As a Group Management Accountant you have been asked to explain the different types of change currently taking place within a number of the Group's subsidiaries.
Select the appropriate type of change for each of the descriptions below:
BBB discharges small quantities of non-harmful material into the atmosphere as a by-product of its manufacturing process. BBB has been criticised by an environmental journalist who called BBB a polluter.
BBB wishes to influence opinion in its favour and has identified a number of strategic responses to achieve this objective.
Which of the following strategic responses should BBB implement?
Management Accountants increasingly play a key role in strategic planning.
Which of the following statements is NOT a role for Management Accountants involved in the strategy development process?
YZ is a family-run business which manufactures and sells confectionery, employing almost 100 staff. It operates 10 shops in small towns in the north of country P. Sales of YZ's products have decreased over the last 4 years due to competition from large supermarkets, internet shopping and a general economic downturn, which has hit the north of country P especially hard.
YZ's managing director has recently retired and the board decided to fill the vacancy with an external appointment. The new managing director plans to invest in new manufacturing technology, which would cut staffing levels by 15% and reduce wastage, allowing YZ to lower its prices. YZ's staff are very unhappy about these proposals, feeling that they will destroy YZ's family tradition and reputation that has developed over many years.
Select the correct descriptor for each of the forces for change below:
UUU is a long established international airline. Which of the following represent Threats to UUU's business?
Select ALL that apply.
Which of the following would be correct considerations when evaluating the Feasibility of a strategy? (Choose all that apply.)
McKinsey saw culture as seven interconnected elements and described these in the '7S' model. Which of the following is NOT a 'hard' factor within the '7S' model?
Which of the following is an example of a value adding activity within the outbound logistics aspect of an Organization's value chain?
Which THREE of the following statements are valid when considering setting and developing objectives for Not For Profit Organisations (NFPOs)?
SDC is a medium sized IT systems development company. SDC employs highly qualified and experienced systems development experts. It invests heavily in staff training and development and as a result, staff are highly motivated and staff turnover is low. SDC has a strong culture of team work and innovation, which the senior managers believe is the basis of SDC's success. The senior managers, who are also the founders of SDC, are highly experienced and have a strong vision for the business.
Which THREE of the following factors would be the main focus of a resource audit for SDC? (Choose three.)
A fresh-food packaging manufacturer has recently changed the design of its packaging in order to reduce the amount of non-recyclable material. Its immediate customer, a large fresh-food wholesaler, does not see the need for this re-design as it believes that it will adversely affect the storage of the fresh food. However, the final customer, a large supermaket chain, has expressed strong interest in the new packaging design, as the supermarket chain has strict Corporate Social Responsibility targets to achieve.
Which of the following statements most appropriately describes the situation outlined above, from the perspective of the fresh-food packaging manufacturer?
The Management Accountant in company PP has been asked by the Finance Director to produce a paper on "Game Theory" for the next Board meeting.
Which of the following is a valid statement?
The concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) reporting expands traditional accountancy reporting systems to consider social and environmental performance, rather than simply financial performance.
Which THREE of the following does the TBL concept suggest should be measured in order to encourage greater business social responsibility?
Which THREE of the following are classified as business operating systems measures within the Performance Pyramid?
PPP is a state owned national railway operator. It has many divisions, each focusing on specific areas of the country.
PPP's mission statement is 'to provide a safe, punctual and reliable public transport service at lowest cost to its passengers and the government'.
Which THREE of the following divisional performance measures should PPP adopt?
HHH intends to introduce a Balanced Scorecard to assist with its strategic policy formation and achievement of strategic plans. Which TWO of the following stakeholders are addressed by a Balanced Scorecard perspective?
Porter suggests that competitive advantage can be attained by organising value-adding activities in support of the generic strategies which he identified.
Place the appropriate generic strategy against each of the value-adding activities.
FFF manufactures and sells three consumer products. The Marketing Manager has enough funds to commission an advertising campaign for only ONE of the three products.
The Marketing Manager's criterion for allocating funds for an advertising campaign is that the product should be a "Star" according to the BCG matrix.
Which product should receive the investment?
M is a car manufacturer in Country C. Every day, at 09.00, members of M's staff practice meditation and Tai Chi for 30 minutes, before their normal workday commences.
