Individual Reflective Journal for Managerial Accounting, HI5017

This individual reflective journal reflects on the student's learning journey in managerial accounting, specifically focusing on costing methods. The student analyzed two peer-reviewed journal articles to understand standard costing and target costing, detailing the research process, challenges, and insights gained. The journal discusses the practical implementation of costing techniques in organizations, the relevance of target and activity-based costing, and factors influencing their adoption. The student reflects on the research experience, highlighting the skills acquired, the impact on existing knowledge, and the overall benefits of the assignment, including the practical application of theoretical knowledge. The journal also addresses the constraints in implementing costing systems and the implications for business planning and profitability. The student concludes with a comprehensive understanding of costing concepts and their practical applications.

Running head: INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Individual Reflective journal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Reflection on two peer reviewed journal articles:
Reviewing the peer journal articles for gaining an insight into understanding
the concepts of costing has been the good learning path to sharpen my accounting
skills. With the help of such assignment, I have been provided good opportunity to
learn about different methods of costing with particular focus on standard costing
and target costing. It was interesting to conduct a detailed research as it involved an
extensive investigation that required me to traverse through various research papers
relevant to target and standard costing system. While navigating through various
research paper, I got to know about the availability of database to access the article.
Selecting the relevant peer reviewed journal article was quite a challenging task for
me because of the obtainability of several journal articles on costing technique.
While searching for the relevant and specific paper, I learned the skill of narrowing
down my requirement and look for the paper on target and standard costing and its
implementation in any organization.
The two articles I chose for assessing the application of the costing methods
in any organization or industry are titled” Implementation of target cost management
in a non-Japanese environment” and “ Maturity of cost management system in
organizations”. The analysis of the implementation of target cost management in a
non-Japanese environment comes with some implication in practice that assisted me
in enhancing my theoretical knowledge on costing. With the help of this article, I
have been able to comprehend some significant concepts of the costing system. The
facts deduced from the analysis of articles have helped me in gaining an idea about
the relevance of target costing to the business. In the second article, the
implementation of activity based costing in the service sector has been evaluated. I
have come to know that the application of standard based costing is significant in
organization who desire to be profitable in the competitive environment. While
analyzing the article, I have gained some knowledge on the technical aspects of the
costing system which contributed to broadening my knowledge about costing. With
the help of these articles, the current situation and the attitude of organization
towards the usage and implementation of costing system has been known and some
constraints in the seamless and effective adoption of the system has also been
highlighted.
Reflection on research experience:
After conducting a detailed and extensive research by analyzing the peer
reviewed journal articles, I believe I am filled with more knowledge about the concept
of costs in accounting. I was fortunate enough to have learned various sides of
knowledge and efforts that goes into conducting research and have experienced
about the practical implementation of costing techniques. The overall research work
was enjoyable for me as I got to learn many different things other than enhancing my
accounting knowledge. The general process of initially planning the project, its
completeness and development and the efforts required in every stage of the project
is well understood by me. During the first few days of searching and selecting the
articles and another days of examining the articles, I was overwhelmed by the
assignment that I was asked to complete and deliver. I felt more supported and
confident in conducting a literature search by the assistance provided by my
supervisor. It was a great learning process where I managed to decipher several

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
types of plans and lean several skills by learning and observing from the results
obtained. It was enjoyable to work on this assignment as I managed to make use of
all theoretical knowledge on costing by aligning with its practical implication. The
assignment has been beneficial to the entire process of learning. Reviewing the
articles contributed to my existing knowledge enhancements as a whole idea on the
concept of standard costing and target costing has been gained.
The results or the outcome of the first article cannot be generalized as it
should have a settings described in the article. I came across with the idea that the
application of target costing in the developing countries can be promoted if the
management take this target costing method as the competitive tool of promotion. I
have learned the facts that should be avoided by the companies to avoid the failure
of implementation of target cost management. The process of implementing target
cost management can be modified as a way out of leveraging and mitigating the risk
of failure. Second research paper has outlined various constraints faced by
manufacturing industry to the successful implementation of activity based costing
such as low motivation, high implementation cost and lack of awareness.
Reflection on learning from individual assignment:
The articles reviewed has highlighted the implementation process of the
costing techniques in the organization and identified some factors acting as
constraints to the adoption of costing techniques. I have been occupied with some
enormous knowledge on the techniques of costing going through the section of
detailed review on literature. Relevance of target and activity based costing is
identified from the conclusion remarks made in the articles. It was found that the
practice of target costing in the company in Malaysia was influenced by the
management and its impact on profitability. It was found that the objectives of target
cost management can be achieved by developing the competence through altering
mix of resources and creating new resources.
The results and findings of the second article identifies the long and short
term impact due to the costing system maturity in the organization. After the
assignment is completed, the concepts of costing is well understood by me and its
practical application and relevance. Business planning is significantly impacted by
the longevity of implementation of costing system and its impact on operational
controls. I have come to know the fact that the full operational potential can be
realized by organizations prior to the implementation of activity based costing.
Profitability planning by the organization can be done seamlessly as this costing
technique segregates the products generating profit and products that are eating up
the profits.

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
References list:
Baharudin, N. and Jusoh, R., 2019. Implementation of target cost management in a
non-Japanese environment. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management.
Patil, R., & Kshatriya, A., 2016. Maturity of Cost Management Systems in
Organisations. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 14(2), 47.