This simulation is somewhat different from traditional teaching cases, and depending on how it is taught, there are no right or wrong answers. Similar to the approach taken by Drake, Haka, and Ravenscroft (2001), the students actively participate in a process where they combine the use of cost information and their own creativity to develop innovative ways to manage costs. For this particular case, students learn to build and develop an activity-based product cost for a Lego™ model truck. Working in teams, students then strive to reduce the cost of the truck's design, subject to certain design specifications and quality constraints. As the teams evaluate potential new designs, they actually use the detailed cost information from the product costing system to guide their design decisions. By simulating the target costing process, students also gain an appreciation for working across functional boundaries to achieve a common business goal. Furthermore, they...

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