Competitive costing : ABC data collection in an Australian university

![CDATA[Universities are facing an intensifying competitive environment where value for money involves quality, convenience and well priced services. Thus, to be able to sustain competitive advantage, universities require appropriate cost management strategies to determine the costs of their various activities. Activity based costing (ABC) focuses on the activities performed to produce particular outcomes while avoiding the cost distortion that is an inherent failing of traditional methods of costing. This paper presents a non-traditional method of collecting staff activity data at an Australian university for use in an ABC model as part of broader activity-based management.]]