"January 2002" Includes bibliographical references: (p. 31-34). The primary purpose of this study is to develop a framework for identifying the primary drivers of the costs of being customer responsive. The authors' aim is to develop an understanding of the causal drivers of the costs of responsiveness as these costs are considered to be an important input to strategic and tactical decisions. In developing this framework, the paper links the characteristics of responsive manufacturing from the operations management literature with the insights from studies in the accounting literature relating to the drivers of cost. The paper attempts to model the cost impact when a firm responds to ad hoc demands involving the product customization, variation in product mix, or changes to delivery schedules. The costs emerge as a function of the type of responsiveness and the resource capacity management strategy implemented by the firm. The magnitude and dynamics of market demands and firm response, as well as the inherent flexibility of the firm's resources are seen as influencing the magnitude of the costs of responsiveness. disper