Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,362)
- Faculty Publications (256)
- February 1997 (Revised June 1999)
- Background Note
Committed and Flexible Resources
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Stresses the difference between costs committed in advance of knowing actual demand (committed costs) and cost incurred proportional to demand. Committed costs appear fixed since their supply is independent of the amount actually used. Flexible resources are supplied... View Details
Keywords: Cost
- February 1997 (Revised July 2001)
- Background Note
Introduction to Activity-Based Costing
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Introduces the fundamental notions of activity-based costing (ABC). Motivates ABC by means of a simple example, a single and a diversified pen factory. Proceeds to show how ABC assigns costs more accurately to products and customers by: 1) identifying the activities... View Details
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management
- February 1997
- Case
Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) (Abridged)
A new administration takes power in a state in India and cancels a power project agreed upon by the previous state government and a U.S.-based energy company. The project cancellation is based on allegations of irregularities, exorbitant costs, and political pressures. View Details
- January 1997 (Revised December 1999)
- Case
OXO International
By: H. Kent Bowen, Marilyn Matis and Sylvie Ryckebusch
OXO, a kitchen tools and gadgets company, was started by a businessman who had 30 years of experience in the housewares industry. With his wife and son as founders, he creates a new niche in the gadgets industry for high-end gourmet stores. The company has headquarters... View Details
- September 1996 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
Grupo Sidek (A)
By: Kenneth A. Froot and Alberto Moel
A large Mexican conglomerate, active in tourism, real estate, and steel, is faced with difficult macroeconomic conditions beginning with the Peso crisis of December 1994. The conglomerate had extensive dollar-indexed liabilities and was caught in a crunch when the... View Details
- April 1996 (Revised April 1996)
- Case
Activity-Based Management at Stream International
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Norman Klein
Stream International's Crawfordsville, Indiana facilities undertake the design and implementation of an activity-based costing project. After analyzing the costs assigned to 161 work activities, Crawfordsville managers present five proposals for change based on ABM... View Details
- February 1996 (Revised November 2003)
- Case
Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A new administration in the City of Indianapolis is initially determined to privatize many municipal services. Before taking this action, however, the city managers want to know the current cost of performing these services with the municipal workers. Existing... View Details
- May 1995 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
AT&T Paradyne
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A company making data communication devices has adopted a Total Quality philosophy for working with suppliers, employees, and customers. The finance group finds its existing cost system has become obsolete because of a shift from manual to automatic production... View Details
- April 1995 (Revised April 1995)
- Case
Pillsbury: Customer Driven Reengineering
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Pillsbury is transforming itself from an integrated producer of flour and bakery products to a value-added supplier of premium branded products. After initial successes applying activity-based costing to manufacturing operations, two senior executives decide to... View Details
- March 1995 (Revised April 1997)
- Case
Co-operative Bank, The
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Srikant M. Datar
A British bank with strong roots in the cooperative movement encounters declining profitability in an increasingly competitive and deregulated financial services industry. It attempts to grow by broadening its customer base and increasing the range of products and... View Details
- December 1994
- Case
AB SKA (Sweden)
By: David F. Hawkins, V.G. Narayanan and Robert L. Simons
A senior manager faces three accounting and control decisions related to a new R&D project: to expense or capitalize, how to implement management control over the R&D function, and how to use activity-based cost drivers for product costing. View Details
- November 1994
- Case
Hewlett-Packard: French Manufacturing Operations
By: Robin Cooper, Patricia Bost and Robert S. Kaplan
- October 1994
- Case
Yamatake-Honeywell Company, Ltd.: Activity-Based Costing System
By: Robin Cooper, Takeo Yoshikawa and Robert S. Kaplan
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management
- February 1994 (Revised February 1996)
- Case
Union Carbide Corporation: Interest Rate Risk Management
By: Peter Tufano
Union Carbide's board of directors is asked to evaluate a proposal from the staff treasurer's that would articulate policies to manage its debt portfolio. The staff proposes that shareholder value will be maximized if the firm manages its exposure to interest rates by... View Details
- June 1993 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
COMCO Holding AG (B): COMCO Martech
COMCO Martech was a new breed of joint venture for COMCO Holding, a mid-sized Swiss-German company that had grown over a five-year period through tie-ups with small, start-up companies. Whereas a typical COMCO venture provided services to a large German retailer, was... View Details
- April 1993 (Revised May 1994)
- Case
General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function (A)
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Katherine Seger
Designed to generate discussion on the issues of outsourcing from the perspective of a firm thinking about turning over its IS activities to a third-party vendor. View Details
Keywords: Management Systems; Management Style; Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business Strategy; Economic Systems; Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Processes; Employment; Emerging Markets; Activity Based Costing and Management; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry
- April 1993 (Revised December 2001)
- Case
General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function (B)
By: F. Warren McFarlan and Katherine Seger
Designed to look at outsourcing from the perspective of a major computer services company trying to get into the business. View Details
Keywords: Communication Technology; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business Strategy; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Financial Management; Management Teams; Communication Strategy; Organizational Design; Product Design; Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry
- August 1992 (Revised July 2013)
- Case
ChemBright, Inc.
ChemBright is a small start-up company that manufactures private-label household chemicals. The company sells its products to grocery chains in the New England area. Its strategy is based on a significant logistics-based cost advantage. The primary case decisions are... View Details
- 1992
- Book
Implementing Activity-Based Cost Management: Moving from Analysis to Action
By: Robert S. Kaplan, Robin Cooper, Larry Maisel, Eileen Morrissey and Ronald M. Oehm
Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management
- October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
- Case
Maxwell Appliance Controls
By: Robert S. Kaplan
A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details