HA2011 Managerial Accounting: Balanced Scorecard Suitability

This report assesses the suitability of implementing a balanced scorecard at Walmart, a multinational retail corporation. It begins with a description of Walmart, including its products and services, with a focus on high-revenue generators like groceries and pharmacy. A SWOT analysis is conducted to provide a foundation for evaluating the balanced scorecard's potential impact. The report outlines the features of a balanced scorecard and contrasts it with traditional management approaches, emphasizing the scorecard's holistic view of organizational performance across financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning & growth perspectives. The analysis concludes by affirming the suitability of the balanced scorecard for Walmart, suggesting it can facilitate strategic planning and improve overall company performance by aligning business activities with the company's vision and strategy, enhancing customer satisfaction, streamlining internal processes, and fostering continuous learning and growth.

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SUITABILITY OF THE BSC FOR A COMPANY
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SUITABILITY OF THE BSC FOR A COMPANY
Introduction
The report contains the full description of the Walmart Company. The description has
subsections which include products and services that are offered by this retailing company. Two
products that yield a higher income to the company has been addressed in this paper (grocery and
pharmacy). The description part contains the SWOT analysis to allow implementation of the
balanced scorecard policy in the company. Balanced scorecard features have been discussed
briefly in the paper. Eventually, the paper focuses on the differences of the balanced scorecard
and traditional policies of management of a company. Finally, the paper explains the suitability
of applying balanced scorecard policy in the company management.
Description of the firm’s client
Walmart is an American multinational retailer known worldwide for the continued effort
to maximize utility. Walmart is my firm's client to address the description in this report. Walmart
is a retail company that deals with the sales of products and services which include home
products clothing's, electronics, the offering of grocery services, money center, movies and
music, sporting goods, Walmart credit card, home improvements pharmaceuticals and fuels
(Bourne and Bourne 2007). This retail company functions under the shackle of hypermarkets
markdown stores and grocery stores. It is known for its continued reputation of offering quality
services to the customers who regard it good retail shop.
Walmart has very many stores totaling to 11718 located in 28 countries in the world.it is
headquartered at Bentonville Arkansas Focusing on the history of the firm we find that it was
locally established in America in the year in 196 2 and later it was incorporated on 31st October

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in the year 1969 by Sam Walton (Brudan 2010). This company has the most significant revenue
which it registers every fiscal year totaling to $ 480 billion. The Walton family owns it. Sam
Walton bears more than 50% of the Walmart stocks. It is evident that this company has a
significant revenue since it is registered in the NYSE stock market and doing best.
Walmart performs the transactions online and locally to customers operating near its
hypermarkets. It is evident that the online platform bears many customers to Walmart than local
customers who execute the services manually (Chen,Yang, Chen, Chen and Chen 2010).
Walmart has its best combination of products that earn a significant profit thus maintaining the
company revenue. All matters with the stores involved in distributing the products the groceries
which make a substantial profit totaling to 55%. Groceries is one of the most offered products by
Walmart stores being provided to the customer at a free pick up to their locations. Walmart as a
world-class retailer has helped grocery world grow at an increasing rate since when in need of
the groceries it a matter of is just placing an order with the Walmart retailing company (Chenhall
and Moers 2015).
Walmart company has been well established in this venture and making the audience
very satisfied. It has created a room for earning huge profits from the grocery department of the
Walmart Company. The gap of travelling to the market has found the solution in the Walmart
venture. Walmart is creating the easiest way to get the consumables at hand. Previously
consuming fresh foods was a thing of the past but Walmart has made it as much comfortable as
the touch of a button when placing an order (Christian and Harrison). It is significantly very fast
since instead some hours to pick the fresh products from the hyper centers with the online
venture it takes maximum 15 minutes.

