Part A: Factors Contributed to Development of Management Accounting Practices

Management accounting is different from the financial accounting.  The main aim of the management accounting is to provide operational information to the top management of any organization. In financial accounting different financial statements are prepared to provide financial information to the management along with investors. The financial statements include the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. However managerial accounting practices are different than financial accounting and different factors have contributed to the management accounting practices. Some of the major factors that influence the management accounting practices are mentioned as follows:

Size of the organization of Management Accounting

The size of the organization matters a lot and influence the organization decisions regarding choosing an appropriate management accountant approach. If the organization is huge and have business in many countries that such management accounting approach will be select which can track the costs efficiently and does not involve many complexities. The organization can implement job order costing or process costing approaches. If the corporation is small then they will look for such an approach which does not require extensive record keeping and is less expensive. In simple words the challenges imposed by the organization size help in the development of better management accounting practices (SINGH, 2016).

Level of Competition of Management Accounting

High competition in the market creates a lot of challenges for the organization and organizations divert their attention toward the level of competition and how they can compete with their competitors. Therefore the organization may adopt such management accounting approach which does not require complex calculations. It means that the level of competition influence the management accounting practices to suit the environment in which the corporation is working. The company changes its accounting approach according to the situation it faces (SINGH, 2016).

Management Commitment of Management Accounting

The top management is the one who is responsible for making decisions for the organization. The level of commitment of the management determines how the organization would follow different policies. The top management might implement such management accounting approach which they think is better for the corporation. In short, the management of the corporation plays a major role in the development of the management accounting policies. The management knows how to record the information and how they can perform cost-cutting by implanting various strategies (Nørreklit, 2017).

Age of Corporation of Management Accounting

 The age of the corporation also plays a significant role in the development of the management accounting policies. Such corporations who are working for a long time period have the resources to implement and manage different cost accounting practices. However, the organizations that are new does not have many resources to bear the expense related to the cost accounting practices. Therefore recent cost accounting practices have been influenced by the size of the corporation as well.

Technology of Management Accounting

 The technology has changed the management style of the corporation. Due to the establishment of different accounting software's not only the efficiency has increased but also the time and cost that was associated with accounting practices also reduced significantly, therefore, it can be said that the technology has changed management accounting practices. Today the corporations can manage the cost accounting data more efficiently thanks to the different accounting software that is available on the market (Nørreklit, 2017).

Usefulness of Balance Scorecard of Management Accounting

Strategic planning of Management Accounting

The balanced scorecard helps the corporation in strategic planning. The organization set different strategic goals which it wants to achieve over time. Through balance scorecard, the corporation develops certain objectives which help the organization to achieve those goals. The balance scorecard approach provides a big picture of the strategy that the organization has developed to achieve success.

Enhance communication within the corporation of Management Accounting

            When the corporation knows about its strategy efficiently than it can communicate the strategy within and outside of the organization more accurately. The balance scorecard provides the big picture of the strategy and through this, the corporation can achieve it set goals. The employees know the guidelines and strategy to achieve those, therefore, it can be said that the balance scorecard approach is beneficial for communicating the important information to the employees and all those people who are outside the corporation (Benson & Bugnitz, 2004).

Improve Reporting of Management Accounting

The organization with the help of the balanced scorecard can improve their reporting. When the organization knows about its key issues than it will only focus on those strategic issues which are highly important for the corporation. The issues that are linked with profitability, efficiency and performance should be addressed accurately rather than those issues which does not have much importance. The balance scorecard helps the corporation to maintain its focus on the strategy and key strategic issues so that they can be resolved on time and the corporation performance can enhance. Through the use of the balanced scorecard, the organization can also give tough time to its competitors.

Alignment of Strategic Goals of Management Accounting

            It is highly important for the corporation that the objectives of the organization and the objectives of the employees align together otherwise the corporation would unable to achieve its set goals. The balanced scorecard helps the corporation to align the goals of employees and the corporation. When the goals of the corporation and employees are aligned than the performance efficiency and profitability of the company increase. Moreover, in the organization, no such issue arises which can affect the performance of the company. The relationship among the employees improve and the management would focus on those issues which are important (Spender, 2014).

Improve information management of Management Accounting

The information management in the corporation matters a lot because if the information is not managed accurately different issues can arise in the organization. The balanced scorecard provides a brief overview of the corporation and allows the corporation to manage the information accurately. Through proper information management, not only the cost of the corporation decreases but also the corporation can perform the activities in less amount of time. The manual information management takes a lot of time, however, thanks to the approaches like balance scorecard it can be done in a short period of time without any difficulty.

Part B

Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

Route System of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

The routing system has played the major role in the success of the organization. The routing system has been proven quite beneficial for the airline companies. Through the routing system, the corporation knows where to fly and how much the airline has to go to a specific destination. Qantas airline reaches up to 186 destinations around the world which includes 40 countries. It is quite clear that the routing system has increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the airline operations of the Qantas (Spender, 2014).

Competent employees of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

The employees of the Qantas Corporation are highly qualified and possess different skills which are required in the airline industry. The workforce of the organization is very diverse and the communication skills of the employees are also exceptional. The employees are the one who performs the activities in the business and makes the business successful. In airline industry customer services matters a lot and only a qualified and experienced professional can provide high-quality customer services to the customers. The Qantas corporation has achieved success because its employees have contributed their skills and work with full commitment.

Robust Management of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

The management of the corporation is quite strong and that is one of the major reason by which the corporation has achieved success. The management of the corporation focuses on all the activities efficiently and provide high-quality services to the passengers. The top management of the corporation takes the decision and guide the employees to work in a specific manner. In the airline industry as discussed earlier the customer service matter a lot. Today the competition in the airline industry is quite intense and the company will have to provide the best services so that it can compete with the rest of the airline companies.

Non-Stop operations of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

The corporation performs its operations nonstop and that is one of the major critical success factors of the corporation. The nonstop flights give the corporation a competitive edge on most of its competitors. When the corporation provides high-quality services nonstop than ultimately the organization will achieve success. The nonstop operations might increase the cost however they also become the reason for the huge amount of revenue (Benson & Bugnitz, 2004).

Strategic Map of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Generic_Strategy_Map.png

Balance Scorecard of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

 References of Qantas Airline’s Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

Benson, R. J., & Bugnitz, T. (2004). From Business Strategy to IT Action: Right Decisions for a Better Bottom Line. John Wiley & Sons.

Nørreklit, H. (Ed.). (2017). A Philosophy of Management Accounting: A Pragmatic Constructivist Approach. Taylor & Francis.

SINGH, S. (2016). MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Spender, J.-C. (2014). Business Strategy: Managing Uncertainty, Opportunity, and Enterprise. OUP Oxford.