MR JAY'S PAPER 5 CAT ROOM

Possible questions for June 2011

2011-05-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well it would appear that the examiner has already full examined most of the issues in the health and safety issue - therefore study all the past questions on Q5, to ensure that whatever comes out - you can handle it.

I believe a previous question should repeat

One the other areas of the exam

- still lots of areas that have yet to be examined, I would consider the following in detail

Identify the authorities to whom businesses are

accountable in financial terms

(e) Identify what financial information businesses need to provide for government agencies

(f) Describe the role of external auditors

(g) Outline the role of accounting standards setting bodies

(h) Outline the role of corporate governance with respect to accountability

(i) Describe the overall role and purpose of employment, health and safety and data protection legislation within the business

Alternatively

Review the effectiveness of financial control procedures and identify potential weaknesses

Explain how the accounting department integrates and co-ordinates with other functional areas

Advantages and disadvantages of different structures including centralisation and decentralisation.

Weber on bureaucracy

The previous sitting saw the examiner ask a general question on internal controls, and before that it was the wages system.

This time I would consider something about the MIS chapter

(a) Describe the main features of a management information system

(b) Describe the information flows within the accounting system

I suppose the fraud chapter is also likely - look at the pilot paper question about fraud

Identify the scope for fraud using manual as against computer systems

Understand the role of the auditor in dealing with fraud

Identify the duty and responsibilities of management in the prevention and detection of fraud

The previous examination saw the repeat of BM model, this provides sufficient evidence that examiner may have "run-out of names".

There are still some of the names that are mentioned in the text that you should be paying attention to - mainly

Peter and Waterman

William Ouchi

Handy

Group think idea

Kanter

Maslow

Mintzberg on roles

Team building

Do all past year on NAMES that examiner has asked - repeats are possible

I suppose that last year saw the communications chapter coming out.

This time I suppose it is time for either the appraisal chapter

DEC 2010 results OUT

2011-02-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

Well for the students that did get a pass on this paper - congratulations, you are on your way to becoming a certified accounting technician CAT. For those that did not get the pass, I think you know where it was that you got it messed up.

EFFORT

UNDERSTANDING

One can be helped by the lecturer, but both of it depends on the student.

I have one advice, it seems that everyone is doing their studies with only one intention - pass, getting to work and earning a living. I think it is time for students of a field of study to try to appreciate the subjects that they are being taught and try their best to use the materials learnt in real life.

Cramming for the paper last minute is an indication that students are not really appreciating the subject matter, it is just another paper to pass and forget. I believe that is a sad idea, the knowledge is learnt only to be forgotten, no thought has gone into whether it can be applied, why did I learn this, where can I use it, will I use it?

Hoping for the lecturer to get you a pass - seems to indicate that you are not interested in the subject, just the pass. This could explain why students do not like to attend the classes.

In my days of lecturing, I had most of my fun when I was teaching the Chartered Institute of Marketing - every thing that I taught was questioned and questioned again - I had to make sure it was really practical before the students accepted an idea, they knew when to take notes and when to ask questions.

This attitude is seriously lacking in the CAT students. Develop a sense of appreciation of the manner in which an accountant is suppose to be able to communicate and feel the financials and numbers churned out from the accounting system. UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE AND APPLY.

What do you think is going to come out? your guess is as good as mine.

2010-12-06T20:04:00.000-08:00

Another issue - behave yourself - you are a professional - never ever tarnish the image of the professional body ACCA by your statements - no matter who and where you are coming from. Once you had signed up to become a student of ACCA you are bound by the codes of ethics - confidentiality, professional behaviour, integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care.

When you open your mouth or even make a statement in the blog/facebook, remember that you are a professional first. Its like being a samurai in feudal Japan - they had a way of behaving that lead to the respect, it was not the qualification.

I always hate those students that belief that people owe them something. Were you objective? Tips may come out and may not come out, are you willing to bet everything on this tips?

There is a reason why I delay the tips, it should be areas that you focus but you should have covered all the past year papers - especially those from 2007/2008 papers.

Overall the key chapters that should be examined this time

1. Motivation

2. Appraisal

3. Health

4. Internal controls / MIS

5. Policies/procedures/stakeholders

Question 1

a) Describe 4 elements that will be included in the informal organisation

10 marks

b) Describe 4 sources of regulation on financial statements of an entity

10 marks

Question 2

a) Describe the main features of internal audit

4 marks

b) Ideally the internal auditor should be responsible to the highest executive level in the organisation. Give three reasons for this requirement

6 marks

c) Describe one positive and one negative implication of an integrated system on internal controls.

