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The Activity-Based Costing Method: Development and Applications
-- Gregory Wegmann
This paper analyzes the management accounting applications, which try to improve
the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) method. First, the paper describes them using the Strategic
Management Accounting (SMA) stream. Then it presents the main features of these applications. Second, the paper
examines in detail two of these features: the widening of the analysis perimeter and the relevant level of details to
analyze the costs. Subsequently, it analyzes several proposals, such as Customer-Driven ABC, Interorganizational
Cost Management (IOCM), Resource Consumption Accounting (RCA) and Time-Driven ABC (TDABC). Finally,
it describes an experience observed in the IT supply European division of an international group. This
group experiments, what we call an `Activity-Based Supply Chain Costing Tool' to manage its
interorganizational relations.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
The Use of Financial and
Non-Financial Performance Measures
in the Malaysian Manufacturing Companies
-- Tze San Ong and Boon Heng Teh
This paper discusses the degree to which financial and non-financial measures of performance are used within
the Malaysian manufacturing companies. A questionnaire
survey was conducted and information on 77
companies was obtained. The paper investigates the generation and use of the measures as well as
assesses the commonality between management theory and reported practice. The
findings indicate that although the best practice (in academic
terms) is apparent in some companies, the use of these measures in the determination of business strategy has not yet
become a standard practice.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Appraisal of Urban Cooperative Banks: A Case Study
-- Amit Basak
Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) figure among the vital segments of the banking industry of the country.
They essentially cater to the credit needs of persons of small means. Though some UCBs have performed creditably
in the recent years, a large number of them have shown discernible signs of weakness. The operational efficiency
is unsatisfactory and characterized by low profitability, ever-growing Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and relatively
low capital base. The large-scale sickness in the UCBs has shaken the public confidence in cooperative banks. In
this context, this paper makes an attempt to examine the working and financial performance of the UCBs. To make
the analysis simpler and presentable, the author takes up the Contai Co-operative Bank Ltd., one of the leading
UCBs in West Bengal for a case study. The objective of the study is to identify and analyze the trend, progress
and problems of this bank, to throw light on the problems of swelling NPAs and to offer some meaningful
suggestions for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of this bank. The study is based on secondary data and
other information provided by the bank in its published annual reports. The relevant data have been collected for
the period from 1995-96 to 2006-07. This data have been analyzed with the help of statistical tools like
ratios, percentages, averages and trend analysis, chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
A Review of Indian
and International Accounting Standards and Practices in India
-- H S Bajpayee and Anubha Srivastava
"Accounting is as old as money itself". Chanakya in his Arthashastra emphasized on the existence and the
need of proper accounting and auditing. However, modern system of accounting owes its origin to Pacioli who
lived in Italy in the 18th century. In those early days, business transactions were not so complex due to the
existence of small and easily manageable
organizations, which were managed by the proprietor himself. "Accounting to
be useful on an integral basis for economic development must be convenient and practiced in a broad context.
It must encompass the private and public enterprises (financial and management) and government and
national accounting, these branches of accounting refers to accounting information system." Accounting standards
have been and are being formulated at different levels. At the international penal, the accounting standards are
set up by the International Accounting Standards Board. For different countries, the accounting standards
are formulated by duly recognized and constituted authority keeping in mind: the objective of harmonizing
the national accounting standards, and the legal provisions of accounting practices and other factors relating to
that particular country. According to AICPA-1 (1973), "Accounting standards may be regarded as a principal
which has been logically derived from the objective of accounting, which has been awarded the stamp of authority
with the intention of producing guidelines for formulation of accounting practices comparable with the objective".
In this paper, an attempt has been made to exhibit the disclosure practices in India by Indian companies by
dividing them into three levels as per the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
India (ICAI) norms and further a questionnaire survey has been conducted to reach a conclusion that up to what extent Indian companies
are complying with the Indian as well as international accounting standards.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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