Activity-Based Total Quality Management at American Express
Cost
Management
Journal of
A WARREN GORHAM LAMONT PUBLICATION
Vol. 7, No. 1 Spring 1993
Target Costing at Toyota
Activity-Based Costing in Cellular Manufacturing Systems
Controlling Quality on a Multidimensional Level
The Effect of JIT on Management Accounting
Activity-Based Total Quality Management at American
Express
From the Editors / Barry J. Brinker
Cost Management Practice / Steven C. Schnoebelen
The Factory in Transition / Arun Maira
Reprinted with permission from The Journal of Cost Management, Volume 7, Number: 1 c1993
Research Institute of America, Inc., Warren Gorham Lamont Professional Publishing Division,
210 South St., Boston, MA 02111. All rights reserved.
Activity-Based Total Quality
Management at American Express
David A. Carlson and S. Mark Young
Product costing and a quality strategy are related in the sense that both seek answers to difficult questions of how and where information workers spend their time. This article illustrates how activity-based costing contributes not only to the achievement of accurate product costs, but also to improved quality at American Express Integrated Payment Systems
(IPS). Activity costs at IPS were determined by asking each manager to estimate the time that his department spends on each activity, then splitting those activity estimates across each product line. To achieve the objectives of total quality management
(TQM), these activity costs were augmented with perceptual data that various stakeholders expressed about the activities. The article suggests how similar approaches to TQM can benefit other service organizations or the service functions of manufacturing companies. A
t American Express, a commitment to total quality management
(TQM) comes from the top. The
Chairman, CEO, and Chief Quality Officer at American Express is
James D. Robinson III, who stresses that quality must be integrated with business strategy. As a result, business unit heads
Management
Journal of
A WARREN GORHAM LAMONT PUBLICATION
Vol. 7, No. 1 Spring 1993
Target Costing at Toyota
Activity-Based Costing in Cellular Manufacturing Systems
Controlling Quality on a Multidimensional Level
The Effect of JIT on Management Accounting
Activity-Based Total Quality Management at American
Express
From the Editors / Barry J. Brinker
Cost Management Practice / Steven C. Schnoebelen
The Factory in Transition / Arun Maira
Reprinted with permission from The Journal of Cost Management, Volume 7, Number: 1 c1993
Research Institute of America, Inc., Warren Gorham Lamont Professional Publishing Division,
210 South St., Boston, MA 02111. All rights reserved.
Activity-Based Total Quality
Management at American Express
David A. Carlson and S. Mark Young
Product costing and a quality strategy are related in the sense that both seek answers to difficult questions of how and where information workers spend their time. This article illustrates how activity-based costing contributes not only to the achievement of accurate product costs, but also to improved quality at American Express Integrated Payment Systems
(IPS). Activity costs at IPS were determined by asking each manager to estimate the time that his department spends on each activity, then splitting those activity estimates across each product line. To achieve the objectives of total quality management
(TQM), these activity costs were augmented with perceptual data that various stakeholders expressed about the activities. The article suggests how similar approaches to TQM can benefit other service organizations or the service functions of manufacturing companies. A
t American Express, a commitment to total quality management
(TQM) comes from the top. The
Chairman, CEO, and Chief Quality Officer at American Express is
James D. Robinson III, who stresses that quality must be integrated with business strategy. As a result, business unit heads