From design of activity-based costing systems to their regular use

Objeto: Entender por qué muchas empresas que desarrollan modelos de costes basados en actividades (ABC) no los utilizan de forma regular. Diseño/metodología/enfoque: Revisamos la literatura existente sobre el proceso de implementación de modelos ABC, concentrándonos específicamente en el paso de la aceptación de un modelo ABC a su uso rutinario. Identificamos factores clave para la introducción de los sistemas ABC como herramienta de gestión operativa y los utilizamos para interpretar la experiencia de dos empresas que ilustran, respectivamente, un éxito y un fracaso. Aportaciones y resultados: Se identifican dieciséis factores candidatos a influir positiva o negativamente en la utilización real del modelo. Estos factores se pueden agrupar en seis categorías: factores estratégicos, individuales, organizativos, tecnológicos, operativos y externos. Valor añadido: Este trabajo arroja luz sobre la situación paradójica de que el uso rutinario de los sistemas ABC no es tan común como podría esperarse dada su aceptación generalizada en un nivel conceptual.Purpose: To understand why many companies that develop activity-based costing (ABC) systems do not use them on a regular basis. Design/methodology/approach: We review the existing literature on the process of ABC implementation, concentrating specifically on the step from the acceptance of an ABC model to its routine use. We identify key factors for successful uptake of ABC systems as a regular management tool and use these factors to interpret the experience of two companies that illustrate, respectively, a success and a failure. Findings: Sixteen factors are identified that positively or negatively influence the actual use of ABC costing systems. These factors can be grouped into six categories: strategic, individual, organizational, technological, operational and external factors. Originality/value: This paper sheds some light on the paradoxical situation that regular usage of ABC systems is not as common as might be expected given their widespread acceptance on a conceptual level.Peer Reviewe

The activity-based costing model trajectory: A path of lights and shadows

Purpose: To present a literature review showing the trajectory of the ABC model. Design/methodology: Literature review. Findings: This paper analyzes the history of the ABC model and its dissemination process, in the form of articles published in the specialized press. Research limitations/implications: The bibliometric study has been carried out based on specialized journals. Practical implications: Before a new strategic management tool is adopted, its strategic or operational contribution to the organization should be analyzed. The adoption of new tools based on current trends or as part of mimetic processes, could imply financial investments that do not produce the desired effects. Originality/value: This work is an analysis of the trajectory of the ABC model from its appearance to the present time.Peer Reviewe

Do business games foster skills? A cross-cultural study from learners’ views

Purpose: This study seeks to analyse students’ perception of the effectiveness of business games as an e-learning method in management training. This analysis of games’ effectiveness is centred in the generic and managerial skills acquired, through the comparison of students’ opinions in different cultural contexts within Europe. Design/methodology: The analysis focuses on 120 management students at postgraduate level who use the same business game at different universities in five European countries: Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Findings: The results indicate that students positively assessed the generic and specific managerial skills fostered by the business game. The generic skills most valued were information and decision-making, and leadership. Regarding the specific skills, the most valued were management skills and the least valued, skills related to planning and the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. However, significant differences were found between students in different cultural contexts and education systems in the case of certain specific managerial skills. Practical implications: This finding suggests that the students’ perception of how a business game helps them acquire specific managerial skills is influenced by cultural aspects and previous exposure to experiential learning, which determine that the teachers’ role and the teaching process should be adapted to the students’ learning model. Originality/value: With this study, a better knowledge about the students’ perception of this e-learning method is obtained, not just considering a specific educational environment, but comparing opinions of students from different cultural contexts, which adds value to the analyses developed.Peer Reviewe

The activity-based costing model trajectory: A path of lights and shadows

Purpose: To present a literature review showing the trajectory of the ABC model. Design/methodology: Literature review. Findings: This paper analyzes the history of the ABC model and its dissemination process, in the form of articles published in the specialized press. Research limitations/implications: The bibliometric study has been carried out based on specialized journals. Practical implications: Before a new strategic management tool is adopted, its strategic or operational contribution to the organization should be analyzed. The adoption of new tools based on current trends or as part of mimetic processes, could imply financial investments that do not produce the desired effects. Originality/value: This work is an analysis of the trajectory of the ABC model from its appearance to the present time

Where are we going with languages? A consultative report of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry

A UK-wide inquiry appointed by the Nuffield FoundationSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m00/26034 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Do business games foster skills? A cross-cultural study from learners’ views

Purpose: This study seeks to analyse students’ perception of the effectiveness of business games as an e-learning method in management training. This analysis of games’ effectiveness is centred in the generic and managerial skills acquired, through the comparison of students’ opinions in different cultural contexts within Europe. Design/methodology: The analysis focuses on 120 management students at postgraduate level who use the same business game at different universities in five European countries: Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Findings: The results indicate that students positively assessed the generic and specific managerial skills fostered by the business game. The generic skills most valued were information and decision-making, and leadership. Regarding the specific skills, the most valued were management skills and the least valued, skills related to planning and the acquisition of theoretical knowledge. However, significant differences were found between students in different cultural contexts and education systems in the case of certain specific managerial skills. Practical implications: This finding suggests that the students’ perception of how a business game helps them acquire specific managerial skills is influenced by cultural aspects and previous exposure to experiential learning, which determine that the teachers’ role and the teaching process should be adapted to the students’ learning model. Originality/value: With this study, a better knowledge about the students’ perception of this e-learning method is obtained, not just considering a specific educational environment, but comparing opinions of students from different cultural contexts, which adds value to the analyses developed

La implantación integral de la formación por competencias en titulaciones transversales: la experiencia de los Estudios de Economía y Empresa de la UOC

Objeto: Este trabajo presenta una buena práctica de renovación metodológica, orientada al desarrollo y evaluación de competencias transversales y específicas, de forma coordinada para el conjunto de un grado de gran dimensión y con numerosas asignaturas comunes a otros grados. El propósito final es elaborar una descripción completa de lo que se considera una buena gestión del cambio en contextos educativos, para facilitar su adopción en otras organizaciones. Diseño/metodología/enfoque: La descripción de esta experiencia sigue los niveles sugeridos por Zabalza Beraza (2012) para describir las buenas prácticas docentes: contexto, fundamentación, evolución, situación actual, impacto y resultados, valoración por parte de los implicados, transferibilidad. El proceso de evolución, propiamente dicho, se estructura según el modelo de cambio organizativo de Kurt Lewin (1947). El proceso ha contado con la participación de todo el profesorado de los Estudios de Economía y la Empresa (EEyE) de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Aportaciones y resultados: Comparados con otros estudios en la materia, la buena práctica es de amplio alcance (40 profesores y 154 asignaturas). En este proceso han resultado factores clave de éxito la implicación de la dirección, la creación de la figura de los “padrinos”, así como la existencia de resultados de mejora tangibles en el corto plazo. Además, se ha evidenciado la necesidad de formación del profesorado para la implantación efectiva de la formación basada en competencias, sobre todo, en relación a las competencias transversales y en entornos online. Limitaciones: El éxito de este proceso de renovación se ha visto favorecido por la ausencia de estructuras departamentales rígidas y poco permeables, así como por el número relativamente reducido de profesorado de la Facultad o EEyE. Originalidad / Valor añadido: Este trabajo contribuye a la escasa literatura que se focaliza en el proceso que siguen las universidades y, en particular, las españolas, para gestionar el complejo proceso de cambio que supone la incorporación de las competencias en su actividad docente cotidiana