Skip to main content

Product Life Cycle Accounting and Target Costing

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Strategic Management Accounting, Volume I

Abstract

This chapter addresses product life cycle accounting and how target costing requires that the whole value chained be conceived and engineered. Depending on the stage of a product in its life cycle, different issues appear as strategic and therefore deserve to be accounted for. But also, the well-known notion of cost takes on different forms and shapes at each stage, requiring specific accounting systems each time. Building upon marketing research, this chapter shows how a management accounting system remains pertinent by adapting to momenta in product life cycle.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Ahrens, T., & Chapman, C. S. (2002). The structuration of legitimate performance measures and management: Day-to-day contests of accountability in a U.K. restaurant chain. Management Accounting Research, 13(2), 151–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcouffe, S., Berland, N., & Levant, Y. (2008). Actor-networks and the diffusion of management accounting innovations: A comparative study. Management Accounting Research, 19(1), 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. R., & Zeithaml, C. P. (1984). Stage of the product life cycle, business strategy, and business performance. Academy of Management Journal, 27(1), 5–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, R. N. (1952). Management controls in industrial research organizations. Chicago: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, R. N. (1965). Planning and control systems: A framework for analysis. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, R. N. (1988). The management control function. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony, R. N., Dearden, J., & Bedford, N. M. (1984). Management control systems. Homewood, IL: Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, P. (2002). The cost of activity-based management. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 27(1–2), 99–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auzair, S. Md, & Langfield-Smith, K. (2005). The effect of service process type, business strategy and life cycle stage on bureaucratic MCS in service organizations. Management Accounting Research, 16(4), 399–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BBRT. (2009a). Getting more value from benchmarking BBRT (Online Knowledge Working Papers). London: Beyond Budgetng RoundTable.

