Measuring Performance and Management Control Systems

Question: Discuss about the Measuring Performance and Management Control Systems. Answer: Introduction Management control system refers to the process to gather and use the necessary information about an organization in order to measure the performance of that particular organization (Grabner and Moers, 2013). The report is to evaluate the effects of management control on the performance of the organizations. The main purpose of the report is to measure and compare the performance of four Australian companies with the help of management control. The four companies are Insurance Australia Group limited, Medibank Private Limited, Suncorp Group Limited and QBE Insurance Group. All the companies are operating in the insurance sector of Australia. Among these four insurance companies, Medibank Private Limited is specialized in providing health insurance. Apart from Medibank Private limited, all three insurance companies provide general as well as life insurance to their customers. For the purpose of this study, the remuneration report of the directors along with the report of the directors are taken into consideration and analyzed. After that, all the important information and facts are summarized and then compared among each other so that the best-performed organization can be found (Melnyk et al., 2014). Background Material Insurance Australia Group Limited Insurance Australia Group Limited is one of those companies that provider remuneration of the senior managers based on the performance of them (Klettner, Clarke and Boersma, 2014). The company has adopted balance scorecard method to measure the performance of the senior managers. In this regard, the organization has selected some means or criteria that help the company to measure the performance of the senior managers. Management accounting plays as important role as it assist the organization by providing necessary accounting information (Miller and Hayward, 2017). Medibank Private Limited Almost same as Insurance Australia Group Limited, Medibank Private Limited has also adopted the balance scorecard method in order to measure the performance of the organization. After that, they use this for giving remuneration to the senior managers (Ball, Hughes and Leveritt, 2013). Some of the major means against which the performance of the senior managers is measured are performance of the organization, insurance profit margin and many others. Based on these means, the senior manager are provided with remunerations (Esmail and MacKinnon, 2013). Suncorp Group Limited It can be seen in the case of Suncorp Group Limited that the company provide cash as well as equity shares of the organization to their senior managers as their incentives (Gollan and Xu, 2014). The company has some unique plans for the remuneration of their employees and senior managers. The senior managers get a portion of fixed remuneration. Apart from that, they get their performance incentives based on their performance that is measured with the help of balance scorecard method (Shah et al., 2016). QBE Insurance Group QBE Insurance Group has a different kind of remuneration plan for their senior managers. The company provides their senior manager with long-term as well as short-term incentive plan (Crombie, 2013). It has been seen the adopted incentive scheme of QBE is not as effective as others and this aspect affect the performance of the organization. The lack of support from management accounting can be made responsible for this (Caddy, 2013). For the purpose of this report, four insurance companies are taken into consideration. The individual reports of these four companies are discussed below. Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) Insurance Australia Group Limited is one of the largest insurance companies in Australia. The mission of IAG is to deliver excellent customers experience by satisfying the needs of their customers. As per the directors report of the organization, the main goal of the organization is to make the world a safer place by their insurance policies. In a broader sense, the main goal of IAG is to make peoples life safer with the help of innovation and technology. Performance Measurement: According to the directors remuneration report, IAG follows certain means to measure the performance of their senior managers like CEO. The company has adopted Balance Scorecard model to measure the performance of senior managers. The performance is measured against some objectives. Some of these objectives are profitable growth, operating cost effectiveness, return on risk-based capital and many others. Apart from fixed remuneration, the senior managers get short-term incentives and long-term incentives. The table shows the performance measurement criteria of the company. From the above table, it can be seen that based on the performance of the senior managers, two-third portion of incentives are paid in cash and the remaining is paid as Deferred Award Rights. Key Measures of Performance: Key measures of performance or Key Performance indicator (KPI) refers to some data that indicates the improvement performance of an organization. One of the major performance indicators of IAG is the margin of insurance profit in 2016. The amount of profit in 2016 is $1,178 million compared to $1,103 million in 2015. This indicates