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

Was this paper similar to any of the specimens, or sep and dec ?

Did anyone else notice a discrepancy in number of stores? It said 2 other European markets in one place but then said 8 European countries in another no?

Yes I think pestel or 5 forces would have been fine but you don't have to do this explicitly

Q1 i used pestel, 1 b only identified technological risk, i also used porters national diamond in Q2 and coso framework on q3 ,q4 used general knowledge, not enough time to attempt q5,

Exhausting!! I was writing as though my life depended on it! I struggled to think of an appropriate model for the questions so i combined a few of them. Pestel for q1, porters diamond in 2 and pretty much practical context for the rest. Now that I'm thinking of it, POPIT could have been appropriate for the customer database management Fingers crossed till April anyway.

So many questions but very little information. I managed to give everything a good shot and managed by time efficiently. In general most of my answers were develop round framework and models that gave me ideas to develop my points. 1b was the one I found most difficult; didn’t use any model on this occasion just wrote something along why I think Smart wears might be strategically located in southland using the comparative data provided

1. (a) bit of Pestel (b) risks faced and mitigation steps 2. (a) country vs country...bit general Info and abit of porters diamond (b) strategic and ethical implications of closing stores 3. internal control weaknesess and recommendations 4. (a) new database...crm stuff?..some 6 I's?? (b)NPV of database project...some sensitivity analysis, scepticism of figures. 5. integrated reporting....drew out a slide..benefits to stakeholders..6 capitals etc BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE!

I used swot. Found 2 threats and a weakness

This was a suicide mission, a lot of question and less time to think and answer.

Why did we have to use porters or pestel for 1 a? The question said to analyse the company's strategic position analysing it's environment na? I thought SWOT was applicable for it. 1b I wrote 4 types of different risks and even wrote about risk map and Risk response. 2a) I used PESTEL. But there were only PEST available. EL there was nothing much info the question paper. 2b) I wrote like a general answer. I wrote about how would the company use the profits generated from Southland and other outlets of Noria as now that they've closed down the loss making outlets. Wrote about investing that extra funds for R&D, innovation etc. Wrote using it for market development and all of that stuff by doing R&D. Wrote about investing it for society development purposes for being an ethical organisation. 3) I wrote it as a general answer of internal control and weaknesses and the recommendation for it. 4) The question asked benefits of CDMS so I specifically stuck to that and wrote Various points on how you could increase the sales and also market your product by sending out messages to your existing customers which will in turn help you increase your revenue. Loyalty points, after reaching a certain limit customers can be given a gift voucher or some discount which will in turn induce the customer to buy and so increase in sales. 4b) General answer again about how the NPV was kinda calculated wrong. And just for the sake of it I added other project benefits which are observable, measurable must also be considered before accepting the project case.

@jdeally said: Lots of marks going for the strategical and ethical implications of closing stores in Noria, and moving out of Centrum altogether, but yet only had a couple of points to make. What approach did other people have on this?

I found this challenging. Just mumbled a few things on what their justification is for the closure. Did they do a CVP analysis if any of the 35 stores still manage to break even? How bad would the lost revenue further dwindle their cash balances etc

I struggled with this one too... could only think of one or two points. I feel like there was so much to do in this exam, there was no time to read, plan or even to think! I was writing continually for pretty much all of the time.

question one I did PESTLE analysis as the question asked for analysis the environment in which the business is operating in. question 2 the question asked to evaluate the strategic position so SowT was most relevant to this area risk strategic, business and financial, also reputation risk was relevant internal control weakness and recommendation NPV analysis and evaluation of steady sales interest and cost of capital than what I come up with along with some sensitivity analysis ethical issue related to the closure loss of employment and revenue income jobs etc throughout the supply chain channel and the reason not related to the sales but fail in strategy or strategic drift caused by the online market integrated report

I also used the exhibit which showed that the region that’s closing down had high growth in the region and strategically would be losing out on the regions potential growth. Think the same exhibit mentioned that over 50% of population was under 30 which is beneficial for retail sector

