Activity-Based Management for Financial Institutions: Driving Bottom-Line Results

Preface

Over the past fifteen years, I have had the unique experience of seeing Activity-Based Costing/Management (ABC/M) from nearly every perspective. First, as an MBA student at Columbia Business School, I learned the high-level theory of ABC. Of course, at a high level, ABC is extremely straightforward. I wondered why every company in the world had not already moved to ABC. ABC is clearly superior to traditional costing.

Next, as a consultant working for Ernst & Young and subsequently CapGemini, I designed and implemented ABC and chargeback solutions at several Fortune 100 financial services companies. In all cases, the ABC implementations were considered successful and the consulting engagements ended prior to establishing a sustained ABM process and realizing many ABM benefits. Sure, ABM benefits were identified and some were implemented prior to the completion of the consulting engagements, but the ABM benefits never seemed to reach their full potential after we left.

Then I decided to eat my own cooking and leave the consulting world to implement ABC at National City Bank. I was determined not only to implement ABC, but also to realize much greater returns by structuring the ABM portion of the solution. However, prior to the completion of the ABC journey, I was asked to become the Chief Financial Officer for the Operations and Information Services division of National City. The opportunity was too good to let it pass. So, for the next two years, I performed the duties ...