Publications

February 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Sandlands Vineyards

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Approximately 80% of the wineries in the U.S. break even or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details

July 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Superior Manufacturing Company

By: David F. Hawkins, James W. Culliton and Jacob Cohen

Management must extract relevant cost data from the company's cost accounting system for product line decisions. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry

November 1995
Technical Note

Analyzing Standard Costs: Technical Note

By: V.G. Narayanan

Explains variance analysis. Concepts of price variance and quantity variance are introduced to analyze prime cost variances. Spending variance and capacity variance are used to analyze overhead variance. Consistent with conducting variance analysis in an activity-based... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Cost; Analysis

July – August 1985
Article

How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage

By: Michael E. Porter and Victor A. Millar

The information revolution is sweeping through our economy. No company can escape its effects. Dramatic reductions in the cost of obtaining, processing, and transmitting information are changing the way we do business. View Details

Keywords: Information; Competitive Advantage

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October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2015, the U.S. health-club industry generated revenues of $25.8 billion, up from $14.8 billion in 2004. Members of health clubs accounted for 17% of the population, up from 14%. The number of clubs had grown from 26,830 in 2004 to 36,180. In the process, the list of... View Details

August 1975 (Revised June 1983)
Case

Frank Mason (A)

By: John J. Gabarro

Raises the following issues: understanding another person from his/her point of view, understanding how two people can view the same situation differently, and understanding how an individual's behavior can have secondary consequences of which he/she may not be aware. View Details

Keywords: Outcome or Result; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Perspective

December 1997
Case

Baylor Books, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Jeremy Cott

The owner of a trade book publishing company must consider proper accounting for books returned and potentially returnable by book stores. Company and industry data are supplied. Costs of failure to publish books under contract and a cost accounting system for books... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Publishing Industry

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August 1997
Background Note

Accounting for Manufacturing Companies

By: Srikant M. Datar

The accounting for a manufacturing company is examined, including the flow of costs from raw materials to work in process to finished goods and the distribution between an inventoriable or product cost and a noninventoriable or period cost. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Product; Cost; Distribution; Accrual Accounting; Accounting; Manufacturing Industry

09 Oct 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Marry Rich, Poor Girl: Investigating the Effects of Sex Selection on Intrahousehold Outcomes in India

Keywords: by Reshmaan Hussam

November 2000 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Activity-Based Management at W.S. Industries (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen

W.S. Industries undertakes the design and implementation of an activity based costing (ABC) system, and the ABC information empowers workers to make process improvement decisions. Workers' incentive pay is tied to cost savings from process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Knowledge Management; Energy Industry; India

November 1985 (Revised November 1987)
Case

R&R

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Outlines alternative mechanisms for getting into business. Shows the means by which an experienced entrepreneur can gain control over the necessary resources in order to lower the fixed costs of business entry. Provides a mechanism for discussing the role of... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Entrepreneurship

August 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Accenture Human Capital Strategy

By: Paula A. Price, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Accenture is a leading global consulting, technology, and outsourcing company. It has clients and its own operations throughout the world. This case describes the human resources and related activities necessary to deliver its services to clients. It allows students to... View Details

Keywords: Management Consulting; Technology Consulting; Outsourcing; Human Resources; Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Practices and Processes

08 Sep 2014
News

What You Don’t Know About Sales Can Hurt Your Strategy

October 1988 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Seligram, Inc.: Electronic Testing Operations

Explores the obsolescence of a cost system when technology changes. In particular, it asks students to increase the number of cost center and allocation bases. The firm moves from a one-center, direct labor-hour system to a three-center, direct labor-hour and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Cost Accounting; Change Management

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 13 Feb 2018
Webinars: Career

Managing the High-Intensity Workplace

People today are under intense pressure to be "ideal workers"--totally committed to their jobs and always on call. How do people cope with these pressures and what are some of the dysfunctional consequences for individuals and for their organizations? While complete... View Details

Article

Better Accounting Transforms Health Care Delivery

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Mary L. Witkowski

The paper describes the theory and preliminary results for an action research program that explores the implications from better measurements of health care outcomes and costs. After summarizing Porter's outcome taxonomy (Porter 2010), we illustrate how to use process... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Research; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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June 2002
Background Note

Note on the Equivalency of Methods for Discounting Cash Flows

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Uses a numerical example to demonstrate that when you discount the cash flows to capital from a project at the weighted average cost of capital, you get same net present value result as you obtain when discounting the cash flows to equity at the cost of equity. Also... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Equity; Valuation

September 1986 (Revised April 1990)
Case

Mueller-Lehmkuhl GmbH

Mueller-Lehmkuhl sells apparel fasteners and rents attaching machines. It views these two products as effectively a single item and prices them accordingly, the fasteners at high profit and its attaching machines at a loss. The cost system allocates the cost of the... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Profit; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Japan; Germany