本文欲探討目標成本制由上而下計算架構應用於台灣建築開發業時所強調之重心，考量客戶認知產品價值的創造為計算架構之元素。目標成本制由上而下計算架構以市場目標售價減除目標利潤來表示。目標成本制多被應用於大量生產一般產品的裝配製造業。然而建築開發業通常在獨佔性競爭市場中生產差異化的產品（建屋）。因此，目標成本制運用於建築開發業時的特色可能不同於它在一般製造產業上的運用，並對公司預期利潤的逹成和策略支持有不同的影響。
本研究採用理論建構之個案研究方式為研究方法。本文訪談六家建築開發公司，以強調在建築開發業的行業特色下，提高客戶效益下客戶認知產品價值的創造如何嵌入目標成本制由上而下計算架構中。本研究依所得的九項假設之結果顯示，目標成本制藉由強調提高客戶認知價值以創造更高的溢價空間，而非僅於成本抑減，以利公司更穩定逹成預期利潤。此訪談結果來自以下三項結論，係與目標成本制運用於建築開發業的特色不同於一般製造業之相關議題：第一，競爭市場中面對較強的購買者和地主、低進入障礙，採行目標成本制的建築開發公司較強調產品價值的創造高於產品價格，以增加產品售價。它補充了目標成本和策略管理會計文獻中，目標成本制為逹成預定的利潤率主要強調成本聚焦的做法。本研究也顯示在產業環境和公司目標下，導入創造產品價值的目標成本制與差異化策略和面對策略間具契合性。第二，採用目標成本制之建築開發公司強調增加公司總利潤率為其採用該管理會計的主要目標之一，以及目標成本制有助於預期利潤之逹成，特別是當面對全球不景氣之時。第三，建築開發業所採用的目標成本制較強調產品計劃的初期，即強調土地調查的重要，而在零組件層次的目標成本制上，因為市場競爭考量和實務運作，有較多運用上的限制。此不同於目標成本制傳統上的運用，強調產品層次和零組件層次的目標成本制。增加公司總利潤率為其主要目標之一、強調客戶認知產品價值的創造和程序的前面階段，目標成本制由上而下計算架構應用於台灣建築開發業時，客戶認知產品價值的創造被視為計算架構之元素。此不同於目標成本制文獻中之應用，以目標成本水準的逹成為重心。

This study explores the applicability of the top-down target costing (TC) method in the Taiwan real estate development industry by considering one new element – creating buyer’s perceived product value. The top-down method determines the target costs by subtracting target profit from less controllable sales price. It has been extensively studied in the context of assembly manufacturing industries. On the other hand, the real estate developers produce more heterogeneous products in monopolistically competitive market conditions. In order to adapt to this different user group, TC as an accounting and strategic management tool is expected to have unique characteristics once adopted in the real estate development industry.
This study adopts a descriptive research design. By presenting evidences gathered from six real estate development firms it sheds lights on how the creation of buyer’s perceived product value can be embedded into the target costing mechanism. By examining nine propositions, the study confirms the modified TC model is effective in stabilizing profits due to its focus on creating buyer’s perceived product value. The contributing factors include the ability to charge premium prices as well as effective cost reductions. The findings revealed three unique characteristics of real estate development industry which may influence the adoption of TC model. Firstly, due to stronger bargaining power of the buyers and land owners as well as low entry barriers, the users of TC framework strive towards providing added product value higher than the product price in order to sustainably charge premium prices. It supplements the traditional accounting and strategic management literature in which expected profit margins were primarily achieved by managing costs. The study also reveals that the TC framework is more compatible with the differentiator and confrontational marketing strategies in real estate development industry. Secondly, the modified TC framework may better facilitate firms’ profitability objectives especially during economic recessions. Thirdly, TC is more applicable at preliminary stages of product planning e.g. land investigation, but is less effective for component- level cost management due to certain market and operational limitations.
Given the different needs of the property developers, the adaptation of the top-down target costing model in Taiwan real estate development industry is characterized by emphasizing on the creation of the buyer’s perceived product value, as opposed to a pure cost focus in previous target costing literatures.

