Strategic Management Accounting Report: Value Chain and Strategies

This report delves into strategic management accounting, focusing on value chain analysis and its enhancement using various strategic management tools. It provides insights into techniques for developing, implementing, and monitoring strategies, including SWOT analysis, gap analysis, and Michael Porter’s Value Chain. The report also examines the strategic management cycle, the leadership role of professional accountants, and the influence of organizational and industry factors on value chain analysis. Furthermore, it explores the characteristics of effective strategic and corporate social responsibilities for performance measurement and control systems. The report advises Ansell Strategic on selecting, planning, implementing, controlling, and monitoring strategies to improve their value chain and overall performance. It also discusses the role of organizations and industries in value chain analysis and the design and structure of value-adding activities, value drivers, and value chains. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations for Ansell Strategic to achieve its objectives.

Strategic Management Accounting
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
1. Enhancement of Value Chain with Various Strategic Management Tools.................................2
2. Techniques to Develop, Implement and Monitor Strategies.......................................................4
3. a. Strategic Management Cycle...................................................................................................6
3. b. Leadership Role of Professional Accountants in Strategic Management................................8
4. a. Role of Organization and Industry in Value Chain Analysis..................................................8
4. b. Design and Structure of Value Adding Activities, Value Drivers and Value Chains.............9
5. Characteristics of Effective Strategic and Corporate Social Responsibilities for Measuring
Performance and Control System..................................................................................................10
6. Strategic Management Accounting to Select, Plan, Implement, Control and Monitor.............11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
The business organizations are needed to take into consideration some specific aspect for
enhancing the overall performance of their business and Value Chain Analysis can be considered
as one of them. Value chain can be considered as a set of activities performed by the companies
in a specific industry for delivering a valuable product to the customers and to add value to the
provided services to the customers (Darmawan, Putra and Wiguna 2014). In simplified words,
value chain helps the companies in adding values to their customers and other stakeholders.
There is a relation between the value chain of the companies with strategic management and
strategic management accounting as the companies can improve the performance of their value
chain with the help of various strategic management tools. At the same time, organizations and
industries also have impact on the value chain of the companies (de Souza and Márcio de
Almeida 2013). The main aim of this report is the analysis and evaluation of various components
of value chain by considering the aspects of strategic management accounting. More specifically,
this report involves in providing advices to Ansell Strategic with the aim to achieve the
objectives for improving the value chain.
1. Enhancement of Value Chain with Various Strategic Management Tools
The earlier discussion has mentioned the fact that the companies can enhance their value
chain with the assistance of various strategic management tools and this aspect is also applicable
for Ansell Strategic. The following discussion provides the description of certain strategic
management tools to enhance the value chain of Ansell Strategic:

Michael Porter’s ‘Value Chain’: Michael Porter was the inventor of this particular strategic
management tool. Under this value chain analysis, the representation of a set of activities can be
seen performed by the companies with the aim to link them to the competitive position of the
businesses in order to deliver valuable products and services to the end customers.
Figure 1: Porter’s Value Chain Model
(Source: Mohajeri et al. 2014)
The presence of this set of activities can be seen in within and around of companies and
for this reason, strong relation can be seen to analyze and link them in order to identify the
competitive advantage of the companies. With the help of this strategic management tool, Ansell
Strategic can enhance their value chain of each particular activity for adding values to the
products and services (Markides 2013). The more value Ansell Strategic can create in their value
chain, the more willingly customers of the company are for paying for the services of the
company.

