Strategic Cost Management: APAL Balanced Scorecard Analysis Report

This case study analyzes Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL) using the balanced scorecard framework. The assignment constructs a balanced scorecard, identifying objectives, measures, and data for each perspective: customers, internal business processes, learning and growth/innovation, and finance. The analysis includes financial performance, customer feedback, internal process evaluation, and innovation strategies. The assignment also documents the learning from this process, highlighting the usefulness of balanced scorecards in strategic planning, communication, project alignment, information management, performance reporting, organizational alignment, and process alignment. The case study provides insights into APAL's strategic challenges and opportunities, emphasizing the importance of a balanced approach to performance management and cost management within the context of a changing business environment.

Running head: STRATEGY COST MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY COST MANAGEMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Answer to Q1.............................................................................................................................2
Answer to Q2.............................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Reference....................................................................................................................................9

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Answer to Q1.
Balance score card- the balance score card is an effective strategy performance management
tool. It helps the company to analyse the performance of the company through four
perspectives that triggers the growth of all the activities and provides the organisation with
strength and weakness to take measurable steps for future growth. It is a profit making plan
that is used by all the company world -wide (Agrawal 2016). It helps the managers to
understand the key aspects of the company and help to communicate the plan to all the
stakeholders and employees to achieve the objective of the company effectively. It keeps
track of the activities by the staff members and helps the employees to take control and
monitor the implications that have aroused in the past.
The balance score card in a business framework helps the company to manage these four
important perspectives, they are; finance, internal business process, customers, and learning
and growth (Boscia 2014). These four perspectives have vital objective that can trigger the
business growth and helps to determine the strength s and weakness of the company.
A. Customers- this perspective is used to analyse the organisational performance, by viewing
what the customer or the stakeholders thinks about the design of organisation that it serves.
The objectives for using customer perspective are mentioned below-
 The customer’s perspective helps the organisation to ensure long- term flexibility of
the organisation with developing new strategies that can help the company to survive
in the competitive market. As many competitors are selling Apple and Pear, it is
necessary to understand the perspective of the customers so that they will not switch
towards the competitors (Dickinson 2014).
 To target market segments, it is necessary to analyse the target market for selling the
products to the customers. As in the case study, it is mentioned that the ratio of pear

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sales is more than the Apple. So it is necessary to analyse the target market where
both the fruits can be sold in large quantities (Johnson 2013). This analysis can help
the company to succeed.
 Feedback from the customer or survey by the company for the customer’s point of
view will help the company to understand the area of change in the end product. It
may be based on price issues, that can help or quality issues, the customers can clearly
objectify what changes are required for sustainable growth of the business (Keyes
2016).
B. Internal Business Process- the internal business process helps to evaluate the business
performance. The main objective of internal business process is to-
 Provide value to the internal business process. The value is created by evaluating each
departmental performance of the business. The industry services has to be monitored
for skill to advocate, to conduct the domestic research and marketing
(Koesomowidjojo 2017).
 To develop the processes, holding the power in the market and licensing the
international property rights of branded products.
 The internal business process objectifies to develop an effective organisational
strategy that can help the business to grow. As the company has introduced a new
product called Cripps Pink apple variety, the company is required to register as a
particular plant (Malgwi 2014).
 APAL by creating funds for the purpose of product specific research that is for the
growers and marketing activities, and another initiation for general horticultural issues
such as fruit and irrigation. The company must objectify for advocacy activities that
can help to advocate the activities and develop a plan for solving the issues related
with low analytical practices (Nielsen 2015).

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C. Learning and growth/ innovation – the learning and growth perspective or the innovation
perspective helps to create capacity of the company to sustain in the market and to achieve
competitive advantage in the market. The objectives of learning and growth are mentioned
below-
 To achieve competitive advantage is the key objective of growth and learning by the
company. The sustainable approach can only be achieved when the company have the
capacity to sell both pear and apple as compared to the competitors. The case study
stated that APAL renegotiated with Star Fruits and achieved the success in increasing
the royalty rate (Oliveira 2014). This objective led the company in approaching for a
new product development and sell pears and apples as a leading in the market. the key
competitors were the breeders and product managers.
 To enable the employees or staff to be more competent with new approaches or
innovation in the market activities. The employers must be efficient enough to carry
out the new product that is developed by the company so that the strategies can be
developed according to the new product requirements to enhance the demand in the
market (Perkins 2014). This can also help to identify the implications in approaching
for a new product. The advantages and disadvantages are analysed for effective
implementation of innovation.
 The main objective of this perspective is to analyse the knowledge, skills and culture
that helps the company to understand the capacity of the company to fulfil the
objective of the company. The knowledge and skills helps the company to learn more
about the effectiveness of planning a design that can deliver the products and services
that customers’ demands (Pratiwi 2016).
D. Finance- As the financials are the lagging indicators, they need to be monitored and
measured regularly. The financial perspective have the aim to gain profit in the company and

