Makomane L Taba
The African Complementary and Alternative Medicines (ACAM) industry in South Africa is complex. The main objectives of the research are to develop and demonstrate the adoption of a costing model by ACAM health practitioners to influence and improve decision-making process. In achieving the main research objective the three sub-objectives were created. First, identify the current approaches used by the ACAM practitioners to cost their products and services and how it supports their decision-making. Secondly, to develop and adopt a cost model for ACAM practitioners to effectively capture products and services cost information for improved health care service delivery. The third is to understand the challenges of adopting the proposed costing model for further improvement. No apparent studies so far provide a clear picture of how strategic cost accounting is implemented in ACAM facilities; therefore, a contingency theory and production theory of value were used. The main data was gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviews and documentation and direct observation were also used as other sources of evidence to enhance the research validity and reliability. Consistent with action research principles, data was analyzed after two research cycle in the field study.