Strategic Cost Management Research

Since China entered WTO in Nov.2001, three years have gone. Facing the tide of global economy, domestic enterprises are also experiencing more and more drastic competitions. Only the enterprises have long predominance in competition, can they survive in the economic environment of present age. Enterprises must take the long and comprehensive view of their development, and carry out the strategic management. While the traditional cost management theory & practices already can't meet the requirement of the enterprises' strategic management, which are based on controlling costing in product flow. An important key to improve the level of strategic cost management (SCM) is to enhance the enterprises' cost management and to put SCM into practice, that challenges the traditional cost management which pays more attention to the short-term profits. With the reference of the established theories, I make a further discussion on various strategic cost management theories and methods, and attempt to make some efforts to solve the problem of performance evaluation in strategic cost management. I also try to interrelate various theories and methods for the values of practice, and analyze deeply the present situations of domestic study &practice on strategic cost management. Finally, I provide some suggestions on how to improve it.The paper is mainly comprised of four parts.The first part is the background of the paper and the theory introduction. It tells the start and development of SCM, expounds the fact that the production and development of management of the strategic cost management is the inevitable development trend of struggle that enterprises survive, and defines what's strategic cost management. Then I put forward several main methods of SCM.The second part introduces basic tactics of SCM. It first introduces Product Market Life Cycle and Strategic Cost Driver Analysis, then analyzes three basictactics on the base of PMLC, integrating vary point of view on Strategic Cost Driver Analysis. In this part, I also use the thought of material controlling into Value Chain Analysis, and analyze the enterprises' cooperation under the supply chain system. At last it describes further the relations of Strategic Cost Driver Analysis and Strategic Position Analysis.The third part is the performance measurement of SCM. Based on SCM's strategy, I propose the basic process of performance measurement of SCM including main point, priority sequence. Besides, two popular performance measurement methods, Balanced Scorecard and profit analysis, will be discussed of here.The fourth part introduces case-analysis and SCM practice in the domestic. It analyzes the situation and problems of domestic SCM development through three cases. I think that domestic relevant law system and market environment are not mature yet, the notion of cost management and benefit management has been out of date, the management idea of the cost lags behind, cost-effective consciousness is outmoded, management target of the cost is narrow, strategic cost experience of management is deficient and the methods need innovation, besides, the development and use of the human resources is always ignored while managing, according to which I put forward my suggestions.I finished the writing of this text after going through nearly one year and having consulted relevant documents and materials. Due to the limit of my literature and learning, I can't go deeply enough into the theme. The paper aims at throwing out a brick to attract a jade and I hope to offer a little reference for strategic cost management of enterprises.