Book Description
Two of the most innovative thinkers in the field present a work that represents the single best resource for understanding and implementing activity-based cost management. Kaplan and Cooper reveal that most companies don't know how to measure accurately, influence, or understand the fundamental cost drivers in their businesses. They then provide a detailed and comprehensive blueprint that will enable managers to make better decisions and to promote organizational learning and improvement.
Cost and Effect takes the management, finance, and accounting fields to an entirely new level, as the authors demonstrate how the principles of activity-based costing and other advanced cost management techniques, such as target and kaizen costing, can drive business performance. Using lively examples from a variety of leading companies worldwide--including Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, the Swedish wire manufacturer Kanthal, Kirin Beer, and Procter & Gamble--they show how to create integrated, knowledge-based systems that provide meaningful information on current and past performance.
The innovation systems described in
Cost and Effect will help you:
* Determine where improvements in quality, efficiency, and productivity will have the highest payoffs.
* Assist front-line employees in their learning and improvement activities.
* Make better product mix and capital investment decisions.
* Negotiate more effectively on price, product features, quality, delivery, and service to promote win-win relationships with your customers.
* Choose low-cost suppliers who are truly low cost, not just low price.
* Design products and services that meet customers' expectations-and that can be produced and delivered at a profit.
* Integrate your activity-based cost system into reporting and budgeting processes to reveal the sources of excess capacity.
Everyone involved in running a business-from general managers and strategic planners to financial executives, IT professionals, and operations managers-must read this book to learn how innovative cost and performance measurement systems can enhance their organizational profitability and performance.
Customer Reviews:
What's good in it?.......2004-10-25
First of all, this book doesn't give the pleasure of good reading. C'mon, what kind of pleasure do you expect from a 500 pages book with very small fonts?
I would like to review on pages 183-189 regarding case at Kanthal. It said that according to ABC calculation, Kanthal has found that customer #199 records loss, unfortunately customer #199 is in the top three in terms of sales volume. If ABC is really a good tool, then Kanthal should fire customer #199. But Kanthal didn't do that. They don't believe in ABC?
Customer #199 implemented JIT and they've got substantial improvement in productivity and efficiency. With JIT concept they place order to Kanthal in small quantity and frequent orders. According to ABC, this makes the cost for Order-to-cash activities at Kanthal is quite high, so that it eats the margin.
The funny thing, the book said JIT is appropriate in Japan, not in Sweden. Don't they look at automotive industry around the world that successfully implement JIT?
So what's the solution described in the book? The solution is to cut the cost of order-to-cash activities by using electronic B2B concept. And it claims that customer #199 turns to be profitable for Kanthal after that. So simple and...so wrong!
Maybe ABC calculation shows that result is good at Customer #199 level. But still, the company bottom line remains the same. Do they cut sales persons' salary? No. Do they fire a sales person who handle customer #199? No. Do they reduce transportation cost? No.
Probably by using B2B, there's small fraction of cost saving on order processing activities, but it won't be significant enough to increase the net profit for the company.
If B2B does reduce the cost of order processing cost significantly, why they don't use it for all customers?
BEST ANALYSIS OF ACTIVITY BASED COSTING AND HOW TO GUIDE.......2003-11-23
Kaplan and Cooper have put together an outstanding guidebook for managers to follow in order to reap the most significant benefits from activity based costing and other cost management techniques. The great merit of this book is that it does not preach to the reader the latest management fad, but rather goes through a thorough analysis of budgeting processes, highlighting benefits and drawbacks of each. They do not claim ABC is the best approach, and even praise some simpler methods that are more adequate for certain companies. Instead, they point to the circumstances in which ABC can provide outstanding results to companies.
The book structured first with an analysis of the most often used systems of managerial cost accounting. It highlights the shortcomings of these, proceeding then to present certain productivity improvements that could contribute to performance. These are mostly related to the quality movements (TQM, 6 Sigma, etc), which are presented in a very understandable way. These are complements to the existing usual cost management systems. These improvements can be made even without implementing ABC systems.
