Strategizing competitive edge in service operations: a model proposal for determining the unit costs through the activity-based cost accounting and the full-consistency method

Sustainable competitive advantage, a cornerstone of strategic management, encompasses a business's enduring capability to maintain long-term financial superiority over its competitors. The business should optimize its operations by reducing costs and improving efficiency to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. In the present study, the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) system was implemented to calculate the unit costs of a hotel operating in Turkey, and the expenses were allocated to the overnight costs using the Full-Consistency Method (FUCOM) technique. FUCOM is designed to determine room costs in a hotel business accurately. Expert evaluations were simulated to interpret the results statistically. Also, the Best–worst method (BWM) is used to compare the results. The results of this study hold significant implications for decision-makers, implementers, stakeholders, and theoretical contributions to hotel operations. The proposed model will enable hotels to identify room costs and realistically achieve a sustainable competitive edge. The proposed system is also suitable for implementation by other enterprises operating in the service sector.