Under de senaste 10 åren har kostnaderna inom hälso- och sjukvården i Sverige ökat med 20 procent. Förklaringen antas ligga i att medellivslängden bland befolkningen ständigt ökar, att vårdtillfällen gällande psykisk ohälsa i Sverige blir allt fler samt att sjukdomsfallen idag är allt mer komplexa. I och med att hälsocentraler är första instansen inom hälso- och sjukvården innebär dessa faktorer att antalet läkarbesök på hälsocentraler ökar. Dessa faktorer leder till ökade kostnader för hälsocentralerna och indikerar att det är viktigt för hälsocentraler att vara medvetna om sina kostnader. Activity Based Costing (ABC) anses vara en metod som kan göra organisationer inom hälso- och sjukvården mer kostnadsmedvetna i och med att ABC har visats vara ett pålitligt verktyg för att kartlägga verksamhetens kostnader. Samtidigt har det i litteraturen lyfts fram att utvecklandet av ABC-modellen kan vara både tids- och resurskrävande för dessa organisationer. Denna tvetydighet tyder på att forskningen inom hälso- och sjukvården behöver utvidgas. Dessutom har ABC främst använts på sjukhus, varvid lämpligheten att använda ABC på hälsocentraler förefaller outforskad. Mot bakgrund till detta forskningsgap och den kostnadsproblematik som råder på hälsocentraler formuleras följande forskningsfråga i studien: Hur kan en ABC-modell utvecklas till att kunna kartlägga kostnaderna vid en hälsocentral? Syftet med studien var att förstå verksamheten på hälsocentralerna, dels för att kunnautveckla en ABC-modell för beräkning av kostnader, dels för att identifiera implikationer somkan föreligga vid utvecklandet av ABC. För att utveckla ABC-modellen till hälsocentraler har studien utgått från olika metoder. Sju intervjuer har genomförts med respondenter vid fem landstingsdrivna hälsocentraler i Norrbottens Läns Landsting. Vidare har även åtta frågeformulär besvarats av personal från dessa hälsocentraler. Studien har dessutom kompletterats med årsbokslut och intern verksamhetsdata från de fem hälsocentralerna. Studien har sin utgångspunkt i en hermeneutisk kunskapssyn och ett induktivt angreppssätt. En slutsats i studien är att hälsocentraler utgör en komplex verksamhet och att arbetsprocesserna för att behandla en patient skiljer sig åt mellan yrkesgrupperna på hälsocentralerna. Det gör det svårt att utveckla en ABC-modell för hela hälsocentralen med enbart små resurser tillhands. Ytterligare en slutsats kom därmed att bli den utvecklade ABC-modellen för en del av hälsocentralernas verksamhet, nämligen ett planerat läkarbesök. Denna modell bidrar till forskningsgapet för ABC inom hälso- och sjukvården och är studiens mest framträdande teoretiska bidrag.

This study examines the influences of culture on the implementation of a U.S.-based Activity-Based Costing (ABC) in three Thai organizations.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 1999. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 129 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-128).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: William F. Lasher. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (M.S.)--California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2008. / Adviser: William Trappen. Includes bibliographical references.

Activity-based costing (ABC) is a forward-looking product costing method. Unlike traditional volume-based approaches, which are historically oriented, ABC concepts guide managers in seeking the best strategies to pursue in the future. This product costing method can be a valuable tool in planning and managing costs not only in the manufacturing area, but also in all aspects of business operations, from product design to distribution. Although its main advantage is its ability to provide more realistic product cost information for financial reporting purposes, use of ABC can lead to a better understanding of the strategic linkages existing between the various cost areas in the organisation. It enables managers to have a holistic view of cost management. ABC was developed to better understand, manage and control the overheads. The brief fundamental of ABC is: Products consume activities, activities consume resources, and resources consume costs. Based upon this fundamental principle, ABC can trace the cost from resources to activities that are consumed by product manufacturing processes as well as from activities to products. ABC investigates the transactions that trigger cost instead of concentrating solely on measures of physical volume or a certain amount of labour hours. Compared to the traditional costing systems, ABC can not only answer how much product cost is but also tell executives the factors triggering costs and the way to manage costs. ABC helps managers make better decisions about product design, pricing, marketing, and mix and encourages continual improvement. Unlike the traditional method, instead of using the single pre-determined overhead rate to absorb the indirect cost to products, ABC uses actual incurred cost to v determine the product cost. By tracing the absorption process of indirect cost, ABC would provide more information to management and help it find better ways to manage costs. However, the cost drivers used in ABC are constants but the cost driver rates are continually changing. ABC still uses predetermined cost drivers so it has the same fundamental problem as the traditional methods for estimating.