Then the authors proceed to describe activity based costing and its benefits in terms of choosing customers, suppliers, and product breadth. They present many examples that would be very relevant to any practitioner, in industry or service. There is a specific section focusing on services, which makes the appropriate adaptations to the systems for the peculiarities of it.
Overall, an outstanding work, to help anyone involved in cost management, whether they are interested in activity based costing or more traditional standard costing methods.
The very best book on activity-based management........2002-10-25
I have read this book cover to cover and have re-read chapters. Kaplan ensures that you grasp the fundamental concepts by keeping things simple. He illustrates the concepts with easy to understand examples. I gained very little knowledge from the first 3 ABM books I read, but after reading "Cost and Effect," I felt that I had a good enough grasp of the fundamentals to actually implement a costing system.
Cooper and Kaplan: my heroes.......2001-12-27
After reading several academic papers concerning activity based costing I still wasn't convinced about the usefullness of the methodology. After reading Cost & Effect I revised my opinion on Cost Management. This book gives all the answers to effective Cost Management. It takes you from the ABC Age to the Activity Based Management Age and clearly helps you to understand what costs are alle about. Once you really understand the topics of this book you will be able to face and manage costs in whatever business you are in. Read it!
Evolving Toward Better Financial Information and Actions!.......2001-10-05
Cost & Effect will most appeal to those who have had extended experience with Activity-Based Costing (ABC) or operate in manufacturing industries.
If you are interested in learning more about Activity-Based Costing, this book is not the best choice for you. Professor Kaplan has co-authored books that explore this subject in much greater detail.
Most people set as their initial priority the need to have accurate financial reporting for the entire enterprise. Falling below that level of effectiveness is Stage I in the terms of this book. Once you have that financial reporting done accurately, you are at Stage II. But you know almost nothing about how to manage your costs better. In order to do that, you will need to establish ad hoc financial reporting processes designed to help your organization learn from its experience and identify opportunities for improvement, built around Activity-Based Costing (ABC). ABC is simply a way of more accurately applying overhead costs back to activities and then processes that permits accurately understanding more about which combinations of products and services and customers are profitable and which are not. Then, within each activity, you can also see the inefficiencies in what you are doing that present opportunities for improvement. The book also has a nice discussion of Kaizen costing that is widely used in Japanese companies looking for on-going cost improvements, based on Professor Cooper's research. There are a few case histories to illustrate the principles, but most will find these insufficient to guide them through the process. In other books, Professor Kaplan has pointed out that there is a lot of acquired art in the subject and you probably need help to get it right. I concur. Once you have ABC operating in stand-alone systems, you are at Stage III.
At this point, you will have a financial reporting system that is separate from the ABC system. How do you put them together? That the subject of chapter 14, which is the key value-added part of this book. You will see what the systems architecture and process flow needs to be in order to combine ABC with Enterprise-Wide Systems (EWS) of the sort that many large companies have invested in during recent years. Putting the two together will greatly improve planning, budgeting, design of new products and services, and operational improvements. Chapter 15 expands into the area of how to apply the combined system to budgeting and transfer pricing. Combing ABC and EWS puts you at Stage IV, a level rarely reached today.
The book's main message is that it's a mistake to try to go from Stage II directly to Stage IV. There's a lot of experimentation and mistakes that you can benefit from in an extended Stage III. I agree again, based on my experience with ABC.
The one caution you should have about ABC in this context is that if you are going to radically change your business model every 2-5 years as many companies are, Stage IV is probably unattainable and undesirable. You can't hold back business model innovation for better cost systems. The next business model innovation will probably give you better costs than tweaking the current business model with ABC will.
Seek out the fastest route to progress, and do more of it!
Book Description
Praise for Case Studies in Performance Management
"With this book, Tony Adkins has made an important contribution to the body of knowledge of managerial accounting."