4 marks

d) Describe 3 main steps in applying controls over cash payments

6 marks

Question 3

a) Identify 6 situation that would result in a disciplinary action

3 marks

b) Describe the approach that should be taken to when there is a disciplinary situation according to Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) UK

5 marks

c) Identify and explain the difference between a leader and a manager

12 marks

Question 4

a) Identify and describe the factors that impact the work methods, practises and procedures in the organisation

8 marks

b) Describe the 2 main type of feedback that are given to enhance the individual working in the organisation

4 marks

c) Identify and describe the benefits of providing feedback in the context of performance appraisal

8 marks

Question 5

a) Identify the main causes of fire in the workplace

5 marks

b) Describe the requirements of Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulation 1997 on the employers

5 marks

c) Explain the importance of security to the organisation

4 marks

Mock exam paper 5

Question 1

a) Briefly describe 4 ways technological changes effects an organization

4 marks

b) State 2 advantage and disadvantage of geographic organization structure

4 marks

c) Briefly describe the structure of the finance department in a large organization

12 marks

Question 2

a) Describe 4 aims of internal checks 4 marks

b) Identify the main indicators of fraud at a personnel level

6 marks

c) Describe the 4 areas that require control in the wages system and give 2 controls for each area 10 marks

Question 3

a) Identify 2 the potential drawback of using teamwork 2 marks

b) Identify 2 characteristic that a team must have for team rewards to be effective

4 marks

c) Explain Herzberg Hygiene factor and Motivator factors 4 marks

d) Describe the limitations of Herzberg’s model 4 mark

e) Describe with examples the meaning of “job enrichment’’, ‘’job enlargement’’ and ‘’job rotation’’. 6 marks

Question 4

a) Describe the resources that are typically used by a staff and their responsibility towards them 6 marks

b) Describe how a manager can use non-verbal behavior in oral communication

8 marks

c) Differentiate between passive and aggressive behavior in communications

6 marks

Question 5

a) Describe the factors that contribute towards work place stress 5 marks

b) Describe the areas in which Data Protection Act 1998 is trying to protect 4 marks

c) Describe those responsible for security in the organization and their specific areas of responsibility 6 marks

d) Describe why security is important in an organization 5 marks

Managing People and Systems

Question 1

a. Describe systems and procedures to discover and prevent fraud in the organization 10 marks

b. Describe the main controls that can be used by an organization to control cash receipts from the accounts receivable in the mail. 5 marks

c. Explain the qualities of good management information 5 marks

Question 2

All managers and supervisors need to understand the concept of motivation in the workplace. There are two basic theories of motivation: content theory and process theory.

a. Describe the main ways of rewarding the team 5 marks

b. Explain what is the “content-theory” of motivation 8 marks

c. Explain what is the “process-theory” of motivation 7 marks

Question 3

Training programmes play an important part in improving employee skills and organization performance.

a. Explain the importance of staff appraisal

6 marks

b. Explain the methods that can be used to assess the value of appraisal for the organisation

c. Briefly explain the main barriers in an effective staff appraisal 10 marks

Question 4

a. Identify the means of physical intrusion that creates a security breach and outline measures for preventing this security breach 10 marks

b. Identify the potential fire hazards in the organization and appropriate preventative as well as protective measures that can be adopted by the management 10 marks

Question 5

a. Outline the role of corporate governance with respect to accountability of the management to shareholders 5 marks

b. Describe the role of external auditors in an organization 5 marks

c. Identify the financial information that business needs to provide government agencies and state the purpose

d. Outline the role of the accounting standards setting board

e. Training methods - on the job and off the job - advantages and disadvantages

g. Explain the indicators that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the clerical systems in the company

Names that are possible this time

1. Handy for motivation / culture / management styles

2. Trompenaars for culture defined

3. Kanter

4. JS Adams

I had already stated what could come out - did you cover the following areas.

BASED ON THE ABOVE IT WOULD APPEAR THAT

ALMOST ALL THE AREAS HAVE BEEN ASKED - SOME WERE REPEAT QUESTIONS LIKE Q4 AND Q3, THOUGH BOTH QUESTIONS ARE USING NAMES (UNUSUAL)

BELBIN + HONEY AND MUMFORD

WHICH BRINGS US TO OTHER NAMES

MOTIVATION CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF NAMES STILL NOT EXAMINED

MANAGEMENT CHAPTER HAS SOME NAMES STILL RUNNING AROUND

LEADERSHIP - YES THERE IS STILL SOME NAMES LEFT OVER

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL LOOKS LIKE A TARGET THIS TIME, BUT THERE IS LOT TO COVER IN THAT CHAPTER

COMMUNICATION IS ALSO LIKELY BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO PERFORM THE FILTERING PROCESS AS INDICATED ABOVE

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE - MAYBE ADV/DISADV OF CERTAIN STRUCTURE

PROCEDURES, POLICIES AND SYSTEMS - IT IS A LIKELY AREA FOR A QUESTION.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN ASKED FOR QUITE A LONG TIME

THE FINAL CHAPTER - HEALTH RISK / SAFETY RISK EVALUATION AND POSSIBLE SAFEGUARDS TO RISK

EVACUATION PLAN AND ITS IMPORTANCE

FIRE EMERGENCY AND RELATED ISSUES WITH FIRE RISK

T5 Tips for DEC 2010

2010-11-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

I have yet to perform my analysis for the T5, still busy with revisions and mentoring work for the OBU project submission. I will be posting it soon - so stay tuned.

