Value Chain Management And Strategic Accounting Techniques For Ansell Strategic

SWOT Analysis and Benchmarks for Ansell Strategic

Value Chain management refers to the process of adding value to the company. It is a set of activities that a firm operating in a certain industry performs in order to deliver a quality product or service for its customers. The firm aims to design, develop, and deliver products in a timely and efficient manner aimed at adding value to their customers. Ansell Strategic provides expert services in development planning, performance improvement, strategy and change management and mergers and acquisitions (Williamson 2013). To add value in its overall provision of services, the company must employ the following tools:

SWOT analysis of the Ansell Strategic. The complete scrutiny of the external environment of Ansell should be done, which will point out the various flaws and weaknesses in its provision of services towards its aged target market. Use of balance score card can be done to identify and improve the internal functions of Ansell such as better retirement life standards for its customers, quality development work, health services, independent consultation and advice for the old age customers. Benchmarks can also be used to enhance value based services, where the best performances of the best competitors are set as benchmarks and are compared to identify and apply the best practices. Millennium aged care services has set a bench mark in this sector by becoming the first accredited aged care company and by providing timely consultancy and prompt paperwork (Ansell Strategic, 2018). Emulating such standards can add value to the company. 

Techniques for effective development, implementing and monitoring strategies: The techniques for creating, implementing and monitoring strategies are of paramount importance to an organization. Some of them are as follows:

Reporting to others:-

It should be reported to others as well for examination and overseeing the implementation process. Activities which are undertaken by isolation from others are of little significance for others, so transparency and accountability should be introduced as well.

Involvement of stakeholders:- 

All the relevant stakeholders of Ansell should be actively involved in the entire procedure of creating, implementing and monitoring of strategies. Taking advice and help from professional management experts is a good idea as well. Tracking progress of these processes is also an important part of the process.

Monitoring progress: –

 Better and successful monitoring of the progress of the entire procedure of working towards strategy creation and implementation is necessary. Implementation planning should define the data needed to be collected and the necessary methods for monitoring. Obtaining data and suggestions from experts would also help in a long way in this procedure.

Techniques for Effective Development, Implementation, and Monitoring Strategies

The success of each and every management strategy is determined by the fact that whether it is able to produce the results for which it was created and implemented.  The credibility of the evaluation procedure is enhanced by the evidences collected and the standard procedure adopted by the management. They should look into the results and take the necessary steps to make changes in the strategies if deemed necessary.

Strategic management cycle and leadership role of professional accountants in strategic management:

Strategic Management Cycle’s 4 components 🙁 Figure created by Author) 

The analysis of the strategic management cycle of Ansell strategy is very important for the betterment of the organization. The strategies are to be rechecked in accordance with the objectives of the aged care target market of Ansell. The objectives like providing top notch retirement services to the aged people of Australia (Ansell Strategic, 2018). Consequently, the necessary strategies should be scanned and deviations should be reported to the management in order to take rectification steps. Planning should be analyzed in detail. The brainstorming sessions should be periodically done in order to improvise the plans in accordance with the demands and the changing scenarios in the Australian economy (Deloitte Australia, 2018). Implementation is the final process, where the end results are determined. If there are any problems in the implementation such as better sustainable funding strategies and planning for the older Australians.

The role of professional accountants in strategic management is vast in nature and their role has been discussed below:

• A skilled professional accountant is an invaluable asset to the company. These individuals use their intricate skills and innate understanding of the company to perform their functions. Their pragmatic problem solving approach is very important for the strategic management implementation.
• They assist the company at every step of their work by providing corporate strategies, advice and providing suggestions for improving costs and mitigating risks (Accaglobal.com, 2018). They play an important role in the formulation of financial and other managerial strategies which is indispensable for the company.
• They regulate the financial health of the entire company as a result of which they occupy a significant position in the strategic management procedure and implementation.

Apart from their paramount role in the strategic management arena, the confidence produced by the genuine financial data issued by these professional accountants is the prime source of trust of public over the functioning of the company.

