and well a product functions. Performance reports Reports that compare the actual data with planned data.
Perishability When services cannot be stored for future use by a consumer. Perquisites A type of fringe benefit over and above salary which is received by managers.
Physical flow schedule A schedule that reconciles units to account for with units accounted for. The physical units are not adjusted for percent of completion.
Planning Setting objectives and identifying methods to achieve those objectives.
Pool rate The overhead costs for a homogeneous cost pool divided by 856 ?
68183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 856
Prime cost The sum of direct materials cost and direct labor cost.
Private costs Environmental costs that an organization has to pay.
Process improvement Incremental and constant increases in the efficiency of an existing process.
Process innovation (business reengineering) The performance of a
process in a radically new way with the objective of achieving dramatic improvements in response time, quality, and efficiency.
Process value analysis An approach that focuses on processes and activities and emphasizes systemwide performance instead of individual performance.
Process value chain The innovation, operations, and postsales service processes.
Process-costing system A costing system that accumulates production
costs by process or by department for a given period of time.
Processes A series of activities (operations) that are linked to perform a specific objective.
Producing departments Units within an organization responsible for producing the products or services that are sold to customers.
Product cost A cost assignment method that satisfies a well-specified managerial objective.
Product diversity The situation present when products consume overhead in different proportions. Product life cycle The time a product exists—from conception to abandonment. Product stewardship The practice of designing, manufacturing, maintaining, and recycling products to minimize adverse environmental impacts. Production budget A budget that shows how many units must be produced to meet sales needs and satisfy ending inventory requirements. Production costs Those costs associated with the manufacture of goods or the provision of services. mental degradation and paid for by the responsible organization.
Reciprocal method A method that simultaneously allocates service costs to
all user departments. It gives full consideration to interactions among support departments.
Relevant costs Future costs that change across alternatives.
Relevant range The range over which an assumed cost relationship is valid for the normal operations of a firm. Reliability The probability that the product or service will perform its intended function for a specified length of time.
Reorder point The point in time at which a new order (or setup) should be initiated.
Required rate of return The minimum rate of return that a project must earn in order to be acceptable. Usually corresponds to the cost of capital.
Resale price method A transfer price acceptable to the Internal Revenue Service under Section 482. The resale price method computes a transfer price equal to the sales price received by the reseller less an appropriate markup.
Resource drivers Factors that measure the consumption of resources by activities. Responsibility accounting A system that measures the results of each responsibility center according to the
information managers’ need to operate their center.
Responsibility center A segment of the business whose manager is accountable for specified sets of activities.
Return on investment (ROI) The ratio of operating income to average operating assets.
Revenue center A segment of the business that is evaluated on the basis of sales.
Ropes Actions taken to tie the rate at which raw material is released into the plant (at the first operation) to Production drivers Drivers that are highly correlated with production output (volume).
Production Kanban A card or marker that specifies the quantity that the Kanban system should produce. Production report A document that summarizes the manufacturing activity that takes place in a process department
for a given period of time.
Productivity The efficient production of output, using the least quantity of inputs possible.
Productivity measurement The assessment of productivity changes.
Product-level (sustaining) activities Activities that are performed to enable the production of each different type of product.
Profile measurement A series or vector of separate and distinct partial operational measures.
Profit center A division of a company that is evaluated on the basis of operating income or profit.
Profit-linked productivity measurement An assessment of the amount of profit change—from the base period to the current period—attributable to productivity changes.
Profit-volume graph A graphical portrayal of the relationship between profits and sales activity.
Pseudoparticipation A budgetary system in which top management solicits inputs from lower-level managers and then ignores those inputs. Thus, in reality, budgets are dictated from above. Q
Quality of conformance Conforming to the design requirements of the product.
Quality product or service A product that meets or exceeds customer expectations. Quantity standards The quantity of input allowed per unit of output. R
Realized external failure costs Environmental costs caused by environ- ? 857
68183_glossary_849-860.qxd 1/22/04 2:27 PM Page 857
the production rate of the constrained resource.