*** P5 June 2013 Exam was.. Post your comments ***

<cite> @shohag said:</cite>
Totally **** examiner it’s not possible to finish this paper with in time limit . BTW why did i take my calculator with me ??

As for me I had two calculators so you can imagine…

sahr3000
just report not performance……. this is wat i did

so what you have discussed in that part?

<cite> @shohag said:</cite>
Totally **** examiner it’s not possible to finish this paper with in time limit . BTW why did i take my calculator with me ??

this comment made my sad face……smile a bit….WORD!

Yeah i did tranfer dont know the calculation but write the theory mostly

I share most of the sentiments expressed here…Question 1 was too loaded with with key models which required a lot explanation and linkage with the scenario. I doubt if the idea of time pressure will be addressed with such kind of question. The rest of the questions were too wordy requiring you too read too much before any attempt. So if you got 20 minutes left to attempt a question and the reading and understanding takes 15 minutes, you can just imagine how you are hanging on a cliff. I believe in miracles and hope to make it this time round.

Anyone feel comfortable with P5 in this Session?
Pls Comment…………………………….

I wouldn’t say I feel completely satisfied as I wish I had more time(as always). Here is what I did concerning question 1.

Question 1
The first part one asked us to evaluate a strategic performance report (income statements) which showed the current year’s performance for a hotel group. The hotel group was divided into four regions. The current year’s performance for the group was also given along with a comparator for 2012 the previous year.

In answering this part I talked generally about the growth in revenues, gross profit and net profits over the two year period. Then I calculated roi for each division and talked about that.

Following this we were asked to comment on the performance measures used: capital employed, eps, share price, and another one that I cannot recall.

My comment here pertained to the fact that they are mostly financial and maybe the firm should assess the determinants for the financial results.

Continuing this question ask that the groups balance score card be assessed with suggestions.

The bsc was fairly complete so I suggested some additional metrics. One critical weakness I felt was the lack of a innovation and learning perspective. This was particularly significant given the groups stated mission which alluded to innovation in terms of products and services.

Finally, we were asked the use Fitzgerald and moons building blocks to assess the reward system. The examiner mentioned two of them. Rewards was, clarity, motivational, and controllable. Standards, achievable, ownership( there was currently a top down approach to budget setting), equity. I made a brief comment relating these to the scenario.

Here is My Summary

Q1
Diff between Service vs Manufacturing – I used SHIP and general differences – 5 Marks
Report Evaluation – Used F+M to show only finance aspect shown other missing i.e. quality, flexibility, CS and efficiency – 8 Marks
BS scorecard application – 12
Problem with installing BS – Used Mcinley 7 S to show why it will be difficult to install – 7 Marks
Target Setting, Standards and Rewards – Used general resons why targets needs to be challenging, Used F+M to compare what standards and rewards should be and what they were for the company. 14 Marks!
4 Proffesional

Q2 ABC and ABM?
Had to finish calculations for ABC and comments. Mind went blank on the scenario so ended up writing genreal theory on ABC- Disaster for me – Marks 13
Use Information from CS to say howe costs can be reduced. again did this in last few minutes so just wrote quality cost reduction and genral rubish! – Marks 12

Q3 –
Had to use Porters 5 as performance management! Just applied the five foreces and tried to relate to finance managemts. Question also asked for specific measurements – Couldnt think of any good ones – 16 Marks!
Problem with defining the market – Just applied genral difficulties – 4 Marks
Risks appetite for venture capitalists – This maybe was for Maximax…?? – 6 Marks

Didnt even read transfer price Q but could have done this instead of Awful ABC.

Let me know your thoughts and feel free to coments whether you agree or disagree

I may be on the brink of 50!

I found this sitting approachable. I will continue to pray for the best.

It was difficult to ascertain exactly what the examiner wanted you to say. There were many approaches that could be taken and I don’t envy the job of the markers on this paper. I went over on time even though my method of allocating minutes to the marks has worked well for me in the past. There was too much reading in section B which wasted time in trying to decide which was the best option for me. A pity, because I really studied for this one. Now I think no amount of study would have prepared me for this exam. Disappointed that there was so much focus on changing the format of the paper, when the questions in section B required the same amount of reading and application, but for half the time!

<cite> @Blueberry said:</cite>
Help! I am going crazy. I attempted only 3 questions but marked all 4 in the booklet front page by mistake. The invigilator didn’t allow me to correct anything. Do you think it will be ok? Is this data for information purposes only or does it affect anything?

The exam itself was ok, the main difficulty I had was to link performance measurement metrics with Porter’s forces. A weird question, but hope that the most of 16 points was for naming the forces and relating them to the case.

I wouldnt worry too much about the booklet error. Until this paper I never wrote which questions I attempted. As long as you made it clear which question you were attempting at start of the new question it should be fine.

Q1 started with ship, ash marks! The evaluated the report – I spoke about how it failed to measure any of the elements from its strategy, there was nothing in there about customer satisfaction, also masking of individual regions hotels because all lumped together. Failed to bring in targets or comparative figures from industry to measure against. Also suggested using the P/E ratio to see the markets perception – which was actually less favourable in 2013 than in 2012. Suggested a secondary report based on bcg matrix to identify where issues lie with the brand had where strengths are.

Loved the scorecard question, easy!

Building blocks I spoke mostly about rewards needing to feature clarity, motivation and controllability as per the model and then went on to match against the scenario.

The Porter 5 Forces question I have each page a header for the 5 forces, chatted bout the issues for each and a measure for each eg. Threat of substitutes I said a comparison of emissions between substitutes and fuel cell. Had a tangent on the barriers to entry for new entry suggesting that hydrogen is dangerous and regulated and need to have regulation and care especially in times where there is terrorism :S

The transfer pricing question…. Oomph nasty! I defined what it was and mentioned failure of autonomy where FD set transfer price and a lack of goal congruence whilst one division had losses. Very minimal attempt at this question.

Hope for 60%

a complete disaster for me…. optional question were too complex… not to mention the amount of time required to solve question 1 and after that , i went on tryin to figure out wt to do between abc and transfer pricing but both of them were stupidly complicated in their own way… ended up attempting jst 70 marks… GARBAGE -_-