CHAPTER 2 Introduction to Cost Management Systems After completing this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions: Why do organizations have management control systems? What is a cost management system and what are its primary goals? | CHAPTER Introduction to Cost Management Systems 2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES Ater completing this chapter you should be able to answer the following questions 0 Why do organizations have management control systems 0 What is a cost management system and what are its primary goals 0 What major factors influence the design of a cost management system s Why should one consider organizational form structure and culture when designing a cost management system 0 How do the internal and external operating environments impact the cost management system 0 What three groups of elements affect the design of a cost management system and how are these elements used 0 How is gap analysis used in the implementation of a cost management system INTRODUCING Motorola Inc. hen times are tough some people eat their seed corn. Motorola managers are planting theirs. Despite recent struggles in businesses such as cellular phones and satellites this big electronics company is boosting efforts in basic research that might not pay off for several years. Motorola s initiative is not yet in the league of such companies as International Business Machines Corp. or Lucent Technologies but it is taking the company in some unusual directions. The biggest breakthrough so far has been organizational. This past November Motorola combined separate research groups for wireless communications chips and other products into a single corporate entity called Motorola http Labs. The goal was to reduce duplication spend funds more efficiently and develop ideas faster. Surprisingly the move didn t mean cost savings after looking at other big companies research arms Motorola officials concluded they were spending too little. We discovered there s a relatively steady proportion spent on research about one percent of prior-year revenues. We were a little below that recalls Dennis Robertson Motorola s chief technology officer. Motorola began loosening the spending spigot. The one percent goal with Motorola s .
