Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting

A Historical View of Management Accounting in the Early Years of Ford Motor Company

• In Event: The Future and Past of Management Accounting

Abstract

Management accounting methodology was used right from the inception of the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and was pivotal in the analysis of data to make sound business decisions. With the introduction of the Model T in 1908 and its enormous sales through 1927, evidence suggests that managerial accounting was a major proponent of its commercial success. Two leading financial managers, James Couzens and Norval Hawkins, prepared numerous documents and implemented operational methods based on the varied reports, including analysis of production costs, sales data, and segment reporting. This paper reviews some of this original archival data and provides analysis of the information, as well as a comparison of the management accounting techniques used by early Ford managers to today's typical application of these principles.

Author

• Yvette Lazdowski, University of New Hampshire at Manchester