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Target Cost Management

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Article Review: Target Cost Management

An article by Louise Ross puts target costing in effect with agricultural and the farming industry, explaining how this system may already be partially in use. Louise Ross provides evidence of the advantages and disadvantages of target costing within the food supply chain.
According to Ross, participants in the food supply chain were already using some form of target cost management, but the system was not formalized into specific aspects. Ross (2008) refers to target costing as not a “specific management technique”, but a more general idea of “target cost management” as seen as a management philosophy and “market-driven approach”. Ross’s research has revealed “evidence that the contracts …show more content…

There are more possibilities of accident, like livestock becoming diseased, or a crop becoming destroyed by weather. These are inherent risks that also need to be considered when farmers are working on establishing a target cost for their product. Other obstacles that farmer’s face is agricultural policy, tariffs and subsidies where the commodity prices can be altered when having to export or import their product (Ross, 2008).
In relation to target costing management, a simple equation can be used to evaluate whether it is a system that can work for your product. The equation is as follows: anticipated price minus required return equals target cost (Ross, 2008). Ross (2008) also comments on fluctuating prices being a problem for farmers, thus causing anticipated prices to vary. Moreover, return on capital is something that is not commonly used in the farming industry (Ross, 2008). Ross (2008) explains that typical farming operating costs is accounted as a whole for the company and not for specific activities. Gross margins in the farming industry, is also difficult in that expenses is considered a fixed cost. This involves labor and machinery, which are usually not fixed expenses, and is where a more allocation based

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