Many firms begin activity-based management with pilot projects.
Coordination beforehand can lead to the development of common instruments for data gathering and consistent reporting and evaluations. This article critically evaluates the experiences gained from four simultaneous ABM pilot projects conducted at a large consumer products company. Although many objectives were met and valuable lessons were learned, the pilot projects proved less successful overall than they might have been with more extensive planning and coordination. Few articles, however, have described implementations of value-chain approaches to business process improvements, of which ABC is a vital component. The objective of this description is to identify factors that led to success or that represent shortcomings in design, scope, or follow-through.