بکارگیری هزینه یابی بر مبنای فعالیت در یک محیط زنجیره تامین

Traditional intra-firm cost accounting tools are not appropriate in the context of supply chain management, as there are no standards for the definition and composition of costs. This prohibits exchange and comparison of cost data among different supply chain members. Against this background, several activity-based costing models for inter-firm cost accounting have been proposed. Evaluating these models, a conceptual framework for activity-based costing in a supply chain has been developed. This also forms the basis for a single case study conducted at Europe's largest company for façade components. This demonstrates how significant inter-firm cost saving opportunities can be identified and offers a first step in assessing the suitability of the proposed model.

In the course of the lean manufacturing movements in the early 1990s, optimisation programs were carried out, which mainly focussed on intra-firm specific processes (Jones et al., 1997). Besides concentrating on core competencies, one major reason was to reduce a company's own contribution to a product's value by outsourcing up to 70% of it to outside suppliers (McCarthy and Anagnostou, 2004). Such increased outsourcing of functions has put high demands on the coordination of activities within the supply chain. It is necessary to align inter-company material- and information-flows in order to meet market demands, e.g. to react flexibly in the sense of product functions, demand fluctuations or new delivery service requirements. Therefore, coordination is defined as a method to secure the effective and efficient combination of various firm-specific competencies with regard to manifold objects (information, actions, decisions, goals, etc.) (Simatupang et al., 2002). In line with this a debate on supply chain integration has emerged (see e.g. the review in Van der Vaart and van Donk, 2008). Low total costs are frequently considered as a typical operational goal for supply chain management, asking for the application of cost management tools as “obvious” candidates (Mouritsen et al., 2001 and Israelsen and Jørgensen, 2011). They are regarded as an impartial criterion for the evaluation of the profitability of strategic or operational action. Such information is usually available on an intra-company level, as it can be generated by intra-firm cost accounting tools (Askarany and Yazdifar, 2011). The coordination of a supply chain calls for an inter-firm accounting tool to secure the effective and efficient coordination of the value chain (LaLonde and Pohlen, 1996). This holds for the introduction of a completely new supply chain strategy as well as for the optimisation of certain processes (Seuring, 2009). Managers must be able to effectively assess in advance the cost consequences of any supply chain or process reconfiguration. Therefore, companies need inter-company cost accounting tools (Seuring, 2002a and Cooper and Slagmulder, 2004). These tools should enable them to assess costs based on a predetermined set of basic cost accounting standards in order to guarantee objective and rational decisions (LaLonde and Pohlen, 1996). Only a detailed assessment at every level of the supply chain allows distributing costs and benefits equally along the supply chain and leads, finally, to the “optimal” configuration of the supply chain network. Due to the practical relevance of inter-firm cost accounting standards, some researchers have taken up these preconditions and have developed conceptual models for cost accounting in supply chains. Many of these considerations are based on activity-based costing as a related cost management technique (for a critical look at its status of implementation see Askarany and Yazdifar, 2011). However, such approaches concentrate on certain aspects of supply chain management and respective performance measures, only. Often, they concentrate just on efficiency increases in existing two-tier partnerships (see e.g. the literature review section in Zimmermann and Seuring, 2009). In doing so, such activity-based costing models leave considerations regarding an effective network set-up and spreading of production activities outside their scope, form a one of a kind approach and do not deal with how to integrate and compare different company accounting standards in one activity-based costing model (as discussed in the literature review). Therefore this research approach focuses on the possibilities and limitations inherent in activity-based costing methodology for inter-firm cost accounting. The underlying inductive assumption is that by picking up theoretical insights existing models could be falsified, verified or modified by practical insights resulting in a new comprehensive framework. Therefore the research questions can be formulated as follows: (1) How can activity-based costing in a supply chain be conceptualised in line with typical aims of an effective configuration and operation of the supply chain? (2) What (explorative) insights can be gained towards the validity of such an activity-based costing application in a supply chain based on a single case study? This leads to the following structure of the paper, which comprises two major parts. The first section summarises previous research on inter-firm activity-based costing. Reflecting on these demands supply chain management places on inter-firm cost accounting, preliminary ideas about the design of such cost management systems are outlined. Based on this a conceptual activity-based costing model for the context of supply chain management is developed. Within the second part, these ideas are tested in a case study, which was conducted at a Germany based leading producer of façade components. This will be presented and discussed against the theoretical background developed in the first part. The paper concludes with a critical reflection on the findings by discussing the chances and limitations of inter-firm activity-based costing.

Although costing issues form a major part of any supply chain project and, furthermore, form a key dimension of supply chain management, only a few research papers propose methods on how to deal with, calculate and distribute costs in inter-firm relationships. This paper revealed that actual approaches focus only on certain aspects of supply chain management, and do not entirely reflect key requirements. Furthermore, practical applications are missing, especially as most contributions, if at all, focus on dyadic relationships. Reasons are the complexity of data standardisation, collection, and processing as well as the inherent complexity of the activity-based costing approach itself. Against this background, a conceptual activity-based costing model was developed dealing with the mentioned criteria. The model was tested in a case study. The case study revealed that standardized cost information, i.e. an activity-based costing tool implemented at all supply chain members, can support related supply chain decisions. Through standardisation of cost information activities, processes can be assessed regarding an effective overall design and an efficient performance. Moreover, in the case of shifting activities in order to improve overall supply chain performance for the sake of increasing one member's costs, overall benefits can be distributed equally across the members of the supply chain. However, the supply chain under consideration is characterised by long-term partnerships. The focal company can foster directions and changes easier than in heterarchical supply networks. Another point is that the case study focussed on production and distribution issues, although cost aspects of e.g. product development in supply chains should also be investigated to validate the model. Summing up, the model and case revealed that inter-company cost accounting along the supply chain can foster strategic decisions. However, there is still need for research identifying origin, scope and classification of cost factors exogenous to a company's own sphere of influence. Thus it has to be evaluated in detail what sort of company-specific decisions affect the cost situations of suppliers and customers and how these decisions can be communicated along the supply chain, respectively, before they are made. Against this background, supply chain integration needs to be discussed with some kind of neutral distance. In fact, only certain processes should be integrated under the premise of a better total supply chain performance. Aiming at integrating all processes may work against this objective.