Maloney Corporation manufactures plastic water bottles. It plans to grow by producing high-quality water bottles at a low cost that are delivered in a timely manner. There are a number of other manufacturers who produce similar water bottles. Maloney believes that continuously improving its manufacturing processes and having satisfied employees are critical to implementing its strategy.
Required:
a. Is Maloney's strategy one of product differentiation or cost leadership? Explain briefly.
b. Identify at least one key measure for each balanced scorecard perspective.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is a. Maloney's strategy is one of cost leadership because there are a number of other manufacturers who produce similar water bottles. To succeed, Maloney will have to achieve lower costs relative to competitors through productivity and efficiency improvements, elimination of waste, and tight cost controls.
b. The company's balanced scorecard should describe the product differentiation strategy. Key elements should include:
Financial perspective: operating income growth from productivity gains and revenue growth from the ability to lower prices
Customer perspective: growth in market share, new customers, customer responsiveness, and customer satisfaction
Internal business process perspective: yield, time to complete customer jobs, order delivery time; cost per order;
Learning and growth perspective: employee education and skill levels, and employee satisfaction, investment in information technology

Maloney Corporation Manufactures Plastic Water Bottles