Activity-Based Costing: A Synthesis of Findings on Its Adoption and Implementation

Abstract

The paper reviews the literature on the adoption and implementation (A&I) process of activity-based costing (ABC). The paper finds that the majority of the studies have tried to identify technical, behavioral, organizational and other contextual factors that result in the adoption and successful implementation of ABC. However, findings have been inconclusive and only found few specific factors for instance top management support, implementation training, non-accounting ownership and business size, to be associated with a successful process. Only few studies challenge the well-behaved adoption and implementation process assumed in the factor studies, as the process actually includes legitimization issues, power struggles among individuals and pressure from certain institutions. To advance the research within the adoption & implementation of ABC, a future research agenda is proposed. This includes a request for research within new geographical regions and organizational sizes, a demand for a new research framework in contingency-theory related factor studies and a call for research within alternative management accounting research perspectives to illustrate the complexity of the adoption & implementation process.