B9MG130-Strategic Performance Management
Question
Answered

Assessment Task

In your capacity as the new Chief Operating Office, prepare a report to the group of investors in which you analyse the potential target aquisition from a commercial viewpoint. Your report will identify, explain, critique and recommend appropriate cost accounting and performance management techniques and models.

You should address all specific areas of concern or interest to the investor group which have been noted in the brief on the proposed target aquisition.

You are encouraged to make use of as many management models as you feel are relevant for assessing commercial opportunities such as this. However, specific reference is to be made to the area of performance measurement and management.

Instructions:

Following a number of meetings with a group of investors, you have agreed to take on the post of chief operating officer (COO) in a newly formed company.  The company  has  been  established  as  the investors wish to acquire  a commercial  broadcasting  company  within the  EU, and  a  potential  acquisition  has  been  identified. The proposed acquisition is a listed company. Based on the most recent financial statements, summarised financial information has been prepared along with the industry averages for all companies within the EU, and is provided in the Appendix. The investors’ intention is that the acquired company will continue to be funded by a mixture of equity and debt.

As the investors will not be involved in the day-to-day management of the company, one of your key tasks is to ensure that the management team is fully aware of the importance of measures of performance. In particular, you wish to increase  awareness   of the  measures   which  are  likely to  be  used  by  both  the  investors  and  lenders  to  assess performance and how the management team can use a mission statement  and the balanced  scorecard to improve performance.

You have been requested to prepare a report to the investors covering the following issues:

– how the company’s published financial statements might be used to assess performance by investors, managers and lenders;

– how the company’s performance can be monitored using internal management information;

– the contribution of a mission statement to improving organisational performance.