For those that are preparing for this paper - review the past year papers in detail, something is bound to repeat.

This is going to be the last sitting for this paper to be examined in its current format, it will be changing its name soon.

The coming semester students doing the CAT module need not do the T1 to T4 unless they feel it is necessary for them to have a good foundation, if you already have some accounting basics and sufficient knowledge, you can opt to do the ACCA Diploma programme - 3 papers which exempts you from ACCA Knowledge F1 to F3.

This is faster than the previous route of studying but I belief that you should really assess yourself before jumping into this aspect.

The benefit for students - study it but you may only need to pay for 3 exams as compared to 7 exams in the past.

This is a saving in terms of cost, but you should use your judgement about skipping the knowledge part of the studies.

I have no idea how the industry is going to re-act to this, the colleges have yet to state their approach to this. Options that may be taken by the college

1. Ask the students to do an internal qualification rather than external one like T1 - T4

2. Make the students sit for the exams and pay the tuition fee

3. Incorporate the fee as a single amount and still make you study it but no requirement for the exams

4. Just offer the 3 papers and forget about the charging part of it (highly unlikely)

What ever the response, I will be glad to give advice for the students that require it.

Tips for T5 DEC 2010 will be appearing very soon. FOR NOW THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE FOR THIS PAPER IS TO

1. GET THE STUDY GUIDE

2. GET A BPP TEXT BOOK

3. GET THE PAST YEAR PAPERS

4. REVIEW WHAT HAS BEEN ASKED IN THE STUDY GUIDE VS WHAT HAS NOT BEEN ASKED

5. REVIEW ALL AREAS NOT ASKED YET FROM STUDY GUIDE

6. REVIEW AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN ASKED A LONG TIME AGO FROM STUDY GUIDE

7. REVIEW THE AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN ALWAYS ASKED [NAMES]

JUNE 2010

1 (a) Define the term human resource planning. (2 marks)

(b) Identify and describe the four key stages of a human resource plan. (12 marks)

(14 marks)

2 (a) Identify four types of control procedures that can be used to control weekly wages paid in cash, giving one example for each procedure. (8 marks)

(b) Explain three control procedures that can be used to control monthly salaries paid by bank transfer. (6 marks)

(14 marks)

3 (a) List any six of the team roles referred to in the work of Belbin. (6 marks)

(b) Describe the characteristics of any four of the team roles listed in part (a). (8 marks)

(14 marks)

4 (a) Explain the four different learning styles classifi ed by Honey and Mumford. (8 marks)

(b) Outline three potential barriers to effective adult learning. (6 marks)

(14 marks)

5 (a) Describe four different controls to help prevent computer hacking. (8 marks)

(b) In addition to hacking, identify and explain three further risks to computerised systems and explain how they can be prevented. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

BASED ON THE ABOVE IT WOULD APPEAR THAT

ALMOST ALL THE AREAS HAVE BEEN ASKED - SOME WERE REPEAT QUESTIONS LIKE Q4 AND Q3, THOUGH BOTH QUESTIONS ARE USING NAMES (UNUSUAL)

BELBIN + HONEY AND MUMFORD

WHICH BRINGS US TO OTHER NAMES

MOTIVATION CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF NAMES STILL NOT EXAMINED

MANAGEMENT CHAPTER HAS SOME NAMES STILL RUNNING AROUND

LEADERSHIP - YES THERE IS STILL SOME NAMES LEFT OVER

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL LOOKS LIKE A TARGET THIS TIME, BUT THERE IS LOT TO COVER IN THAT CHAPTER

COMMUNICATION IS ALSO LIKELY BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO PERFORM THE FILTERING PROCESS AS INDICATED ABOVE

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE - MAYBE ADV/DISADV OF CERTAIN STRUCTURE

PROCEDURES, POLICIES AND SYSTEMS - IT IS A LIKELY AREA FOR A QUESTION.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN ASKED FOR QUITE A LONG TIME

THE FINAL CHAPTER - HEALTH RISK / SAFETY RISK EVALUATION AND POSSIBLE SAFEGUARDS TO RISK

EVACUATION PLAN AND ITS IMPORTANCE

FIRE EMERGENCY AND RELATED ISSUES WITH FIRE RISK

REMEMBER THIS IS JUST THE PRELIMINARY AREAS OF FOCUS, I will be doing a more detailed analysis later on when I become free.

Hope that helps

J Pro update

2010-08-26T04:44:00.001-07:00

The interest for P3 and F8 was sufficient for me to initiate a class for the 2 papers

The current schedule for p3 and f8 class is as follows:

P3 - Monday and Tuesday (10.00am - 1.00 pm)- RM1,000 (includes revision)

F8 - Wednesday (10.00 - 2.00 pm)- RM800 (includes revision)

The class will start on 6 th of September for P3 and F8 will start on 8th of September.

