Activity based costing within a DLA depot's Planning & Resource Management Department: A Model and Analysis

Abstract

This thesis examines the Planning and Resource Management Department of the Defense Distribution Region West (DDRW) in their pursuit of introducing Activity Based Costing (ABC) to their organization. The thesis focuses on the workload impact of ABC on the department by developing a model that establishes the baseline workloads and costs. The model is created by the aid of a computer modeling software that incorporates the various physical constraints with the financial costs and variable external demands or requirements involved. With the baseline model completed, the anticipated ABC impact is introduced to the model and the results are assessed. This thesis answers the question as to the scope of the ABC impact on the DDRW Planning and Resource Management Department and demonstrates how ABC modeling can be an effective management tool. The model and the resulting analysis demonstrate both the strengths of ABC management for federal agencies and the viability of using computer model analysis in financial management decisions