Dissertation Evaluation i
Acknowledgement ii
Chinese Abstract iii
English Abstrac v

Chapter1: Introduction
1.1 Background and Motivations 1
1.2 Objectives 9
1.3 Theoretical Contribution 11

Chapter2: Literature review and questions 14
2.1 Main goals of Target Costing adoption 15
2.2 Focus on creating buyer’s perceived product value combined together with cost reduction 24
2.3 Powerful stages of Target Costing 35
2.4 The Target Costing set by the top-down method 50

Chapter3: Research method 54
3.1 Study structure 54
3.2 Research flows 55
3.3 Research methods 57
3.4 Case brief 60

Chapter4: Case findings 64
4.1 Main goals of Target Costing adoption 64
4.2 Focus on creating buyer’s perceived product value combined together with cost reduction 81
4.3 Powerful stages of Target Costing 99
4.4 The Target Costing set by the top-down method 138
Chapter5: Conclusion and suggestions 147
5.1 Conclusion 147
5.2 Limitation and Suggestions 149
Reference 151
Appendix 1 The system for Target Costing 161
Appendix 2 The system of pricing in real estate development industry 162
Appendix 3 Timing of VE adoption and its effect 163
Appendix 4 Study structure, questions and propositions 163
Appendix 5 The questions and results of propositions 164
Appendix 6 Questionnaire 166