M's staff are paid during this time and M considers the practice to be a benefit both to staff and the company. Staff operate with high levels of efficiency and absenteeism levels are low.
The auditors of M have recommended that M stop these sessions, stating that they consider them to be a waste of time and a drain on resources.
Which of the following aspects of M's culture would the auditors recommendation impact on?
CCC is a charity which has an excellent reputation within its home country. CCC employs over 300 highly experienced staff and also has 200 skilled volunteers. Its funding mainly comes from donations from the public but its public profile is low compared to larger, more publicised charities.
Due to the recent recession, public donations to CCC have fallen in the last five years, but demand for its services continues to grow.
The government of the country in which CCC operates is encouraging greater collaboration between charities and there have been several recent successful mergers within the charity sector. CCC has recently been approached by a high profile and well funded charity, PPP, with a proposal to merge. PPP offers complementary services to those offered by CCC.
Which TWO of the following factors would most likely be considered as an 'opportunity' for CCC?
'Change-adept' Organizations are those that manage change successfully. Moss-Kanter identified skills required by Organizational leaders which are necessary to lead 'change-adept' Organizations.
Your Organization is undergoing significant change and the appointment of a new CEO is imminent. You have been asked to recommend the key skills for assessing the shortlist of CEO candidates against.
Which of the following statements are suitable for use as the selection criteria for the new CEO, consistent with the ideas expressed by Moss-Kanter?
Select ALL that apply.
RRR is a state-funded hospital serving a major city. It is under political pressure to reduce the waiting times of patients requiring surgical operations who need to stay at the hospital for several nights. The doctors blame a lack of bed spaces and are calling for more investment in extra beds.
You have been conducting some research into the problem and have discovered the following problems affecting the utilisation of the existing beds at RRR:
• many patients stay extra nights due to lack of communication with the health professionals needed to monitor the patients at home
• beds are left empty each day when patients miss their admission date but there are no processes to inform other patients to offer them the space
• patients are admitted on days when there are no spaces available on the special equipment needed to treat their particular condition
Which THREE linkages between Primary Activities in the Value Chain of RRR need to be improved to provide extra bed spaces at RRR?
JJJ is a private company belonging to a famous former athlete. It operates gyms and fitness clubs across its home country. Each gym or fitness club is treated as a profit centre and the manager of each centre is paid bonuses based on its financial performance.
Three years ago it introduced multidimensional performance measures into its management control systems. These measure capacity utilisation, financial performance, competitiveness, innovation, and the flexibility of its centres to cope with changing demands.
The managers of its centres have been leaving at a very high rate over the last two years. They have claimed that the measures are too open to interpretation and when they think they are improving the centre's performance they are told they are doing the wrong thing. They also complain that the managers in the centres near big cities find it much easier to reach their targets than the managers of other centres.
Using Fitzgerald and Moon's Building Block model, where does the problem lie?
MMM is a multi-national company that manufactures and sells consumer durables. MMM has recently experienced severe trading losses and its Marketing Director has decided to revise the Marketing Strategy paying due regard to MMM's key external drivers. Which THREE of the following are key external drivers for MMM?
Lynch developed the performance pyramid to define the links between objectives and performance measures. Which THREE of the following statements apply to the performance pyramid?
Kanter identified seven 'power skills' that change agents need to overcome apathy or resistance to change. Which of the following are power skills?
Select ALL that apply.
STU is a hospital that is wholly funded by its national government. In the last five years it has seen its funding cut by over 30% due to budgetary pressure on the government, caused by a global recession. As a result, the senior management team of STU has had to make some very difficult decisions about prioritizing how it spends the funds it receives from the government. Its main strategies have been to reduce the number of administration staff and nursing staff by 20%, in order to reduce its costs. It has also stopped providing a number of services to patients, including its counselling services and its physiotherapy unit.
Which of the following strategies has STU adopted to manage its reduced funding? (Choose all that apply.)
JJJ is a frozen food delivery business in Country Q. Competition is high and JJJ prices its delivery services very competitively. JJJ has doubled its market share to 35% in the last five years.