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Walmart has improved the experience to customers by delivering prescriptions online.
With Walmart continued improvement in the services that they offer services delivery is
becoming friendly each day (Cinquini and Tenucci 2010). Walmart has undergone online and
providing most of the services online to the customers. All the required talks are done online
without any need to commute from one point to the other. The only peripherals required is a
smartphone and network connectivity to access the Walmart services. The audience insights in
Facebook has all the genders and doing quite well compared to other competing firms.
Walmart created ads on Facebook, help reach the many customers within the 59
different companies of operation.
Walmart through the social media platforms update their customers on the new products
as they get to the market. In order to retain loyal customers, the company sent direct emails to
such clients regarding any market changes the Company is considering. Walmart creates the
campaign on social media platforms to gain more customers for the services they produce. It has
enabled developed means of securing some of the customers who previously didn't have a clue
on what Walmart company offers (Daryush Heydar and Mehran 2008). The best way to get
customers is by providing quality services to them. Through attaining that objective, a good
reputation is reached thus gaining the best experience in securing of new customers.
SWOT analysis
Every company has its SWOT analysis which elaborates strengths, weaknesses,
opportunity, and threat facing the company performance. Below is the summary of the SWOT
analysis of the Walmart company under the description of the company and what it offers to its
customers.

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Starting with the firm hold of the Walmart retailing company we find that it is one of the
largest and profit reaping companies (Data Monitor (FIRM) 2000). It is evident since in the year
2014 the company generated gross revenue of $474 billion and $473 billion in sales. Ability to
realize a substantial profit has enabled the company to remain on the New York Stock Exchange.
Walmart is a well-recognized brand. It is registered as the second world largest by revenue and
retailer in the world.
Walmart is an innovative company which is guided by the information systems. It can
use the digital marketing platform to make a good market. It has an advanced system that keeps
all orders, inventories, decision making and the supply chain management. Walmart is loyal to
the customers which it serves (Freeman 2014). It is evident on the Facebook page of the Walmart
Company basing the argument on the customer's comments. Consequently, Walmart offers low
prices based on the high volumes of the good they sell. Finally, Walmart has the most extensive
selection of products and services as a retailer. In the Walmart shelves, all the products presence
is guaranteed.
In the SWOT analysis of the Walmart Company, some flaws make room for making
fewer profits than required. Walmart is a global online shop which is only located in few
countries thus making small profit margins compared to when it can open up stores globally.
This has resulted into the reduced prices that has been reflected on the profit margins of the
company. Some of the products sold by the company are of deficient quality thus loss of
customers to its competitors. The size of the company denies good decision making since all the
aspects of the company is not incorporated. Employees of the Walmart company is quite huge
and requires the company to take the amount of money I securing of them and to attract new
employees to work in the company.

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Consequently, the company has some opportunities to take up to improve the profit
margin of the company and improve the customer's experience after the sale. The Walmart retail
company can adapt the balanced scorecard in trying to make some of the strategic plans and long
ones to make a better experience of the market. Walmart can also improve the groceries quality
and quantity to allow a larger volume of sales (Wiersma 2009).
Walmart Company has threats as well which is caused by the competitors such as
Amazon which is offering the groceries services to its customers. Technology trends is another
threat that has outdone the retail companies. Walmart Company should have an advanced system
and which is regularly updated to win the competitors (Haiza, Zawawi and Hoque 2010). The
increased standard of living causes demands of higher wages by the employees bearing in mind
that output remains constant. The economic trend of the extensive knowledge of the market for
quality at the lowest price is another threat since Amazon and eBay are producing goods and
services that are of high quality.
Balanced scorecard and its features.
A balanced scorecard is a management function of viewing an organization as a bigger
picture. This allows the management of any company to make long-term decisions that will
enable for plans to make the organization more productive than its current state. In the traditional
world, it is believed that whenever a company is financially stable is heading in the right
direction. According to the balanced scorecard performance of a company is not pegged on the
current state by the continued making of the policies by the management to make it more viable
and more productive in future (Malmi and Granlund, 2009). The balanced scorecard is a
methodology that focuses on the mission and vision of the company.