    Google Scholar 

  • BBRT. (2009b). Getting more value from outsourcing and offshoring (BBRT Online Knowledge Working Papers). London: Beyond Budgetng RoundTable.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron, B. (2002). Essentials of shared services. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berland, N. (1998). The availability of infomation and the accumulation of experiences as motors for the diffusion of budgetary control: The French experience from the 1920s to the 1960s. Accounting, Business & Financial History, 8(3), 303–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berland, N., & Boyns, T. (2002). The development of budgetary control in France and Britain from the 1920s to the 1960s: A comparison. European Accounting Review, 11(2), 329–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berland, N., & Chiapello, E. (2009). Criticisms of capitalism, budgeting and the double enrolment: Budgetary control rhetoric and social reform in France in the 1930s and 1950s. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34(1), 28–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berland, N., Joannidès, V., & Levant, Y. (2015). Quand des rhétoriques similaires justifient la naissance ou la mort des budgets. Finance Contrôle Stratégie, 18(4), 2–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhimani, A., Gosselin, M., & Ncube, M. (2005). Strategy and activity based costing: A cross national study of process and outcome contingencies. International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2(3), 187–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, C., & Toms, S. (2010). Accounting for competitive advantage: The resource-based view of the firm and the labour theory of value. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 21(3), 183–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2008.09.010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budde, J. (2009). Variance analysis and linear contracts in agencies with distorted performance measures. Management Accounting Research, 20(3), 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2008.12.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, K., & Godfrey, J. M. (2004). Reputation costs: The impetus for voluntary derivative financial instrument reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 29(2), 95–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, A., & Deams, H. (1979). Admnistrative coordination, allocation, and monitoring: A comparative analysis of the emergence of accounting and organization in the USA and Europe. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 2(2), 189–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, C. J., & Hwang, N.-C. R. (2002). The effects of country and industry on implementing value chain cost analysis. The International Journal of Accounting, 37(1), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0020-7063(02)00134-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiapello, E. (2007). Accounting and the birth of the notion of capitalism. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 18(3), 263–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chua, W. F. (2007). Accounting, measuring, reporting and strategizing—Re-using verbs: A review essay. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 32(4–5), 487–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2006.03.010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colwyn Jones, T., & Dugdale, D. (2001). The concept of an accounting regime. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 12(1), 35–63. https://doi.org/10.1006/cpac.2000.0412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cools, M., Emmanuel, C., & Jorissen, A. (2008). Management control in the transfer pricing tax compliant multinational enterprise. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 33(6), 603–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2007.05.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, R. (2017). Target costing and value engineering. London: Institute of Management Accountants.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, R., & Slagmulder, R. (1999). Develop profitable new products with target costing. Sloan Management Review, 40(4), 23–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport, T. (2000). Mission critical: Realizing the promise of enterprise systems. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dikolli, S. S., & Vaysman, I. (2006). Information technology, organizational design, and transfer pricing. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 41(1‚Äì2), 201–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2005.06.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emsley, D. (2000). Variance analysis and performance: Two empirical studies. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25(1), 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emsley, D. (2001). Redesigning variance analysis for problem solving. Management Accounting Research, 12(1), 21–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escalas, J. E., & Bettman, J. R. (2005). Self-construal, reference groups, and brand meaning. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(3), 378–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, H., & Ashworth, G. (1995). Activity-based management: Moving beyond adolescence. Management Accounting, 73(11), 26–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Everaert, P., Loosveld, S., van Acker, T., Schollier, M., & Sarens, G. (2006). Characteristics of target costing: Theoretical and field study perspectives. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 3(3), 236–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farndale, E., Paauwe, J., & Hoeksema, L. (2009). In-sourcing HR: Shared service centres in the Netherlands. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(3), 544–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagne, M. L., & Discenza, R. (1995). Target costing. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 19(1), 16–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granlund, M., & Taipaleenmki, J. (2005). Management control and controllership in new economy firms, a life cycle perspective. Management Accounting Research, 16(1), 21–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2004.09.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartman, F. (2000). The appropriateness of RAPM: Toward the further development of theory. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25(4–5), 451–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hixon, M. (1995). Activity-based management: Its purpose and benefits. Management Accounting (Cima), 73(6), 30–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, A. J. (1999). Institutional evolution and change: Environmentalism and the us chemical industry. Academy of Management Journal, 42(4), 351–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutaibat, K., Alberti-Alhtaybat (von), L., & Al-Htaybat, K. (2011). Strategic management accounting and the strategising mindset in an English higher education institutional context. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 7(4), 358–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, C. T., & Dugdale, D. (2002). The ABC bandwagon and the juggernaut of modernity. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 27(1–2), 121–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jönsson, S. (1996). Decoupling hierarchy and accountability: An examination of trust and reputation. In R. Munro & J. Mouritsen (Eds.), Accountability: Power, ethos and the technologies of managing (pp. 103–117). London: International Thomson Business Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen, B., & Messner, M. (2010). Accounting and strategising: A case study from new product development. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(2), 184–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, G. (2006). Understanding developments in the management information value chain from a structuration theory framework. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 7(4), 319–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2006.10.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kattan, F., Pike, R., & Tayles, M. (2007). Reliance on management accounting under environmental uncertainty: The case of Palestine. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 3(3), 227–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacity, M. C., & Hirschheim, R. (1993). Beyond the information system outsourcing bandwagon (Vol. 26). New York: John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laine, M. (2009). Ensuring legitimacy through rhetorical changes?—A longitudinal interpretation of the environmental disclosures of a leading Finnish chemical company. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 22(7), 1029–1054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamminmaki, D. (2008). Accounting and the management of outsourcing: An empirical study in the hotel industry. Management Accounting Research, 19(2), 163–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langfield-Smith, K., & Smith, D. (2003). Management control systems and trust in outsourcing relationships. Management Accounting Research, 14(3), 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1044-5005(03)00046-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehman, G. (2009). Globalisation and the internationalisation of accounting: New technologies, instrumentalism and harmonisation. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 20(4), 445–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, T. (2004). Smart thinking: The little car that made it big. New York: Motorbooks International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewitt, T. (1965, November–December). Exploit the product life cycle. Harvard Business Review, 43, 81–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukka, K., & Granlund, M. (2002). The fragmented communication structure within the accounting academia: The case of activity-based costing research genres. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 27(1–2), 165–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maguire, S., & Hardy, C. (2009). Discourse and deinstitutionalisation: The decline of DDT. Academy of Management Journal, 52(1), 148–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MAl-Subhi Al-Harbi, K. (1998). Sharing fractions in cost-plus-incentive-fee contracts. International Journal of Project Management, 16(2), 38–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGahan, A. M., & Porter, M. E. (2002). What do we know about variance in accounting profitability? Management Science, 48(7), 834–851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meer-Kooistra, J. van der. (1994). The coordination of internal transactions: The functioning of transfer pricing systems in the organizational context. Management Accounting Research, 5, 123–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meschi, P.-X. (2004). Valuation effect of international joint ventures: Does experience matter? International Business Review, 13(5), 595–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, C. A., & Porter, M. E. (1991). Strategy: Seeking and securing competitive advantage. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mouritsen, J., Hansen, A., & Hansen, C. O. (2001). Inter-organizational controls and organizational competencies: Episodes around target cost management/functional analysis and open book accounting. Management Accounting Research, 12(2), 221–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, B., Jones, J., & Espenlaub, S. (2006). Transaction costs and control of outsourced accounting: Case evidence from India. Management Accounting Research, 17(3), 238–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niedrich, R. W., Sharma, S., & Wedell, D. H. (2001). Reference price and price perceptions: A comparison of alternative models. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(3), 339–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otley, D., & Fakiolas, A. (2000). Reliance on accounting performance measures: Dead end or new beginning? Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25(4–5), 497–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, L. D. (2013). Contemporary university strategising: The financial imperative. Financial Accountability & Management, 29(1), 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (Ed.). (1986). Competition in global industries. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (1998a). The competitive advantage of nations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (1998b). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (2002). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (2008). On competition. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, P. (1993). Symbolic processes in the implementation of technological change: A symbolic interactionist study of work computerization. Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1400–1429. https://doi.org/10.2307/256817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajendran, K. N., & Tellis, G. L. (2001). Contextual and temporal components of reference price. Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 22–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resnik, D. B. (2003). A pluralistic account of intellectual property. Journal of Business Ethics, 46, 319–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossing, C. P., & Rohde, C. (2010). Overhead cost allocation changes in a transfer pricing tax compliant multinational enterprise. Management Accounting Research, 21(3), 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2010.01.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabatier, V., Mangematin, V., & Rousselle, T. (2010). From recipe to dinner: Business model portfolios in the European biopharmaceutical industry. Long Range Planning, 43(2–3), 431–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2010.02.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sartorius, K., & Kirsten, J. (2005). The boundaries of the firm: Why do sugar producers outsource sugarcane production? Management Accounting Research, 16(1), 81–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schöggl, J.-P., Baumgartner, R. J., & Hofer, D. (2017). Improving sustainability performance in early phases of product design: A checklist for sustainable product development tested in the automotive industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(Part 3), 1602–1617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweizer, L. (2005). Organizational integration of acquired biotechnology companies into pharmaceutical companies: The need for a hybrid approach. Academy of Management Journal, 48(6), 1051–1074. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2005.19573109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shy, O., & Stenbacka, R. (2003). Strategic outsourcing. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 50(2), 203–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simburg, M. J., Fahlberg, R., Nguyen, S., White, H. B., MacDonald, B., Zalesov, A., …,Taylor, D. (2009). International intellectual property. The International Lawyer, 43(2), 549–570. https://doi.org/10.2307/40708292

