Competitive costing: ABC data collection in an Australian University

Authors

Fred Reich, University of WollongongFollow
Anne Abraham, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

15465

Publication Details

Reich, F. & Abraham, A. (2006). Competitive costing: ABC data collection in an Australian University. In P. Basu, G. O'Neill & A. Travaglione (Eds.), 3rd International Conference on Contemporary Business Conference Proceedings (pp. 1-17). cd-rom: Charles Sturt University, NSW.

Abstract

Universities are facing an intensifying competitive environment where value for money involves quality, convenience and well priced services. Thus, to be able to sustain competitive advantage, universities require appropriate cost management strategies to determine the costs of their various activities. Activity based costing (ABC) focuses on the activities performed to produce particular outcomes while avoiding the cost distortion that is an inherent failing of traditional methods of costing. This paper presents a non-traditional method of collecting staff activity data at an Australian university for use in an ABC model as part of broader activity-based management.

Link to publisher version (URL)

International Conference on Contemporary Business