1.Afonso, P., M. Nunes, A. Paisana, & A. Braga. (2008). The influence of time-to-market and target costing in the new product development success. International Journal of Production Economics, 115 (2): 559-568.
2.Ansari, S. L., J. E. Bell, & the CAM-I Target Cost Core Group. (1997). Target costing: The next frontier in strategic cost management. IRWIN Professional Publishing, America.
3.Ax, C., J. Greve, & U. Nilsson. (2008). The impact of competition and uncertainty on the adoption of Target Costing. International Journal of Product Economics.115 (1): 92-103.
4.Ballard, G., & P. Reiser. (2004). The St. Olaf College Field house Project: A Case Study in Designing to Target Cost. Proceeding IGLC-12, Denmark. pp. 234-249.
5.Banham, R. (2000). Off target? CFO, 16 (6), 127-130.
6.Boer G. & J. Ettlie. (1999). Target Costing can boost your bottom line. Strategic Finance. 81 (1): 49-52.
7.Brausch, J. M. (1994). Beyond ABC: target costing for profit enhancement. Management Accounting 76 (5): 45-49
8.Cadez, S., & C. Guilding. (2008). An exploratory investigation of an integrated contingency model of strategic management accounting. Accounting Organizations and Society. 33 (7-8): 836-863.
9.Chang, J. E. (1999) Real Estate Investment and Analysis of the Decision. HWA-TAI Publisher, Taipei.
10.Chenhall R. H., & K. Langfield-Smith. (1998). Adoption and benefits of management accounting practices: an Australian study. Management Accounting Research. 9 (1): 1-19.
11.China credit information service Ltd. (1999). Financial amylases on the industry in Taiwan area.
12.Coase, R. H. (1937).The nature of the firm. London: Economica.
13.Coase, R. H. (1998). The new institutional economics. The American Economic Review, 88 (2):72-74
14.Cooper, R. (1995). When Lean Enterprises Collide, Competing Through Confrontation. Harvard Business School Press. Boston. MA.
15.Cooper, R. & C. W. Bruce. (1996) Control tomorrow’s costs through today’s designs. Harvard Business Review, 74(1), 88-97.
16.Cooper, R., & R. Slagmulder. (1997)a. Target costing and value engineering. Productivity Press, Portland.
17.Cooper, R., & R. Slagmulder. (1997)b. Factors Influencing the Target Costing Process: Lessons From Japanese Practice. www.feb.ugent.be/fac/research/wp/papers/up_97.30
18.Cooper, R., & R. Slagmulder. (1999) Develop profitable new products with target costing. MIT Sloan Management Review. 40(4), 23-33
19.Cooper, R., & R. Slagmulder. (2002). Target costing for new-product development: Component-level target costing. Cost Management. Boston: Sep/Oct. 16 (5): 36.
20.Dekker, H., & P. Smidt. (2003). A survey of the adoption and use of target costing in Dutch firms. International Journal of Production Economics, 84(3): 293-305.
21.Eisenhardt, K. M. & L. J. Bourgeois III. (1988). Politics of strategic decision making in high-velocity environments: toward a midrange theory. Academy of Management Journal, 31 (4):737-770.
22.Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989)a. Building theories from case study research. Accounting of Management Review. 14 (4): 532-550.
23.Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989)b. Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. Academy of Management Journal, 32 (3): 543-576.
24.Eisenhardt, K. M. & M. E. Granebner. (2007) Academy of Management Journal, 50 (1):25-32.
25.Ellram, L. M. (2000). Purchasing and supply management's participation in the target costing process. Journal of Supply Chain Management. Tempe: Spring 36(2): 39-52.
26.Ellram, L. M. (2006). The Implementation of Target Costing in the United States: Theory Versus Practice. Journal of Supply Chain Management. Tempe: Winter. 42(1): 13-26.
27.Everaert, P., S. Loosveld, T. V. Acker, M. Schollier, & G. Sarens. (2006). Characteristics of target costing: theoretical and field study perspectives. Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management. 3(3): 236-262.
28.Ewert, R. & C. Ernst. (1999). Target costing, coordination and strategic cost management. European Accounting Review. 8(1): 23-49.
29.Fan, C. (1991) The research on the realized trade price of real estate investment. Unpublished master dissertation. National Chung-Hsing University, Taiwan.
30.Feil, P., K. Yook, & II-W. Kim. (2004). Japanese target costing: A historical perspective. International Journal of Strategic Cost management, 2(4), 10-19.
31.Feng, X., & M. Qiu (1993). Practice of estimation for real estate. HWA-TAI publisher, Taipei.
32.Feng, X., & G. Weng (1993). Investment and development of land. Kee Tai Executive Consulting C, Taipei, Taiwan.
33.Filomena, T. P., F. J. K. Neto & M. R. Duffey. (2009). Target costing operationalization during product development: Model and application. International Journal of Production Economics, 118 (2): 398-409.
34.Fisher, J. (1995). Implementing target costing. Journal of Cost Management. 9(2): 50-59.
35.Gagne, N. L., & R. Descenza. (1995). Target Costing. The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. 10 (1): 16-22.
36.Guilding, C., K. S. Cravens, & M. Tayles. (2000). An international comparison of strategic management accounting practices. Management Accounting Research. 11(1):113-135.
37.Greenwood, R. & R. Suddaby. (2006). Institutional entrepreneurship in mature fields: the big five accounting firms. Academy of Management Journal, 49 (1):27-48.
38.Helms, M. M., L. P. Ettkin, J. T. Baxter, & M. W. Gordon. (2005) Managerial implications of target costing. Competitiveness Review. 15(1): 49-57.
39.Hibbets, A. R., T. Albright, & W. Funk. (2003) The competitive environment and strategy of target costing implementers: evidence from the field. Journal of Managerial Issues. 15(1): 65-81.
40.Horvath, P. & T. Tani. (1997). Japanese-German comparison of target costing management. Paper presented at the 1997 EAA congress in Graz.
41.Huang, P. H. & C. L. Wu. (2005). The Application of Target Costing to Real-Estate Investment Industry with Dual Models. Managerial Accounting Conference in National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan.