SWOT Analysis: It is considered as a major strategic management tool that can enhance the
value chain of the companies. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
SWOT analysis is regarded as a crucial tool of strategic management that the business
organizations use to identify their strengths and weaknesses; and the opportunities and threats
from them (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). This particular tool involves in the identification of
the activities that can lead in value adding to the products and services along with the
unproductive or weak activities. Thus, with the aim of this particle tool, Ansell Strategic can
enhance their value chain and it will ultimately lead to the improvement of performance of their
businesses. Apart from this, Ansell Strategic will also be able in spotting the opportunities and
weaknesses in their value chain (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). Hence, it can be said on the
overall basis that SWOT analysis can enhance the value chain of Ansell Strategic.
Gap Analysis: Gap analysis is considered as another important strategic management tool that
helps the business organizations in identifying the current position of the business in the industry
or market. It also helps the companies in the analysis of their progress towards the achievement
of the strategic goals (Morden 2016). More elaborately, the application of gap analysis assists the
companies in measuring the difference between the goals of the companies and their current
position in achieving them. It needs to be mentioned that Ansell Strategic can use the tool of gap
analysis to improve their value chain as it will show their current progress in terms to achieve the
targets related to add value to their products and services (Morden 2016). With the help of gap
analysis, Ansell Strategic will be able in improving the performance of their business activities.

2. Techniques to Develop, Implement and Monitor Strategies
At the time to develop, implement and monitor the business strategies, it is needed for the
business organizations to consider certain steps; and they are applicable for Ansell Strategic. The
examination and application of these steps are discussed below:
Step 1: At the time of the development of the strategies, Ansell Strategic is needed to designate
the employees to be accountable for achieving the objectives and activities. The company is
required to set the goals and objectives that need to be achieved with the strategies. In the
strategy development process, Ansell Strategic needs to consider what they are expecting from
the employees and staffs related to the strategy (Parmenter 2015). In addition, they are needed to
consider the aspects of communication required for the development of the strategy along with
the results that will be derived from the development and implementation of the strategies.
Step 2: In this particular step or phase, it is needed for Ansell Strategic to address the critical
issues based on the priority by developing strategies to resolve them. At the same time, there is a
need to review of the action plans so that necessary enhancements can be brought. Most
impotently, Ansell Strategic is needed to ensure certain aspect like relation of realistic as well as
measurable objectives with the strategies, designation of responsible individuals for the lead
roles, inclusion of the appropriate people in the strategies, setting of realistic timeline and the
presence of the required resources (Powell et al. 2015).
Step 3: After the development of the strategies, the strategy development committee or the
strategy implementation strategy will involve in their review with the aim to identify the
opportunities to coordinate and combine the required resources (Bryson 2018). The need for
Ansell Strategic is to look for opportunities for collaborating as well as clarifying the role of the

committee. In addition, the management of Ansell Strategic needs to ensure regular contact with
the implementation team with the aim to ensure that all the implementation activities are on
track.
Step 4: After the above step, it is needed for Ansell Strategic to involve in the evaluation of the
implemented strategies with the aim to assess the extent of the accomplishment of the goals and
objectives. Ansell Strategic can do this by simply tracking the activities as well as progress
towards achieving the goals and objectives. In the presence of these steps, Ansell Strategic will
be able in assessing the fact that whether they have been successful in achieving the goals and
objectives (Dhaliwal et al. 2014).
Step 5: In this last step, the requirement for Ansell Strategic is to make the necessary corrections
as per the results of the evaluation of the strategies. In this phrase, the main aim of Ansell
Strategic will be to spot any kind of inefficiencies in the business activities. In case the company
find any loophole or inefficiency in the process, the need for the management is to take the
corrective measures with the aim to eradicate those efficiencies from the strategies. Thus, Ansell
Strategic needs to follow all these steps in the process to develop, implement and monitor
strategies (Powell et al. 2015).
3. a. Strategic Management Cycle
It needs to be mentioned that there are four major elements of the strategic management
cycle and they can be seen in the following figure:

Figure 2: Strategic Management Cycle
(Source: Rothaermel 2015)
Strategy Formulation: This stage involve in identifying the organizational objective that needs
to be achieved through the strategies. In this stage, managements of the companies analyze what
the competitors are doing with the aim to respond. Brainstorming is considered as a major aspect
in this stage as the managements of the companies use to gather ideas from different employees
and staffs of the companies with the aim to develop strategies (Eden and Ackermann 2013).
Planning: This stage involves in specifying the broad aims into action plans for the ease of the
organizational employee and staffs. More specifically, the planning process involves in
translating the top level strategies into the actionable activities for the purpose of
implementation. Many business organizations opt for SMART target for the purpose of activity
planning. In this stage, strategies began to become reality (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne 2018).
Implementation: Enactment of the strategies can be seen in the stage of implementation. This
stage in strategic management cycle involves in the use of the action plans and it leads to the
happening of the real works. The aim of this stage is to solve the real world business problems.

