La misurazione dei costi orientata alla customer profitability in un'azienda di servizi b-to-b: il caso CIM Italia

In this paper we investigate the relationship between cost accounting systems and customer profitability in business-to-business service companies. We analyze the methodological characteristics that a cost accounting system must have in order to manage properly customer profitability in service b-to-b companies. The paper analyzes the cost management system of CIM Italia, a leader provider of services for banks in Italy. This case study seeks to highlight the distinctive features of a cost accounting system which is able to monitor both the efficiency and the effectiveness of the activities carried out in the company, in terms of outputs and coherence with regards to client needs. The paper shows that service components constitute a key element to link variations of activity costs and customer profitability