No description available.

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 1990. / Thesis Advisor(s): San Miguel, Joseph G. Second Reader: Fitzgerald, David M. "December 1990." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 01, 2010. DTIC Descriptor(s): Carrier based aircraft, antisubmarine warfare, weapons, control, environments, financial management, weapon systems, dynamics, navy, contractors, theses, costs, limitations, response, resources, submarines Author(s) subject terms: S-3 weapon systems improvement program; S-3B Includes bibliographical references (p. 64). Also available in print.

An opportunity to study the technical and organizational impact of management accounting system changes has emerged with companies' adoption of activity-based costing (ABC). This paper provides a structured account of experimentation with, and adoption and adaptation of ABC in General Motors Corporation, from 1986 to 1993. From this case, the paper develops a framework for evaluating ABC implementation and hypotheses about factors that influence implementation. The search for factors that ABC implementation success is guided by information technology and organizational change literature, as well as anecdotal evidence of factors that influence ABC implementation success. Data is gathered from interviews, archival records, and direct observation and the primary method of analysis is with-in case comparison of data sources. The theory of ABC implementation that emerges is one of an evolutionary sequence of implentation stages that are influenced by socio-technical factors. / The International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-91). / The wide range of the petroleum industry's products as well as the varied value of these products coupled with the global nature of the petroleum industry presents both challenges and opportunities within the petroleum supply chain. It is along this supply chain that challenges for creating value for the customer exist as well the opportunities for reaching this goal. Value chain analysis methodology has been hailed as being capable to lend itself to process improvement challenges faced along supply chains. To achieve this objective, a case study method was used to collect and analyse data. This dissertation identifies and follows one of the supply chains of a petroleum company operating in South Africa to investigate how value chain analysis can be implemented along its supply chain.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-87). / Environmental issues in the world today and often seen in the media are causing a stir in the business world. The effect is that the environment in which businesses operate has significantly changed over the past two decades and businesses are faced with new risks and challenges as well as new opportunities in addressing the needs and claims of stakeholders. Environmental accounting is now on an expansion path with increasing focus on the environment. In order to benefit from the accounting data, strategic cost management can be used as a philosophy to provide competitive strategies. This research paper will describe the environmental component of business and describe the role of environmental accounting in strategic cost management. Furthermore, an assessment will be performed on a South African organisation. The assessment will demonstrate how a South African organisation has reacted and integrated environmental business aspects into their organisation.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71). / Small to medium scale enterprises (SMEs) face an ever increasing competitive and unforgiving business environment. Deregulation. increased global competition. the global economic downturn and the technical recession that South Africa has entered into (SACCI. May 2009). place increased pressure on their profit margins and ability to generate positive cash flow. These tough trading conditions are likely to continue for some time to come (De Klerk. 2009) and therefore companies need to respond appropriately to these challenges in order to survive (Sartorius et al. 2007). Survival is dependant on positive cash flow generated by profitable trading. Yet. many SMEs do not have effective strategies in place to maximise their customer profitability in order to enhance their cash flows. The challenge is therefore the development and adoption of practical customer profitability analysis tools for use by these SMEs. In this research an investigative single case study in a business to business setting based on detailed field work was performed. The study focussed on a typical South African SME trading with all the major retail groups in South Africa. The case study was performed via diachronic research into the use of Activity Based Costing (ABC) in customer profitability analysis (CPA). The objective of the study was to critically evaluate whether ABC is a practical tool for conducting customer profitability analysis in a South African SME environment. This was done by investigating what might motivate a SME to adopt ABC and determining the specific benefits likely to accrue to a SME following the implementation of ABC. The research has shown that the implementation of ABC made it possible to identify customers who. despite the fact that they generate a modest gross profit. are in fact unprofitable as a result of the overheads consumed by them. This insight shaped future marketing. pricing, sales and customer support strategies. More specifically, it assisted management to maximise income by identifying areas in the value chain to which resources should be channelled for maximum profit while still maximising customer satisfaction. This led to a substantial improvement in overall profitability. Owing, firstly, to increased gross profit following enhancements in the pricing policy and secondly, to increased sales volumes as a result of revised marketing strategies and new product launches. No significant additional costs were incurred in implementing ABC. A standard desktop computer and readily available accounting and spreadsheet software were used in the CPAs. No outside consultants were used since the champion of the project was knowledgeable in the application of ABC techniques This suggests that it is both practical and cost effective to implement ABC in a SME environment provided the necessary skills and infrastructure are available or can be outsourced. Although these findings are of a single case study and cannot be generalised, the combination of this empirical case study and the literature review findings presented in this study strongly suggest that Activity Based Costing is a practical tool for the formulation and measuring of outcomes of customer profitability strategies in a South African SME environment.