I scored 82percent last sitting.passing SBL needs a strategy itself. U don't need to apply any framework to pass. Infact I have mastered the examiners comment and know knows where students makes mistakes and slip. If am to take this paper again I will score in the 90 nineties.if you use a framework you open yourself to some rest. The risk of using the wrong framework,the risk of incorrect application of the framework and the risk of spending time explaining the framework which is not required or trying to fix the framework to the requirements.if u don't use the framework it makes your organisation of the answer difficult but you don't get any extra marks. SBL is interesting if you know the trick.i became affiliate I'm December sitting only waiting to apply for my membership but my only challenge is how to complete my PER so am looking for anyone who has completed his PER so he send me. A. Sample as a guide to apply for. membership.when I see the questions I will be able to advice the best way to score high in this yours exams

Samee. I did the same

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@supermessiah said: I scored 82percent last sitting.passing SBL needs a strategy itself. U don't need to apply any framework to pass. Infact I have mastered the examiners comment and know knows where students makes mistakes and slip. If am to take this paper again I will score in the 90 nineties.if you use a framework you open yourself to some rest. The risk of using the wrong framework,the risk of incorrect application of the framework and the risk of spending time explaining the framework which is not required or trying to fix the framework to the requirements.if u don't use the framework it makes your organisation of the answer difficult but you don't get any extra marks. SBL is interesting if you know the trick.i became affiliate I'm December sitting only waiting to apply for my membership but my only challenge is how to complete my PER so am looking for anyone who has completed his PER so he send me. A. Sample as a guide to apply for. membership.when I see the questions I will be able to advice the best way to score high in this yours exams

Why are you here?? to show off. your comment is completely irrelevant to the subject matter. I scored high marks in both P6 and P2 that it does not mean I should go there an undermine other people knowledge or stressing them out.

On first glance of the questions alone, I thought the exam was going to be ok. PESTEL & 5F frameworks are relatively easy, but the actaul questions were very tricky. I felt that the data in the exhibits did not relate to the questions. For Example: Southland we were given very little info as to why demand was high there. As people have said :Employment, disposable income, salary, young population. However we were also told that an downturn in the economy stimulates demand for SmartWear - so could you really use these? I just found a disconnect between the exhibits and the questions.

This is a forum about March exam. The original post has nothing to do with March exam.

The long wait beckons now..waiting anxiously for mid April..Exam looked ok but was tricky...You had to sweat to make relevant points with the full knowledge as well of the need to earn professional marks.

Did anyone else note in the NPV analysis that it didn't include the repayment of the initial loan principal - only the interest payments? The repayment of £38m in year 5 decreased the NPV by £23m... anyone else put this?

this exam unlike the previous ones required more thinking process ... there was very little tips to be obtained from the exhibits and a lot of writing lets wait and see

You account for the 38m outlay as the initial capital expenditure. Accounting for the 38m loan in year 5 would mean double counting the 38m.

@colmjulian said: Ajjaj, you are being harsh if he really got that score , then of course he should be able to help us and delete your blank comment above

can you please let me know how would his comment help you at this point in time? what good his advice after the exam was over? mate your comment indicates how pathetic you are standing for people who are buli<< about

What did every one do with Npv? I found this exam tough... it was straight forward company but there was alot if writing Can anyone remember marks for q 1&2?

@ajjajj said: can you please let me know how would his comment help you at this point in time? what good his advice after the exam was over? mate your comment indicates how pathetic you are standing for people who are buli<< about

You are just a sadist. U are the only person who is getting irritated.it means it's your nature and doesn't respect.Am affiliate now because of open tuition and people comment on the forum that has benefited me. I was humble enough to take advice of those who has sat the paper so even if I don't make it,i arm myself next sitting adopting their strategy.if it's not important to you then those who don't make it will benefit next sitting.infact I passed p6 because of somebody post and I took the advice and it even became my highest score before SBL. Learn to humble yourself and stop been rude because you are not the only one on the forum. Even though am affiliate now, if I had some advice earlier I would have finished the exams 3 years back Thanks to open tuition someone advice made me an affiliate today you show your disrespect but I will do it for others and it becomes my small way of helping open tuition

I think for most of the questions there were not enough points to extract from the case study. That was the major problem

I don't understand why have people used porter's 5 forces for Question 1a. The question had asked analyse the environment and comment on the way it'll affect the organisation's mission and strategy. I strongly felt to use SWOT analysis for this question. Porter's 5 forces revolves around how competitive and attractive the industry is to make above average profits. PESTLE could have been used in 1a. That still makes some sense to me.

Has anyone written about not including staff training costs and 5 years of maintenance contract cost to the initial investment of $38m in the NPV Question 4b?