on the three activities and then
assign the department’s resource expenses according to the average percentages you get
from the survey.Let’s say employees report
that they spend (or expect to spend) about 70%
of their time on customer orders, 10% on inquiries or complaints, and 20% on credit
checks. This implies, under ABC, that each
order consumes $8 of resource expense, each
inquiry $40, and each credit check $44.80, as
shown in the exhibit “Doing ABC the Traditional Way.” Armed with these figures, known
as the cost-driver rates, managers can assign
the costs of the department’s resources to the
customers and products that use its services.
This approach works well in the limited setting in which it was initially applied