This study identifies the various elements and factors that a financial services company needs to consider when implementing activity-based costing. This study evaluates the appropriateness of activity-based costing for financial services and proposes an implementation framework for activity-based costing in this environment. Management, in today’s constant changing and competitive world, needs management information to support strategic and pricing decisions. Traditional financial accounting information sometimes hides the economic reality of client profitability and product costs, and does not supply sufficient information for pricing decisions. This study confirmed that activity-based costing can assist in addressing this problem. Activity-based costing was originally developed for the manufacturing environment. By studying available literature, this study proved that activitybased costing can be used successfully in a financial services environment. A manufacturing environment has a higher direct cost input than a services environment. The cost structure in a services environment allows a higher percentage of cost to be allocated by identifying activities and using cost drivers to allocate these costs to cost objects. Activity-based costing models add value to management by supplying them with information that supports strategic decisions, pricing decisions, understanding client profitability and product costs. This study points out that there are crucial success factors that need to be considered before embarking on the implementation of activity-based costing. Finally the study proposes that activity-based costing be implemented in a financial services environment to support management decision making. / Prof. A.L. Boessenkool

The acquisition and elimination of products and the resources needed to create them constitutes an important part of the business decision-making process. Activity-based costing (ABC) supports this process by providing a tool for evaluating the relative profitability of various products. It accomplishes this by allocating costs to products based on the activities, and in turn the resources demanded by those activities, required to produce them. In allocating indirect costs traditionally considered "fixed," such as equipment, administrative overhead, and support staff salaries, ABC treats all costs as variable in the long-run. However, many costs can only vary in discrete steps. For example, one usually cannot purchase a fractional piece of equipment; one chooses either to buy it or not to buy it. Also, in adding support staff, one will typically find that people demand full-time positions, so increments will come in discrete amounts. This stairstep semivariable nature of many costs runs counter to ABC's treatment of all costs as variable. In addition, different products often draw upon the same resources. This creates complex interactions, making it difficult to predict the ultimate consequences of adding or eliminating a particular product. Mixed integer programming (MIP) provides another tool for making these product/resource mix decisions. Unlike ABC, however, it can handle variables that take on integer values, and hence deal appropriately with stairstep semivariable costs. It also ensures that the decision recommended by the model will optimize profitability, given that a solution exists and the underlying assumptions hold true. In doing this, MIP automatically adjusts for all of the complex interactions that exist among the various products and resources. Using a simplified two product/two resource model, one can detail the mathematics behind ABC and MIP, and then link the two approaches through a common variable. This allows one to establish the conditions under which ABC and MIP will yield the same results, and those under which they will differ. Since MW produces an optimal solution, the fact that ABC yields a different result under specific circumstances underscores the danger of relying solely on the product margins generated by an ABC model. / Graduation date: 1998

According to Michael Porter¡¦s Competitive Advantage, only through Value Chain Analysis, a company can realize it¡¦s cost behavior and the resources needed for differentiation. Thus the company can optimize its resources usage and increase it¡¦s business activities¡¦ performance. With the Internet environment, economic value for a company is nothing more than the gap between price and cost, and it is reliably measured only by sustained profitability. In e-retailing, e-retailers that want to reach competitive advantage and high economic value must consider how to create real margins, how to measure and manage the cost of e-retailing activities, and execute it in a efficient way to enhance e-retailer¡¦s competitive advantage. This research applies Activity-Based Costing approach to confer e-retailing activities. Value chain analysis is first employed to explore the primary activities of e-retailing. Then the improvement of cost and process are sought from activity analysis, resource cost driver and process cost driver. Finally, the critical e-retailing activities result from the internal value chain analysis. The research results indicated that the price of product and the characteristic of product have different influence on e-retailing activities. In addition, e-retailer want sustained profitability, the finite resource must provide for the customer and product that contribute to e-retailer¡¦s sustained profitability. Finally, the research also indicated that the link of marketing/sales activities and customer service activities are the most critical e-retailing activities. Keyword¡Gvalue chain, e-retailing activities, Activity Based Costing

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