*** ACCA Paper APM September 2018 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***

Thought the exam was very fair in content. Nothing too challenging, very much application of case study as expected.

Fingers crossed!

I am agree

I agree it’s a quietly deceiving paper! So different from previous exams.

I thought this was asking how would the firm decide what targets to set for staff, so I used the building blocks model to explain that targets set would need to be considered achievable, fair and have ownership. In the appraisal systems the above would stand plus they managers would need to clearly articulate to the staff both financial and non-financial measures in a clear manner so staff are assured that they are in control of those targets.

@alexbenson1992 said:
I suggested using the SMART process along with financial and non financial targets, with financial and non financial reward systems.

snap

Does anyone have a good memory for what each question was and what they wrote for them?

I can never recall exams afterwards and this one was particularly a blur!

Fingers crossed we will get through it!

@saraf said:
I thought this was asking how would the firm decide what targets to set for staff, so I used the building blocks model to explain that targets set would need to be considered achievable, fair and have ownership. In the appraisal systems the above would stand plus they managers would need to clearly articulate to the staff both financial and non-financial measures in a clear manner so staff are assured that they are in control of those targets.

Did very similar, applied building block model principles on that section on the rewards and standards aspects linked to the new nfpis and fpis I suggested in part a.

Thought Q1 on the whole was a decent question.

Q2 was ok too and almost a carbon copy of a past paper question that was on the specimen re corp failure models.

Q3 was on BPR which again was similar to the last question from 2016 on the subject, albeit different application. Part b was on info systems and again very similar to the past paper. Part c on issues was good as it was signposted in the Q what to focus on (outsourcing risks to employees, customers and environment when thinking ethics).

Will be massivley disappointed to fail the paper given some past papers had more difficult EVA / MIRR questions and more data to disseminate

Thank you, were you happy?

Same 4.75

Grey area too. Sounds like we all got it wrong haha! Joke

I am interested in what others got for 3a.

Possible improvements from the BPR with specific attention to the two performance indicators set by customers – Low price to pass on to consumers and lead time and quality.

Did anyone find that it was potentially good but possibly not once you added shipping and import duty?

I said that the factory overheads were still to be incurred overall as only 50% of manufacturing was moving to an outsourced manufacturer, meaning they would still have to retain the factory and the cost would be absorbed in to the cost of the other 50% of swimwear and the cycling clothing.

But improvements were technically possible, but a more radical approach may be required.

With regards to the rewards, I also used the building block model in that the staff performance should not be measured based on financial aspects as this is not an area they can directly control. As per the balanced scorecard, non financial indicators are important and staff bonuses should be based on these as these are aspects of performance that staff can control. #

Low motivation and lack of clarity about financial targets as they are not from a financial background?

Am i correct to have thought of the staff in this qstn as the security guards?