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@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….!
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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
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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.
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 rememberEVA
Discuss ROCE amd why EVA is betterProblems 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.
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.
@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 question1a- 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.
Anyone remember EVA adjustments for CE & NOPAT? I forgot to deduct tax for NOPAT 🙁
My NOPAT was 4108 and CE was like 2300 something, EVA was over 3000.
I hope I get 10 marks out of 15 for this part 🙁
I did not have much time to write for Q3 c, just mentioned the NPV definition which I am not sure if is correct, the risk appetite of VC as risk neutral and did some EV calculations ( incomplete) was any of this required or will get some mark as I did not even read question properly.
SAIL
Strategic relevance
Audience
Information
Layoutsee BPP Study text, pp 119-120
Guys any comment on my below answers for this sitting will be appreciated. my fifth attempt and so desperate lost my sleep over this and cannot stop thinking.
Q1 a- Performance report evaluation – 10 Marks.
I broke down the objective first.
Positive, layout is clear easy to understand, used numbers and ratios. commentary provided.
Negative, focused on financial only, no comparative except one ratio with market. no focus on other objectives like technology, innovation. Commentary only on employees not enough.
Q2 b- EVA and benefit of EVA to replace ROCE.- 15 Marks
few silly mistakes to EVA despite I knew, my NOPAT was 4108, messed up WACC and EVA was positive like 3800 something. added value to shareholder wealths.
ROCE is indirect measure so not measure shareholder wealth, not encourage investments.
EVA measure shareholder wealth, encourage investments, ignore non cash items however complex to understand and calculate.Q2 C- Performance Hierarchy – 10 Marks.
Not sure why the hell I used Value chain, will get any marks?Q2 D- Value chain analysis-
Inbound & Outbound logistics- both have same issue as using operation manag system, it will create error irrelevant information and hard to find what they need should be separate system for each activity.
HR- I mentioned company should use bonus and share scheme to retained employees not sure what else mentioned but on these lines I think tried to relate to scenario and recommend.
Q2 A- Customer Survey. 10 Marks
Few points I mentioned seems different then others, will get marks if relevant and sensible?
The survey is too old as waited two years , fashion industry changing fast.
Survey at till means, customer may not interested much just want to leave so tick box exercise without concentrating.
Board is not much interested in customer survey and reluctant.
Some customer just filled survey so they may win prizes.
collecting survey at till means long waiting which may reflect on survey.
doesn’t say what customer not liked it could be service, product quality.Q2 B – Balance score card.15 Marks
I think again I wrote different then others.
problems- Board is reluctant, old IT system, don’t remember what other problems I mentioned.
for measures – cannot recommend new neither advantage or dis advantage? but can refine recommended.
Financial- I said should not be difficult using these as already focus on financial?
Customer perspective- Customer survey, I said already used with not much benefit, they should may be ask customer to submit survey online?
Internal business- Stock data- I mentioned to collect data day before after closing store or introduce low stock alert?
Learning & Innovation- I just mentioned no measure for invocation, don’t remember what I said for learning.Q3 A- Board.
High power, high interest- ROCE not a good measure as will discourage new investments, however if use controllable CE then should be work?Employee-
Low power High interest- Training cost not a good measure as some employee don’t need training- demotivating should use employee efficiency?
Government- High power low interest- should have some measure like number of fines/penalty as regulator can impose penalties.
Q3 B- not much time and I mentioned that Board is minimax approach as scenario did not mention their approach changed ? just mentioned they will use $75 price no calculation I did
Q3 C- again no time only said VC is risk neutral and like to minimise regret- will I get even one mark? I think I also did some incomplete EV calculation as well.
Guys your comment will be appreciated.
@laurra said:
Usually after the exam I can’t remember anythi. Lol. Everything is just a blur.
But here is what I rememberEVA
Discuss ROCE amd why EVA is betterProblems 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*
@joyfulina said:
My answers kinda similar like yours, may we pass this paper this sitting!*Cross Finger*
Sorry whose answer you referring to?
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