Activity-Based Cost Management: An Executive's Guide.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Book Shelf

By Gary Cokins. John Wiley & Sons, 374 pages. $29.95

No one picking up Activity-Based Cost Management should be anticipating a light read. This is a deep subject, and one Gary Cokins knows very well. The result is a literal primer on the field, which has gained real popularity in recent years as corporations strain to allocate costs properly, cut product expenses and prepare accurate forecasts.

Cokins, who is director of industry relations at ABC Technologies, a major software player in this arena, argues that ABC/M is not merely an improvement program or change initiative. He compares ABC/M to a doctor's stethoscope, saying that the organization "is constantly burning up its resources through its activities into its outputs, regardless of whether...