(e) Briefly provide five reasons to the management of Bailey’s why financial rewards could be considered to improve motivation. (5 marks)
第1题:
(c) Briefly describe five factors to be taken into account when deciding whether to use recruitment consultants.(5 marks)
第2题:
(c) Discuss the ethical and social responsibilities of the Beth Group and whether a change in the ethical and
social attitudes of the management could improve business performance. (7 marks)
Note: requirement (c) includes 2 professional marks for development of the discussion of the ethical and social
responsibilities of the Beth Group.
第3题:
Required:
(iii) A firm of consultants has offered to undertake a study on behalf of Envico Ltd which will provide perfect
information regarding seminar attendance during the forthcoming year.
Advise the management of Envico Ltd with regard to the maximum amount that they should pay to
consultants for perfect information regarding seminar attendance and comment briefly on the use of
perfect information in such decisions. (5 marks)
第4题:
(c) Excluding the number of complaints by patients, identify and briefly explain THREE quantitative
non-financial performance measures that could be used to assess the ‘quality of service’ provided by the
Dental Health Partnership. (3 marks)
第5题:
(e) Briefly discuss FOUR initiatives that management might consider in order to further enhance profitability.
(4 marks)
第6题:
(b) Advise the management of SCC Ltd of THREE strategies that should be considered in order to improve the
future performance of SCC Ltd. (6 marks)
第7题:
(b) Briefly discuss how stakeholder groups (other than management and employees) may be rewarded for ‘good’
performance. (4 marks)
第8题:
(ii) Briefly discuss THREE disadvantages of using EVA? in the measurement of financial performance.
(3 marks)
第9题:
(c) Explain the reasons for the concerns of the government of Happyland with companies such as TMC and
advise the directors of a strategy that might be considered in order to avoid being subject to any forthcoming
legislation concerning the environment. (5 marks)
第10题:
(c) You have just been advised of management’s intention to publish its yearly marketing report in the annual report
that will contain the financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2005. Extracts from the marketing
report include the following:
‘Shire Oil Co sponsors national school sports championships and the ‘Shire Ward’ at the national teaching
hospital. The company’s vision is to continue its investment in health and safety and the environment.
‘Our health and safety, security and environmental policies are of the highest standard in the energy sector. We
aim to operate under principles of no-harm to people and the environment.
‘Shire Oil Co’s main contribution to sustainable development comes from providing extra energy in a cleaner and
more socially responsible way. This means improving the environmental and social performance of our
operations. Regrettably, five employees lost their lives at work during the year.’
Required:
Suggest performance indicators that could reflect the extent to which Shire Oil Co’s social and environmental
responsibilities are being met, and the evidence that should be available to provide assurance on their
accuracy. (6 marks)
第11题:
4 (a) The purpose of ISA 510 ‘Initial Engagements – Opening Balances’ is to establish standards and provide guidance
regarding opening balances when the financial statements are audited for the first time or when the financial
statements for the prior period were audited by another auditor.
Required:
Explain the auditor’s reporting responsibilities that are specific to initial engagements. (5 marks)
第12题:
(c) You have been making preliminary inquiries regarding matters arising from the previous year’s audit of Di Rollo.
It has been revealed that no action has been taken in response to the management letter prepared by the previous
auditors. Di Rollo’s management has explained that this was because it was ‘poorly prepared’ and ‘unhelpful’.
Required:
Briefly describe various criteria against which the effectiveness of a management letter may be assessed.
(7 marks)
第13题:
(c) Identify and evaluate other strategic options ONA could consider to address the airline’s current financial and
operational weaknesses.
Note: requirement (c) includes 2 professional marks (10 marks)
(c) Within the strategy clock, ONA might consider both differentiation and focus. A differentiation strategy seeks to provide
products or services that offer different benefits from those offered by competitors. These benefits are valued by customers
and so can lead to increased market share and, in the context of ONA, higher seat utilisation. Differentiation is particularly
attractive when it provides the opportunity of providing a price premium. In other words, margins are enhanced through
differentiation. Air travellers may be willing to pay more to travel with an airline that offers seat allocation and free in-flight
food and drinks.
However, such a broad-based differentiation strategy may be inappropriate for ONA because of the need to service both
business and leisure travellers. Consequently, the potential strategy also has to be considered in the context of the two sectors
that the company perceives that it services. In the regional sector a focused differentiation strategy looks particularly attractive.
Here, the strategy focuses on a selected niche or market segment. The most obvious focus is on business travel and building
the company’s strengths in this sector. This focus on the business traveller might be achieved through:
– Ensuring that flight times are appropriate for the business working day. This is already a perceived strength of the
company. This needs to be built on.
