2016年6月ACCA考试P3商务分析真题及答案解析.doc

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1、2016年 6月 ACCA考试 P3商务分析真题及答案解析(总分：132.00，做题时间：195 分钟)案例分析题(总题数：4，分数：132.00)Section A This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attemptedIntroductionQTP Co produces timber framed windows for builders merchants, property builders and property maintenance companies. It does not sell windows directly t

2、o the general public. Members of the general public (and small building companies) can buy QTP windows through the builders merchants supplied by QTP. These builders merchants supply a wide range of products for property maintenance and improvement. They are usually located in large warehouse premis

3、es on the outskirts of towns and cities.There are three primary raw materials (or components) for the windows which QTP makes. Timber (wood) which it orders from timber suppliers. Worldwide demand for timber is increasing and timber prices are relatively high and supply of some of the specialist tim

4、ber which QTP requires is often in short supply. Glass which it orders from specialist glass manufacturers. Fittings, such as bolts, latches, handles, etc which it sources from a number of small specialist producers.QTP has a number of departments. This scenario considers just five of these departme

5、nts and each of these departments is exactly aligned with activities of the value chain. They are: Inbound logistics and procurement Production Outbound logistics Marketing and sales ServiceProduction takes place on one dedicated production line where one machine (and supporting labour) undertakes a

6、ll the tasks concerned with converting the components into the finished windows. There are no plans to buy a second machine or open up a second production line. Production takes place from 08.00 to 17.00 (nine hours). Although employees take breaks, these are organised so that the production line is

7、 always staffed. It is not possible, because of technical and environmental constraints, to extend the working day or organise a night shift. The company is effectively restricted to a nine-hour working day. Setting up and setting down of the machine has to take place within this nine-hour day.Outbo

8、und logistics has a small fleet of vehicles which are used to deliver finished windows to the customer. Effective scheduling of this fleet is currently a problem and vehicle maintenance is becoming more expensive as the vehicles get older.Standard and bespoke windowsThe company offers both standard

9、windows and bespoke windows.Standard windows are made to a specification decided by QTP and they are produced to inventory. These windows are advertised in the companys catalogue and on its website. Customer orders for these windows are supplied from inventory and next day delivery is promised. The

10、production of these windows is based on sales forecasts made by the marketing and sales department. These forecasts are used by the inbound logistics and procurement department to place orders for the raw materials for the windows. Because relatively large orders for components are placed in advance

11、, QTP usually obtains significant discounts on published component prices.Bespoke windows are produced to a specification required by the customer, usually resulting from consultation and negotiation between the marketing and sales department and the customer. They are made to exactly fit the custom

12、ers needs, in terms of timber type and quality, glass specification, window size and types of fitting. The marketing and sales department provides the customer with a proposed delivery date. A copy of the order, and the proposed delivery date, is also given to the production department, so that they

13、 can schedule the making of the windows and to inbound logistics and procurement so that they can order specific components for the windows.At present, there is often a conflict between the production of standard and bespoke windows. It is essential that QTP achieves the promised delivery date for b

14、espoke orders. To achieve this, it is often necessary for scheduled runs of standard windows to be postponed so that bespoke windows can be produced. This leads to less efficient use of the machine and labour (due to set up and set down time) and also to components for standard windows being held in

15、 inventory for longer than planned. Furthermore, component prices for bespoke orders are usually higher, reflecting smaller volumes and the need to fulfil tight deadlines. Bespoke window production and delivery to customers usually takes place as quickly as possible, to ensure that promised deadline

16、s are met and inventory storage of finished windows minimised.In the past, it was possible for bespoke orders to use common components bought in for standard windows. However, this led to continual disruption of the production of standard windows and now components for standard and bespoke orders ar

17、e kept quite separate and are stored in different areas of the warehouse.In general, the marketing and sales department prefers to make bespoke sales, rather than sales of the standard windows. They believe that bespoke windows provide exactly what the customer wants and this distinguishes QTP from

18、its competitors who are more focused on selling standard windows. Unlike these competitors, the marketing and sales department at QTP contains staff who are experienced in window design and applications and customers value this. There is evidence that some important customers purchase their standard

19、 windows from QTP even though they could buy similar windows cheaper elsewhere, because they value QTPs flexibility in supplying them with bespoke windows. The marketing and sales director claims that, we have sales people who really understand windows and what customers want and need. We are not tr

20、ying to sell them windows off-the-shelf, just because we have them in inventory.Furthermore marketing and sales staff claim that bespoke windows deliver higher revenue and higher profit to QTP than standard windows. However, this is challenged by the production manager who would prefer production to

21、 be focused on standard windows. Sales staff are currently rewarded on the basis of average revenue per window. At present, approximately 30% of QTPs sales volume is for bespoke windows, but this share is increasing annually. Table One shows selected data for the production of standard and bespoke w

22、indows.Table One: Selected QTP data: standard window and bespoke window productionNote (1) Transport costs concern distribution costs of finished goods to customers. Costs of inbound components are borne by the supplier.Note (2) Time taken to set up the machine for a single production run of windows

23、 to one specification.Note (3) Time taken to set down the machine (resetting parameters, cleaning, etc) from a single production run of windows to one specification.Note (4) Time of a single production run of windows to one specification.Important: The machine is restricted to a nine-hour working da

24、y. Set up time and set down time must be within this nine-hour working day.Management concernsSenior management at QTP is exploring the possibility of moving the company to solely standard window production OR solely bespoke window production. They are also investigating issues in the five departmen

