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The construction cost, yearly maintenance cost and yearly remedial cost of plumbing and drainage systems in buildings were investigated. Occupancy, age, piping material, pipe length and the size of the systems were surveyed in 63 buildings. Correlations for costs of the systems in commercial and residential buildings were made with the surveyed results. Length, material and size of the pipes provide good parameters to determine the system construction costs. Higher maintenance cost and remedial cost for aged systems were reported. Remedial cost for corrosion problems increased significantly for the aged systems.

The purpose of this paper is to find if there is an existing trade‐off between service quality and cost when strategies of low‐cost accommodation and uncompromised reduction are implemented.

The model is designed on hand system dynamics, using Vensim™ software. It consists of a situation where no side effects are interrupting the result. The modeled service system is designed as two parts: a situation where five sorts of customer variables are introduced, continued by a situation where low‐cost accommodation and uncompromised reduction change the system.

There is no typical trade‐off pattern between service quality and cost when implementing Frei's two solutions. Rather, the findings resulted in an almost conform line of quality curve so that the promotion of Frei's solutions can be interpreted as the result of cost reduction.

Owing to the use of simulation tools, it is still critical whether the result holds in the real world where various influences to the service system can exist.

There are various papers regarding service quality and cost but not that much about managerial tools used in a service system. Aside from many statistically proofed papers, this paper uses system dynamics to simulate certain managerial tools for service when implemented into a system.

This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

Despite the many proposed benefits of activity-based costing (ABC), many managers oppose implementing it. One important reason for this resistance that has generally not been addressed in the literature is the effect of cost reallocations on managers’ evaluations and compensation. This study examines how the impact of installing an ABC system on managers’ bonuses affects their support for ABC implementation. Because ABC systems usually allocate costs in different proportions than traditional systems, some products may appear to be more profitable while others may appear less so. This, in turn, causes the business units responsible for the products to appear to be more or less profitable.

Based on prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky (1979). Econometrica, 47, 263–291; Tversky & Kahneman (1992). Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 5, 297–323), we predict that the negative effect on managers’ support for ABC in business units reporting less profit is greater than the positive effect on managers’ support in the more profitable units. The results of an experiment support this prediction. Since management support is critical to successful system implementation, this asymmetric effect has implications for cost management system changes.

This study examines the nature of the researchers’ perspectives used in analytical and empirical cost system research published in the 1990s in an attempt to better understand current cost system research. The conceptual framework used for the evaluation is based on the research perspectives that have influenced the selection of different approaches in cost system research in the last three decades and reflects assumptions made in the research models and useful empirical implications.

The taxonomy used in the paper deepens our understanding of current cost accounting research and is argued as relevant on the premise that researchers would certainly care about finding a “better” cost system. A “better” system is defined in this study as the system that would lead to changes in decisions resulting in payoffs that are greater than the costs of implementing the new system.

Purpose – The paper explains how internal reporting systems, as embedded practices informing organizational actions and “know-how”, contributed to the inertia in implementing a corporate form of governance in a transitional public organization in a developing country – Egypt.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper synthesizes an institutional theory framework in order to capture the case study mixed results. Drawing on DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) notions of isomorphic mechanisms, Ocasio (1999) and Burns and Scapens’ (2000) notions of organizations’ memory, history, cumulative actions and routines, Brunsson's (1994) notion of organizational institutional confusion as well as Carruthers's (1995) notion of “symbolic window-dressing” adoption of new practices, the paper explores the dynamic of a public hospital corporatization processes. Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews, documentary evidence and direct observation.

Findings – The case study evidence shows that the interplay between the new form of “corporate” governance and the intra-organizational power, routines and “know-how” created internal organizational confusion and changed organizational members’ narrative of risk and uncertainties.

Research limitations/implications – The paper does not reveal the role of reformers involved in the public sector “governance” reform in developing countries. Exploring such a role goes beyond the scope of this paper and represents an area of future research.

Originality/value – The paper provides a comprehensive account of public sector “governance” reform in a developing nation, while exploring the role of management accounting and costing systems in facilitating or otherwise that reform processes.

Defines life cycle costing, which gives rise to Life Cycle Cost (LCC). Defines LCC as “The total cost of the system or product under study over its complete life cycle or the duration of the period of study, whichever is the shorter”. Stresses that LCC can be used at whatever level is chosen (estate or, say, a boiler). Explains the timing and mechanism of measurement. Argues that the application of LCC at an early design stage will greatly enhance system design and operation. Offers other pertinent definitions.

Examines how FMS affects the accounting information system of organizations switching to FMS and the traditional accounting practices that change after organizations adopt FMS. Highlights some of the new accounting techniques such as transformation cost and activity‐based costing and also discusses the strategic impact of FMS.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an improved multi-objective optimization model for the condition-based maintenance (CBM) of single-component systems which considers periodic imperfect maintenance and ecological factors.

Based on the application of non-periodic preventive CBM, two recursion models are built for the system: hazard rate and the environmental degradation factor. This paper also established an optimal multi-objective model with a normalization process. The multiple-attribute value theory is used to obtain the optimal preventive maintenance (PM) interval. The simulation and sensitivity analyses are applied to obtain further rules.

An increase in the number of the occurrences could shorten the duration of a maintenance cycle. The maintenance techniques and maintenance efficiency could be improved by increasing system availability, reducing cost rate and improving degraded condition.

In reality, a variety of environmental situations may occur subsequent to the operations of an advanced manufacturing system. This model could be applied in real cases to help the manufacturers better discover the optimal maintenance cycle with minimized cost and degraded condition of the environment, helping the corporations better fulfill their CSR as well.

Previous research on single-component condition-based predictive maintenance usually focused on the maintenance costs and availability of a system, while ignoring the possible pollution from system operations. This paper proposed a modified multi-objective optimization model considering environment influence which could more comprehensively analyze the factors affecting PM interval.