Evaluating ABC Projects: Sponsors, Gatekeepers, Enablers, and Impediments

Abstract

In Chapters 4 and 5 we focused on the ABC design team and how team dynamics affect project outcomes and are affected by external circumstances. In this chapter we decrease the magnification of our microscope to get a broader view of ABC implementation while retaining our focus on specific ABC implementation projects. Specifically, we address the question of which organizational and technical factors affect outcomes of ABC implementation projects. Historically, ABC implementation studies have focused on “fixing” traditional cost Systems’ distorted product costs by using causally related “cost drivers” to assign overhead costs. Later studies argued that a judiciously designed ABC System could also be an effective tool for modifying employee behavior to support corporate strategy.¹ Since then, evidence of ABC implementation failures² has caused researchers to suggest that achieving either objective depends critically on certain organizational and technical factors. Research³ Supports this; however, as discussed in Chapter 2, these studies focus on a firm’s overall experience with ABC rather than on specific ABC implementation projects.