Sam Mahoney, the CEO of Mahoney Technologies, Inc. (MTI), a biotechnology firm had recently

returned from a conference on modern cost management and performance measurement methods where

he was exposed to target costing, value-chain analysis, balanced scorecard, activity-based management,

and other ideas.

MTI is a five-year old company operating in a growing, but competitive market. It develops and produces

a number of different enzymes for use by research scientists and pharmaceutical companies. Its main

competitors are also small to medium sized firms just like MTI. The key to growth in this industry is the

ability to develop new products in a short time. Gail Stevenson, the vice-president (VP) for research &

development (R&D) has noticed that some of MTI's new developments did not perform well because of

the delays in their introduction into the market. Stevenson is very keen on hiring the best scientists and

ensuring that they stay current in their fields because knowledge is the key competitive weapon in the

biotechnology industry.

Bob Phillips, the controller of MTI had another concern. He has been noticing that the new products were

not only delayed but their actual development costs were usually higher than budgeted. One of his goals

was to see that the new products were profitable for the company.

Linda Joseph, the production manager, had a different concern of her own. Based on her observation, the

production of the new enzymes was taking longer. Her feeling was that the products spent too much time

in the quality control (QC) department. Barry Laker, the manager of the QC department argued that the

new enzymes lacked the rigorous specifications that are demanded in the marketplace. Consequently, the

QC department has had to perform additional tests to get to the root cause of the problems.

Mahoney had heard complaints from all quarters, and decided to convene a meeting of all the department

heads.

Mahoney: Good afternoon, everyone. I am troubled that despite hiring a number of talented scientists, we

are unable to compete effectively in the marketplace. Many of the recent entrants in the game seem to be

beating us easily.

Stevenson: Sam, the key to our growth is rapid introduction of new products. Although my scientists are

developing new enzymes in record times, they seem to be getting held up in manufacturing and especially

the QC department.

Laker: Sam, I think I can pinpoint the root cause of the problem. I agree that our scientists are developing

new enzymes in record times, but they do not seem to be paying any attention to standards. It looks like

my department will have to provide training to them regarding quality control matters.

Stevenson: With due respect, I do not think there is more to know about QC standards. It looks like the

department wants more attention and is therefore creating all this unnecessary fuss.

Joseph: I think I will agree with Barry that there are problems at the R&D side. My production scientists

are also complaining that adequate specifications have not been developed; they have to constantly phone

their R&D counterparts for clarifications.

Stevenson: I do not believe that the production problems can be attributed to R&D. I have personally

screened each and every scientist during the hiring process.

Phillips: I don't think we will make much progress as a company if we keep pointing fingers at one

another. We all must realize that all problems, regardless of their origin, finally affect the bottom-line of

our company. Unless we set aside our differences and work together as a team, we will be unable to

compete with our rivals. Some of our competitors follow best practices, which we must try to emulate.

Mahoney: I agree with Bob. We must all look for solutions. I recently attended a conference where noted

speakers talked about the value-chain of a company, interrelationships between functions, and the

balanced scorecard. In fact, some speakers suggested that companies must stop discussing in terms of

individual functions or departments; instead they must talk in terms of processes and understand linkages

among all the processes that exist in an organization. I believe there are a number of ideas that we could

adopt. I will leave the conference proceedings in the library, and suggest that we all read about these

different topics. How about getting together after six weeks and discussing a plan of action? Thank you

and see you all after six weeks.

Required:

Assume the role of a consultant preparing a report for MTI. Discuss the following aspects in your report:

The internal value-chain of MTI.

The balanced scorecard. Identify the goals of the company under each perspective of the scorecard and

cause-effect relationships, and develop potential measures that could be used.

How the inter-departmental differences can be eliminated.