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(3,601)
- Faculty Publications (946)
- April 1997
- Case
Romeo Engine Plant (Abridged)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton
A newly reopened automobile engine plant has been organized along total quality and teamwork principles. Employees now solve problems and ensure quality, rather than watch parts being produced. New operating and financial systems have been installed to promote... View Details
- April 1997 (Revised July 2003)
- Case
Viacom, Inc.: Video Supplement
By: Joseph L. Bower, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Sonja Ellingson Hout
Viacom reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions on... View Details
- April 1997
- Background Note
Using ABC to Manage Customer Mix and Relationships
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Describes applying activity-based costing to manage customer relationships. Links cost-to-serve to net margins earned with individual customers. View Details
- April 1997 (Revised May 1997)
- Case
Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (A): The Growth Initiative
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In late 1994, James Down, member of Mercer's Executive Committee, has to decide whether or not he should push ahead with the writing and publication of a book on growth--at a time when the more successful business publications focus on reengineering and cost cutting.... View Details
- March 1997 (Revised June 1999)
- Background Note
Using Activity-Based Costing with Budgeted Expenses and Practical Capacity
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Describes how activity-based costing (ABC) should be applied with: 1) budgeted, not historical, expenses and 2) assigning the costs of capacity resources. View Details
- 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
- December 1996 (Revised February 1998)
- Case
Colorscope, Inc.
By: V.G. Narayanan and Joseph Cha
A small company in the graphic arts business faces severe price competition. The company must respond by cutting costs and making process improvements. View Details
- November 1996 (Revised February 1997)
- Case
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The
By: Stephen A. Greyser and Stephanie L. Woerner
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) runs one of the nation's most important research libraries and a museum focusing on colonial history. Financial analysis shows that the society has absorbed increased costs of operation over the past decade through slow but... View Details
- September 1996 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
Mobil USM&R (B): New England Sales and Distribution
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The general manager of a local gasoline/distillate sales and distribution business unit must communicate a new strategy to the unit's 300 employees. An initial strategic planning exercise identified a high-priority list of opportunities that blended the parent... View Details
- June 1996 (Revised November 1996)
- Background Note
Economic Gains from Trade: Comparative Advantage
By: Robert E. Kennedy and Nancy F. Koehn
How nations trade and whether they benefit from it are two of the oldest and most important questions in political economy. In the 170 years since David Ricardo formally developed the theory of comparative advantage, it has become one of the principles most widely... View Details
- April 1996 (Revised June 2001)
- Case
Partners HealthCare System, Inc. (B): Cardiac Care Improvement
By: Gary P. Pisano and Maryam Golnaraghi
Explores the challenges confronting the CEO at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in the wake of radical changes in the health care environment. As pressures have risen for cost containment in health care, the hospital has embarked on a series of reengineering efforts to... 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 1996)
- Case
Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem
By: Joseph L. Bower and Thomas R. Eisenmann
Viacom has reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdock's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions... 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
- February 1996 (Revised June 1996)
- Supplement
Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (B)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Supplements the (A) case. View Details
- 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