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rt the goals of management accounting techniques. They are also known as 'perspectives' and consist of the financial, customer, internal business process and learning and growth perspectives. Each of them is considered by four parameters: objectives, measures, targets and initiatives, in order to achieve the overall strategic 'themes' or 'goals'. It is important for a company to understand these perspectives.

The financial perspective focus on the way a company treats its shareholders and takes into accounting its financial objectives. Kaplan and Norton believed that in order to succeed in efficiency and profitability, the business could sacrifice the people who perform certain tasks and who have contributed this success. To solve this problem the services and employees of an entity must work at the highest level of capacity but at the same time while at deal with downsizing. It includes profit increase from activity gains, return on investment, revenue growth and changes from price recovery. The customer perspective measures the value a company provides to its customers, as well as the customer's view on the company. In other words when consumers are not satisfied with an entity's product or service, they will change to another company that satisfies their needs. Kaplan and Norton recommend that, 'companies also attempt to identify and measure their company's core competencies, the critical technologies needed to ensure continued market leadership' (Kaplan and Norton, 1992). This assumption is related to internal business perspective which provides a view in what areas a firm can be competitive. Finally the learning and growth perspective involves employee training and corporate cultural attitudes in the direction of both individual and corporate self-improvement. In order for the company to compete in a changing business environment it must focus in the development of new or the improvement of existing products and processes.

Tesco has adapted the balance scorecard technique, in order to guide their measurement and analytics activities. Above all, Tesco aims to continuously improve performance by actively engage its employees, and make sure they have the analytical skills to test ideas and satisfy their customers' needs. Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco's Chief Executive Officer, said: 'never stop listening to your customers and giving them what they want'. As a result Tesco has become number three company in the world.

Another SMA technique is the strategic cost and value chain analysis which is outlined by Porter (1985). It is a chain of different value added activities were products pass through and gain value at each stage. It is a model were an organization brakes down its business cycle into strategic activities, in order to add value to a product or service. By using this technique, the entity can recognize in which areas its costs are high or low, and also compare and differentiate them to its competitors. Porter (1985) suggested that the activities of a business could be grouped as primary and support activities. Primary activities are directly related with the production and delivery of a product. Examples include inbound logistics, outbound logistics, and sales and marketing. On the other hand support activities are not directly involved in the production, but may lead to an increase in effectiveness or efficiency of the product. An example is the human resource management.

Apple Inc is a