This research question explores organizational accountability for target costing from both a functional and a team perspective. First, is there any function within the organization that has been assigned or has taken primary responsibility for the target costing process within the organization? The question considers who provides leadership and direction, as well as who reports results to top management. This does not mean that others are not held accountable, but instead it examines which function or functions mentioned are most closely identified with target costing within the organization. Providing direction and leadership is a role that is recognized, often formally, by others within the organization. Given that this study was conducted from the perspective of the supply management function, it is not surprising that several of the organizations studied indicated that supply management has primary accountability for target costing execution and results in the organization (see Fig. 8). Target costing is not institutionalized among the three organizations in which supply management has sole primary accountability and non-traditional or modified approaches to target costing are used instead. In all of these organizations, supply management was actually the driver of target costing, and target costing was in the early stages of development. It makes sense that the driver would also be the leader. The same principle accounts for the leadership role of accounting/finance at the Manufacturing Equipment and Semiconductor Firms, because the accounting function drives their target costing process.
In three organizations the primary accountability is shared between purchasing and R&D or engineering. This reflects the relatively high level of importance of purchasing involvement with engineering and design to support supplier participation in new product development and target costing. Marketing also can play a key role, as in firms Telecommunications B and Electronic Equipment. Because marketing is often the source of target costing data and frequently has revenue and profit responsibility, this overall accountability is a good fit. In the Aerospace case, there was no one functional area that could be identified as primarily responsible; it was truly a team responsibility.
Where the accountability for target costing lies within an organization can be very relevant for participation and cooperation among functions. For example, supply management at the Automotive Manufacturer had principal responsibility for target costing until the mid 1990s. It was often difficult to get the attention of product designers to changes when target costs could not be met due primarily to design issues. Today, supply management shares leadership responsibility with R&D design. This shared approach, and other associated internal changes, such as greater visibility of target costing, have been important reasons why the Auto- motive Manufacturer has exceeded its expectations in achieving its target cost in recent years.
Operational accountability for target costing refers to the function(s) that do the ongoing work to make target costing successful within an organization. Fig. 9 shows the division of operational responsibility. Again, in all organizations except for Telecommunications A and Transport Services, accountability is shared. In both of these organizations, supply management has primary responsibility for the operational success of target costing, is driving costing, and is working toward making target costing a more ‘‘routine’’ way of doing business within the organization. In all other organizations, operational accountability is shared. This is consistent with previous research that indicates target costing is most effectively performed by a cross- functional team (Cooper and Slagmulder, 1997; Ansari and Bell, 1997). Another interesting finding is the relatively low level of operational responsibility ac- counting has for achieving target costs. While accounting plays a critical role in developing and analyzing target costs, it is generally not held accountable for achieving those costs.