examine fundamental business processes and enabling them to reengineer the way they do
business. ABC systems can also play an essential strategic role in building and maintaining
a successful e-commerce business because they can answer questions about production
costs and help managers allocate resources more effectively.
Case-in-Point 1.9 Art.com, with its collection of prints, posters, and photographs, combined
with its custom framing service, offers consumers unlimited opportunities to find ‘‘just
the right piece of artwork.’’ It’s a dot-com success story. When the start-up company turned
to professionals to help it build a long-term successful business, the consultants used ABC to
identify 12 key activities. By focusing on the most costly activities, company executives find
that they can do a better job of managing resources.8