  • Simons, R. (1987a). Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 12(4), 357–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(87)90024-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. (1987b). Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 12(4), 357–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. (1990). The role of management control systems in creating competitive advantage: New perspectives. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 15(1–2), 127–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. (1991). Strategic orientation and top management attention to control systems. Strategic Management Journal, 12(1), 49–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. (2000). Performance measurement and control systems for implementing strategy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. (2005). Levers of organization design: How managers use accountability systems for greater performance and commitment. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. (2010). Seven strategy questions: A simple approach for better execution. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R., & Davila, A. (1998). How high is your return on management? Harvard Business Review, 76(1), 71–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skott-Myrhe, H. A. (2009). Youth and subculture as creative force—Creating new spaces for radical youth work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, K. G., Collins, C. J., & Clark, K. D. (2005). Existing knowledge, knowledge creation capability, and the rate of new product introduction in high-technology firms. Academy of Management Journal, 48(2), 346–357. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2005.16928421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triplett, A., & Scheuman, J. (2000). Managing shared services with ABM. Strategic Finance, 81(8), 40–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Bogaard, M. A., & Spekle, R. F. (2003). Reinventing the hierarchy: Strategy and control in the Shell Chemicals carve-out. Management Accounting Research, 14(2), 79–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S., & Wang, H. (2007). Shared services beyond sourcing the back offices: Organizational design. Human Systems Management, 26(4), 281–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weijters, B., Goedertier, F., & Verstrecken, S. (2013). Online music consumption in today’s technological context: Putting the influence of ethics in perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westkämper, E. (2000). Life cycle management and assessment: Approaches and visions towards sustainable manufacturing. Annals of the CIRP, 49(2), 501–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction cost economics: The governance of contractual relations. Journal of Law and Economics, 22(2), 233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. E. (1981). The economics of the organization: The transaction cost approach. American Journal of Sociology, 87(3), 548–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. E. (1985). The economic institutions of capitalism. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wochner, S., Grunow, M., Staeblein, T., & Stolletz, R. (2016, December). Planning for ramp-ups and new product introductions in the automotive industry: Extending sales and operations planning. International Journal of Production Economics, 182, 372–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wouters, M., Kokke, K., Theeuwes, J., & van Donselaar, K. (1999). Identification of critical operational performance measures—A research note on a benchmarking study in the transportation and distribution sector. Management Accounting Research, 10(4), 439–452. https://doi.org/10.1006/mare.1999.0109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, R. P. (2008). Eliciting cognitions of strategizing using advanced repertory grids in a world constructed and reconstructed. Organizational Research Methods, 11(4), 753–769. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428107303353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan, T., & Dooley, K. J. (2013). Communication intensity, goal congruence, and uncertainty in buyer–supplier new product development. Journal of Operations Management, 31(7–8), 523–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2013.10.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, S. S., Nasr, N., Ong, S. K., & Nee, A. Y. C. (2017). Designing automotive products for remanufacturing from material selection perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 153(1), 570–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vassili Joannidès de Lautour .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Joannidès de Lautour, V. (2018). Product Life Cycle Accounting and Target Costing. In: Strategic Management Accounting, Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92949-1_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92949-1_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92948-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92949-1

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics