Activity-Based Costing (ABC) and Its Implication for Open Innovation

Patricia Quesado,Rui Silva

doi:10.3390/joitmc7010041

Abstract

Activity-based costing system, commonly known as the ABC system, emerged as a costing method capable of overcoming the limitations of traditional costing systems in face of economic and technological developments, namely, the arbitrary and imprecise allocation of indirect costs from distortions in the imputation criteria. In the current context, the development of an adequate costing system is of extreme importance in organisations because they feel the need to properly manage the resources at their disposal and control their costs to achieve efficient and effective management. Thus, this study aims to analyse international publications on the activity-based costing system in recent years, identifying trends in evolution and future research opportunities. Based on bibliometric techniques, the outputs obtained in the Web of Science (n = 752) and Scopus (n = 1107) databases were analysed in bibliometrix R package to make a systematic mapping and review of the literature. After removing duplicates, we obtained a final output of 1419 articles. The analysis of these publications points to a growing trend in the publication of articles on ABC, highlighting publications in partnership and their dispersion in magazines from different areas. The bibliometric analysis carried out results on the authors’ global research performance over time, and we highlighted the pioneering publications every five years and analysed the general evolution. When analysing based on publication authors over time, we highlighted the main research themes and countries where studies had been carried out. On the other hand, we also highlighted the collaborative network between institutions, authors, and countries over time.

Highlights

In recent years, traditional models of information and management control have been heavily criticised for failing to meet organisations’ current needs, resulting from the globalisation of the economy, the internationalisation of markets, the increase in products and services offered, and technological development
The activity-based costing (ABC) system emerged in the 1980s as a costing method capable of overcoming traditional costing systems’ limitations in the face of economic and technological developments—namely, charging the arbitrary and imprecise cost of indirect costs resulting from distortions in the imputation criteria
The bibliometric analysis carried out on the publications in which the ABC method was approached led us to carry out a general mapping of the published literature in the most relevant databases (WoS and Scopus) of scientific production

Summary

Introduction

Traditional models of information and management control have been heavily criticised for failing to meet organisations’ current needs, resulting from the globalisation of the economy, the internationalisation of markets, the increase in products and services offered, and technological development. In this sense, the increase in organisational competitiveness has led to an increase in demand for credible and timely information in organisations. In the current context, the development of an adequate costing system is of extreme importance in organisations They feel the need to properly manage the resources at their disposal and control their costs to achieve management efficiently and effectively. The products are a consequence of the activities strictly necessary to produce them and/or are a way of meeting customers’

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Conclusion