EVALUATING THE SUCCESS CONDITIONS OF THE ACTIVITY BASED COSTING METHOD IN TURKEY FROM THE CULTURAL CONTEXT

Year 2018, , 107 - 124, 26.12.2018

Rifat Yılmaz

https://doi.org/10.22139/jobs.430675

Abstract

In the mid-1980s, the Activity Based Costing (ABC) was
developed as a costing method to achieve more accurate product costs and more
accurate cost measurement by Robert S. Kaplan and Robin Cooper for better
business management. ABC has been developed primarily to overcome the
shortcomings of the traditional volume-based cost accounting method in the
distribution of overhead costs. ABC is a costing system that focuses on
activities to determine costs.  The most
important benefit of this system is the fact that ABC systems provide product
cost information that is closer to reality than traditional volume-based
costing methods. The ABC system provides business managers with accurate
information on producing and selling different products. Using this
information, business authorities have the advantage of making healthier
decisions about pricing and production quantities.

One of the most important benefits provided by the ABC
system is the ability to monitor the expenses of the entity's functions or
departments for the activities. In this way, managers are provided with the
opportunity to increase the efficiency of the activity, to eliminate the
activity or to make decisions such as obtaining the activity from outside the company.
The most important criticism of ABC systems is the difficulty in setting up and
implementing these systems. Adopting an ABC system to business executives is hard
work. The main problem is how the system starts. Business managers may be
reluctant to switch to this system because the system is time-consuming and
costly. The ABC application is not only an accounting system but also an
organizational change initiative. First of all, managers need to evaluate ABC
in this way for a successful ABC application. Therefore, cultural factors gain
importance in the success of ABC.

Although ABC is an adequate method to provide more
accurate cost information for businesses, the results are not satisfactory for
the practitioners. One of the reasons may be cultural factors. Very few studies
have been conducted to investigate the relationship between culture and ABC
application success.   It is necessary to
think about the effect of culture as the national culture and organizational
culture. The basic element in the development of the cultural characteristics
of the organizations is the social values, namely the national culture. The
shared values of the organization form its culture. Such cultural values may be
related to how communication is done, how decisions are made or how people are
progressing in the organization.

The aim of this study is to explore national cultural
influences regarding successful implementation of ABC. The ABC was evaluated
based on Hofstede (2011)’s six variable cultural model. Hofstede (2011), in
relation to national cultural differences, has formed a model that determines
the six basic dimensions of culture. These;

Power Distance: This index focuses on the problem of
equality and inequality among employees within the enterprise. If this index is
high, it means that people accept inequalities resulting from power and wealth.
The low levels of the index mean that people do not accept inequalities due to
power and wealth.

Individualism and Collectivism: This index focuses on
how much individuals are integrated into groups. In individualist societies,
inter-individual ties are not tight; each is obliged to care for himself and
his family. In collectivist societies, people are dependent on groups and are
generally responsible for what they do as a group and what they do for the
group. The high level of this index indicates that the society is
individualistic and the low level of this index indicates that it is
collectivist.

Masculinity-Femininity: This index focuses on gender
discrimination. The high level of this index means dominance of male domination
in society. The low index means that the population is not differentiated on a
gender basis and the level of discrimination is low. In countries where this
index is low, gender equality is at the forefront, and gender discrimination is
low.

Uncertainty Avoidance: This index refers to the extent
to which individuals within a culture are avoided by uncertain situations. The
question of how society reacts to the unknown future. The high index of this index
means that this society prefers the right rules, laws, controls and various
other regulations to reduce uncertainty. The low index means that society is
less concerned about uncertainty and that the level of tolerance for
uncontrollable situations and changes is higher. Uncertainties are accepted as
a part of everyday life, and they are generally more comfortable and flexible
in these situations.

Time Compatibility (Short or Long Term Orientation):
If this index is high, the society has a longer-term tendency to think, the
lower level of the index shows that the society has the short-term thinking. In
the long-term oriented cultures, their values are shaped according to these
interests. For example, they save money for investments and are patient. In this
respect, these people are dynamic in their thoughts. In the short-term oriented
cultures, people believe that there is only one absolute truth and expect
immediate results.

Tolerance and Restriction: This dimension reveals the
view of society to freely satisfy the needs and desires of the individual. The
high level of this index shows the tolerance in this area while the low level
shows the limitation. Hence, cultures can be defined as tolerant or intolerant
(restricted tolerance).

It has been determined that the cultural
characteristics of the Turkish society are the collective, feminine and high
power distance features.  The first two
of these cultural characteristics can influence the success of the ABC
application. It is considered that the high power distances existing in the
Turkish society may weaken the co-operation in the enterprise because of the
weakness of intra-enterprise communication. 
In this context, it has also been discussed how to reduce the negative
effects of high power distance. It has been evaluated that ABC may encounter
problems in the first adoption stage regarding the cultural structure of
Turkish society. In the stage of application, the Turkish culture structure
shows a characteristic that will affect ABC success positively. However, it
should be noted that this cultural structure alone will not be enough for
success. Attention should be paid to variables related to behavioural,
organizational structure and technical issues.

Keywords

Activity Based Costing, Cost Management, Turkish Culture

KÜLTÜR BAĞLAMINDA FAALİYET TABANLI MALİYETLEME YÖNTEMİNİN TÜRKİYE’DE BAŞARI KOŞULLARININ DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Abstract

Amaç: 1980’li yılların ortalarında geleneksel
Amerikan yönetim muhasebesi sisteminin yetersizliklerine karşı olarak
geliştirilen Faaliyet Tabanlı Maliyetleme Yönteminin (FTM) başarılı bir şekilde
uygulanabilmesi açısından milli kültürün etkilerinin ortaya konulmasıdır.

Yöntem:  Doğru maliyet hesaplama açısından oldukça
yeterli bir yöntem olan FTM’nin, Hofstede (2011)’in 6 değişkenli kültür modeli
ekseninde,  Türk kültür yapısına uygun
olup olmadığı ve Türk kültürünün FTM başarısını nasıl etkileyebileceği, FTM’nin
organizasyonel, teknik ve davranışsal başarı faktörleri de dikkate alınarak değerlendirilmiştir.

Bulgular: Türk toplumunun kültürel özellikleri
olarak,  kolektivist, dişil ve yüksek güç
mesafesi özelliklerinin ön plana çıktığı belirlenmiş ve bu kültürel
özelliklerden ilk ikisinin FTM uygulamasının başarısını artırıcı yönde etki edebileceği
değerlendirilmiştir. Türk toplumunda mevcut olan yüksek güç mesafesinin işletme
içi iletişimi zayıflatabileceği bu açıdan da işbirliğini azaltabileceği
değerlendirilerek, yüksek güç mesafesinin olumsuz etkilerinin nasıl
azaltılabileceği ele alınmıştır.

Sonuç: Türk kültür yapısı açısından FTM’nin
ilk benimsenme aşamasında sorunla karşılaşabileceği değerlendirilmiştir. Uygulama
aşaması açısından ise Türk kültür yapısı FTM başarısını pozitif yönde etkileyecek
bir özellik göstermektedir. Ancak şunu belirtmek gerekir ki sadece bu kültür
yapısı başarı için tek başına yeterli olmayacaktır. Davranışsal, organizasyonel
yapı ve teknik konularla ilgili değişkenlere de dikkat edilmesi gerekmektedir.

Keywords

Faaliyet Tabanlı Maliyetleme, Maliyet Yönetimi, Türk Kültürü

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