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A balanced scorecard views the organization in four different perspectives which include
financial, customer, internal business processes and learning and growth of the company.
The customer perspective focuses on the business keeping the customers happy. A
question may be imposed on how to keep the customers happy. In every company customers and
this case, the market is significant. Without the customers, the company can be completely
useless and have no reason to exist whatsoever (Naranjo-Gil, Maas and Hartmann 2009). The
balanced scorecard focuses on maintaining the flow of the customers in the business. It states
that the customers should be treated with the highest loyalty to retain a reasonable profit margin
since it's all about the customers.
Another way through which a balanced scorecard views management in decision making
is all about the finances of the organization. When the command is perceiving the finance, the
company has the option to work towards making decisions involving all stakeholders of the
company in the long-term issues dealing with fiancé (Beebe 2018). Each company has its way of
offering the dividend to the shareholders. The balanced scorecard provides the best way of
accomplishing the mission and vision of the finances. Its objective is to make sure that the
stakeholders are happy and the organization is not struggling financially. Money is the crucial
aspect that makes the company remain healthy and sound.
Another feature of the balanced scorecard is the internal business processes. It checks
how smooth the activities are taking place in the business. The company must run efficiently and
effectively. Internal business processes in a balanced scorecard focus on the reduction of waste
and adoption of speed when working. This reduces the cost of production (Nørreklit, Nørreklit,
Mitchell and Bjørnenak 2012). This feature also exposes the obstacles facing the company in
production or the factors leading to a low-profit-margin.

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Learning and growth of the company are addressed by the culture of the company. The
customers of the company should be aware of the latest products and services the growth of the
company is led by the management decision making. Balanced scorecard tries to make the
growth of the company centered on the decisions made by the management of the company
(Perkins, Grey and Remmers 2014). The growth of the company is based on the technology
impacted by the company. An increase is also perceived through education to the employees to
make them efficient and more skilled to make a long-term plan of investment. Each of the
perspectives is independent to each other thus the balanced scorecard becomes a tool that allows
for a long-term investment strategy. The combination of the stable scorecard features enables the
company to obtain strategic objectives through reducing injuries, improving the call times and
eventually increase profits of the company.
Difference between BSC and Traditional Performance Systems
In different business environment due to the changing modes of a business environment,
people need cheap product in the market; they need the quick way of implementing things in the
market or procedure on how to do things in market reduced and also the more natural route of
achieving ideas in the market (Perkins, Grey and Remmers 2014). Technology changes have
reduced the means of how this thing is done, and it has made the business field to be more
efficient. The changes have led to markets having self- motivation on business performance and
motivation.
A measure of business performance was introduced to enhance current run of the
business, to track all the activities that the company have done in the specified period. The
financial performance measure is a static of countable metrics involved from many fundamentals
that rumble with a proper inspective technique that accords the management of a firm to trace

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and estimate the existing situation of a fixed business, speculation or exercise
(Rassafiani,Ziviani, Rodger and Dalgleish 2009). The measure of performance also enables the
company to achieve its goals and targets through the allocation of the resources accurately to
attain the best output that yield maximum profits.
The measure of business performance also generates guidelines and information on how
the business should operate according to the firms past and present experience to cater for future.
Referring to the past mistakes that were done can be rectified to achieve the company’s mission
and improve on the performance and feed on how the business will run its daily activities on the
strategies made by the company (Shah, Malik and Malik 2011).
Concerning the tools for measuring the performance of the business, traditional
measurement was initially used, and it focused on the past financial accounting report of the
targeted activity. Then balanced scorecard was established when the business environment
changed (Van Seters, Ossevoort, Tramper and Goedhart 2012). The balanced scorecard is now
considered to be the best way of measuring the performance of the business. Balanced scorecard
emerged due to increased competition in the market and the need for firms to achieve their
objectives and goals by involving the staff, workers and the customers of the business.
Subsequently, the tools for measuring performance have the main aim in the
performance; the objective was giving information on the running of the business to the
management. The traditional measure of performance scheme is developed from the information
offered and approaches obtainable from moneymaking accounting, economic accounting and
organization accounting (Van Seters, Ossevoort, Tramper and Goedhart 2012). Moneymaking
accounting is the quick inspection and report of the fiscal relations focused to the industry;
money-making accounting is done to for the firmness of providing the firm creditors with