the increase in the business of IAG. On the other hand, the underlying margin of 2016 is 14% that is more than 13.1% of 2015. These are the major key performance indicators. Outside News: As per current news of Simply Wall ST, the IAGs earning is expected to grow 42.8% over next three years. This leads to the growth of EPS $0.37 levels. On the other hand, the share prices of IAG are surging day by day. The CEO of the group has mentioned in this regard that the people of the organization, technology innovation and updated strategy are responsible for the growth of the company (Fool.com.au, 2017). Reflection: As per the remuneration report of 2016, the CEO of the group has received $4,174,000 in 2016 compared to $4,046,000 in 2015. The amount shows the progress of the organization as more profit leads to more remuneration to the senior managers. Based on the above discussion, it can be seen that the financial performance of IAG in 2016 is commendable. As per the outside reports, the share prices of IAG are increasing. On the other hand, the earning and EPS is also expected to increase. All these information supports that IAG is achieving the required performance that is needed to achieve the corporate vision and goals (iag.com.au, 2017). Remuneration policy and remunerations methodology: The remuneration policy of the company is in accordance with the AASB 119 employee benefit scheme (iag.com.au, 2017). The adoption of AASB provided rules has mainly helped in portraying the overall benefits, which could be provided to the executives. This methodology has mainly helped in fulfilling demands of their executives. Medibank Private Limited Medibank is Australias one of the leading health insurance companies. The mission of the company is to ensure health for the people of Australia. Medibank is determined to provide their customers with better choice, better confidence and better health. The four core values of the company are customer focus, accountability, integrity and respect (Medibank.com.au, 2017). As per the report of the CEO of Medibank, it can be said that the corporate goal of the organization is to earn profits by providing better health to its 3.8 million members in Australia. Performance Measurement: The performance of the senior managers is measured based on balance scorecard. Medibank has set some measures by which the performance can be measured. They are health insurance operating profit, group operating profit, management expenses ration, growth of health insurance revenue and others. In addition, Medibanks last performance, strategic objectives and shareholders expectations are other means of performance. Based on the performance, the senior managers are given remuneration and incentives. The above table shows that the incentives of the senior managers vastly depend on the performance of them. Key Measures of Performance: As per the remuneration report of Medibank, health insurance operating profit is one of the major key measures of performance. Health insurance operating profit of 2016 has shown significant growth. The amount of health insurance operating profit in 2016 was $510.7 million as compared to $332.2 million in 2015. This indicates the growth of Medibank (Medibank.com.au, 2017). Outside News: According to one of Australias financial reports, the shares of Medibank Private Limited have been sold. There was an allegation on Medibank that the company has misled some of their patients and they were noticed to engage in unconscionable conducts (Fool.com.au, 2017). As per the same source, the net profit after tax of the company increased to 46% that is $417 million (Fool.com.au, 2017). Reflection: As pre the remuneration structure of the organization, in the year of 2016, David Koczkar, one of the senior managers has got the total remuneration of $1,338,218. On the other hand, Kylie Bishop, another senior manager has got the remuneration of $699,945. These amounts are higher than the year 2015. This fact indicates the growth of the firm. However, it has been seen in various reports that the company was involved in some kind of illegal activities in this year. For this reason, the profitability of the company hampered. Based on the above discussion, it can be said that Medibank is in a mixed financial condition. The annual report suggests that the company has registered strong growth; but the outside reports suggest that some internal issues are going on in the company. After analyzing all these, it can be said that the company has not totally achieved its corporate goal, but they are on the way to achieve it. Remuneration policy and remunerations methodology: The Company mainly changed its remuneration system to ASX 11-100, which mainly help in depicting adequate benefits provided to executives (Medibank.com.au, 2017). In addition, the company mainly focuses in short-term incentives by providing maximum of 69% of the benefits to its executives. Suncorp Group Limited Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian leading company that provides high value wealth and banking services along with various insurance products. The mission of the company is to create a better today by satisfying the needs of their customers and shareholders. As per the directors report of the company, the corporate goal Suncorp is to satisfy the needs of the shareholders. As per the company, Suncorp