– Providing more space in the aircraft by changing the seating configuration – and the balance between business and
standard class. ONA currently has a low seat occupancy rate and a reduction in seat capacity could be borne.
– Fewer passengers in the aircraft may also lead to improved throughput times. Loading and unloading aircraft is quicker,
minimising the delays encountered by the traveller.
– Providing supporting business services – lounges with fax and internet facilities.
– Speeding the process of booking and embarkation (through electronic check-in), so making the process of booking and
embarkation easier and faster.
– Providing loyalty schemes that are aimed at the business traveller.
Although this focused differentiation is aimed at the business customer it is also likely that particular aspects of it will be
valued by certain leisure travellers. Given the strong regional brand (people from Oceania are likely to travel ONA) and the
nature of the leisure travel in this sector (families visiting relatives) it seems unlikely that there will be a significant fall off in
leisure travel in the regional sector.
In the international sector, the strategic customer is less clear. This sector is serving both the leisure and business market and
is also competing with strong ‘no frills’ competitors. The nature of customer and competition is different. A strategy of
differentiation could still be pursued, although perhaps general differentiation (without a price premium) may be more effective
with the aim of increasing seat occupancy rate. This sector would also benefit from most of the suggested improvements of
the regional sector – providing more space in aircraft, faster passenger throughput, electronic check-in etc. However, these
small changes will not address the relatively low flight frequency in this sector. This could be addressed through seeking
alliances with established airlines in the continental countries that it services. Simple code share agreements could double
ONA’s frequencies overnight. Obviously, ONA would be seeking a good cultural fit – the ‘no frills’ low-cost budget airlineswould not be candidates for code shares.
ONA’s perception of market segmentation, reflected in splitting regional from international travel and distinguishing leisure
from business appears to be a sensible understanding of the marketplace. However, it might also be useful for them to
consider on-line customers and commission customers (travel agents) as different segments. Perceiving travel agents as the
strategic customer would lead to a different strategic focus, one in which the amount and structure of commission played an
important part.
Finally, whichever strategy ONA adopts, it must continue to review its operational efficiency. An important strategic capability
in any organisation is to ensure that attention is paid to cost-efficiency. It can be argued that a continual reduction in costs
is necessary for any organisation in a competitive market. Management of costs is a threshold competence for survival. ONA
needs to address some of the weaknesses identified earlier in the question. Specific points, not covered elsewhere, include:
– Improved employee productivity to address the downward decline in efficiency ratios.
– Progressive standardisation of the fleet to produce economies of scale in maintenance and training. This should reduce
the cost base.
– Careful monitoring of expenditure, particularly on wages and salaries, to ensure that these do not exceed revenue
increases.
Candidates may address this question in a number of ways. In the model answer given above, the strategy clock is used –
as it uses the term ‘no frills’ in its definition and so it seems appropriate to look at other options within this structure. However,
answers that use other frameworks (such as Ansoff’s product/market matrix) are perfectly acceptable. Furthermore, answerswhich focus on the suitability, acceptability and feasibility of certain options are also acceptable.
第14题:
(b) Discuss how management’s judgement and the financial reporting infrastructure of a country can have a
significant impact on financial statements prepared under IFRS. (6 marks)
Appropriateness and quality of discussion. (2 marks)
第15题:
(c) Comment on four reasons why the Managing Director of Quicklink Ltd might consider the acquisition of the
Celer Transport business to be a ‘good strategic move’ insofar as may be determined from the information
provided. (5 marks)
第16题:
(ii) Briefly discuss FOUR non-financial factors which might influence the above decision. (4 marks)
第17题:
(ii) Briefly discuss TWO factors which could reduce the rate of return earned by the investment as per the
results in part (a). (4 marks)
第18题:
(b) (i) State FOUR reasons why payback period is widely used by organisations in the capital investment
appraisal process. (2 marks)
第19题:
(c) Briefly discuss why the directors of HFL might choose contract D irrespective of whether or not contract D
would have been selected using expected values as per part (a). (2 marks)
第20题:
(c) Explain how the introduction of an ERPS could impact on the role of management accountants. (5 marks)
第21题:
(c) (i) Provide three examples of personal financial planning protection products that would be of use in
Henry’s situation. Justify your selections by reference to the type of protection provided. (6 marks)
第22题:
(c) Comment on the matters to be considered in seeking to determine the extent of Indigo Co’s financial loss
resulting from the alleged fraud. (6 marks)
第23题:
4 (a) The purpose of ISA 250 Consideration of Laws and Regulations in an Audit of Financial Statements is to
establish standards and provide guidance on the auditor’s responsibility to consider laws and regulations in an
audit of financial statements.
Explain the auditor’s responsibilities for reporting non-compliance that comes to the auditor’s attention
during the conduct of an audit. (5 marks)