A former management accountant reflects on his journey through the world of cost management

Abstract

As an accountant and economist I once believed it is natural to guide business operations with management accounting information. I held to that belief until about ten years ago when I began to doubt the efficacy of using targets, scorecards, and other forms of quantitative data to guide, assess, and control operating activities. In this paper I describe briefly the journey that led me to doubt that it is possible to achieve stable and satisfactory financial results in the long run by driving business operations with quantitative targets, financial or otherwise. I now believe that “managing by means” with a “pattern language” is an alternative approach to managing operations that generates more stable and more satisfactory long-term financial performance than companies have ever achieved with traditional management accounting tools.

Keywords

activity-based cost management accounting history quality management production system design natural living systems

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