SBLJune 2021 ACCA SBL exam was - Instant Poll and comments

4a analyse e-marketing proposal from financial and non-financial NVP is positive, payback period is low (~3 years) Not clear where 10% discount rate comes from (or was this mentioned? I missed the part that building can be used to secure loan) Close relationship between CEO and CU (sister): is proposal fair? What about potential scandals (giving money to family) 25/15% numbers are made up. No experience with charity. Wouldn't individual donations go up by more? Numbers are exactly the same in all years. Probably higher in first year, then go down (since you can't retain all new donors) Social media maintenance is constant. Would go up (platform getting more popular; inflation) Why is social media outsourced? This should be done in-house (I failed to link to current web site which is out-of-date because of this exact reason!) Subsidy would go up because of more course attendance: why take average subsidy? Can't we use e-marketing to promote those courses which make a profit? Subsidy: if this is a direct implication, it should be part of the NVP calculation (is this correct???) Recommendation: against. E-marketing makes sense but proposal has many questions and problem with CEO-sister. Obtain 2 more proposals and compare.

4b change management [commercial acumen] I didn't do well here, even though change management should have been an easy question. I couldn't find much in the case study to make it relevant, so I talked quite generally. Change: biggest problem is people. They might resist change. Communicate early. Get them involved. Have them own it. Unfreeze: as above, communicate. Change: training. switch over Refreeze: make sure people don't use old ways. Not clear to me if old newsletter would continue or be discontinued. I had a hard time linking it to the case.

They don't even give any detail about what is the charity's internal control, guess the question is more like mendelow matrix , asking why we keep inform external stakeholder by proving they have particular interest and power that can affect our decision.

@Tomodon I have the same questions as you have. When I was writing part b of Q 2 I felt that I may not be able to solve the whole paper but I did it Overall paper was easy but what make it hard was that unlike commercial organization I was not able to improve the quality of my points to explain WHY and IMPACT of point I wrote. So basically have to write as many points as I could which I realize after I had solved Q 1 and Q2.

Mine was different aswell. Never saw these questions

In change mng question I had also diffculties. I used POPIT because no morr publishing and postage of annual reports so process had to change. Also organisational roles and responsibilites may change. But mainly I wrote about people. It was a very open question.

Guys, how did you approach Q3 B) viability of the art project?

It was unexpected to deal with charity but in general not so hard. I have answered to all questions but not sure in quality of answers .....lets see ))) good luck to everyone

I'm a bit confused. Did people get different questions in the SBL exam? I had questions on internal and external stakeholder, source of competitive advantage, critically appraise the art course, risk management, cyber security and project sponsor and project manager.

It was a tricky one. I commented on art tutor's cost is high. the art course is going against the charity's strategic purpose, art class is a hobby and not an employable skill that people are looking for. and doing the course on a weekend when it's a busy period means NCCP will be diverting existing resources to facilitate the art class is not appropriate. And the course price is too high and expected income should be looked into as the art course is being delivered in an economic area with high unemployment. That's how I approached it.

Poll results are exactly the same as march 2021 poll. Even attendance is the same.

My answer on art course was almost opposite of yours. Mission was also provide social interactions so I suggested that art course meets it, as there most likely limited interactions during skills courses as participants are busy learning. Plus it can attract more wealthy individuals who are not looking for job like retired people who want to spend time pleasantly. The drawback was initial investment of 12k, I questioned if other cheaper options were considered. Materials cost should've been paid one year in advance, again with cash contribution difficulties it's a commitment. Number of attendees was like 240 per annum, how it was derived if for other courses was in thousands. No forecast for other years ahead. Also mentioned that the council unlikely to support it because they more focused on IT skills courses.

Is anyone else having issues seeing the Poll?

For the art course we were also being tested on the professional scepticism skill so we had to also question the intention of why such course out of other courses were chosen. 1. He had an interest in art himself so he was bias. 2. There can be seen as a conflict of interest as he contracted his good friend to deliver the course materials and paying him a fee of £12,000 which this arrangement were different from the freelance tutors. The amount charged can be called into question whether it is a fair market rate. 3. There will be a high risk of a loss being made if the demand for the course doesn't meet at least 240 participants per annum which will profit around £12,400 in order to breakeven to cover the inintial outlay. 4. In order to take advantage of the bulk discount large quantities of materials will be bought in advance, so there is a risk that if the demand is low there will be obsolete inventories. 5. The course is only affordable to the wealthy individuals which is highly unlikely that there will be demand for the course as there is high unemployment rate in Ceeville and so the choice of course is not really appropriate to serve the needs of the community. 6. By charging a high fee for the course it goes against the aim of the NCCP's objectives. 7. The decision made by the CEO to charge such a high fee goes against the purpose of a charity organisation which is a not-for-profit organisation, but coming from a commerical background, he put too much focus on solely making a profit, despite it might have been for the better good to keep NCCP afloat. 8. On the positive side, drawing from his experience working in the commerical industry, the high course fee could help improve the cash flow position as it is as low as £48,000. I concluded that the course was not viable, for all the reasons mentioned and most important the high cost charged goes against the very reason why NCCP was established in the first place. Hence why all other courses are priced at such a low rate, needing council subsidies to cover the excess. None of the courses taught are profitable because it's not out there to make a profit but to help people.

My strategy for Q1 and Q2 was similar as yours. In Q3 a, I wrote about % change, demand, cost control, increase fee, fixed cost, variable cost, volunteer teachers etc.. Didn't mention anything regarding abandon it or continue it as it is charitable organization but instead how to manage this issue.. In Q3 b, I didn't use any model but write about issues such as public image, fair with employees to come on weekend, cost of art teacher, liquidity issue, as a new project takes time to increase class strength and meanwhile not easy to cover those cost etc. I was able to complete all 4 questions in time. But yes due to short time left in time it may have affected my Q4 answer quality.

You really did well in Q2a

Yeah responses were not adequate in risk register.

"Is anyone else having issues seeing the Poll?" Yes, doesn't work in Firefox but works in Chrome.

regarding my sbl paper my system got shut down after got on i lost my all highlights felling very depressed anxiety disappointment i have just missed almost 10 marks though attempted every question but miss one or two point in each question due which just completed almost 90% or 88% paper i haven't applied any model in my answers i was just writing generally but linking each point with the exhibits to be honest not sure with answers as i didnt apply any model so general hope i just get pass marks cant sleep properly due to tensions and i am sure it will continue till result day best of luck to every one

Hi i put donors under internal stakrholders... N gov n community as external? Whats d right answer fr ds