25、ts which are aligned to the activities of the value chain. They previously employed a business analyst who provided them with an analysis of the service department at QTP, documented in Appendix 1. Management has engaged you as her successor and they now require similar analyses for the remaining fo

26、ur departments.Appendix 1: Analysis of service department in the value chainRequired:QTP management would like you to prepare a briefing paper which:（分数：50）(1).Analyses the current issues in the remaining four departments under consideration (inbound logistics and procurement, production, outbound l

27、ogistics, marketing and sales), with appropriate reference to each departments role in the value chain. Appendix 1 Figure One is representative of the approach required.（分数：20）_(2).Evaluates the financial case for EITHER producing and selling standard windows only OR producing and selling bespoke wi

28、ndows only. The evaluation should include both options and could include any comments you have on the limitation of the data given in Table One. However, you should assume that the data given in this table accurately reflects the current situation.（分数：12）_(3).Analyses how the company could restructu

29、re elements of each of the remaining four departments (and hence the value chain) in the future for EITHER a switch to only standard windows production OR a switch to only bespoke windows production. Appendix 1 Figure Two is representative of the approach required and it clearly shows that you shoul

30、d include BOTH options in your analysis.(14 marks)Professional marks will be awarded in question 1 for the structure, tone, coherence and clarity of your briefing paper. (4 marks)（分数：18）_Section B TWO questions ONLY to be attemptedShop Reviewers Online (SRO) was founded in 2010 by Amy Needham. She f

31、elt that many customers buying from online stores were misled by advertising and that too often, purchased products turned out to be unreliable, faulty or failed to meet the customers expectations. Amy believed that the online retail industry was increasingly acting unethically, caring only for prof

32、its at the expense of the needs and expectations of customers.Consequently, she set up SRO to provide an unbiased review of online stores to ensure the customer has all available information. The company offers reviews of current online stores and provides direct links for customers to shop at the s

33、tores featured on its site. The reviews include price comparisons, provided by SRO, as well as general reviews provided by registered users of the site. The company has two main revenue streams. The first is advertising revenue from online stores who place advertisements on the SRO site. The second

34、revenue stream is commission from sales by online stores to customers who have clicked on the sponsored links provided on the SRO website. This commission is only paid by stores who have entered into such a commission arrangement with SRO.SRO relies upon its website being available online 24 hours a

35、 day, 7 days a week. For this reason it has backup servers running concurrently with the main servers on which data is processed and stored. The servers are directly linked so that any update to the main servers automatically occurs on the backup. The servers are all housed in the same computer cent

36、re in the company head office. The computer centre has enhanced its security by implementing a fingerprint recognition system for controlling access to the site. However, as the majority of staff at headquarters are IT personnel, and often temporary staff are hired to cover absentees, the fingerprin

37、t recognition system is not comprehensive and, to save time, is often bypassed. Similarly, to save time needed to set up new permanent staff with passwords to access the companys systems, a general administrator user has been created, with the password password. Many temporary staff access the syste

38、m in this way.SRO has an intelligent software application which constantly searches the internet for product price changes, uploading these into the reviews of the online store in question. Sometimes, however, there have been problems. Usually this is when the application has not recognised an outda

39、ted page and has replaced the correct latest price with an old price found on the outdated page. Furthermore, this intelligent software application needs permanent continual access to the internet, and SRO has identified a problem with its firewall which has prevented the software application from s

40、ometimes updating the internal systems. For this reason, it has removed the firewall protection to help ensure that the correct up-to-date prices of all online stores are shown on the website.SRO rarely generates other elements of reviews (such as product experience), leaving this to registered user

41、s of the site. However, it will, occasionally, submit its own review to help boost a store which pays a higher commission rate than its competitors. SRO is always honest in its reviews, but the more reviews a store has, the higher up the search list it appears, when a customer searches for a specifi

42、c product.Registered users can submit as many reviews as they wish. Unregistered users may also submit reviews, which will be published under the name anonymous, but these reviewers will be unable to comment on the reviews of others. SRO checks reviews for appropriate content, but does not contact t

43、he store to verify the accuracy of the review.SRO is about to undertake an audit of the adequacy of its general and application IT controls. In addition, SRO is currently undertaking an internal ethical governance audit, which has identified two main areas of concern:(1) Commercial conflicts of inte

44、restAs mentioned earlier, SROs business objective is to provide an unbiased review of online stores to ensure the customer has all available information. However, the audit has revealed that both SROs revenue streams may cause an ethical dilemma with regards to this objective.(2) Company officesSRO

45、has little need for traditional offices, as it does not have a direct customer-facing role. It mainly requires IT technicians to support its automated services. The company has carried out research which suggests that the IT skills it requires could be sourced at a much lower rate overseas. It is co

46、nsidering relocation to one such country. This country has low rates of corporation tax and cheaper labour costs. However, the country itself is poorly regulated and does not have legislation concerning the quality of information systems or the security of data contained within them, particularly re

47、lating to personal data. The culture of the country is such that accepting unauthorised payments for services is also not unusual. Whilst SRO does not condone this in its code of conduct, it is aware that such issues exist in the country under consideration.Required:（分数：25）(1).Evaluate the adequacy

48、of the general and application controls in place within SRO, with respect to its information technology and information systems. Suggest any improvements you consider to be necessary.（分数：15）_(2).Assess the corporate governance and ethical dilemmas identified by SRO in its possible relocation to the foreign country and discuss the implications of these on organisational mission, purpose and strategy.（分数：10）_The Holid