*** ACCA P3 December 2017 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***

England,
I hope we all the best to get through before SBL comes. I hope that I and u can pass P3. All best to all of usabd others here sharing answers and everything. Thx yo open tuition too.Cheer!

I think I did not write strength of 1 department, and that should be HR.
Was infrastructure primay or support in value chain?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the questions are:

Question 1: Write a report on

a) Identify the strengths and weakness of the value chain (production, procurement, sales & marketing, human resource, and infrastructure). (24 marks)
b) Discuss how to address the weaknesses of the value chain (production, procurement, sales and marketing, human resource, and infrastructure). (11 marks)
c) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of budgeting. (11 marks)
Professional mark (4 marks)

Question 3:

a) Write analyses based on the Harmon Process Strategy of the three processes mentioned in the case using the figures in the table. (15 marks)
b) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing legal department. (10 marks)

Actually I didn’t manage to answer the third question. I spent too much time on Question 1 and Question 3. There was too much things need to write for Question 1 and also it took me sometime to calculate the flex figures at Question 2.I left with 30 minutes only to answer the third question. Read and absorbing the case study for 15 minutes, and left me with another 15 minutes to answer the third question. I didn’t remember what I wrote. But well I’m screwed. I left 25 marks of questions. *sigh
For P3, time management is really hard.

Paper was reasonable, but I really messed up with my time management. Spent too long on Q1 part 1 and Q3 part a. Rest of it was rushed and couldn’t attempt 20 marks worth of questions.

Very unlikely that I’ve passed, ready for March 2018 resit. Ughh

We have only question paper, no answer is released yet. So I don’t know either if I pass or not.

NCBT plc is a diversified business formed through a merger of Nairo Consumer Electronics and Birit Technology
in 1990. NCBT is the holding company for many subsidiaries in a variety of industry sectors including insurance,
financial services, clothing manufacture, farming and fertilisers.
The company is undertaking a strategic review of three of its subsidiaries: Swiftdale Farms, CCB Insurance and Pait
Technology. Data for the three companies has been provided for this review, as shown in Figure 1.
2014 2015 2016
$m $m $m
Swiftdale Farms
Turnover 102 97 90
Gross profit 12 7 4
Market turnover 550 530 512
CCB Insurance
Turnover 70 84 93
Gross profit 20 25 22
Market turnover 810 850 890
Pait Technology
Turnover 50 58 69
Gross profit 20 23 28
Market turnover 330 360 400
Figure 1 – Financial data for three subsidiaries 2014–2016
Swiftdale Farms – this was NCBT’s first acquisition in 1994. NCBT had been a success story in the 1990s technology
boom and had a surplus of cash and a number of shareholders looking for growth in the value of their shareholding.
In 1994, the farming industry was faced with a number of threats and Swiftdale Farms was opportunistically acquired
for what was considered to be a low price.
At the time of the acquisition, the board of NCBT was aware that they had little knowledge of the farming industry but
it felt that the managers of Swiftdale Farms were capable and just needed some encouragement. They offered financial
incentives for good performance, and provided financial resources to assist in the growth of the subsidiary. This
initially worked well, but the company performance started to decline in 2010 and NCBT stopped providing financial
resources, as they felt they were not being used to add value.
In 2016, Swiftdale Farms’ nearest competitor held 15·4% market share.
CCB Insurance – this was acquired in 2011 as NCBT recognised the rapid development of the insurance industry in its
home market and also the high margins being earned. CCB Insurance was a relatively new listing on the stock market
and the board of NCBT commissioned a broker to buy shares aggressively on its behalf, so that it acquired a controlling
stake. NCBT felt justified in its actions as the share price rose rapidly after acquisition.
CCB Insurance has continued to grow with little involvement from NCBT but is now struggling to manage its growth,
failing to recruit sufficient new staff or to provide enough office space to cope with its growing operations. It operates
in an industry where there are relatively few larger firms and hundreds of smaller companies and where the market
leader holds 12% of the market. The economy in which CCB Insurance operates is growing at a rate of approximately
2% every year.
Pait Technology – this is the most recent acquisition, having taken place in 2014. The company manufactures
consumer electronics, similar to both of the founding companies of NCBT. It operates in a different country where
the industry is just starting to develop and grow, the way it did for NCBT in the 1990s. NCBT has other subsidiaries
situated in this country. The management of Pait Technology are highly knowledgeable about their customers and
industry and the company has a good brand name with high recognition. Its nearest competitor has an 8% market
share.
7 [P.T.O.
Required:
(a) Analyse the financial position of each company (Swiftdale Farms, CCB Insurance and Pait Technology) in the
NCBT portfolio. Your analysis should include consideration of the position of each company within the BCG
and Ashridge matrices and should suggest an appropriate strategy for each subsidiary as a result of your
analysis. (18 marks)

Ryonakata:
What is the use for rewriting the questions? U should share the answer with us, not the questions, Sep/Dec exam is already published!

i mean what is market turnover… in simple language it is the total sales in a market…. i mean the sales of all the companies in a market

Good luck to all of us.

@anon39 said:
Hey

Sorry what’s the SFM UOL route, never heard of it?

Did you get the same questions as everyone else?

What’s your last optional choice?

Strategic Financial Management is the equivalent paper of P4 if you are on MSc route. The examiner is from UCL / UoL so questions were different and the focus of the whole paper was quite different.

@anon39 said:
Hi Ed,

I became an ACCA member last December after passing my final papers P4 & P6, they’really a tough combo together.

I also did P7 additionally as in practice & needed my practising certificate.

If you’re doing P7 already, it would be a shame to leave it to do another paper instead, sure you’ve done well with your SFM paper.

If you did wanna do P6 in March I have some notes if you need them.

Best of luck.

Hi Anon, sorry I didn’t realise I had not replied to this one. I have the P7 materials and I will use OT lectures for that. With P6, I cannot decide until I get the result next week, so in case, I take that one as well, I know who to ask, thanks so much for the help.

You must feel so relieved and great being fully qualified! I cannot wait to complete ACCA so I can start and focus on work.

Ed