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substantiation data for the lenders to evaluate the worth of the firm by themselves. Economic
accounting is done to ensure the firm has collected all the information available in the market
and establish the records that it will be calculated in addition to the expenses incurred in order to
make prices that will yield profits. Organizational accounting is done to provide financial
information in a fixed manner indicating all procedures on the way money was spent and giving
accounting sheets to know the financial flow of the business. Since traditional performance
focuses on the past fiscal performance unlike balanced scorecard that focuses on the business
process, it makes it less efficient in the current market.
There are some of the characteristics that make the traditional measurement of
performance less useful than the balanced scorecard. Traditional performance measurement
focuses on the interest of the business clients and the shareholders of the company. Shareholders
are the one who provides the core initiatives for the business to run resourcefully, and hence their
interest will be based on the more profit to gain or the influence of being felt like a boss
(Wiersma 2009). Unlike the balanced scorecard that focuses on how the business runs its
operation, the operation is; for example how the industry interacts with the customers through
delivery of goods in a fast method and focusing on the objectives of the market. Wal-Mart online
company has the best methodology of catering for their audience, as they offer after sales to the
customers who buy goods at a high rate.
Traditional measurement focuses on the goals of the analysis of a performance that is
when the measurement tool achieves its purpose it is considered to have the best performance but
not considering the performance of the company (Wiersma 2009). Unlike balanced scorecard
focuses on the objectives of the business, the business is regarded as the best in performance

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when it has achieved its goals on that period of measurement of performance. (NELSON, S. L
2018).
Measurement of performance using traditional modes of analysis contemplates on the
price and revenue information that is difficult to control when a problem occurs. Lack of aiming
at the process in which the business works in leads to failure of the company and huge losses that
may arise from running away from customers due to customer disturbances or inappropriate
services offered.
BSC Suitability
The balanced scorecard is the best tool for measuring Wal-Mart performance as it enables
all customers to be aware of the company’s aims, through this tool employers in the company are
motivated to work as a team and achieve the primary goals of the firms. For instance, all workers
in Wal-Mart company work together from the delivery team to customer care and the packaging
team, the leading sustainability of the company is through each member knowing that his success
is the success of the business (Van Seters, Ossevoort, Tramper and Goedhart 2012).
It has also helped Wal-Mart company in developing right strategies on how to implement
their plans, the type of program does not matter how big or small it is, what matters is the impact
it has to the business. A small plan if implemented right is better than a big plan implemented
wrong as it will not affect. Balanced scorecard has enabled Wal-Mart to develop its digital
platforms, and this has increased sales in their firm.
The competitive advantage in Wal-Mart online company is also established through the
use of the balanced scorecard. Through following on their competitor's page, Wal-Mart is
capable of knowing the new brand in the market and can make strategies on how to dispose of
the similar product they have to avoid losses. This helps in keeping the company on track of the

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trending brands (Haiza, Zawawi and Hoque 2010). Balanced scorecard has also enabled Wal-
Mart company to attain the professional goals in the market, through allowing the workers to
know their specific aims Wal-Mart has succeeded to give their labor force a vivacious objective
this has brought an open mind to the workforce on identifying the secrete between ideas
underlying each other.
Conclusion
In conclusion, concerning the research was done on Wal-Mart online marketing, the
company has developed in a super large way through balanced scorecard. The difference is seen
when the company started; it had started by making losses before it began use the balanced
scorecard. The high competition started the moment other competitors developed strategies on
how to improve their sales, and technology improvements which led to increased platforms of
advertisements and offering deals. Amazon online retail shop which is the highest competitor of
Wal-Mart developed social media platform to get its target audience enabled Wal-Mart to change
its strategies to focus on the growth of its business. The development plan that was established
by Wal-Mart was through ensuring teamwork in the firm and giving the workforce knowhow of
the business objectives and ensuring that the customer care services are doing their work for the
benefit of themselves and the company.

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