Final answer:
A trait of a traditional cost management system is the use of unit-based drivers, whereas traditional systems might not focus on detailed activity information or use of both financial and non-financial performance measures as much as modern systems.
Step-by-step explanation:
One trait of a traditional cost management system is a. unit-based drivers. Traditional costing systems primarily use unit-based drivers such as labor hours or machine hours to allocate costs to products. These systems tend to have difficulty dealing with the complexities of modern manufacturing and service environments which might require more detailed activity information and the tracing of multiple cost drivers, including those that are not unit-based.
Breaking down total costs into fixed cost, marginal cost, average total cost, and average variable cost is indeed crucial for a firm since it offers unique insights. However, these breakdowns are characteristic of cost accounting in general and are not specific traits of traditional cost management systems. Traditional systems might not heavily emphasize the use of both financial and non-financial measures of performance or detailed activity information as modern activity-based costing (ABC) methods do.