Large numbers of companies use activity based costing, but this is not always visible from their accounting procedures. This 50 page paper looks at 12 case studies to assess the reason why and the ways in which companies use, and benefit from, activity based costing. The case studies are chosen across a ranger of industries and are made up of both large and small companies. The majority of cases show that the activity based costing approach is able to give businesses a competitive edge, either directly supporting a competitive advantage or helping the development of competitiveness and the realisation of other strategies such as growth and profit maximization. However, it is only a tool, and its’ use does not automatically result in success, for this reason a case sturdy where the use was not fully successful is also included, the main issue is the way in which the data is used, with the most value added and the greatest competitive edge being obtained when the approach is used in conjunction with other tools and approaches, such as with the balanced scorecard and considering the human aspects for both employees and customers. The case studies include Bluemont Nurseries, Xerox, Coca-Cola, Mobil Oil, A&W and Hyde Park Electronics. The bibliography cites 41 sources.
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looks at 12 case studies to assess the reason why and the ways in which companies use, and benefit from, activity based costing. The case studies are chosen across a
ranger of industries and are made up of both large and small companies. The majority of cases show that the activity based costing approach is able to give businesses a
competitive edge, either directly supporting a competitive advantage or helping the development of competitiveness and the realisation of other strategies such as growth and profit maximization. However, it is only
a tool, and its use does not automatically result in success, for this reason a case sturdy where the use was not fully successful is also included, the main issue
is the way in which the data is used, with the most value added and the greatest competitive edge being obtained when the approach is used in conjunction with other
tools and approaches, such as with the balanced scorecard and considering the human aspects for both employees and customers. The case studies include Bluemont Nurseries, Xerox, Coca-Cola, Mobil Oil, A&W
and Hyde Park Electronics and a range of UK cases, including BA, QVC, Cadburys and Wimpey Homes.
Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Methodology 4 3. Case Studies 12 3.1 Bluemount Nurseries Inc. 12 3.2 A&W 16 3.3 Hyde Park Electronics 18 3.4 Coca Cola 22
3.5 Mobil 27 3.6 Xerox 34 3.7 Zanussi and Electrolux 38 3.8 888.com 44 3.9 Wimpey Homes 46 3.10 British Airways 49 3.11 Cadbury Schweppes 52 3.12 QVC 54 4. Discussion 55 5. Conclusion and Reflection 60 References 62
1. Introduction The way in which a company operates will be important in terms of any competitive advantage or
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