Both classes will cater for students that have some background in the paper, studied before but need some form of clarity in handling the exam questions. I will still do a re-cap of the theories and models for each paper, higher emphasis will be on exam techniques.

Please make your registration by sending an sms with your name and paper to my number. The class size is limited to 18 only (maximum that I want to tutor), confirm early.

P7 classes will be starting this Saturday 28th, those that have confirmed your seats please take note, there is still some room for others to join in (8 more seats only)

Paper T5 Easier than before

2010-06-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well I told you that you must cover the internal controls section - students that did my T8 audit class must have felt a lot easier in handling the T5 Wages system controls question. The other questions that were spotted included the Belbin (name question) Honey & Mumford - learning styles which is a repeat question from the past . The HRM planning question is also considered to be a repeat question from the past and finally a new question - which I believe was also a partial repeat question - data security from hacking (firewall, regular updates, not visiting illegal sites)

Overall the paper was a doable paper, only hard question in there was the hacking and wages controls question, but hacking is common sense question for current age students.

So if you had failed the paper this time - it means that you did not do sufficient work in preparing the papers knowledge or spotted to narrowly.

Looking forward from this incident Organisation structure is hot, System and procedures are hot, General internal controls is hot, computer systems are hot, appraisal is hot, communications is hot, leadership is hot and finally health matter is hot again.

Happy holidays

On that notes for Malaysian students - I need your comment on the idea of studying say 11 days for a paper - 4 days + 4 days + 3 days (8 hours per day). Is it ok for you and what are the issues that you think you would want to raise in this format of classes.

This format is designed for those who failed and want to crash the studying part to the last 2-3 months.

Your feedback on this matter is greatly appreciated since it will help me understand your views better

Names that you should be fully aware of

2010-06-02T22:26:00.001-07:00

Organisational structure theorist

1. Burns & Stalker

2. Woodward

3. Fayol

4. Weber (bureaucracy)

Leadership theorist

1.Peters

2. Kanter

3. Drucker

4. Fayol

5. Mintzberg (roles)

6. Weber

7. Blake & Mouton

8. Hersey & Blanchard

9. Likert

10. Ouchi

Cultural theorist

1. Anthony

2. Handy

Team management theorist

1. Belbin

2. Tuckman

3. Peters & Waterman

4. Woodcock

Motivational theorist

1.Maslow

2.Herzberg

3.McLelland

4. Vroom

5. Argyris

6. McGregor

7. Handy

Make sure you know all the names and what was their main idea, as you can already see a pattern of names being questioned, its best to go in the hall with the names and what they said.

Like for example - Mintzberg - 5 structures + 3 roles (10 sub-roles) of leader

What is the 5 structures? - Came out in Dec 2009

What is the 3 main roles and 10 sub-roles? could come out for June 2010

Or it could be weber - what is the characteristics of bureaucracy - SHIP RUST

Handy has a lot of things to say -ranging from the gods of culture, to motivational "E" factors and leadership styles - that is 3 things to remember about Handy.

Make short notes and try to recall what was the main ideas that was proposed, T5 is not an application paper yet, it is more of memory paper.

Mr. Jay FCCA

T5 JUNE 2010 Examination is nearing

2010-05-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

By now you should have started to panic.......but don't worry, there is still hope. It is never too late to start studying, as long as you can realize that you have to put in the effort and start moving in the correct direction

1. Start reviewing the past year papers, since the examiner has already used up most of the areas for the examination

2. Do not be stressed about what some lecturers might have told you about the paper, it is not difficult

3. Do not need to write in essays - you can write in point format (just refer to the past year papers answer by the examiner) & read the examiner article in March 2010 which indicates that list of points is what is expected by the examiner

4. Increase your review of questions from June 2004 - 2007 that has yet repeat

5. The names part - your examiner will most likely use a name that has yet to come out, so it would be wise for you to cover the names from the names list

Review of what had come out so far - not the similar questions that have repeated already, now focus on the ones that have yet to repeat - something is bound to repeat. Your examiner has yet asked the internal controls questions to the level that is required, since I suppose she is more of a management lecturer rather than an auditing examiner, I suppose that it should be time for some questions to be asked about internal controls for sales, wages or purchases in more detail

JUNE 2004 CAT T5 Examination

1 Organisations can be described as open systems, interacting with a variety of different stakeholders in an ever changing environment.

Required:

(a) Explain what you understand by the term ‘stakeholders’. (2 marks)

(b) Identify and describe three key stakeholders of an organisation and briefly explain their relationship with the organisation. (6 marks)

(c) Identify and briefly explain the key external environmental influences which might impact on any organisation and its stakeholders. (6 marks)

(d) Give examples of how any two of the influences you have described in part (c) might impact on your organisation, or an organisation with which you are familiar. (6 marks)

(20 marks)

2 You have been asked to undertake a review of how the purchasing of stationery and computer consumables is undertaken within your organisation, or one with which you are familiar, with a view to controlling the process more effectively.