In order to continue to improve its competitive position in Country Q, JJJ has invested in 100 new delivery vans. These vans have been designed to increase the speed and efficiency in loading and unloading the frozen food products. JJJ has to meet tight delivery deadlines to its customers or penalties for late delivery are charged to JJJ by its customers. Drivers of the vans undertake regular training.
Which of the following would be the most appropriate critical success factor within the 'Customer' perspective of a Balanced Scorecard for JJJ?
JKL is a bank with a large number of personal customers.
A member of staff has reported their loss of a portable electronic storage device to his line manager.
The portable electronic storage device contains customer account details, including secure information such as personal login details to access personal accounts. JKL has a clear policy that forbids staff from downloading customer data on to portable electronic storage devices.
It would be difficult for a member of the public to access the information on the device.
Which of the following would you advise JKL to do?
A company runs a distribution warehouse. Its information systems constantly monitors inventory levels, with automatic re-order processing occuring with suppliers when inventory items reach a specified level. It operates a robotics system which automatically picks inventory from its location in the warehouse and delivers it to the pick-up area. The company also has a large database of customer information which it uses to analyse buying behavior and sales trends so that it can provide customers with relevant and targeted marketing information.
Which THREE of the following activities of the Value Chain have been affected by the use of IT/ IS?
Company RR operates in the finance sector. It is experiencing increasing delays in approving loan applications, due to customers not promptly returning their signed copy of the application forms back to RR.
RR is now wanting to introduce e-signatures which allow customers to sign the document on their computer and return it back to RR through the Internet. This change will help to simplify the process and ensure that customers obtain their loans quicker.
To achieve this change, RR has established a project and has appointed you as the Project Leader to lead the change.
Select the THREE valid statements in respect of leading change.
WXY has been criticised by an activist shareholder for a lack of clarity in its formulation and implementation of strategy.
The activist shareholder states that WXY is confused as to the different levels of strategy and it has pointed to examples of inappropriate levels of management being held responsible for strategies that they do not control
WXY has decided to use the categories, Corporate, Business and Functional to clarify its strategic processes.
Which of the following are Corporate strategies?
Select ALL that apply.
A leading supermarket chain is undertaking environmental scanning as it is concerned that it is becoming uncompetitive and profits have started to fall. The Board is concerned that when the next Annual General Meeting is held, it will need to have a viable strategy to present to its shareholders, in order to prevent shareholders' protests.
In the past the company has been reluctant to offer an Internet shopping service. However, it now believes that by offering this service and also introducing customer relationship marketing (CRM) this will produce a strategy that will help it to improve its competitiveness.
Which of the following statements apply to CRM?
Select ALL that apply.
BCA is a long established international airline. Which of the following represent Threats to BCA's business? (Choose all that apply.)
BBB is a global online recruitment agency It has over 20 million clients registered worldwide and estimates that it holds up to 80 terabytes of data about its clients. BBB gathers data about its clients from a wide variety of sources, such as client registration data input directly to the website, client browser and search histories and social media activity, all of which are used to build up a view of its clients.
Client data changes on a frequent basis and must be updated continually. New clients join the site regularly and the employment needs of clients often change. BBB utilises Big Data Analytics to evaluate its client data.
Which of the following features of Big Data are evident in BBB?
Select ALL that apply
ABC is an independent training provider in Country F. It provides training in business related subjects to a wide range of corporate customers. All of its tutors must possess a nationally accredited training qualification before being allowed to teach and all of its courses follow nationally accredited programmes which are externally monitored. This is considered to be a critical aspect of its business reputation.
ABC has one major competitor, XYZ, within Country F. XYZ offers similar courses to ABC but its tutors do not have to have an accredited training qualification and its courses do not follow the national accredited programmes. The style and content of courses varies significantly between XYZ's centers.
There are a number of universities which offer nationally accredited courses within Country F. ABC does not consider these as competitors because typically they attract students wishing to undertake degree courses. The average university pass rate for nationally accredited programmes is currently higher than ABC's.
Which of the following types of benchmarking would be most useful for ABC?
BBB has often encountered difficulties when it has introduced strategies which involve Organizational change. BBB is about to enter a period of much change and has decided to appoint one or more change agents to help to manage this. Select ALL of the statements that apply in respect of a change agent.
TESTED 17 May 2024