—From the Foreword by Gary Cokins, lead strategist, Business Performance Management Solutions group with SAS Institute and internationally recognized expert in advanced cost management and performance improvement systems
"If you want to achieve direction, traction, and speed in business, Case Studies in Performance Management: A Guide from the Experts is a must-read . . . jam-packed with golden nuggets you can put to work immediately."
—Jason Jennings, bestselling author of Think Big, Act Small, Less Is More and It's Not the Big That Eat the Small . . . It's the Fast That Eat the Slow
"Tony has the insight found only from actual implementations of ABC/PM.Using this as lens, he has brought the collective experience of experts into focus."
—Mohan Nair, author of Essentials of Balanced Scorecard and Activity-Based Information Systems
"Tony Adkins has lived the life of a true ABC/PM road warrior. His collection of case studies reaches beyond the theory to capture the harsh reality of what it takes to successfully implement performance management. A must-read for anyone wise enough to learn from those who have gone before."
—Chris M. Pieper, CEO, FormRouter, Inc. (former founder and CEO of ABC Technologies)
"Everyone who reads this book will gain a solid appreciation of the substance and value of performance management in varied industry settings and applications."
—Dr. Peter B. B. Turney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cost Technology, Inc. and author of Common Cents
If you're looking for a way to dramatically improve your company's performance and get back its competitive edge, Case Studies in Performance Management: A Guide from the Experts will show you how other businesses, driven to remain competitive by changes in their industries, learned to work smarter using ABC/PM in today's tough business environment.
Noteworthy commentary from experts in the field including Ashok Vadgama and Alan Stratton helps you understand ABC/PM and how to execute its sound strategies in your own business.
Average customer rating:
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Activity Based Costing and Performance
Douglas W. Webster
Manufacturer: American Management Systems, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
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General
| Accounting
| Industries & Professions
| Business & Investing
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General
| Accounting
| Accounting & Finance
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ASIN: 0922255008 |
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Activity Based Costing: The Key to World Class Performance
Peter L. Grieco , and
Mel Pilachowski
Manufacturer: PT Publications Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Company Profiles
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General
| Accounting
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General
| Accounting
| Accounting & Finance
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ASIN: 0945456107 |
Book Description
Accounting results have little to do with the activities that take place on the factory floor, in administrative offices or out in the sales field. The traditional practice of accounting leads to a number of faults which end up weakening American businesses. Two of the most prominent problems are:
The emphasis on financial measurements diverts us from improvement.
Traditional cost systems hinder excellence by hiding the elements of cost.
Activity Based Costing (ABC) helps your organization search out cost drivers and assign them directly to products and services, so that you know exactly how much each costs. All too often, our businesses are putting time and effort into projects which are losing money because overhead is under-applied.
Activity Based Costing shows you how to monitor and control activities in order to bring true costs into the open. This attention to the production line will inevitably result in savings to your bottom line. Each chapter focuses on an important facet of this new costing paradigm. You will find out how to:
Recognize the changes required to make your organization less wasteful and more competitive.
Identify the components of Total Cost and cost activities, the foundation of achieving World Class status.
Develop the product/service cost equation.
Streamline your organization into a World Class agile manufacturing environment.
Prepare cost accounting for technology changes.
Perform life cycle costing - from development to market satisfaction.
Guarantee continuous improvement.
Implement Activity Based Costing.
Companies around the world are discovering that Activity Based Costing is the engine that will drive all future improvement efforts. Read this book to see how they are putting their ideas into action.