Required:

(a) Identify and explain the key stages in the purchasing cycle that you might expect to see when undertaking this review. (8 marks)

(b) Make recommendations to your manager about the type of controls which could be implemented at three of the stages you have identified above. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

3 Effective team working is an increasingly important aspect of organisational life.

Required:

(a) Outline the key characteristics/features of effective teams. (8 marks)

(b) Identify and explain the key stages of group development as identified by Tuckman. Your explanation should include reference to the role of the group leader at each stage. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

4 You have been asked by your manager to write instructions for a new member of staff who is taking up their first appointment since leaving college.

Required:

(a) Write a memo to the new member of staff which identifies and explains how to use three different approaches to personal work planning. (10 marks)

(b) Explain the main techniques and tools the new member of staff could use to help them manage their time as effectively as possible. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

5 The International Labour Organisation estimates that each year, more than two million people die of work related accidents and illnesses.

Required:

(a) Outline the role of training in raising awareness of health and safety issues. (8 marks)

(b) Describe the respective roles and responsibilities of senior management, the supervisor and the individual in promoting health and safety within the organisation. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

DEC 2004 CAT T5 Examination

1 The accounting function is one of several key functions within an organisation, all of which integrate to ensure that the organisation is able to deliver its products or services as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Required:

(a) Explain the purpose of the accounting function within an organisation and identify and briefly describe how it interacts with ANY TWO OTHER functional areas. (8 marks)

(b) Identify and describe the key factors which might affect the type of accounting system used within an organisation. (6 marks)

(c) Explain how you would expect the accounting function to be affected if the organisation has its operations in a number of different countries. (6 marks)

(20 marks)

2 Effective management control systems are an essential feature of all organisations.

Required:

(a) Identify and briefly describe the features of a good internal control system. (8 marks)

(b) Outline the major limitations of internal control systems. (4 marks)

(c) Explain how the limitations of internal controls identified in part (b) above might be overcome, using examples. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

3 An understanding of organisational culture is important because it can explain much of what happens in organisations and can also provide insights into how organisational effectiveness might be improved.

Required:

(a) Explain what you understand by the term ‘organisation culture’. (4 marks)

(b) Charles Handy’s classification identifies four distinct cultural types. Identify these four types and fully explain any two of these. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

4 Ineffective communication is frequently cited as being a major contributor to poor performance within organisations.

Required:

(a) Distinguish between formal and informal methods of communication used within organisations. (8 marks)

(b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of formal communications. (6 marks)

(20 marks)

5 All employees, at whatever level, have a responsibility not only for their own safety in the workplace, but also for those around them.

Required:

(a) Identify and describe typical activities in which accidents might happen or where there may be risk or potential danger to employees. (10 marks)

(b) What advice would you give to a new employee to enable them to minimise their exposure to safety hazards and risks in the workplace, thereby ensuring as safe a working environment as possible? (10 marks)

(20 marks)

June 2005 CAT T5 Examination

1 Organisation structures are the framework for getting work done efficiently and effectively. Businesses are organised and structured in a variety of different ways and as well as ‘tall’ or ‘flat’ structures, a matrix structure is adopted by some organisations.

Required:

(a) What do you understand by the term ‘matrix structure’? (4 marks)

(b) Identify and briefly explain four key advantages of a matrix structure. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

2 Legislation requires that the accounts of a public limited company must be audited.

Required:

(a) Explain the role of an external auditor. (3 marks)

(b) What is the purpose of the external auditor’s report and what would you expect to be included in it?

(8 marks)

(20 marks)

3 Henri Fayol was a key contributor to the classical view of management and identified five functions of management which apply to any organisation. These are planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling.

Required:

(a) What are the key characteristics of the classical view of management? (10 marks)

(b) Fully explain what is involved in any two of Fayol’s five functions. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

4 Conflict in organisations is often considered to be inevitable and can have positive as well as negative outcomes.

Required:

(a) Identify and explain the key sources of conflict in organisations. (12 marks)

(b) Explain the win-win approach to resolving conflict and contrast this approach with win-lose and lose-lose approaches. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

5 Data in the workplace is potentially at risk of security breaches. It can be damaged, lost or stolen in the same way that equipment and valuables can.

Required:

(a) Outline and briefly explain the potential risks to data held in organisations, including data that is held or transmitted electronically. (10 marks)

(b) Identify ways in which the risks to data identified in (a) can be reduced or avoided. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

DEC 2005 CAT T5 Examination

1 Planning is an important business process and can be critical to an organisation’s success.

Required:

(a) Give two reasons why business planning is important to managers in organisations. (4 marks)

(b) Explain two main differences between strategic planning and tactical planning. (4 marks)

(c) Identify and briefly describe four elements that you might expect to see in an organisation’s human resource plan. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

2 All business and accounting systems require formal controls if they are to be useful and effective within an organisation: the payroll system is one example.

