(BQ) Part 2 book "Cost management accounting and control" has contents: Strategic cost management, basic cost management concepts, cost behavior, activity based costing, a process systems approach, allocating costs of support departments and joint products, budgeting for planning and control,.and other contents. | Chapters Strategic Cost Management 12 Activity-Based Management 13 The Balanced Scorecard: Strategic-Based Control 14 Quality and Environmental Cost Management 15 Productivity Measurement and Control 16 © Photodisc/getty Images 11 Lean Accounting Strategic Cost Management © ImageSource/Getty Images AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO: 1. Explain what strategic cost management is and how it can be used to help a firm create a competitive advantage. 2. Discuss value-chain analysis and the strategic role of activity-based customer and supplier costing. 3. Tell what life-cycle cost management is and how it can be used to maximize profits over a product’s life cycle. 4. Identify the basic features of JIT purchasing and manufacturing. 5. Describe the effect JIT has on cost traceability and product costing. Why is one brand of ice cream viewed as better than another brand? It may reflect a deliberate decision by an ice cream producer to design and make an ice cream product that uses special ingredients and flavors rather than simply the ordinary. It is a means of differentiating the product and making it unlike those of competitors. It also may mean a conscious decision has been made to target certain types of consumers—consumers who are willing to pay for a higher quality, specialized ice cream. Whether this is a good strategy or not depends on its profitability. Cost management plays a vital role in strategic decision making. Cost information is critical in formulating and choosing strategies as well as in evaluating the continued viability of existing strategic positions. In Chapter 4, the basic concepts of activity-based costing were introduced. These concepts were illustrated using the traditional product cost definition. Activity-based product costing can significantly improve the accuracy of traditional product costs. Thus, 376 Chapter 11 Strategic Cost Management 377 inventory valuation is improved, and managers (and other .
