F5知識點：學習曲線效應（The learning curve effect）

　　學習曲線效應指的是越是經常地執行一項任務，每次所需的時間就越少。

　　學習曲線將學習效果數量化繪制于坐標紙上，橫軸代表練習次數（或產量），縱軸代表學習的效果（單位產品所耗時間），這樣繪制出的一條曲線，就是學習曲線。

　　學習曲線有廣義和狹義之分。狹義的學習曲線又稱為人員學習曲線，它是指直接作業人員個人的學習曲線。廣義的學習曲線也稱為生產進步函數，是指工業某一行業或某一產品在其產品壽命周期的學習曲線，是融合技術進步、管理水平提高等許多人努力的學習曲線。

　　學習效果受許多因素的影響，主要有：

　　．操作者的動作熟練程度。這是影響學習曲線的至基本因素

　　．管理技術的改善，正確的培訓、指導，充分的生產準備與周到的服務，工資獎勵及懲罰等管理政策的運用

　　．產品設計的改善

　　．生產設備與工具的質量

　　．各種材料的 連續供應和 質量

　　．信息反饋的及時性

　　．專業化分工程度

　　THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LEARNING CURVE EFFECT

　　Learning curve models enable users to predict how long it will take to complete a future task. Management accountants must therefore be sure to take into account any learning rate when they are carrying out planning, control and decision-making. If they fail to do this, serious consequences will result. As regards its importance in decision-making, let us look at the example of a company that is introducing a new product onto the market. The company wants to make its price as attractive as possible to customers but still wants to make a profit, so it prices it based on the full absorption cost plus a small 5% mark-up for profit. The first unit of that product may take one hour to make. If the labour cost is $15 per hour, then the price of the product will be based on the inclusion of that cost of $15 per hour. Other costs may total $45. The product is therefore released onto the market at a price of $63. Subsequently, it becomes apparent that the learning effect has been ignored and the correct labour time per unit should is actually 0.5 hours. Without crunching through the numbers again, it is obvious that the product will have been launched onto the market at a price which is far too high. This may mean that initial sales are much lower than they otherwise would have been and the product launch may fail. Worse still, the company may have decided not to launch it in the first place as it believed it could not offer a competitive price.

　　Let us now consider its importance in planning and control. If standard costing is to be used, it is important that standard costs provide an accurate basis for the calculation of variances. If standard costs have been calculated without taking into account the learning effect, then all the labour usage variances will be favourable because the standard labour hours that they are based on will be too high. This will make their use for control purposes pointless.

　　Finally, it is worth noting that the use of learning curve is not restricted to the assembly industries it is traditionally associated with. It is also used in other less traditional sectors such as professional practice, financial services, publishing and travel. In fact, research has shown that just under half of users are in the service sector.