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also to enable the company with profit strategies. The financial perspective is considered to
be the top in the balance score card as it is used for analysing the profit margin of the
company. The financial perspective will guide the company by providing the proper guidance
regarding strategy that the company is using is correct or not. It will also stratify that which
process leads to more profit in the business. The objective of financial perspective is provided
below-
 As the company have the objective for a profit earned company, the financial
perspective will help to guide in the development of strategy that can lead to positive
profit gaining company. The goal of selling the fruits to the market requires to
initialise the cost of the company (Sainaghi 2013). As the company is selling the
products which is not sold in half of the region due to lack of interest and other issues
of pricing, the company is unable to sell to its optimum margin.
 The objective is to analyse the revenue of the company which is compared with the
past financial aspects. As it is shown in the financial that the total revenue is increased
from 2013 to 2014 that is 4.919 to 5.743 but the company faced heavy loss in the year
2015 which came down to 5.083 and then gradually increased in 2016. This financial
flow of the company is used to help the company to develop the financial strategy that
can increase the financial performance through various KPIs (Sayed 2013).
 The cost of the employees, trade mark management, project management and
professional fees impacts the financial performance of the business.
Answer to Q2.
Documenting the learning from the process regarding potential usefulness of balanced
scorecards and the process of creating them-

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Better strategic planning- the benefits of balance score card is that it helps to better strategic
planning. The balance scorecard helps APAL Company to develop effective strategic plan to
develop new product to the market. Cripps Pink Apple is the new product that APAL
developed, this can be little bit risky without a planned strategy. Thus, the need of strategy
helps to provide a framework to build and communicate strategy. The strategic planning is
visualised by a strategic map that can help the manager of APAL to analyse the cause and
effect of the relationship between various strategic objectives of the company (Senarath
2015). It helps to ensure the company is achieving its objective and improving its
performance through various key performance indicators. The plan provides all the impacts
to implement the plan effectively.
Improved Strategy Communication and Execution- the above plan helps to showcase the
whole strategy to be implemented. This helps the company to communicate the strategy
internally and externally. The developed plan helps to engage both staff employees and also
the external stakeholders in the process of delivering and reviewing the organisational
strategy. APAL needs to critically analyse the strategy as it is difficult for APAL to
understand the strategy fully. Thus critical analysis and meetings must be conducted to check
the correctness of the strategy for future benefits.
Better alignment of projects and initiatives- the balanced score card helps APAL to map
the projects that the company have initiated for funding and other practices that can increase
the organisational performances such as enabling the industry wide research that can improve
the company practices and assist the company with effective marketing domestic activities
(Sainaghi 2013). The geographical conditions are addressed by Michele and the international
commercial business is analysed for effective plans.

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Better management information- APAL must have better management information by
using such balance scorecard. As the revenue have decreased due to inappropriate
management activities in the company. The company must ensure what APAL is measuring
and what the company is actually matters to the customers and to other stakeholders. The
balance scorecard helps the company to achieve high quality management information which
the company is lacking behind (Oliveira 2014). The company can be beneficial in taking
effective decision making for high productivity in the future and to compete in the
competitive environment.
Improved performance Reporting- the developed balance score card can help APAL to
guide to develop a design that can acknowledge the performance in a report. It ensure the
performance of employees and organisation. This report can determine why the Apple is sold
in less quantity and the pears are sold in large quantity as compared to the competitors (Keyes
2016). The analysis of performance of the organisation and employees will help to identify
the strength and weakness of both that can be resolved by KPIs.
Better Organisational Alignment- the balance score- card helps the company to have better
alignment in their organisational structure and develop effective strategic objective that the
employees and management can understand to achieve it within the specific time limit. The
organisational alignment is the key aspect of each organisation as there is a must a structured
activity that can be easily communicated to all the employees and stake holders that can
understand effectively (Nielsen 2015).
Better process Alignment- the company having well implementation of balance scorecard
helps to align with all the organisational processes such as analysing the budget of the
company, acknowledging the risk management. The risk management in introducing a new
product to the market and addressing all the challenges of selling apples and pears with other

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brand names such as Pink Lady. This helped to trigger the business by owning the trademark
and various products that it sold across the world (Johnson 2013). Michele had taken this
initiation and conducted a meeting with the board for future growths. The analytics through
alignment for gaining strategic priorities can help the company to create an effective strategic
focused organisation.
Conclusion
The paper concludes that the balance score card is an effective strategy performance
management tool. It helped the company to analyse the performance of the company through
four perspectives that triggered the growth of all the activities and provided the organisation
with strength and weakness to take measurable steps for future growth. It helped to achieve a
profit making plan that has been used by all the company world -wide. It helped the managers
to understand the key aspects of the company and helped to communicate the plan to all the
stakeholders and employees to achieve the objective of the company effectively. The learning
and growth perspective or the innovation perspective helped to create capacity of the
company to sustain in the market and to achieve the objective that the company have planned
to achieve. It kept a track of the activities by the staff members and helped the employees to
take control and monitor the implications that have aroused in the past. The company using
this balance score card now can achieve the competitive advantage in the competitive world.
The balance scorecard helped the company to achieve high quality management information.

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Reference
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