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The study was designed to examine specific issues relating to the usage and perceived success of activity‐based and traditional costing systems. Data were collected from management accountants operating at senior management level in large companies in manufacturing, financial services and other non‐manufacturing sectors.

This paper reports the results of a study on the implementation of an activity‐based costing (ABC) system in an Australian oil and gas company. The findings suggest that the three most important objectives of implementing an ABC system were: (1) more effective cost management, (2) better cost control, and (3) more accurate costing information. The results reveal that lack of understanding of the ABC methodology was the most important factor that impeded the implementation of the ABC system. The results further suggest that the three most important factors that contributed to the success of the ABC implementation process were: (1) project team were well organized and advised, (2) there were good information flows between users and preparers, and (3) there were sufficient resources provided. Overall, the results of this study are similar to those studies conducted in the manufacturing sectors.

Activity Based Costing (ABC) has been researched extensively in developed countries. Research on these issues in South Africa is limited. This article creates a better understanding of the design of ABC systems in South Africa, comparing ABC implementation in South Africa to that in several developed/developing countries. A quantitative methodology was adopted to evaluate the extent of ABC implementation. A survey‐case study methodology was used to identify reasons for implementation/ non‐implementation, problems and critical success factors relating to implementation. The results show that the extent of ABC implementation in South Africa is lower than that found in developed countries, but the evidence is inconclusive. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the issues facing ABC implementers in South Africa are similar to those faced in many other countries. This study provides South African companies with a comparative framework of important variables to be considered in implementing ABC.

The technique of ABC has been widely adopted by universities in the UK, with the assumption that the more accurate identification of costs makes them more manageable. It is the purpose of this paper to consider this question of manageability through identification and allocation in the university sector and to question this as a basis for decision making and resource allocation. The type of costing systems in place in an organisation must meet the needs of the organisation as a whole and there are a number of factors that will affect the type of costing system that is required and there are a number of costing systems that can be used. This paper considers the use of ABC within a university and whether school costing and course costing can meet the requirements of a university facing a challenging business environment where a significant amount of pressure is being exerted on the financial stability of some universities. In doing so the ability of ABC to satisfy the informational requirements of a university is called into question.

This article examines the use of target costing as a means to improve the management of supply chains. A discussion of the shortcomings of traditional and activity‐based cost management approaches to supply chain management provides the basis for exploring the use of target costing within supply chains. Customer requirements and supply chain relationships are identified as key criteria for selecting the most appropriate method of target costing for supply chains. Price‐based, value‐based, and activity‐based cost management approaches to target costing are discussed, and recommendations for their use based upon customer requirements and supply chain relationships are offered. Conclusions are provided on the use of target costing to enhance a supply chain’s ability to improve customer satisfaction.

Activity‐Based Costing (ABC) is a relatively new accounting system that has received a substantial amount of publicity and is heavily marketed by consulting firms. In light of this, we surveyed companies in 1999 to evaluate the adoption of ABC in Hong Kong. We set out to investigate factors that might lead to its adoption and also surveyed whether companies are satisfied with the new system. Our findings reveal a low adoption rate of ABC. There is directional support for companies with diverse product lines and those facing intense competition using activity‐based costing. Companies that have adopted ABC report high satisfaction with the new system. Overall, activity‐based costing has made limited inroads in Hong Kong. The reasons for this are not readily apparent.

Activity‐based approaches, often referred to as activity‐based costing or activity‐based management, have recently gained attention as being useful tools for a better understanding of cost behaviour and cost control. Such approaches aim at providing accurate cost information in order to keep track of costs and to yield continuous improvement. Presents two case studies where activity‐based projects were run. The two firms studied represent two different objectives with the activity analysis, namely product costing and activity control. The characteristics of the activity information affect its usefulness, and in this article, activity information is subdivided into quantitative and qualitative information. Argues that it is important to have a clear objective with an activity‐based approach in order to gather the appropriate type of activity information and thereby exploit the potential improvement opportunities. Only quantitative activity information suffices for approaches aiming at costing, whereas approaches aiming at activity control require also qualitative activity information. The two case studies illustrate the significance of using the type of activity information that fits the purpose.

The current article aims to give an overview of how the new cost accounting models, such as activity‐based costing (ABC) and time‐driven activity‐based costing (TDABC) are researched and adapted by university libraries, focusing on the methods used for measuring work time allocation as well as on the strengths and weaknesses of both models.

The data used in this paper are based on reviewing and summarizing of relevant studies which were conducted in libraries inspired by the ideas of modern theoretical considerations and treatments relating to cost accounting and costing, originally developed for industry and private sector organizations.

The implementation of cost accounting systems in libraries has historically been treated as a technical innovation rather than an organizational or management innovation. The most important consideration is that librarians are not machines, which can be set at a given speed and expected to produce a uniform product. It turns out that the results of such research are largely affected by what methods are used to identify the time spent on activities and how well the management of libraries or researchers were able to explain to the staff the necessity for such research.

Besides the articles published so far dealing with the implementation of ABC and TDABC in libraries, no research or surveys focus on these issues from the perspective of employees.

This paper addresses an important but neglected issue – the nature of and evidence for success in management accounting. The case of activity‐based costing/management (ABC/M) is used to explore how researchers have gathered evidence of this technique’s success. A variety of approaches have been adopted and all have shortcomings. The problems of obtaining reliable evidence of success suggest that a profile of evidence is likely to be the most appropriate basis on which to make success judgements about management accounting. Further research on this evidential profile is called for.

Traditional costing systems suffer from a number of problems because of the way in which they allocate overheads: product costs have arbitrary components; managers lack information about what causes costs to be incurred; and it becomes impossible to know which of several product lines is the most profitable. Describes a case study in which activity‐based costing and process mapping were applied in combination in an engineering firm, where it was found that it was necessary to specify a method of process‐based costing.