No description available.

Cost management forms a major discipline in delivering construction projects of different sizes and complexity. Traditional cost management systems are mostly based on principles enacted several decades ago. A notable feature of these traditional cost management systems is that key information required for critical decisions is usually produced too late, and is often too aggregated and configured in a form that is not amenable to the requirements for current project management practice. Other problems associated with traditional cost systems relate to inadequacies in estimating and cost control processes and particularly the lack of integration of cost management across the whole project. The lack of integration means measurements provided by traditional cost systems do not sufficiently align with the goals and objectives set for the project. To address these inherent weaknesses in the current practice of cost management, a number of studies have argued for an integrated alternative that better responds to the information demand and decision making need to be developed. The thesis presents the development of a solution to such an integrated cost management system. The developed solution addresses the gaps of the traditional option by integrating the stages making up the whole life cycle of the project to enable professionals gain an appreciation of the ramifications of any early decisions made. The investigation conducted to support the development of the integrated cost management system and the applied model addresses user requirements and determination of the system boundary conditions for efficacious use by key decision makers. The new cost management system developed achieves a linkage of the planning and control stages into one, with a continuous stream of cost management information in both stages. The integration ensures that cost information is more relevant to the circumstances of the modern project manager.

Структура магистерской диссертации включает в себя введение, три главы, заключение, список использованных источников и приложения. В первой главе рассмотрены теоретические основы формирования затрат предприятий на производство и реализацию продукции, различные подходы к классификации затрат, а также методы управления затратами. Во второй главе проводится подробный анализ финансового состояния, а также особенности организации учета и формирования затрат исследуемого объекта. В третьей главе выделены основные проблемы управления затратами предприятия, разработан комплекс мероприятий для оптимизации затрат на исследуемом объекте. В заключении сформированы основные выводы. / The structure of the master's thesis includes an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of references and appendices. The first chapter discusses the theoretical foundations of the formation of enterprises' costs for the production and sale of products, various approaches to the classification of costs, as well as cost management methods. The second chapter provides a detailed analysis of the financial condition, as well as the features of the organization of accounting and the formation of costs of the object under study. In the third chapter, the main problems of enterprise cost management are highlighted, a set of measures has been developed to optimize costs at the object under study. In conclusion, the main conclusions are formed.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo fundamental demonstrar a possibilidade de construir uma Análise de Custos de Concorrentes através das Demonstrações Contábeis e Financeiras. Este trabalho explorou, em um estudo entre quatro empresas do setor de Celulose e Papel, do Brasil, a possibilidade de utilizar as Demonstrações Contábeis e Financeiras como ferramenta para Análise dos Custos dos Concorrentes. Em um primeiro momento, em estudo qualitativo, foram comparados os principais elementos constantes nas DFC´s do primeiro trimestre de 2007 das empresas em análise. Finalmente, foram comparados os principais índices das empresas e suas estruturas de custos, em um estudo quantitativo com dados que compreendem do primeiro trimestre de 2000 ao segundo trimestre de 2007. Através das análises feitas foi possível concluir que é possível inferir sobre os custos dos concorrentes através de suas Demonstrações Contábeis e Financeiras. / The present study aimed to show the possibility of built a Competitors Cost Analysis through Financial Reporting. This work explored, in a study between four companies of Pulp and Paper Sector, in Brazil, the possibility of Financial Reporting usage as a tool for Competitors Cost Analysis. In a first moment, on a qualitative study, the companies main elements of Financial Reporting of first quarter of 2007 was compared. Finally, the main companies indices and cost structures was compared, in the period of first quarter of 2000 to second quarter of 2007. Through analyses was possible to conclude that is possible to infer about the competitors´ cost through its Financial Reports.