SBL*** ACCA Paper SBL June 2019 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***

I couldn't complete the paper :( Wrote only for 78 marks. But the paper was actually easy

I felt that the paper was reasonable I just didn't have enough time. Didn't have time to do 2b and didn't finish the majority of questions to a standard I'd be happy with.

It was very issue/recommendation heavy.

2b even I didn't do that That 6 marks one right? I didn't understand the question properly so I left it to do it last

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I thought apart from ethics question which seemed too easy to be true, there was nothing extreme about paper. Did anybody else not use table for last question? I thought it would look really messy in that layout

@rahuljay said: 2b even I didn't do that That 6 marks one right? I didn't understand the question properly so I left it to do it last

I didn't get it either but since it was 6 marks I skipped it.

@arm2250 said: I thought apart from ethics question which seemed too easy to be true, there was nothing extreme about paper. Did anybody else not use table for last question? I thought it would look really messy in that layout

For ethics. Not sure it's correct but I said it wouldn't be in the shareholders interest if they published it, they provide material for schools etc so it needs to be actual or based on factual info and that mis-quoting the source material may lead to litigation as it doesn't reflect good on them. I wish I didn't use that layout, my work looked like a complete mess. I didn't even think to turn my paper landscape until after the exam. The column headings confused me as well for some staff issues I couldn't think of company management issues.

@arm2250 said: I thought apart from ethics question which seemed too easy to be true, there was nothing extreme about paper. Did anybody else not use table for last question? I thought it would look really messy in that layout

I just drew the format and time was over!! I think you could have done that question only with the last exhibit (not sure though)

I tried to use pipco for ethics question but it looked like jargon

I think all questions are logical base, not enough use of models, did any body use any model?

Bit confused about this one. It felt really easy, but, 4 hours for me was not enough. I could've done with another 45 minutes. Hopefully I did enough to pass. Q1) Corp Gov - Pretty easy to get 7/8 issues with board Q2) Ethical issues with releasing book as is - Being sceptical of the 'expert's' views + perceived lack of commissioning and review committees is what I wrote for 2b. Q3) S,A,F. I did mine as Financial and Non Financial, only because that's what the question asked. This was more a non financial cultural one as well as stating there was no where near enough financial data to assess the company's performance. Q4) Internal controls issues and how to handle them 4b)Website - Focus on Attract and Retain customers. CRM, 6 Is for this one Q5) Table on how various elements of the company are viewed and actions. Can't remember what I did here, but it was done in the remaining 4 minutes I had left. There were about 10 marks for this so I imagine it needed some notes with it. Just typing this up makes me see how easy it was but for some reason, I just didn't have enough time. Annoyed with is if I don't pass. GLA

Yeah i did the same as you mostly But with little reference to models except for the ethics question I took whatever i could notice from the scenario However i felt that the time allocation and requirements of the questions were not adequate It keeps you on permanent stress and even though you know the model, you can easily forget to apply it

Does anyone remember if they wrote about the audit committee and nominations committee In The first question? Like the weakness is about nomination commite not doing their work and audit committee not having NEDS with relevant financial info and this leads to lack of effective overview of financials? And also did anyone right in question 2a whether the experts view regarding conclusions could be a bit exaggerated as he based it on just a reasonable reading and not more deep research into it?

Remembering what the questions were annoys me even more. I didn't find anything difficult I just didn't have the time to get everything down in a coherent manner.

Very weird exam as felt easy but equally easy to waffle. Q1) board composition and operation critiques (age, gender, age of service, lack of strategic focus, unaware of competitors etc) Q2) ethical commercial issues of Dr Xavier (purposefully misquoting to fit conclusion, factual error etc all resulting in commercial damage etc) Q2b) I felt this was worded very poorly so left this until the end, as 6 marks not as concerned Q3) financial and non financial factors of attractiveness of company - could use SAF but I didn’t as didn’t want to restrict myself, could say a wide range of issues: - competencies of the company in digital development so good match for the current platform - much better financials (profit margins) - performs better in Asian market so can assist fiveoak - redundancies cost - clash of culture between staff - motivation and appraisal benefits - governance differences (the company is private and insider system so less good systems/controls) whereas five hive is listed and more requirement for stricter compliance - good reputation of the company can strengthen five hive Etc etc Q4) weakness of project management and improvements: - lack of meeting regularly - no proper project manager - meetings but only IT so wrong - poor supplier choice by IT - not wide perspective - allowance of project slippage was not properly addressed - etc Q4b) how to retain and attract customers On its platform: - online community to build interactivity - loyalty cards online? - increase Facebook and Twitter use as currently under-utilised - increase more filter options (as customers moaning they want more) - tailored emails on favourite books/birthday rewards - allow authors to submit books and have voting by community for their favourite Q5) staff feelings, management issues and action on leadership, participation, communication and appraisal Appraisal: standard check list, one way, only once a year Communication: actively discouraging cross boundary talk etc Participation: managers stealing employees ideas and taking credit making them less wanting to participate Leadership: lack of thinking ahead of the game, being behind competitors to employees frustration Anyone else? :)

