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APM*** ACCA Paper APM September 2019 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***
Exam was okay to some extent. My aim was to attempt on time and I was partly successful in that since I didn’t not attempt 3(c). Here’s how I approach each question
1a- broke down the objective to secondary aim and CSFs. Commented on whether the measures used addressed the CSFS and objective. Also commented on Presentation of the report, which was okay.
1b- I had a negative EVA figure (-62). DdI not comment on the EVA figure though. Discussed the benefits of EVA and that includes avoids distortion of accounting policies, encourage long term investments etc as opposed to ROCE which is short term measure and does not encourage value-adding investments such as R&D.
1c- broke my answer Into three parts strategic, operational, and tactical. Approach it as I was solving performance pyramid question. Mention whether nature of information is external or internal, reflected on measures used and how they help to achieve the overall objective.
1d- my answer here was brief as I didn’t have time. Just ensured that the analyst comments had an impact on the company’s achieving its CSFs.
2a- non financial indicator is difficult to measure as it subjective. Highlighted fashion industry is subject to many opinions and taste. There are many assumptions used in quantifying satisfaction. Satisfaction could related quality of product, service, packaging and therefore different weightings should be assigned.
2b - conflict of measures, information overload, commitment of managers not to revert back to financial indicators.
3a- Board have less power since there’s risk of losing their jobs but they are interested in turning around the company. Should be informed of measures used.
Employees are have low
Level of power since high skilled laboir are it required and there’s high unemployment and but they may be employees in other departments may be interested in training and qualification. Suggested percentage of qualified employees as an alternative measure.
Government are key players as they have the power to impose fines or discontinue the company’s operations and they are interested in how the company addresses these issues.
3b- board may have been just looking to reduce opportunity cost due to last losses but after performance elated pay they may adopt maximal approach and therefore selected the price with highest contribution.
3c- did not have enough time, and it was relatively the most difficult part of the exam as I didn’t know how to use the information given. Just stated some few liners about NPV lol.
Overall the Exam was the okay, not completely satisfied with the content I wrote especially in question 1 since it was rushed, but really hoping for pass as this is my 4th attempt. Somehow,I feel optimistic about this sitting.
WISH YOU ALL THE BEST FOR THE RESULT..THANKS
@oneel11 said: Exam was okay to some extent. My aim was to attempt on time and I was partly successful in that since I didn’t not attempt 3(c). Here’s how I approach each question 1a- broke down the objective to secondary aim and CSFs. Commented on whether the measures used addressed the CSFS and objective. Also commented on Presentation of the report, which was okay. 1b- I had a negative EVA figure (-62). DdI not comment on the EVA figure though. Discussed the benefits of EVA and that includes avoids distortion of accounting policies, encourage long term investments etc as opposed to ROCE which is short term measure and does not encourage value-adding investments such as R&D. 1c- broke my answer Into three parts strategic, operational, and tactical. Approach it as I was solving performance pyramid question. Mention whether nature of information is external or internal, reflected on measures used and how they help to achieve the overall objective. 1d- my answer here was brief as I didn’t have time. Just ensured that the analyst comments had an impact on the company’s achieving its CSFs. 2a- non financial indicator is difficult to measure as it subjective. Highlighted fashion industry is subject to many opinions and taste. There are many assumptions used in quantifying satisfaction. Satisfaction could related quality of product, service, packaging and therefore different weightings should be assigned. 2b - conflict of measures, information overload, commitment of managers not to revert back to financial indicators. 3a- Board have less power since there’s risk of losing their jobs but they are interested in turning around the company. Should be informed of measures used. Employees are have low Level of power since high skilled laboir are it required and there’s high unemployment and but they may be employees in other departments may be interested in training and qualification. Suggested percentage of qualified employees as an alternative measure. Government are key players as they have the power to impose fines or discontinue the company’s operations and they are interested in how the company addresses these issues. 3b- board may have been just looking to reduce opportunity cost due to last losses but after performance elated pay they may adopt maximal approach and therefore selected the price with highest contribution. 3c- did not have enough time, and it was relatively the most difficult part of the exam as I didn’t know how to use the information given. Just stated some few liners about NPV lol. Overall the Exam was the okay, not completely satisfied with the content I wrote especially in question 1 since it was rushed, but really hoping for pass as this is my 4th attempt. Somehow,I feel optimistic about this sitting.Hi, your answer is similar to mine and wish all of us to pass the examination
Was npv calculation like sum of products of each of two tables relative cells? Like npv = prob (low, low) x exp value (low, low) + prob (low, med) x exp value (low, med) + ... etc ? I did not manage to come up with the same npv as for proj b.
Please what is SAIL , in the context of evaluating a performance report
SAIL
Strategic relevance
Audience
Information
Layout
see BPP Study text, pp 119-120
@laurra said: 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
My answers kinda similar like yours, may we pass this paper this sitting!
*Cross Finger*
Does anyone know, when will ACCA publish September exam paper?
October 15th
My answers were similar to yours as well. For question one I got a positive EVA figure, do not remember the exact figure tho.
For the performance hierarchy I focused on the performance pyramid, however my answer was not my strongest as I was rushing and was not quite sure what the question was asking. I also did not remember the pyramid perfectly so I may have made some errors there.
For the value chain I also rushed this as I was unsure and time was running out, I spoke about the system being old and this probably causing issues with customer service, delivery and quality. I mentioned TQM and JIT. I mentioned about intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for employers and F&M Building blocks model.
For Q2 I did not mention being the survey being old and fashion industry changing but I think these are good points. I mentioned the other points you had as well. Also spoke about not knowing about the population, which stores were chosen etc, and that employees may have selected persons known to give favorable responses.
For BSC spoke about the general advantages and disadvantages as mentioned by others. However not remembering everything exactly.
For Q3 I had the same power and interest as you for all the stakeholders.
I said the Board would now use Maximax as they asked for the revised risk appetite and the VC's wanted them to take more risks so used the price with the highest contribution.
The EV calculation was quite difficult, never saw one like that before. I attempted it but not sure if it was right, I used the mixed expected values. However I remember choosing project A as this had a higher EV from my calculation.
Hope this helps and any comments on my response will be appreciated as well.
Yes I remember it being somewhere close to that figure I believe.
and thank you, good luck to you as well and everyone.
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