策略會影響成本習性嗎？差異化策略與成本不對稱性

Does Strategy Affect Cost Behaviors? Differentiation Strategy and Cost Asymmetry

Anderson, Banker and Janakiraman(2003)及Banker, Byzalov, Ciftci and Mashruwala(2014)探討成本隨作業量非等量變動的不對稱性現象，並指出資源的調整成本大小是決定此不對稱性程度的主要因素。本研究認為公司採行差異化策略時，其擁有資源所對應的調整成本較高，因此有更高的成本不對稱性。本研究以1987年至2013年台灣上市、上櫃及興櫃公司為樣本，發現當公司差異化策略程度越高時，有較大的營運成本僵固性；此外，在管理者對未來樂觀情形下，公司差異化策略越高會有較大的營運成本僵固性；相反地，在悲觀情形下，公司差異化策略越高時會有較小的營運成本反僵固性。本研究是首篇以台灣所有市場及所有年度的資料，探討公司的差異化策略選擇如何影響資源調整成本的決策，進而影響成本不對稱性的研究。本研究發現台灣公司中，差異化策略會影響成本不對稱性的現象是非常廣泛且穩定，與Banker, Flasher and Zhang(2013)之發現一致。

In this study, we examined whether the company's differentiation strategy will affect the company's cost behaviors, specifically, the degrees of cost asymmetry. We assume that the company's strategic choice of the degree of differentiation will affect the types of resources it owns, and then affect the magnitudes of its resources adjustment costs. According Anderson, Banker and Janakiraman (2003) and Banker, Byzalov, Ciftci and Mashruwala (2014), this means that the differentiation strategy will affect the degrees of its cost asymmetry. Using listed on TSE, OTC, and Emerging-Market companies in Taiwan from 1987 to 2013 as ours sample, the empirical results show that when firms have higher degree of differentiation strategy, they will exhibit greater cost stickiness of operating cost. Furthermore, the relationship between the differentiation strategy and cost asymmetry also are moderated by the optimistic or pessimistic expectation of managers for future. This study is the first study using Taiwan's all historically yearly listed companies' data to explore the relationship between the differentiation strategy and cost asymmetry. Our research finds that the relationship between the differentiation strategy and cost asymmetry is very pervasive in Taiwan's companies, and this result is highly consistent with the findings of Banker, Flasher and Zhang (2013).