Mark Hopper owns Dane Champions, a dog kennel that raises champion Great Danes for showing and breeding. His vision is to be the best-known breeder of Great Danes globally. His strategy is to breed and sell dogs from outstanding lineage from the standpoint of both physical health and good-natured temperaments.
Following is information about operations over the last year.
Number of breedings ……………………………………….. 10
Number of puppies ………………………………………….. 45
Number of puppies sold ……………………………………… 40
Number of puppies returned …………………………………. 2
Revenue from puppies ………………………………………. $24,000
Kennel operating costs (not including Mark’s salary) ………. $35,000
Travel expenditures …………………………………………. $55,000
Number of trips to dog shows ………………………………. 20
Winnings from dog shows …………………………………. $110,000
Number of championships …………………………………… 17
Number of dogs shown ……………………………………… 4
Puppy buyers’ average satisfaction rating
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as most satisfied ………………… 4.5
Training time to prepare puppies for new homes (total hours)..... 14
Training time to prepare dogs for shows (hours per week per dog) … 2
REQUIRED
A. Is the company’s strategy one of cost leadership or product differentiation? Explain.
B. Prepare a simple balanced scorecard with one strategic objective and related performance measure for each of the four perspectives for Dane Champions using only the data presented. Explain your choices.
C. Kennel operating costs include the cost of a local high school student who cleans out the kennels every afternoon after school. Mark is considering whether to set up an individual scorecard for the student. He only pays minimum wage, and although the student is fairly slow, the kennels are kept reasonably clean. Mark wonders whether the student would resent being monitored more closely. Describe one reason for using a scorecard with the student and one reason against using it.