APM*** ACCA Paper APM September 2019 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***

Is the EVA negative or positive?

@femila said: Eva was question 1?

Yes, it is q1

Mine was positive, yours?

I found the exam ok. So much easier than the last 2 exams. My timing was off though and didnt have time to write everyone I wanted. 1. A. Performance report evaluation 11 marks B. Eva calculation and discuss benefits 15 marks C. Can't remember performance measures maybe 10 marks D. Value chain 10 marks 2. A. Customer survey issues 10 marks B. BSC implementation and ongoing issues 15 marks 3. A. Mention power and interest (mendelow) discuss whether PM are suitable 9 marks B. Basic payoff payoff calculation 7 marks C. Calculation of NPV, Standard deviation drawbacks of using EV. 11 marks I wish I remembered stuff like this before the exam.

@seishirou said: Is the EVA negative or positive?

Positive. I got 1420 but I think I calculated several things incorrectly. Anyone know if gearing was 45/145 or 45/100?

I really dont know what to thinK of it.Q3 Was the hardest i feel i did not manage to do the regret table and the expected value calculations. thought i would double back but run out of time so its up in the air at this point

Am I the only to come up with negative EVA?

45 debt 55 equity. Not sure though

Q3B- Which selling price did you guys select? That Risk seeking question where multiple variable costs and contribution were provided? I wrote $75 selling price and $50 Variable cost when the demand is 1200 units so as to capture the market by selling most units. Am I correct?

@sanjanapaul1234 said: Q3B- Which selling price did you guys select? That Risk seeking question where multiple variable costs and contribution were provided? I wrote $75 selling price and $50 Variable cost when the demand is 1200 units so as to capture the market by selling most units. Am I correct?

Variable costs aren't for certain so I don't think you should mention that at $50 is best. But I think the answer was $75.

The question was hard as well as the calculation. It was confusing. I dont even know whats the performance hierachy question wants

I choose the same, the reason being they needed to embrace risk and adopt a Maximax approach, meaning they were optimistic about demand being the best case scenario i.e. 1200, and then choose the most favourable outcome out of those possible values - i.e. the one with the lowest variable cost and high contribution which was the very first option on the table from memory.

@sanjanapaul1234 said: Q3B- Which selling price did you guys select? That Risk seeking question where multiple variable costs and contribution were provided? I wrote $75 selling price and $50 Variable cost when the demand is 1200 units so as to capture the market by selling most units. Am I correct?

What did you comment on BSC apart from the current Information system

Literally nothing except that. That note mentioned that I'm not supposed to comment on the advantages/disadvantages or even suggest a new performance measures. I was so annoyed with that note. What were they even expecting us to write for a whopping 15 marks man???!!!

@adannaya said: The exam was OK. I couldn't finish question 1 as it was the last question I attempted. Answered the part on strategic performance report, EVA (although I'm sure I made errors in my adjustments), didn't finish performance hierarchy and didn't attempt value chain at all. Question 2 was pretty easy. I believe the issues in part a were use of percentages, information overload, graphs would have shown trends, tendency of customers to give scores in the middle rather than extreme, there could also be a potential for customers to overstate their satisfaction with the hopes that they win a prize from the raffle. I can't remember any others. Part b was also easy. I remember talking about the ability of the current information system in capturing and measuring non financial measures, conflicting measures, BSC not giving an absolute measure of performance so it could be difficult to understand and interpret. Question 3 was quite difficult for me. Part a on stakeholder analysis in relation to performance measures was ok even though I couldn't think of a suitable measure for employees. In part b, I used the maximax approach. Part c was quite confusing. My expected value for project A was the same as that of project B! I didn't even know what to do with the standard deviation given. In the end I couldn't recommend any project, however I talked about the benefits and limitations of EV briefly. Whewww! I pray I get this course off my plate. This is my second attempt.

I literally wanted to put all that for question 2a but I was running out of time so had to move on. The question was similar to a past/mock one I've done before. Also didnt have time to evaluate performances measure for 2b. Question 3 was fairly easy. I wasted too much time on question a explaining power/interest even though it said brief and the same for b with the calculation. For question 3 I was certain something was missing because for 11 marks it seemed too easy. I've never heard of standard deviation before but as project b was 106 and a was 103 it made more sense to choose a as it has a lower change of npv declining. Didnt attempt 1d and my 1c answer was poor.

@sanjanapaul1234 said: Literally nothing except that. That note mentioned that I'm not supposed to comment on the advantages/disadvantages or even suggest a new performance measures. I was so annoyed with that note. What were they even expecting us to write for a whopping 15 marks man???!!!

I thought the same it didnt make sense. That's why I wasted too much time on that question it contradicted itself. How can you briefly evaluate but not recommend a PM

It is the most difficult examination with vague question :(((

@shazwin98 said: What did you comment on BSC apart from the current Information system

I literally copied the answer which is for one of the questions in the BPP p&r book. Might be it too many performance measures which may give them information overload. Conflict in PMs The information system is basic and based solely on financial information so the system might not be able to process non financial information and therefore a new system is needed which is expensive and training is needed The board also used to financial information and are sceptical about the new system so they might revert back to the old measures.