Required:

(a) Explain the purpose of a payroll system. (2 marks)

(b) What information relating to individual employees would you expect to be held on a payroll file? (6 marks)

(20 marks)

3 Delegation of authority is the process whereby a superior devolves to the subordinate part of his or her own authority to make decisions.

Required:

(a) Give three reasons why a manager or supervisor might delegate some of their authority to their subordinates.

(6 marks)

(b) What factors should a manager or supervisor take into account when deciding whether or not to delegate?

(6 marks)

(20 marks)

4 One of the main purposes of an effective appraisal system is to improve individual and organisational performance.

Required:

(a) Identify the four key stages of the appraisal interview process. (4 marks)

(b) Provide a full explanation of the kind of activities and actions you would expect to take place at any two of the stages you have identified in part (a) above. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

5 Security aims to prevent others from illegally accessing, stealing and damaging the property of an organisation and/or the people who work in it.

Required:

(a) Identify and explain the three basic principles of effective security. (12 marks)

(b) Provide two examples of who or what might be particularly at risk in a business organisation. (4 marks)

(20 marks)

JUNE 2006 CAT T5 Examination

1 Every organisation interacts with its external environment.

Required:

(a) Identify four external environmental influences which can affect any organisation. (8 marks)

(b) Explain fully, with the use of examples, how any two of those external influences identified in part (a) above, might affect your own organisation, or one with which you are familiar. (12 marks) (20 marks)

2 Management information is used for a wide variety of purposes. Three main functions of management where management information can be useful are planning, control and decision-making. Required:

(a) Explain how management information can assist in each of the three areas identified above. (12 marks)

(b) Identify and describe four key internal sources of management information. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

3 Robert Blake and Jane Mouton carried out research (The Ohio State Leadership Studies) into managerial behaviour and developed a grid to explain their findings.

Required:

(a) What are the two essential dimensions of Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid? (4 marks)

(b) Identify and explain any two of the styles of management shown in the grid. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

4 Communication underpins everything you do at work. Effective communication is a two way process and is often shown as a cycle.

Required:

(a) Explain, with the aid of a diagram, the communication process/cycle. (8 marks)

(b) Identify four barriers to effective communication. (4 marks)

(20 marks)

5 The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has never accepted that disease and injury are an inevitable part of working life.

Required:

(a) Identify four reasons why health and safety should be important to all organisations. (4 marks)

(b) What responsibilities do individuals have to ensure a healthy and safe working environment? (8 marks)

(20 marks)

DEC 2006 CAT T5 Examination

1 Many accounting systems are now computerised. Computerised accounting systems have a number of advantages over manual systems, but there are also a number of disadvantages.

Required:

(a) Identify four advantages of computerised accounting systems. (10 marks)

(b) Identify four disadvantages of computerised accounting systems. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

2 Every organisation is likely to be exposed to the risk of fraud.

Required:

(a) Identify four common types of fraud. (8 marks)

(b) Explain the consequences of the types of fraud identified in part (a) above. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

3 Motivation is a very important element in the management of individuals and can be a useful tool for improving productivity.

Required:

(a) Explain Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation. (10 marks)

(b) Give five major practical limitations of Maslow’s theory. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

4 Training is the systematic development of the attitude, knowledge, skill and behaviour pattern required by an individual in order to perform a given task or job effectively.

Required:

(a) Explain five benefits of training for an organisation. (10 marks)

(b) Explain five benefits of training for individual employees. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

5 An effective health and safety policy is an important part of maintaining the health and safety standards promoted by the International Labour Organisation.

Required:

(a) Identify the five key elements that you would expect to see in a health and safety policy. (10 marks)

(b) Identify five steps an organisation can take to ensure that its health and safety policy is effective.

(10 marks)

(20 marks)

June 2007 CAT T5 Examination

1 Many different types of activity are carried out in a typical organisation. Many of these activities can be grouped into broad functional areas within the organisation structure.

Required:

(a) Identify and fully explain any two broad functional areas within an organisation. (10 marks)

(b) Briefly explain any five factors which might influence the way in which an organisation is structured. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

2 An integrated system links together the different elements of an accounting package such as sales, purchases and stock.

Required:

(a) Explain four potential benefits of an integrated system. (10 marks)

(b) Identify and briefly explain five key outputs from a computerised sales ledger system. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

3 There are different levels of management in most organisations. The supervisor is the first level of management.

Required:

(a) Explain four key features of supervision. (8 marks)

(b) With reference to appropriate theories, identify and fully explain three key differences between management and leadership. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

4 Interpersonal skills are skills used in the interactions and relationships between two or more people. Required:

(a) State and briefly explain five examples of interpersonal skills. (10 marks)

(b) State and briefly explain five examples of where interpersonal skills are important in an organisation.

