1st Edition

Activity Based Management Improving Processes and Profitability

By Brian Plowman Copyright 2001
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    This title was first published in 2001: Product and particularly customer profitability are black holes in most managers’ understanding of their business. Identifying customer revenue is easy but identifying what they cost - so we can understand whether or not they are profitable - is difficult. In a world in which competition, regulation and the increasing use of the Internet put ever greater pressure on margins it is vitally important to understand both product- and customer-profitability. Activity Based Management (ABM) enables you to do this. This book explains the power of using ABM to increase the profitability of your business. It provides step-by-step guidance on basic principles, comparisons between traditional methods, definitions of processes, activities and cost-drivers as well as details of data collection techniques and implementation steps. Through the book’s numerous detailed examples a logical picture builds up of how to obtain the benefits that ABM can deliver. On its own ABM will change management decision-making: by showing how ABM also supports other profit improvement initiatives such as Business Process Reengineering, Shareholder Value Added and Customer Relationship Management, managers will learn how they can use the best possible toolkit to put their business firmly on the road to leaps in profitability.

    Contents: Introduction. Part I: The Context: Historical perspective; What is ABM?; Frameworks for measurement and improvement; The ABM framework. Part II: ABM in Practice: The ABM flow of costs; The basic principles of building models; Undertaking an ABM project; Integrating improvement approaches. Part III: Case Studies: How ABM made a difference - lessons from case studies. Part IV Conclusions: Pulling it all together. Appendix - Glossary of terms; Index.Contents:

    Biography

    Brian Plowman is a Director and founding partner of Develin & Partners, a UK-based management consultancy. Previous industrial experience includes appointments in the UK and mainland Europe, as well as being Managing Director of a group of manufacturing companies. Brian has over 20 years' consulting experience, covering many aspects of corporate transformation. He is co-editor and contributor to Quality Management in the CIMA Professional Handbook series and author of High Value, Low Cost (Financial Times/Pitman). As well as being a regular speaker at conferences he is also a course presenter for CIMA, the ACCA and ICAS.

    'The book is attractively produced and merits a wide readership.' Company Accountant, February 2002 ’From time to time, one picks up a book which, even at the most cursory of glances, exudes authority. This is one such. His book is packed with good, sound, factual information right from page one.’ Modern Management '...a highly informative book...easy to read and understand...' International Journal of Production Research