Book Description
Description: THE WORLD'S BEST-SELLING BOOK ON ABC AND ABM! If you care about performance and profits, you'll care about Activity-Based Costing (ABC). Whatever business you're in--service, retail, manufacturing, or government--ABC can help you achieve world-class status. From engineering to marketing, from line supervisor to executive, you can make a difference today! It just takes a few ABC concepts to get started. In Common Cents, Peter B.B. Turney shows you how with common sense methods and numerous real-life examples. You'll find out what's wrong with today's conventional cost systems. You'll see how they can mislead you, and you'll learn the key danger signals of a broken cost system. But more importantly, you'll learn how to do it right--from cost reduction to making strategic decisions about product mix and marketing. Common Cents leads you step-by-step to the ABC performance breakthrough.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Managerial Issues, published by Pittsburg State University - Department of Economics on September 22, 2003. The length of the article is 7194 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the author: This study examined the complementarity effects of balanced scorecard (BSC) and activity based costing (ABC) on organizational performance. Survey data were collected from 83 U.S. manufacturing business units. Four measures of BSC perspectives were used, namely, customer satisfaction perspective, internal process perspective, financial perspective and learning and growth perspective. One measure of ABC was used. The results indicate that, except for internal process perspective, the BSC perspectives and ABC interaction has a positive significant effect on organizational performance. The implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
Citation Details
Title: Balanced scorecard, activity-based costing and company performance: an empirical analysis.
Author: Adam S. Maiga
Publication:
Journal of Managerial Issues (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2003
Publisher: Pittsburg State University - Department of Economics
Volume: 15
Issue: 3
Page: 283(21)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Critical Perspectives on Accounting, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Description:
This paper explores the implementation of 'activity-based' costing in policing in England and Wales. The 2-year study focused on interviews and analysis of costing data in six forces in an environment in which there are concerns by government about the relationship between cost and performance. The paper concludes that 'activity-based' costing is rhetoric rather than reality and is as much a political as a managerial process. The politicization of policing is seen to involve a shift from a moral panic about crime to one of financial panic over the cost/performance of police. The paper identifies the potential tension between costs and values but argues that the adoption of an accounting technique has been political in that, by overlooking problems of calculability and interpretation of the numbers, it has made certain activities and resource allocations visible, while others-notably the redistribution of police services-have remained or become invisible.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from SAM Advanced Management Journal, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 6737 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Evaluating internal operations and supply chain performance using EVA and ABC.(economic value added analysis, activity-based costing )
Author: Terrance L. Pohlen
Publication:
SAM Advanced Management Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 70
Issue: 2
Page: 45(14)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Grand Canyon Adventures Package & Facilitator Guide
Carmine Consalvo
Manufacturer: HRD Press, inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound
Workplace
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General
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Human Resources & Personnel Management
| Industries & Professions
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Management
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ASIN: 0874256054 |
Book Description
Three new simulations! Now there are six realistic adventure simulations in all! Set in America's most popular scenic wonder!
Take participants on an unforgettable learning adventure! Set in the Grand Canyon, these stimulating group activities provide an adventurous backdrop for enthusiastic participant involvement and memorable skill building. Use Grand Canyon Adventures for active learning in:
Creativity and Problem Solving
Collaboration
Teamwork
Leadership
Conflict Resolution
Consultation
Grand Canyon Adventures were researched on location and written by Carmine Consalvo.
More than the usual consensus-building activities
The creative design of the participant scenario booklets gives these learning activities a distinct advantage over other consensus-building simulations by supporting participants throughout the activity with helpful techniques and key learning points.
Six related activities provide new training flexibility
The Grand Canyon Adventures package includes three interrelated activities on problem solving, collaboration, and consensus decision making, which makes the program extremely flexible. Use all six activities with your entire team, or split up your group to focus on individualized skill development with a single activity.
Inspiring video gets participants involved
Start your session with The River Song, an 18-minute video which sets the scene for the simulations. It is an all-original, breathtaking video tour of the sites within the Grand Canyon where the simulations take place. It will motivate and focus participants on the activities, and ensure high-impact learning.
Stranded in Grand Canyon
A Creative Problem-Solving Adventure In this activity, set on the Colorado River, the group must find its way out of the canyon using the problem-solving method provided. 1-2 hours. (additional copies available)
Incident at Elves Chasm: Action Plan
Consensus and Consultation In this simulation, set on the Colorado River, a crisis has occurred and the group must build consensus and create a plan of action. 1-2 hours.