Think I might have been the only one that spent time on 2b and I wish I hadn't as I ran out of time towards the end. I agree the question was poorly worded I just wrote about how the criticism of his articles should have been picked up if they'd carried out due diligence on new authors. Also said you could actually internally review the foot notes and quotes to ensure they are genuine and quoted by sources other than oneself. Also to maybe consider more than just one external reviewer as historians can have difference if opinion. Agree I hated that layout for the last question I kept page portrait and was completely squashing in my recommendation. Plus it specifically said to write the notes in the sections of the table not afterwards like you would with presentation slides. It was an odd choice I feel my answers may not have been readable or in depth enough. Agree that nothing in the paper was that ground breaking. The time was just incredibly tight.. I'm hoping I e done enough to pass but will kick myself if I've a few marks off as just simply better choices like ignoring the layout at the end would probably have served me a lot better.

Q1 was 14. Then 2 a I think was e10 Part b was 6. Then 16 for Q3 Q4 a was 12 and b was 10 Then 5 was 12 But I'm afraid I don't remember the professional skills mark breakdown

I can't remember seeing phrase 'how to retain and attract customers in relation to the highlighted headings for Coming Soon ' I just talked about social media directly, competions, emails, q and a with authors, partnership with finance company acca, use Twitter Facebook better, improve search tool

It's wierd because I do remember seeing something like that in my initial read-through.. but then we I got into the question I vaguely remembered it but couldn't actually see it anywhere I checked a few times to try and find where I'd first seen it. Now to have someone on here mention it too gets me thinking, is it possible it was written in the little italic bit where it says what the professional skills marks are for

Not really sure what I thought of the paper, quite difficult to tell. I didn’t use many models though. Also struggled on question 2b

Coming soon was a part of the digital portal presentation (at the very bottom) and it mentioned about the future exiting developments, engagement with customers and mobile app.

I used same headlines but just not in the table

@arm2250 said: I used same headlines but just not in the table

I did the same, as I had no room To answer all requirements? Did you do one a page? But answered all the specific requirements?

I thought about turning it landscape, but the papers are scanned to the market, so would have made it harder to read, so left it portrait!!!

@noushie2008 said: Hello, Odd exam. As everyone mentioned – not outrageous but too much for such a short amount of time. I felt the questions were all over the place. Didn’t like 2b – found it a bit random and hard to know exactly what to draw on. Said they should have a team reviewing all research, HR reviewing writers credentials etc For Q4b I only managed three things – social media (way to connect with customers) I mentioned potential to have an online purchasing system to help customers to buy online. I also mentioned something about search partnership so it’s not all their data but customers can draw on many data platforms (google etc) so customer don’t need to go off the site (I think I was reaching here). Q5 was a mess – what were they thinking? What an odd thing to do. Mine was an absolute mess. I am shamed of it. I could barely read it in the end – not sure how they will go. Used two models really – SAF (but found it ended up restricting me) far more Non-Financial than Financial to draw on. I also said they should acquire but the board needs some direction and new people if they are going to be able to success with the new company. I used basic ethics for the ethics part (Professional Behaviour, Integrity etc) then used Tucker’s 5 for the Commercial Issues part. Not feeling confident at all. Used more than one book – did anyone else? I think I overdid it.

I used two books so don’t worry, remember the more the merrier for marks. 2b was very poorly phrased and only 6 makes 4b I mentioned similar ideals Q5 I adapted the format to fit my words and the style of format was impossible given the 12 marks available. I did one page a point and express the 3 criteria in each page for each category

I used two books, i did squash the table on portrait page , looked terrible . Can’t believe the exam was more or less common sense. I spend an hour and half planning all the answers and just didn’t then didn’t stop writing for the 2.5 hours , wrote loads but my writing was scruffy I hope they can read it. Would be so much better to be able to type it. I think they will catch people out on the time rather than content on this one. Very contradictory they always say they give you plenty of time to answer with SBl paper ...unlike AAA!

Agree with everything above, so strange. I didn't use any of the models, I didn't see the need, and didn't have the time to even think about the models. I think there should be one less question and one less exhibit for the time allocated. Everyone seems to just rush the last question. It is a combination of P1 and P3, so either more time should be given or less questions?

OMG two books and three books? That is just unbelievable ... How do you guys write? I can barely do two-thirds of the one book provided. This much is quite normal for me though, and I have passed earlier with that much writing. Really hope I pass this one too. It was my 2nd attempt. Failed the first one at 44 marks. IMO they should now do advanced level on computers as well.

Guys did anyone wrote about integrity, objectivity and professionel competence and due care for ethical issues?