2012 Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 123-140
This paper aims to provide a critical review of findings from interorganizational cost management (IOCM) studies in the past 15-20 years, together with major changes in Japanese supply chain relationships, and to suggest topics for future research. Initially, IOCM was recognized as an arm’s-length cost management technique for target costing in Japanese buyer-supplier relationships. However, IOCM is now discussed as a topic under interorganizational control. Prior research has shown that IOCM is identified as strategic cost management and classified as structural and executional on the basis of cost drivers. In addition, it is expected to evolve because of globalization, complications, and radical revisions in supplier management in recent Japanese supply chains. Therefore, this paper clarified issues such as the scope of total costs, time base, and learning and alliance capabilities.