Role of organization and industry value chain analysis:

• Industry value chain analysis in strategic planning is very important as it helps in identifying the specific activities which provide superior kinds of profits to the concerned company (Forbes.com, 2018). The company must identify and nurture these areas which are the source of sustainable profits for the company.
• Industry value chain analysis helps the company by providing the various interrelationships and linkages between two or more business units within the industry. These linkages and relationships can be a useful source of co-ordination and joint working initiatives between different units from the same industry.
• Another important contribution of value chain in an industry is that, with its help formulation of tailored specific approach to help in the growth of individual firms in an industry. The firm can, with the help of value chain can specifically improve its performance in accordance with the standards followed across the industry. 

Value added activities:  It involves preparing a flow chart for the business and then analyzing whether value is being added or not. With the help of industry chain analysis, value added activities helps to identify and remove inefficient and unwanted activities of the business. The overall aim of the organization remains the same that is to provide and enhance the value of the services offered.

Value drivers: They are those things which when added to a product or service increases its value to the customers. They help to differentiate the products and services from those of the competitors. Value chain analysis helps to create such novel drivers which proceed with the task of assigning a better identity to the firm’s products and services. In the aged care industry it can be better legal case management and better safety and social securities.

Strategic Management Cycle and Leadership Role

Value chain:  Due to the application of value chain, the management can assess the strategies of the firm. This can expose the weaknesses and consequent steps can be taken to work on it.

In Ansell Strategic, CSR assumes a very important role in its overall agenda. The company believes in giving back to the community apart from providing services to its aged care customers. The analysis of its CSR related performance measurement and control systems is provided here.  A CSR target is initially added as a beginning point towards integrating CSR into the management control systems (Tai and Chuang 2014). These targets are called steps and the sequence is followed. This is done because these steps cannot be skipped when working in a systematic manner towards the fulfillment of the overall objectives. The management control system symbolizes the various tools, systems and processes, through which the objectives of the organization are met. After attaining the CSR objectives, they are reported to the various stakeholders.

Activity based management; Balance score card and Cost management are some of the prominent strategic accounting techniques which are to be applied in the various projects of Ansell strategic. Activity Based Costing requires identifying major activities of the project, assigning costs to each of its cost centers and finally allocating activity costs to each product. Cost management focuses on cost reduction as well as cost control of various activities and projects. Balance score card identifies all the weaknesses of the projects by scanning all its internal and external activities and aims to eliminate them. With these techniques the costs, weaknesses, activities of each of these projects would be scrutinized for better evaluation by Ansell. All these techniques are necessary in planning, controlling, monitoring and implementation of the various projects undertaken by Ansell Strategic.

References:

Accaglobal.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-technical/other-PDFs/Accountants-Strategic-Leadership.pdf [Accessed 27 Mar. 2018].

Aksoylu, S. and Aykan, E., 2013. Effects of strategic management accounting techniques on perceived performance of businesses. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 10(10), pp.1004-1017.

Ansell Strategic. (2018). Case Studies | Ansell Strategic. [online] Available at: https://www.ansellstrategic.com.au/case-studies/ [Accessed 27 Mar. 2018].

Ansell Strategic. (2018). Professional Aged Care Organisation Advisors | Ansell Strategic. [online] Available at: https://www.ansellstrategic.com.au/ [Accessed 27 Mar. 2018].

Deloitte Australia. (2018). Australia’s aged care sector | Deloitte Australia | Deloitte Access Economics report. [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/economics/articles/australias-aged-care-sector-economic-contribution.html [Accessed 27 Mar. 2018].

Forbes.com. (2018). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/loracecere/2016/05/19/are-we-driving-value-in-value-chains/#45fdfec157af [Accessed 27 Mar. 2018].

Tai, F.M. and Chuang, S.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), p.117.

Williamson, D., Cooke, P., Jenkins, W. and Moreton, K.M., 2013. Strategic management and business analysis. Routledge.