Kostenmanagement: Bestandsaufnahme und kritische Beurteilung der empirischen Forschung

Since the beginning of the 1990s cost management is widely discussed on a conceptual basis. Empirical research is mainly focused on special aspects of cost management. Especially, target costing is empirically analyzed. The results indicate the effectiveness of target costing, while some studies criticize its complexity and its results in terms of overengineered products. In general, empirical results with regard to cost management are very fragmented and ignore very often theoretical contributions. Particularly, empirical research neglects behavioral aspects of cost management. These behavioral aspects are important since theoretical research implies that cost management provokes opposition in business companies. With regard to the methodology the derived results are mainly based upon case studies and small samples within a special industrial environment. The data analysis is generally descriptive and does not allow to derive any managerial implications. Therefore, there is a lack of empirical conclusions with regard to which success factors are relevant in the context of cost management.