Search results

To provide an overview of research published in the management accounting literature on methods for cost management in new product development, such as a target costing, life cycle costing, component commonality, and modular design.

The structured literature search covered papers about 15 different cost management methods published in 40 journals in the period 1990–2013.

The search yielded a sample of 113 different papers. Many contained information about more than one method, and this yielded 149 references to specific methods. The number of references varied strongly per cost management method and per journal. Target costing has received by far the most attention in the publications in our sample; modular design, component commonality, and life cycle costing were ranked second and joint third. Most references were published in Management Science; Management Accounting Research; and Accounting, Organizations and Society. The results were strongly influenced by Management Science and Decision Science, because cost management methods with an engineering background were published above average in these two journals (design for manufacturing, component commonality, modular design, and product platforms) while other topics were published below average in these two journals.

The scope of this review is accounting research. Future work could review the research on cost management methods in new product development published outside accounting.

The paper centers on methods for cost management, which complements reviews that focused on theoretical constructs of management accounting information and its use.

This chapter describes development and main achievements of the Belarusian IT sector which is today considered by experts to be the most promising and progressive part of the national economy. Special attention of the analysis is given to the governmental policy to stimulate information and communication technology sector growth through special legal regulations (e.g., High-Tech Park as favorable business environment for IT business since 2005) and efforts to promote transition of Belarus to the “IT country” through number of national programs and legislative instruments, including the President's Decree on Digital Economy Development (2017). Main scenarios of the Belarusian IT sector future development are proposed and analyzed, including risks and opportunities on such four paths as being the global IT development outsourcing provider; exponentially growing own software product companies; becoming the regional or even global cryptocurrency hub; integrating IT in all parts of the domestic economy in order to build Industry 4.0 and digital society.

The global strategies of high-tech start-ups fall into two types. One is characteristic of knowledge-based firms; the other is characteristic of knowledge-intensive firms. We present two propositions related to timing of globalization and resource acquisition for each type and examine four case studies from the region around Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.

Knowledge-based start-ups target global markets from the very beginning, aiming at rapid market penetration. From the start they are highly globalized in acquiring core technology and financial and human resources.

In contrast, knowledge-intensive start-ups start in local markets and initially restrict acquisition of core technology and financial and human resources to those markets. Only at a later stage, when the local business is solidly established, do they gradually expand their businesses to global markets.