MiCRUS: Activity-Based Management for Business Turnaround

Robert S. Kaplan; Jonathan B. Schiff; Stanley  Abraham

Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2001 (Revised April 2001)

MiCRUS: Activity-Based Management for Business Turnaround

by Robert S. Kaplan, Jonathan B. Schiff and Stanley Abraham

Abstract

MiCRUS is a new company, spun off from IBM as a joint venture between IBM and Cirrus Logic to produce semiconductor wafers at world-class costs for its two parent companies. The senior management team needs to overcome the bureaucratic, internally focused culture that existed when the plant was a captive IBM supplier. They turn to activity-based costing/activity-based management to engender a more entrepreneurial culture where decentralized work teams take responsibility for initiating and accomplishing significant cost reduction projects. This case describes how project teams use activity-based information to identify opportunities and set priorities for cost reduction projects, and then report on progress at open management meetings. The senior managers also introduce an Open Book Management philosophy where financial data is shared with all employees.

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Management; Semiconductor Industry;

Format: Print

19 pages

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Citation:

Kaplan, Robert S., Jonathan B. Schiff, and Stanley Abraham. "MiCRUS: Activity-Based Management for Business Turnaround." Harvard Business School Case 101-070, March 2001. (Revised April 2001.)

Leaders at six hospitals conducted a research study to assess and compare the health outcomes and costs of pediatric aerodigestive care. Four of the hospitals delivered care with an integrated practice unit (IPU) while two delivered care traditionally, with isolated specialists. The study used time-driven activity-based costing as a tool to measure and compare costs across the six sites. The results demonstrate that the four IPU sites improved clinical outcomes and had lower costs of care.

Value-based care models are becoming instrumental in structuring clinical care delivery in our healthcare climate. Our objective was to determine the value associated with implementation of a Family-Centered Care Coordination (FCCC) program for neonates undergoing tracheostomy.

Article | American Heart Journal

Are Cost Advantages from a Modern Indian Hospital Transferable to the United States?

R. S. Kaplan, F. Erhun, V.G. Narayanan, B. Mistry and K. Brayton, et al

We use time-driven activity-based costing to estimate the cost of personnel and space for an elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at two U.S. hospitals, Intermountain and Baylor Heart, and Narayana Health (NH), in India. All three hospitals use modern management methods to achieve excellent patient outcomes. We use variance analysis to remove the effect of differential prices paid for personnel and space at the three hospitals. NH, even at U.S. price levels, retains a cost advantage over the two U.S. hospitals by shifting tasks to less-credentialed and/or less-experienced personnel, supervised by highly-skilled personnel, a practice facilitated by NH’s high annual CABG volume. NH offsets some of its task downshifting cost savings by having lower-skilled employees spend more time counseling patients and their families for in-hospital and home recovery. NH’s cost-saving practices could be captured by U.S. hospitals by relaxing hospital and health professional licensing regulations, encouraging greater family participation in inpatient care, and performing complex surgeries in high-volume regional centers of excellence.

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; India; United States;

Citation:

Kaplan, R. S., F. Erhun, V.G. Narayanan, B. Mistry, and K. Brayton, et al. "Are Cost Advantages from a Modern Indian Hospital Transferable to the United States?" American Heart Journal 224 (June 2020): 148–155. View Details

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MiCRUS: Activity-Based Management for Business Turnaround

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