This step requires the adaptation as well as modifications of certain plans (Alkhafaji and Nelson
2013).
Review: This particular step helps the managements of the companies in assessing their actual
position and where they want to be. This stage involves in the identification of the strong as well
as weak areas of the strategies with the aim to take corrective measures. This stage provides the
managements with the scope to bring continuous improvements in the implemented strategies for
the businesses (Simon, Fischbach and Schoder 2014).
3. b. Leadership Role of Professional Accountants in Strategic Management
Leadership role of the professional accountants involves that the professional accountants
always respond to the contiguously changing expectations of the companies, societies and
financial markets. It indicates towards various roles of the professional accountants like
leadership in management, operations, management control and stakeholders and accounting
communication (Goretzki, Strauss and Weber 2013). Many instances can be seen where the
accounting professionals have aspired to the roles of accounting leadership like Chief Financial
Officer, Financial Controller and others. Under these roles, the professional accountants become
responsible for all the financial matters and aspects in the companies and it demands technical
skills and specialized knowledge in the accounting areas like taxation, financial reporting,
treasury and others (Goretzki, Strauss and Weber 2013).
Business organizations emphasize on the aspect of financial leadership with the aim to
ensure that all the financial and accounting activities support the good performance of the whole
organization. For this reason, the requirement for the professional accountants is to fulfill their
basic duties along with providing support in the processes of operations and tragic decision-

making. For these reasons, the leadership role of the professional accountants requires leadership
traits, leadership characteristics, skills for managing the organizations along with the
interpersonal skills (Howieson et al. 2014). Thus, it can be said that leadership role of
professional accountant has major importance in the process of strategic management.
4. a. Role of Organization and Industry in Value Chain Analysis
It is needed for the business organizations to take into consideration the roles of both the
companies and industries in the process of value chain analysis. Difference in the strategy of
value chain can be seen for different industries. Difference in value chain can be seen in different
industries as the industries become more global, more cooperative on the basis of their needs
(Gereffi and Sturgeon 2013). For example, the companies like FedEx consider their future as a
circular chain that provides values to the renewability. On the other hand, the companies like the
World Bank and others tend to use global value chains with the aim to foster international
cooperation for assisting the poorest countries in the world. Thus, it can be said that the industry
value chain consists of all the activities that lead to the creation of values for the companies in
the same industry. On the other hand, the value chains of the companies include the activities
that lead to the creation of value for their customers. In both of the cases, value chain analysis
provides the companies as well as industries with the required competitive advantages for value
creation (Williams et al. 2013.).
4. b. Design and Structure of Value Adding Activities, Value Drivers and Value Chains
According to the above discussion, Ansell Strategic is needed to consider certain aspects
in the development of their supply chain. Ansell Strategic operates in the service industry and it
requires certain manual processes involving the human being interactions. For this reason, the