42.Ibusuki, U., & P. C. Kaminski. (2007). Product development process with focus on value engineering and target-costing: A case study in an automotive company. International Journal of Production Economics. 105(2): 459-474.
43.Inglis, R. M. (2005). Marketing orientation and accounting information: a product-level study. Unpublished MPhil, University of Stirling , Scotland.
44.Inglis, R. M. (2008). Exploring accounting and market orientation: an inter-functional case study. Journal of Marketing Management. 24 (7-8): 687-710.
45.Jariri, F. & S. H. Zegordi. (2008). Quality function deployment, value engineering and target costing, an integrated framework in design cost management: A mathematical programming approach. SCIENTIA IRANICA, 15(3): 405-411.
46.Kaplan, R. S. & R. Cooper. (1998). Cost & Effect: Using Integrated Cost Systems to Drive Profitability and Performance. Harvard Business School Press, USA.
47.Kato, Y. (1993). Target costing support system: lessons from leading Japanese companies. Management Accounting Research. 4(4): 33-47.
48.Keating, P. J. (1995). A framework for classifying and evaluating the theoretical contributions of case research in management accounting. Journal of Management Accounting Research. 7: 66-86.
49.Ling, Y. (1995). New strategy for real estate investment. Poi- Chui Publisher, Taipei.
50.McNair, C. J. & L. Polutnik. (2001). Cost management and value creation: the missing link. The European Accounting Review. 10(1): 33-50.
51.Mihm, J. (2010). Incentives in new product development projects and the role of target costing. Management Science, 56 (8):1324-1344.
52.Monden, Y., & K. Hamada. (1991). Target costing and kaizen costing in Japanese automobile companies. Journal of Management Accounting Research. 91(3): 16-34.
53.Narver, J. C., & S. F. Slater. (1990). The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. Journal of Marketing. 54 (4):20-35.
54.Nicolini, D., C. Tomkins, R. Holti, A. Oldman, & M. Smalley. (2000). Can target costing and whole life costing be applied in the construction industry?: Evidence from two case studies. British Journal of Management. 11(4): 303-324.
55.Pennanen, A., H. Yrjana & H. Vaananen. (2005). Workplace Planning and Target Costing Techniques in Project and Facility management. CIB conference Helsinki.
56.Perloff, J. M. (2009). Microeconomics. Ed. 9th, Boston, Pearson/Addison Wesley.
57.Pierce, B. (2002). Target cost management: comprehensive benchmarking for a competitive market. Accountancy Ireland, Dublin.
58.Porter, M. E. (1985) competitive advantage. Maxwell Macmillan International. USA.
59.Rawdan, M. J. (2008). An empirical investigation of the link between transaction costs and governance structures of off shoring programs. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University, USA.
60.Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations, 5th edition Free Press, New York, NY.
61.Roslender, R., & S. J. Hart. (2002). Integrating Management Accounting and Marketing in the Pursuit of Competitive Advantage: the Case for Strategic Management Accounting. Critical Perspective Accounting. 13 (2): 255-277.
62.Schneider, A. (1989) Simultaneously determination of cost allocations and cost-plus prices for joint products. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 13 (2), 187-195.
63.Shank, J. K. & J. Fisher. (1999). Case Study: Target Costing as a Strategic Tool. Sloan Management Review. 41(1): 73-82.
64.Simon, R. (1991). Strategic orientation and top management attention to control systems. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 49-62.
65.Swenson, D. W, T. E. Buttross, & Il-Woon Kim. (2005). Using The CAM-I Diagnostic To Evaluate Readiness For Target Costing. Cost Management. Boston: May/Jun, 19 (3): 41-48.
66.Takai, S. & K. Ishii. (2006). Integrating target costing into perception-based concept evaluation of complex and large-scale systems using simultaneously decomposed QFD Journal of Mechanical Design, 128 (6): 1186-1195.
67.Tanaka, M. (1989). Cost planning and control systems in the design phase of a new product, in Monden, Y., & Sakuarai, M. Japanese Management Accounting. productivity Press, Cambridge, MA, 49-71.
68.Tani, T., H. Okano, N. Shimizu, Y. Iwabuchi, J. Fukuda, & S. Cooray. (1994). Target Cost Management in Japanese Companies: Current State of the art. Management Accounting Review. 5(1): 67-81.
69.Tani, T. (1995). Interactive control in target cost management. Management Accounting Research. 6 (4): 399-414.
70.The Industrial Daily (newspaper), 2000/5/6.
71.Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction-cost economics: The governance of contractual relations. Journal of Law and Economics, 22 (2): 233-261.
72.Williamson, O. E. (1981). The economics of organization: the transaction cost approach. American Journal of Sociology, 87 (3): 548-577.
73.Williamson, O. E. (1988). The logics of economic organization. Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 4 (1):65-93.
74.Yang, B. (1999) The research of target costing that applies to constructional investment companies. Unpublished master dissertation, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan.
75.Yazdifar, H. & D. Askarany (2012). A comparative study of the adoption and implementation of target costing in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. International Journal of Production Economics. 135 (1):382-392.
76.Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research- design and methods. Sage Publications, Inc, U. S. A.
77.Yook, K., II-W. Kim, & T. Yoshikawa. (2005). Target costing in the Construction industry: evidence from Japan. Construction Accounting & Taxation. 15 (3): 5-18.
78.Zengin, Y., & E. Ada. (2010). Cost management through product design: target costing approach. International Journal of Production Research, 48 (19): 5593-5611.