Cost Accounting, Process Control, and Product Design: A Case Study of the Hewlett Packard Personal Office computer Division.

ABSTRACT: This case study examines in detail the changes that were induced in a modem cost accounting system by the introduction and evolution of Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing. it is intended to do more problem finding than problem solving, in the hope of stimulating the formulation of hypotheses for further study. The project initially sought to detect whether Hewlett-Packard's JIT manufacturing experience had spawned new approaches to cost accounting or had uncovered fundamental weaknesses in traditional procedures. The most promising research opportunities to emerge, however, concern the changing relations between cost accounting, product design, process control, and quality assurance.