(10 marks)

(20 marks)

5 A safe and healthy working environment is an important part of maintaining the health and safety standards promoted by the International Labour Organisation.

Required:

(a) Give five examples of costs that might be incurred by an organisation as a consequence of accidents or illness within the workplace. (10 marks)

(b) Identify and briefly explain five key factors which can contribute to a safe and healthy working environment. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

Dec 2007 CAT T5 Examination

1 The accounting function is part of the broader business system and does not operate in isolation. Accounting systems must be adequate to fulfil a range of objectives.

Required:

(a) Identify FOUR key purposes of an accounting system. (8 marks)

(b) Identify and explain, with the use of examples, any TWO organisational factors that might influence the accounting systems of a business. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

2 Control systems make sure that the organisation drives its plans forward and achieves its objectives. An effective control system will promote corrective actions where necessary and also help to detect and deter fraud or prevent inefficiency.

Required:

(a) List EIGHT types of internal controls that can be used by an organisation. (8 marks)

(b) Fully explain any THREE of the types of controls identified in part (a) above. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

3 Team working allows tasks to be shared amongst a number of individuals so that they get done faster and more effectively and with a greater range of skills and knowledge than by individuals working alone.

Required:

(a) Fully explain any TWO different approaches to the organisation of teamwork. (8 marks)

(b) Describe any FOUR of the team roles identified by Belbin and explain their contribution to the team.

(12 marks)

(20 marks)

4 There are several different schools of learning theory which help to describe and understand how people learn.

Required:

(a) Using the work of either Honey and Mumford or Kolb, explain the FOUR key elements of the experiential learning cycle. Your explanation should include a fully labelled diagram. (10 marks)

(b) Identify and fully explain any TWO of the learning styles classified by Honey and Mumford. (10 marks) (20 marks)

5 Security aims to prevent others from taking away or doing damage to things that belong to your organisation and/or the people who work within it.

Required:

(a) Identify and explain any FOUR vulnerable points found on business premises and within systems. (8 marks)

(b) Give FOUR examples of security procedures that should be in place in an organisation and explain how the contents of each might protect the organisation from potential security risks. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

June 2008 CAT T5 Examination

Organisations operate within a regulatory framework set by government which is very broad in scope and deals with a range of specific issues.

Required:

(a) Explain four principal aims of the government regulation of business. (8 marks)

(b) Identify and explain, with the use of examples, any four key areas in which an organisation is affected by government legislation and regulation. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

2 Cash is a significant asset for many businesses and the control of cash is of prime importance.

Required:

(a) Outline three key objectives for the control of cash in any cash system. (6 marks)

(b) Identify any two types of cash system and in each case recommend three forms of control that should be included in a detailed control procedure. (14 marks)

(20 marks)

3 A leader is someone who exercises influence over other people. There are many different leadership models and theories which try to explain the process of leadership.

Required:

(a) Outline three classifications of the theories, or ‘schools’ of leadership. (9 marks)

(b) Explain the Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership model. Your explanation should include a description of the four leadership styles identified within the model. (11 marks)

(20 marks)

4 The effective employee needs to know exactly what their job entails and needs to be very familiar with the work methods and practices of their organisation.

Required:

(a) Explain the purpose of a job description and outline any four sections that might be included within it.

(10 marks)

(b) Identify and briefly explain five factors that affect the work methods and practices employed in an organisation. (10 marks) (20 marks)

5 Required:

(a) Explain why emergency procedures are important and outline four key areas that you would expect to see included in an organisation’s emergency procedures. (10 marks)

(b) Explain why accident reporting procedures are important and outline three important steps that you would expect to see included in an organisation’s accident reporting procedures. (10 marks) (20 marks)

Dec 2008 CAT T5 examination

1 (a) Explain the role of coordination in an organisation’s strategic planning process. (12 marks)

(b) Identify and briefly explain four key stages in human resource planning. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

2 (a) Explain three different types of comparison that managers might make when reviewing reports on business or functional performance. (12 marks)

(b) Outline the information you would expect to be included in EITHER a production and material control report OR a marketing and distribution report. (8 marks)

(20 marks)

3 (a) Explain McGregor’s concept of Theory X and Theory Y regarding human nature and behaviour at work.

(12 marks)

(b) Briefly explain William Ouchi’s concept of the Theory Z organisation and give three of its key characteristics.

(8 marks)

(20 marks)

4 Work planning is an important part of a manager’s day-to-day work, as well as making an important contribution to how individuals can organise themselves effectively.

Required:

(a) Describe the steps a manager should take when planning the work of a department. (8 marks)

(b) Explain how you would use any four planning aids to help you to organise your personal workload effectively.

