Service to customers that customers will be happy and

service to customers that customers will be happy and return and profits will follow. Therefore, one of my main goals is
providing high-quality products and service, ’’ said Rebecca. ‘‘ With all of these new employees and menu items, what do you
think we can do to minimize quality problems? ’’
Theresa replied, ‘‘ In order to control quality, we can make sure that we have implemented both prevention and appraisal
activities. For example, we use only certified organic coffee producers whom we’ve worked with and we’ve tested their coffee
beans. This is one of the ways that you’ve chosen to control the quality of the coffee beans that we purchase. Additionally, we
periodically inspect some of the coffee beans that we receive from our suppliers to ensure they meet our quality standards.
Thus, we invest monies up front in quality control procedures in order to maintain our high-quality product and service in the
long-term. ’’
Rebecca said, ‘‘ Those are good points. We’ll need to find a way to make sure that we continue to offer a high-quality
experience for our customers. Our store has a certain ‘feel’ or culture to it that our customers really appreciate and which I don’t
want to lose. I think that investing in these quality control activities will help us continue to provide this positive experience for
74 Kohlmeyer and Samuels
Issues in Accounting Education
Volume 32, Number 2, 2017

customers, along with still making a profit and planning for future expansion. With all of the changes to the business and the
new employees, how can we make sure that everyone is focusing on the right aspects of the business? ’’
‘‘ I know that you want to open another store in a year or two. That will take more money to build the store and stock the
inventory. While we need to make sure that this operation is profitable and making a good return on your investment, I know
that your philosophy is that focusing on quality will make for a great in-store experience for customers that should lead to more
sales and profits. A balanced scorecard could help provide a framework for giving us and the employees measures to focus on
that could emphasize the aspects that are important to the success of this business, ’’ Theresa remarked.
Rebecca replied, ‘‘ While I need the business to be profitable, other aspects of the business are extremely important to me.
Tell me more about how the balanced scorecard could help us focus on these success factors. ’’
Theresa responded, ‘‘ A balanced scorecard can be used to measure a company’s performance on dimensions beyond just
the financial side. I have a description of the balanced scorecard that I was reading about. ’’ (See Appendix B.)
‘‘ That sounds perfect for my business, ’’ said Rebecca. ‘‘ Can we just use a balanced scorecard from a book or get one from the
internet? ’’ Theresa explained, ‘‘ It’s not very helpful to use a generic balanced scorecard. That’s because a company’s balanced