[lkashish]

One final issue: How many pages did you write for Q1 only, and the whole paper?

[lkashish]

Question 1, though being easy, was too lengthy. There was simply too many facts and financial data to digest for only 21 marks, which seemed very unfair to me. There was an almost similar question in Dec 2010 (Shoal Pro) where for 15 marks there was considerably less points to analyse to get the full mark on offer.

Q1a(i) was the ‘roller coaster’ of the whole paper which seems never ending, and which together with part a(ii) took around 2 hours to get completed and that really took its toll on the remaining parts of the question paper.

The real problem with P3 is the major confusion concerning the marking scheme. You have to write 1 relevant point to get 1 mark whatever the complexity of that point. Hence we are made to believe that in order to gain say 20 marks, we have to write around 20 clear and distinct points, which is seemly impossible under exam conditions, unless we could type the answers.

Hence, in P3 proper planning and strict time allocation seems the key to passing the exam, not how comprehensively we can attempt a particular question. How could we take 1 hour for a 20 marker question that only requires around 30 mins to complete (according to strict time allocation). This is simply the real pitfall of this paper, which if we can overcome, then we can hopefully pass the paper!

[lkashish]

ShoalPro 2007 2008 2009
Turnover of market sector 40·00 40·10 40·80
Turnover of ShoalPro 16·00 16·20 16·50

It’s clearly a cash cow. The market growth is very low (around 2%) and shoalpro has a very high market share (40%). Hence according to BCG, high market share in low growth mkt imply that the bus is a cash cow. Note for market growth rate to be high it should normally be around 10% or more. if that was the case then shoalpro would have been a star, still not a problem child/?. In that question Shoalfarm can be classified as prob child (High growth rate with very low market share (10%) and shoalfish may be a dog. But remember; one of the limitations of BCG is that it does not define what constitute a high growth rate and low growth rate. Nevertheless some judgement will be needed in exam and so according to my judgement (and even that of the examiner, it seems) shoalpro would be classified as a cash cow.

Hope it’s helpful bro!

[lkashish]

Thanks Tracy1305. That’s may be my best bet in the exam. After all, 50% is what’s actually needed to pass the paper; the rest being a bonus. By trying to achieve the 50% target line as quickly as possible may be the most effective and efficient way to pass the exam with a much improved chance of success. So that’s indeed the way to go guys!

[lkashish]

In fact I am a bit confused here. When a question say identify/ define the marking scheme is 1 mark per relevant point. But when the question is of a higher order like evaluation/analyse/discuss, etc the marking scheme remains the same, i.e 1 mark per relevant point. Why is evaluation/analyse not 2 marks per relevant point but still similar to lower order questions (explain/identify, etc).

Sorry if that confuses you, but it is blurring my judgement as to how many main points to produce for a particular question. E.g IDENTIFY the strengths and weaknesses of ABC (10 marks) and now EVALUATE the Strengths & weaknesses of ABC (10 marks). How many points/ideas should i produce in each of these scenarios to obtain the full mark? My judgement tell me to write 10 brief points for the former and only 5 points for the latter, but with more in-depth discussion of the points.

Am i right or wrong?

Thanks!

[lkashish]

Dear Kamran85,

We are all in the same dilemma as u. This is a new model in the syllabus and specifically mentioned in the SG so a question is very much in line in the exam (hope not this session though).
As far as my understanding of the model is concerned, I really think this is not actually a new add to the syllabus since we r already used to the constituent parts of the model: People, Organisation, Process & IT. We are familiar to questions on any of these, but, set separately not together.

The POPIT model simply brings all those issues together to form a holistic approach/view of any business change being considered. Any change will have implications for the organisation structure and its capabilities; the processes (esp core functions (VC)) will need redesigning; the IT system (infrastructure, controls, MIS, etc) will serve the need of the new business context and last but not least the people aspect, so much overlooked before, have to be taken great care of if the change is going to be successfully adopted to realise its benefits. change and stake holders management become vip and employees would need to be inspired/led to enthusiastically embrace the change implemented.

Note, as seems very evident from the above, the POPIT model seems inseparable from the Business change LC (also “new” to the syllabus) and so we can expect questions to be set on these together (though i am not he examiner!).

[lkashish]

Thanks for ur quick response sir!

[lkashish]

Thanks umerkhayam. So i should stick very strictly to the allotted time per question. Better write quality (effectiveness) and concisely (efficiency) to can easily pass the paper. So understanding the question well is key rather than rushing to the writing part and, may be, going overboard.

Thanks!

[lkashish]

So, that’s what i call a professional stance! Thank you very much for ur precious advice and sorry for my earlier comments.

Actually my handwriting is very messy (doctor’s handwriting) so i have to slow down deliberately so that the marker can understand what’s written. Otherwise failure is almost assured. But writing so slowly (20-22 wpm) put me under too much exam pressure that i have the tendency to cover just around 65% of the paper. My last p3 attempt i got 46 mks out of the 65% and i don’t want to relive this sad experience again (just too painful). To me the writing part seems much more daunting than the questions themselves. And believe me i tried using all types of pen from ball pen to fountain pen (of course not in exam) and i feel somewhat more comfortable writing with gel/ fountain pens than ball pens. But unfortunately in exam we have only one option – the dreaded ball pen.
But as u said, 1.5 min/mark should be enough to write 2-3 lines and i hope to follow that rule,very strictly, during exam so that i can at least attempt every part of the question paper
(i.e not leave any part blank as my previous time experience with the paper, which really seems the most time pressured paper of all, due to the vast amt of info to analyse and coming up with well structured concise answers).

Big thanks once again!!