Incident at Elves Chasm: Priority Setting
Consensus and Consultation
In this simulation, a crisis has occurred and you as an individual and then with the group practice prioritizing. 1-2 hours. (additional copies available)
Hiking Out of Lava Falls A Creative Problem-Solving Adventure This activity, based on an actual event and set on canyon trails, gives team members practice in using a proven problem-solving model to accomplish their survival mission. 1-2 hours. (additional copies available)
Up Deer Creek without a Boatman
Collaboration
Designed for two leaders or two teams, this exercise provides experience in working together and resolving conflict. Participants will assess their own effectiveness based on three measures of collaboration. 1-2 hours. (additional copies available)
Overboard in the Roaring River
The Confluence of Crisis and Management
This crisis management simulation, set on the Colorado River, gives groups practice in building consensus and action planning. 1-2 hours. (additional copies available)
Grand Canyon Complete Package
Includes:
10 copies of Hiking Out of Lava Falls simulation
10 copies of Up Deer Creek simulation
10 copies of Overboard in the Roaring River simulation
10 copies of Incident at Elves Chasm: Action Plan simulation
10 copies of Incident at Elves Chasm: Priority Setting simulation
10 copies of Stranded in Grand Canyon simulation
Scenic 18-minute full color video, The River Song
Comprehensive Leader's Guide which includes detailed debriefing suggestions, instructions for leading adventure simulations, and valuable tips on involving and motivating participants.
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Genetically Modified Language: The Discourse of the GM Debate
Guy Cook
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Linguistics
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ASIN: 0415314682 |
Book Description
The GM debate is a war of words, which will be won as much by persuasive argument, as by action in the lab, field or supermarket. As the argument intensifies and the voices on all sides get louder, Genetically Modified Language cuts through the confusion and controversy to unpick the issues and ideology at the heart of the debate.
Examining the particular discourses of the key players in the arena, from the media to politicians, NGOs to Biotech corporations and research scientists to farmers, Guy Cook presents a critical analysis of the language of the GM debate, and how it influences policy and opinion. Each perspective has its own discourse and this can lead to misunderstanding and disagreement. Participants whose opinions are based around scientific, commercial, ethical or political concerns adopt differing styles of argument, metaphors and analogies, phrases and single words, and these can have quite different effects when they cross discoursal boundaries.
Written in a clear,
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Hyperspectral Remote Sensing and Application: Proceedings of Spie, 15-16 September 1998, Bdijing, China (Spie Proceedings Series)
Manufacturer: SPIE-International Society for Optical Engine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Astronomy
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General & Reference
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| Optics
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Astronomy
| Astronomy
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ASIN: 0819429619 |
Books:
- Coste y Efecto - 2b: Edicion
- CPA review: Practice, theory, auditing, law
- Creative Cash Flow Reporting: Uncovering Sustainable Financial Performance
- Credit, Cash & Co-Dependency: How the Way You Were Raised Affects Your Decisions About Money
- Debt Collection: Successful Strategies for the Small Business
- Diccionario de Economia, Finanzas y Empresa =: Dictionary of Economics, Finance and Business
- Die Broke : A Radical 4-Part Personal Finance Plan to Restore Your Confidence Increase Your Net Worth and Afford the Lifestyle of Your Dreams (Cassette)
- Digest of State Accountancy Laws and State Board Regulations, 2000
- EXAMNotes for Accounting (EXAMNotes)
- Financial Accounting: An Events and Cash Flow Approach
Books Index
Books Home
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Activity-based Cost Management: An Executive's Guide
Activity-Based Costing: Making It Work for Small and Mid-Sized Companies (Wiley Cost Management Series)
The Ernst & Young Guide to Total Cost Management
Activity-Based Cost Management Making It Work: A Manager's Guide to Implementing and Sustaining an Effective ABC System
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing: A Simpler and More Powerful Path to Higher Profits
![Costing police services: The politicization of accounting [An article from: Critical Perspectives on Accounting]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/11EWQYP2N3L.jpg)