value chain of Ansell Strategic needs more advanced scheduling system with the aim to
implement better coordination. Customers play an integral part in the companies under service
industry; and it can lead to service heterogeneity and can impact the service quality. For this
reason, it is hard to measure as well as monitor the service quality (El-Sayed 2014).
At the same time, the company must acquire the understanding of the external
environment on the company so that it can become possible for them to create a suitable value
chain by taking into consideration the effects of external environment. After that, it is needed for
the company to consider the drivers of value chain at the time of their value chain analysis. In
this case, some of the major value chain drivers can be economies of scale, interrelationship,
internal policies of the organizations, location, integration between different departments and
others (Howieson, Lawley and Hastings 2016). Thus, it can be seen from the above discussion,
the company is needed to consider these aspects in their value chain analysis.
5. Characteristics of Effective Strategic and Corporate Social Responsibilities for
Measuring Performance and Control System
In the recent years, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility is considered as one of the
major aspects in the areas of performance measurement and control system; and this aspect has
certain characteristics. Strategic corporate social responsibility can be considered as a strategic
approach that the business organizations can use for the determination of the specific socially
responsible business activities that they can offer with the adequate resources (Chandler and
Werther 2014). This aspect indicates towards a specific characteristic of strategic corporate
social responsibility that it helps the companies in gaining the competitive advantage. Another
major characteristic of strategic corporate social responsibility is that it helps the business

organizations to follow the components of the generic strategies of business and this aspect helps
the companies in establishing effective control on the business operations (Chandler and Werther
2014).
At the same time, strategic corporate social responsibility helps the firms in maintaining
an optimal balance between the creations of economic value with the societal value. After that,
the business organizations can manage the relationship of different stakeholders with the
assistance of strategic corporate social responsibility. In case of the measurement of business
performance, one major characteristic of strategic corporate social responsibility is that it helps
the companies in the identification of the threats and opportunities in case of stakeholder
managements. In this way, they can measure the performance of their business. Most
importantly, business organizations become able in creating new business opportunities with the
help of strategic corporate social responsibility and it ensures the improved performance of the
business organizations (Michelon, Boesso and Kumar 2013).
6. Strategic Management Accounting to Select, Plan, Implement, Control and Monitor
It needs to be mentioned that there are certain strategic management accounting
techniques that can help Ansell Strategic in the process to select, plan, implement, control and
monitor the business activities; and they are discussed below:
 Activity Based Costing can be regarded as a major strategic management accounting tool
that Ansell Strategic can implement to plan their costing activities as this method is based
on identifying the business activities performed by the companies. It will help the
company in knowing the causes of indirect cost of the companies so that the business
activities can be planned accordingly (Kaplan and Atkinson 2015).

 Attribute costing can be considered as a crucial strategic management accounting
technique as this technique can help Ansell Strategic in the selection of the appropriate
costing technique for their services. This technique assists the companies in considering
the cost objectives of the business activities (Juras 2014).
 Ansell Strategic also has the option to implement strategic costing as an effective
technique of strategic management accounting. In the presence of this technique, Ansell
Strategic will be able in the development and implementation of costing tools as per their
business operations. It also helps the companies in gaining the required competitive
advantage (Dhillon 2013).
 Ansell Strategic can also implement the strategic management accounting technique of
Benchmarking with the aim to compare the performance of their business with any ideal
standard. The usefulness of this technique can be seen in monitoring the performance of
the companies. This technique provides the companies with the opportunity for
improvement as per the result (Stead and Stead 2014).
Conclusion
The above discussion indicates towards the fact that there is a relation between the value
chain and strategic management of the companies. According to the above discussion, companies
can enhance the performance of their value chain with the help of different strategic management
tools like gap analysis, SWOT analysis, Porter’s Value Chain and others. It can also be seen
from the above discussion that the companies are needed to follow five specific steps in order to
develop, implement and monitor strategies like development of strategic objectives, inclusion of
the responsible employee and others. According to the above discussion, four major components
of strategic management cycles are strategy formulation, planning, implementation and review. It

can be observed from the above discussion that the companies are needed to consider the aspects
like companies and industries at the time of the development of their business value chain. The
development of value drivers and value activities depends on the industry types. The above
discussion also indicates towards the fact that the strategic corporate social responsibility assists
the companies in measuring the business performance along with implementing control systems.
Lastly, companies can implement specific strategic management accounting techniques for the
purpose of selection, planning, implementation, control and monitoring; they are activity based
costing, attribute costing, strategic costing, benchmarking and others.

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