieth century, nor is one likely in the foreseeable future.     

Data Fixation and the Use of Traditional Versus Activity-Based Costing Systems

An important debate in the contemporary accounting literature relates to the relative merits of activity-based versus volume-based product costing methodologies. Traditional volume-based costing systems are said to be flawed and may seriously mislead strategic decision making. Such arguments assume that decision makers use such information in an unproblematic way. This article reports on an experiment designed to investigate whether decision makers are able to overcome data fixation in a setting involving the use of product cost information. In response to criticisms of previous accounting studies of data fixation, subjects received some feedback after each decision, and were rewarded based on performance. The experiment involved subjects making a series of production output decisions based on detailed case information of a hypothetical firm facing different market conditions for each decision. A between-subjects design was utilized with two cost system treatments: activity-based costing (ABC) and traditional costing (TC). It was hypothesized that the group provided with ABC cost data would make 'optimal' decisions and the group provided with TC cost data would overcome fixation. The results of the experiment indicated that there was, in general, evidence of data fixation among TC subjects, but a small number of subjects did adjust to ABC costs. These results are discussed in the light of previous research and some future directions are outlined.     

客户作业成本法在客户关系管理中的运用

不同客户给企业带来的利润不同 ,客户间存在的明显差异 ,传统的成本核算方法以产品为导向设计 ,不能识别这种差异 ,不适用于客户关系管理。客户作业成本法以客户为导向 ,采用作业成本法核算客户成本 ,有助于更好的进行客户关系管理 ,帮助企业牢牢抓住最主要的客户。     

作业成本法在化工企业的实际应用

随着制造费用越来越复杂,其在产品中的比重也在不断增加。传统成本核算,采用按生产工时统一标准分摊制造费用的方法也逐渐显示出不足。而作业成本法以其自身的优势,解决了传统成本核算方法的不足。通过确定作业中心,分析各项费用发生的成本动因,建立作业成本库,计算产品的作业成本,明确地进行制造费用的分配,也更加准确地确定了产品的作业成本。     

试论战略性作业成本管理的应用

战略性作业成本管理,是以作业为基础与企业战略相结合的一种全新的成本管理领域,战略性作业成本管理在产品结构和定价、客户关系管理、供应商的选择和供应商关系管理、产品设计和开发方面的应用对企业制定正确的战略决策具有极大价值,是企业获取有利的竞争优势的有效工具。     

基于价值链思想的作业成本法研究

首先,论述了基于价值链思想的成本管理方法如何弥补传统成本管理方法存在的诸多局限性;而后,对基于价值链思想成本管理的具体应用——作业成本法(ABC)进行研究,对其传统模型加以改进;同时,对存在的主要问题构建简单数学模型加以解决。     

成本管理绩效评价体系的构建与研究——分层次双渠道综合确定关键绩效指标

成本管理理论的发展和平衡计分卡作为绩效评价和战略管理工具在实践中的逐步完善,推动了成本管理绩效评价的研究。本文提出一种新的业绩评价思路:在成本管理的战略层,使用平衡计分卡寻求成本管理的成功因素(CSF);而在成本管理的作业层,从管理决策导向因素出发确定业绩评价指标,进而综合确定关键绩效指标(KPI)。     

一类企业物流成本核算的M-A模型

本文在分析和比较任务成本(Mission Costing)与作业成本(Activity-Based Costing)的前提下,将任务成本与作业成本结合起来构建了企业物流成本核算的M-A模型框架.在这个模型框架内,系统地阐述了企业物流成本核算的涵括范围、数据收集来源以及相关物流成本的分配架构等.     

The Attitudes of British National Health Service Managers and Clinicians Towards the Introduction of Benchmarking

This paper describes an empirical study, conducted in three acute hospitals, of the attitudes of central managers, medical managers and clinicians towards the adoption of benchmarking. Benchmarking was portrayed in The New NHS White Paper (1997) as an important means of improving efficiency over the next decade. The present paper examines the context of change and nature of benchmarking. Findings are presented in seven sections including: the understanding which respondents had of benchmarking; their willingness to be involved in benchmarking; the existence of strategies and policies for implementing benchmarking; the relevance of existing costing information; and the role of networks in facilitating benchmarking. The study concludes that the process of change adopted contradicted most of the factors associated with creating receptivity to change. Also, that the publication of the National Reference Costs seemed to have more relevance to resource planning at central National Health Service Management Executive level, than to effecting improvements at operational level in acute hospitals.