New Systems for Measurement and Control

Companies' attempts to adapt to today's technological capabilities and globally competitive environment have been greatly constrained by antiquated accounting systems. Improved management accounting systems can be designed: 1) for operational control, to motivate the learning and improvement activities for managers and employees, and to provide feedback on the efficiency of operating processes; 2) for activity-based costing, to calculate accurately the profitability of individual products and customers; and 3) for capital investment decisions, to guide decisions on acquiring advanced technological capabilities. The paper summarizes recent advances in all three applications.