Question 3 b ) I’ve also used he máximas approach, not sure if this was correct. Question 3 c) I also had the same amount for both projects A and B, but I’ve concluded that because the standard deviation of project B was higher, they should go ahead with this one. Not sure if this is correct either.

For the maximax approach did u choose with the highest contribution?

@jeromeb said: Question 3 was fairly easy. .

In reality, Q3 is hardest question of all exam, look instant poll results here. Does anybody taked into account information, that demand level which are predicted is an estimation for two years?

@solongo7247 said: For the maximax approach did u choose with the highest contribution?

Yes, i've used highest contribution multiplied by demand.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this exam. The questions themselves I don't think were too difficult, but through lack of time I had to cherry pick what might be the easiest to score marks on. This was my first resit and I hope I've done enough this time to pass, got 49 on first try! Q1 was quite straight forward, but again I spent too long on it! I didn't write much on Value-chain as realised I had to move on. The EVA calc included a few things I hadn't seen before - the large amortisation- ignored, the deprn write off in econ deprn - I presumed this meant that not the full value in cap employed - really don't know. And not sure about the debt 45% equity 55%? - Q3 I had a brain freeze on the figures, but answered the written parts, which hopefully means half marks. Q2 I'd left this to last, but wish I'd done it earlier as was very simple and I think would have been easier to score more marks on. Fingers crossed everyone x

I thought I had made a complete mess of the last part. Glad to see i am not the only one who managed to calculate the same NPV for Project A and B. Funny exam in general. I felt it missed a lot of other areas which I expected to be tested on....! I'll wait for 6 weeks until I have an opinion on that one I think....!

Question 1 was fair (evaluation of the current performance reporting system, Eva calc was confusing with depreciation already included in operating profit, amortisation ,10yrs long term branding expenses & getting the ratio of debt to equity I guess debt is 45%while equity is 55% so I assumed45/100@12 & 55/100) did anyone got 7.88 as WACC? Calc of calc employed was kinda confusing too. Que 1d on value chain analysis was fair but I had issues relating what the CEO's request & the requirement. Question 3@ was fair at a point with risk appetite/stakeholders analysis ( I guess Didn't touch question 3c at all,the figures were confusing though the VC's risk appetite was risk neutral and expected value was suggested but I couldn't even pull through or make any meaningful calc . With the standard deviations,probability and NPV it was scary and I had to give up the 11marks :( I really dnt know what we were asked to do for que 2a & 2b Yes 2a was about customer satisfaction: why the data was not making sense to the board) had too little to say (information overload, vague basis for survey :very satisfied , completely satisfied, dissatisfied, Dnt even know what to comment, sample size) can anyone help with what the answer should be. Question 2 told us to assess the BSc yet we were told not to give advantage or disadvantages &also not to suggest new measure.. too many conflicting requirement that cant be evaluated under an exam condition This is my 4th attempt & I feel very bad about the structure and new method of including requirement in the passage when we also have the main requirement. Overall con

Question 1 was fair (evaluation of the current performance reporting system, Eva calc was confusing with depreciation already included in operating profit, amortisation ,10yrs long term branding expenses & getting the ratio of debt to equity I guess debt is 45%while equity is 55% so I assumed45/100@12 & 55/100) did anyone got 7.88 as WACC? Calc of capital employed was kinda confusing too. Que 1d on value chain analysis was fair but I had issues relating what the CEO's request & the requirement. Question 3@ was fair at a point with risk appetite/stakeholders analysis ( I guess Didn't touch question 3c at all,the figures were confusing though the VC's risk appetite was risk neutral and expected value was suggested but I couldn't even pull through or make any meaningful calc . With the standard deviations,probability and NPV it was scary and I had to give up the 11marks :( I really dnt know what we were asked to do for que 2a & 2b Yes 2a was about customer satisfaction: why the data was not making sense to the board) had too little to say (information overload, vague basis for survey :very satisfied , completely satisfied, dissatisfied, Dnt even know what to comment, sample size) can anyone help with what the answer should be. Question 2 told us to assess the BSc yet we were told not to give advantage or disadvantages &also not to suggest new measure.. too many conflicting requirement that cant be evaluated under an exam condition This is my 4th attempt & I feel very bad about the structure and new method of including requirement in the passage when we also have the main requirement.

Will i get marks for writing tunnel vision,myopia,gaming,ossification Q2 b?

Run out of time, 3b&c left out?did anyone else had problems with time management?

Usually after the exam I can't remember anythi. Lol. Everything is just a blur. But here is what I remember EVA Discuss ROCE amd why EVA is better Problems of balanced scorecard Evaluate performance management report (I used SAIL to help me) Key stakeholders (Mandelo) Risk and expected values Strategic, Tactical and Operational levels (can't remember exact question on that. Performance pyramid?) Value chain

APM Tips students have to know the basic definition of PMs What is Performance Management - What the Company do leading towards the organisation goals/objectives as per questions. What is Performance Measurement - Measuring whether what company do leads towards organisation goals/objectives or not. Apply these 2 PMs concept only. Dont write like P3/SBL. APM is like mix and match what the questions said on what they do against their goals/objectives. Are they meeting the goals/objectives or not.