Kundlönsamhetsanalys som avbildande kalkyl och medskapande praktik
En fallstudie av Billerud
In recent years, customer profitability has become a focal point of academic discussions on business performance. However, researchers remain divided as to how evaluation of customers ought to be conducted, resulting in uncertainty of how accounting systems should be adapted to prevailing conditions. This paper aims to investigate the application of customer accounting techniques and the role they play in the organisational and commercial context in which they take place. In a case study of Billerud, a Swedish company providing materials and services for packaging solutions, the interplay between customer accounting techniques and customer relationship characteristics has been examined through the application of a theoretical framework developed by Lind and Strömsten. Particular emphasis has been put on deviations from the prescribed pattern of the framework. The results of the study indicate that customer accounting techniques may have a direct influence on technical and organisational interfaces between a company and its customers, leading to strengthened relationships. Furthermore, it has been shown how complex dependencies in production processes in turn create dependencies between customers, and how this affects how managers reason with regards to customer profitability. Customer relationship characteristics can thus have implications for how customer accounting is applied. Finally, a few observations that cannot easily be understood through the parameters of the framework have been identified, indicating that some components of this need to be reconsidered.