will only be able to register a high rate of profit after satisfying the needs of their customers and shareholders (Suncorpgroup.com.au, 2017). Performance Measurement: As per other organizations, Suncorp also uses balance scorecard model to measure the performance of their senior managers. There are certain factors in the performance measurement process. They measure the performance of the senior managers after achieving these milestones. Some of those performance measurements mean are appropriate risk management, customer satisfying, safety and wellbeing and others. Based on the performance of the senior managers, long-term incentives and short-term incentives are provided to them (Suncorpgroup.com.au, 2017). It can be seen in the above table that the company issue shares of the company as incentive based on the performance of the senior managers. Key Measures of Performance: Some major key measures of performance prove the performance improvement of the organization. As per the 2016 annual report of the company, the net profit after tax of the company in 2016 was $1,038 million compared to $1,133 million in 2015. Though the amount is lower than that of 2015, it has been considered as a solid performance as it came at the time of global market volatility. The increase in the cost of settling the claims has contributed to this success. Outside News: As per a financial report, it has been said that Suncorp is expected to grow its earnings by 15.3% over the next few years. The table shows the past and future earnings per share. As per another report from the same source, it has been said that the return on equity of the company that is 7.7% is lower than the return on equity of the industry in which Suncorp is operating (Simplywall.st, 2017). Reflection: The remuneration structure of the company has been developed in such a way that high qualified and talented directors are attracted towards the company. As per the remuneration report of company, the executive directors, M Cameron received $5,301,000 as remuneration. This is a high amount while comparing with other companies. The total study about Suncorp indicates that the company is going through a solid year that indicates the improvement in the performance of the company. On the other hand, the outside report about Suncorp also indicates about the future growth of the company. Based on all these, it can be said that Suncorp is achieving the corporate goal of the company. Remuneration policy and remunerations methodology: Suncorp mainly follows Corporations Act 2001, which depicts the rules and regulations that might be conducted by the company (Suncorpgroup.com.au, 2017). In addition, the company mainly follows fixed, short term and long-term remuneration scheme to provide benefits to its executives. The company mainly focuses in fixed salaries and short-term monetary benefits, while providing remuneration to its executives. QBE Insurance Group QBE Insurance Group is the largest insurer in Australia. The vision of the company is to make a strong partnership with their customers by making their lives insured. QBE has a lot of responsibility towards their customers. The company is driven by come core values. The six core values of QBE are open minded, networked, empowered, quality approach, business acumen and excellent outcomes. Apart from vision and core values, the organization has a strong corporate goal that gives the company necessary direction towards success. The corporate goal of QBE is to gain the confidence of their customers by managing their risks. By doing this, the company can focus on the outcome that the company wants to achieve (Group.qbe.com, 2017). Performance Measurement: As per other companies in the same industry, QBE also has some criteria that help them to measure the performance of their senior managers of the organization. The company has adopted the model of balance scorecard measure the performance of senior managers. There are some performance parameters in the organization. They are satisfying the needs of the customers, growth in the net profit, growth in the gross profit, increase in the return on equity and many others. The above table suggests that apart from fixed remuneration, QBE provides their company shares as incentives to their senior managers. Key Measures of Performance: Some major key measures of performance help to evaluate the performance of the organization. One of the major key measures of performance of QBE is the insurance profit. The amount of insurance profit in the year 2015 was $1,031 compared to $1,074 in the year 2014. The figures imply that insurance profit has been reduced in the year 2015 than 2014. This indicates that the performance of the company has been decreased (qreports.com.au, 2017). Outside News: As per latest news about QBE, it has been said that the organization has raised $150,000 to diminish the wealth gap of the organization. As per the news, QBE has collaborated with a charity campaign to reduce the wealth gap from China and Australia (Insurancebusinessonline.com.au, 2017). Reflection: The annual report of QBE indicates that the organization has paid a big amount as the remuneration of the senior managers. The company paid $24,898 million to their senior managers compared to $29,046 million in 2014. Hence, it can be understood that the company is not performing well