[lkashish]

Dear seagoat,

not everyone in this world is blessed to be ambidexter like you. So, plz,do provide suggestions that r more down to earth and really practicable to the exam condition. So get more professional plz!!!

[lkashish]

One important question, often overlooked, is: which is more important in P3 (or any written exam) Reading speed or writing speed. What is a reasonable handwriting speed in p3 exam so that u can attempt every question with some level of comfort? Is someone with a handwriting speed of 20-22 words per minute really disadvantaged from the beginning of the paper? And if so what are ur suggestions?

[lkashish]

Hussain plz don’t so frustrated my friend…exam is knocking @ the door. So everybody seems very much preoccupied by their own stuffs right now.

to answer ur question. This is, in fact, the challenge/dilemma of all of us taking p3 exam. It is a very time pressured exam which needs lot of exam tech and may be some sacrifices/priorities to get through it. Though the paper seems easy but the huge amt of information to assimilate and to analyse during the exam pose the real challenge.

I have a very slow and messy handwriting so i really get very nervous during exams. Nevertheless, my view of the situation is that we should spend the 15 reading time + may be another 5-10 mins to read and annotate clearly the 1st long case study. But during that time make sure u r as relax as possible to understand and spot as much as possible the main ideas that u will be using for the req sets. Just encircling/ doing certain inference on the margin and annotating with, e.g, for pestel – P: political, E econ, etc. When u r about to write ensure u have the majority of points ready and just write them concisely and in a logical order so that the examiner is clear about what u have written and OTOH u have not wasted ur time writing long stuffs that are simply overlooked by the marker. Normally about 1 hour of writing may be sufficient to score enough points to can easily achieve a pass in this question. Beware that students often spend too much time on this part of the question such that they are unable to complete the whole paper severely compromising their chance of passing. 1 h 45 mins should be enough i suppose.

Now concerning sect B u have to do just 2 questions out of 3. So why waste time read all 3, just select 2 based on the requirements and may be a few lines to understand what bus context is being discussed. 10-15 mins reading and planning will be enough per question and 30 mins for writing the answer as concisely and orderly possible.

During exam don’t forget to stick to u r time allocation strictly (around 1.5 mins/mark) or else u know what.

One final advice is to just attempt 55-60% of each and every part of the questions set and then if there is any time remaining u can return and add some more stuff just to improve ur chances.

Good Luck for the exams!!!

[lkashish]

Well, as it appears, the above table is not aligned properly. But, never mind, u can try to do that yourself to better understand the logic behind the analysis, thank you. To help u there is actually 4 column period say 2001 Q1-4, Actual sales, 8 parts moving avg (Trend) and Variation (which i mistakenly called “avg SV” in my first post. Hope u understand.

[lkashish]

The following illustration will clear all ur doubts:
Actual 8 Q M Avg Variation
Sales (trend)

2001 Q1 120
Q2 110
Q3 115 118 -3
Q4 123 119 4
2002 Q1 125 say121 4
Q2 117 say 123 -6
Q3 119 say 124 -5
Q4 128
2003 Q1
Q2
Q3 say -4
Q4

The seasonal variation will be the average of all q3 variations presented above: -(3+5+4)/3
= -4. However this and all the other quarter variations for the period should net to 0. If this not the case then a small adj is made to make this actually happen:

e.g Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
SV 3 2 -4 -2 -1
Adj 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 1
Adj SV 3.25 2.25 -3.75 -1.75 0

Hence the SV for Q3 is -3.75 (not -4 as before). This -4 I may be wrongly called avg SV when I should have called it Variation simply (so sorry for the confusion).

The final part is to calc the residual which is simply:

for 2002 Q3 : actual sales (119) – trend (124) – SV (-3) = -2
This implies that the actual sales fig for 2002 Q3 is in fact the trend +/- SV +/- Res.
checking: (124 -3 -2) = 119.

Hope this is helpful and clears any remaining doubt u may have.
N.b: this is very technical stuff to explain in writing. U just have to understand the mechanics behind the calc and will rather have to analyse it exam (calc not needed).

If still something is not clear, feel free to make me know i shall be happy to help u, not only in TS analysis but any topic in P3.

[lkashish]

1st u have to calc the trend (general increase/decrease in the time series data, without the seasonal effect). To calc the trend u have to use the 4 quarter moving avg (if there is 4 seasons). Calc moving avg is simply cum avg by constantly adding another period and dropping first period. (i.e avg of periods 1-4, then avg 2-5). This is done to align the avg with one of the periods provided, otherwise it is not really possible). By doing this u will in fact be having an 8 period moving average: 1-4, 2-5, and moving on).

After getting the trend, u have to subtract the trend from the actual data provided for each period except the 1st two periods (bcz no trend will be available for them) to get the actual seasonal variations. Note, however that for each quarter 3, e.g, SV will be different. So u have to avg all the Q3 SVs to get the avg seasonal variation. This will then be slightly adjusted so that when all the avg SVs of all quarters r added, they should equal 0.

Sorry for such messy explanation but it is step by step guide that may help u understand.
But note that you will not need to calc it in exam. just have to analyse the Time series spreadsheet data provided. So a summary of the above may help u explaining the calc if req.

If u have difficulty understanding any part, just state the part and i should clarify it further.

[lkashish]

So, e.g, if a question specifically asks me to use the “Value Chain model” to analyse the activities of a business, I should just analyse the activities – how they add value to the business- without any (brief) explanation of the Value chain model itself. I believe that if we do explain the model (even briefly), as the examiners answer model normally do, we may be losing precious time in exam.

Thank you sir!

[lkashish]

Thank you sir for your quick response. I would definitely try to apply your highly valued suggestions. But I want one clarification- by ‘A4 paper’ do you mean the ACCA exam booklet pages?

[Author]

Posts