译文（字数 2428）

成本控制

罗杰·J·艾比纳德

商业参考，商业百科全书，第二版

成本控制，也被称为遏制成本或管理成本，一个广阔的成本管理技术，它的经济增长目标是降低成本提高企业效率。企业使用的成本控制方法，监测，评价，并最终提升效率的具体领域，如部门、产品线。

20世纪90年代的成本控制措施，受到了美国企业的首要关注。一般而言，外包企业重组、撤资的外围活动，大规模裁员等成本控制战略被认为是升提升企业利润和维持企业竞争优势的需要。其目的往往是降低企业的生产成本，这样该企业给出的销售价格就比其竞争对手具更大的利润。

一些成本控制的支持者认为，这种战略的成本削减计划必须慎重，因为并非所有降低成本的方法，都会对企业产生有利的影响。在20世纪90年代的一个显著的例子,首席执行官邓拉普,绰号“电锯阿尔”，尽管他大幅降低企业的生产成本，但他领导的小器具制造公司依旧未能盈利。 邓拉普解雇了成千上万的工人和出售企业的业务,在他担任CEO两年内贡献不大，公司的竞争地位和股票的价格大幅下滑。因此，在1998年公司董事会解雇了邓拉普，对他“成本控制一招”的管理方法失去了信心。

成本控制是一个持续的过程，与拟议的年度预算配合使用。该预算有助于：（1）组织、协调生产和销售、服务和管理职能;（2）采取最大程度地利用现有的机会。根据财政历年的进步形式，将预算与实际结果作比，生成新的计划和经验教训，用以评价目前的行动。

外文原文（字符数 9559）

COST CONTROL

Roger J. AbiNader

Reference for Business，Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed.

Cost control, also known as cost management or cost containment, is a broad set of cost accountingmethods and management techniques with the common goal of improving business cost-efficiency by reducing costs, or at least restricting their rate of growth. Businesses use cost control methods to monitor, evaluate, and ultimately enhance the efficiency of specific areas, such as departments, divisions, or product lines, within their operations.

During the 1990s cost control initiatives received paramount attention from corporate America. Often taking the form of corporate restructuring, divestmentof peripheral activities, mass layoffs,or outsourcing,cost control strategies were seen as necessary to preserve—or boost—corporate profits and to maintain—or gain—a competitive advantage. The objective was often to be the low-cost producer in a given industry, which would typically allow the company to take a greater profit per unit of sales than its competitors at a given price level.

Some cost control proponents believe that such strategic cost-cutting must be planned carefully, as not all cost reduction techniques yield the same benefits. In a notable late 1990s example, chief executive Albert J. Dunlap, nicknamed "Chainsaw Al" because of his penchant for deep cost cutting at the companies he headed, failed to restore the ailing small appliance maker Sunbeam Corporation to profitability despite his drastic cost reduction tactics. Dunlap laid off thousands of workers and sold off business units, but made little contribution to Sunbeam's competitive position or share price in his two years as CEO. Consequently, in 1998 Sunbeam's board fired Dunlap, having lost confidence in his "one-trick" approach to management.

Behavioral management deals with the attitudes and actions of employees. While employee behavior ultimately impacts on success, behavioral management involves certain issues and assumptions not applicable to accounting's control function. On the other hand, performance evaluation measures outcomes of employee's actions by comparing the actual results of business outcomes to predetermined standards of success. In this way management identifies the strengths it needs to maximize, and the weaknesses it seeks to rectify. This process of evaluation and remedy is called cost control.