in the recent years as the remuneration report of the company is reflecting the fact. Remuneration policy and remunerations methodology: QBE insurance group mainly uses the progress in ROE to evaluate the short-term benefits, which could be provided to its executives (Group.qbe.com, 2017). Moreover, the group mainly focuses in fixed, short term and long-term remuneration scheme to support payment provided to their executives. From the above discussion, it can be observed that the performance of the company I recent years is not satisfactory as the amount of insurance profit has decreased. For this reason, the remuneration of senior managers has also decreased. Hence, it can be concluded that the company is not performing well towards achieving the corporate goal of the company. Based on the whole study, it can be observed that the all the four organizations have adopted the model of balance scorecard to evaluate the performance of their senior managers. The above study indicates that the performance of all the four companies is not the same. In this regard, it needs to be mentioned that the performance of Insurance Australia Group Limited and Suncorp Group Limited are satisfactory as they have been successful to achieve the corporate goal of the organizations. Medibank Private Limited is in a mixed financial position where the company is witnessing both good and bad financial situation. The financial performance of QBE Insurance Group is not satisfactory as the financial position of the company is declining. Thus, from the above discussion, it is evident that the performance measurement system of Insurance Australia Group Limited and Suncorp Group Limited is producing good results, as they have been successful to satisfy the needs of their customers and shareholders. On the other hand, the performance measurement system of Medibank Private Limited is gradually developing as the company is gradually performing well. However, there is a strong need to change the performance measurement system of QBE Insurance Group as the company has failed to generate desired financial performance in recent years. Comparison of Finding The above discussion shows the evaluation of various aspects of four organizations. They are Insurance Australia Group Limited, Medibank Private Limited, Suncorp Group Limited and QBE insurance group. It has been seen in the discussion that the performances of these four companies are not similar to each other. It has been seen in the report that all the four companies use Balance Scorecard model to evaluate the performance of the senior managers of their companies. It is clear from the above discussion that the performance measurement approach of Insurance Australia Group Limited and Suncorp Group Limited are almost same to each other as both the companies have achieved their respective corporate goals by their performance. However, QBE insurance group has lagged behind in this race as the performance measurement criteria of QBE is not effective as they need to be. However, Medibank Private Limited is achieving the corporate goals of theme in a slow but steady pace as the performanc e measurement approach of the company is effective, but due to the presence of some external issues, the company is lagging behind in the competition (Choong, 2014). Summary of Finding As per the above whole study, the information about the four companies differs from each other. In the case of, the company follows some means for measuring the performance of the senior managers like growth of the organization, satisfaction of the customers and many others. There are enough evidence of the improvement of the company like increase in the insurance profit, increase in the earning per shares and others. The performance of Suncorp Group Limited is almost same like Insurance Australia Group Limited and Suncorp Group Limited. Suncorp has also been noticed to register a solid performance in this year. It is predicted that the company is expected to grow by 15.3%. It has been seen that Medibak Private Limited has been able to register a strong growth in the insurance profit of the company (Zhang and Halpern, 2016). However, the company has been involved in some kinds of illegal activities. Lastly, QBE Insurance Group has registered a lower insurance profit than the previous years. As per the outside reports, the performance of the company is not good. Hence, based on the above discussion, it can be said that the financial performance of Insurance Australia Group Limited and Suncorp Group Limited is the best and their performance measurement approach of these two companies are most appropriate (Pedhazur and Schmelkin, 2013). Conclusion The major aim of this report is to analyze and evaluate the performance measurement approaches of the above-mentioned four companies. It has been seen in the report that, there are two companies that are producing satisfactory results in term of their financial performance. These two companies are Insurance Australia Group Limited and Suncorp Group Limited. Both the companies have adopted the balance scorecard methods by which the performance of their senior managers measured. On the other hand, both these companies have set some particular means or standards that have assisted them to measure the performance of the organization. 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