(12 marks)

(20 marks)

5 (a) Explain five key components of an effective health and safety policy. (10 marks)

(b) List the steps a health and safety manager should take in order to design and implement an effective risk management programme. (10 marks)

(20 marks)

June 2009 CAT T5 Examination

Explain the purpose of business planning and outline the objectives and key decisions relevant to the three levels of planning within an organisation. (14 marks)

2 Explain the differences between internal and external audit. (14 marks)

3 Explain the five functions of management identified by Henri Fayol. (14 marks)

4 Conflict often arises between individuals and teams within organisations. Outline four potential sources of conflict and explain the circumstances in which this might become destructive.

(14 marks)

5 (a) Outline the role and responsibilities of both senior managers and first line supervisors in promoting health and safety in the workplace. (14 marks)

(b) List six things that individual employees should do in order to contribute to and promote a healthy, safe and secure work environment. (6 marks)

(20 marks)

Dec 2009 CAT T5 Examination

1 (a) Organisations are often referred to as ‘open systems’.

Briefly explain the term ‘an open system’. (4 marks)

(b) Explain, with the use of examples, how you would undertake an analysis of the organisation’s external environment. (10 marks) (14 marks)

2 Explain the three key prerequisites for fraud to occur and outline how each of them might be prevented. (14 marks)

3 Describe the five basic components of an organisation identified by Henry Mintzberg.

(14 marks)

4 Explain why training and development are important to both the individual and also to the organisation. (14 marks)

5 The key principles of security in the workplace are delay, checking and alarm.

(a) Explain what each of these mean and explain how you would prevent any breaches of security. (9 marks)

(b) Outline, with the use of examples, what topics you would expect to see included in an organisation’s security procedures manual. (11 marks)

(20 marks)

OBU Mentoring

2010-04-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

T5 Preparing for June 2010 exams

2010-03-01T08:14:00.000-08:00

Review of Dec 2009 Exam and what is expected in the coming paper

Q1: Covered part A of the syllabus and asked about PEST and open system
The coming exam it would be likely that Chapter 2 - Organisation structure could be examined, specifically on the advantages and disadvantages of different structures.
Corporate governance and its importance can be asked.
Outline of office procedures, policies could also be asked

Q2: Covers part B and asked about Fraud
The coming exam would most likely focus on the wages system. The examiner is not very familiar with internal controls as T8 CAT paper, in which audit based examiners have more detailed knowledge. Most likely question is wages system or purchases system. Also possible is the basics of internal audit - type of audits undertaken and the safeguarding of their independence

Q3: Covers theories with names, this time it was Mintzberg, but this one came from the organisation structure chapter. This time around it would like go back to either the leadership names (McGregor, Ashridge, Likert, Hershey. Motivational names are also likely, so just make the names that have yet to be examined from the study list and know what they have talked about and the limitations.

Q4: Training and development was examined, implying that this time it might go back to the original area - communications or appraisal

Q5: Security was examined, this time it should still be security (data) or some early aspect of health

Overall strategy - review past year papers in detail, something is bound to repeat this time.

Mr.Jay FCCA, MSc Accounting & Finance (UK), Pg.Dip Marketing (UK)
One of the best for ACCA and CAT

T5 Writing the answer for the exam

2010-01-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

There is some misconception regarding the paper which I think needs to be clarified. Writing the paper in an essay form is not a requirement in this paper. If you review some off the past papers in T5 past year database in ACCA web site, it is pretty obvious that some of the answers were actually in the bullet form.

The need to write out 1 paragraph to score in this paper, is just not correct.

I would recommend that you aim to write out 1~2 lines for each point and move on to the next point.

Marks in the paper should be either 2,1 or 0.5 marks. If you write in a lot of
"waffle", there is no minus marks but you just wasted your time, hence there was an opportunity cost that was involved.

Mr.Jay MSc (Accounting and Finance) FCCA Pg.Dip Marketing
Lecturer for T5,T7,T8,T10 for the past 5 years
Lecturing professional courses for the past 14 years

Tips for Dec 2009 exam

2009-12-08T01:18:00.000-08:00

This semester I have not been involved with this paper, I have been given a break from this paper but I will still try to tell you what I think could be coming out

Part A

Main provisions of corporate governance

Advantages and disadvantages of organisation structures, explain the different types of structures

Indicators of weakness in accounting system, implications of weakness in accounting system

Procedure, policies - difference and explanations

Cover all the past papers for Q1, there could be a same question with different wording.

Part B
Fraud responsibilities

Fraud indicators

Fraud prevention

Fraud detection

Internal control limitations

Internal controls for purchases 3areas - 4 controls each

Internal controls for sales - 3 x 4

Information system defined and components

Information system - importance

Do all the Q2 from the past papers

Part C

Motivation - Herzberg

Motivation - JS Adam

Management styles - Ashridge + Likert + Tannembaum

Discipline - cover the area in BPP text

Group behaviour 5 elements

Team building - main elements of team and the identity, cohesion and objective

Teams building - performance assessment (last part of BPP text)

Cover all the Q3 from past papers

Part D

Performance appraisal - purpose

Performance appraisal - adv + disadv

Training and development - assessment of its effectiveness

Training and development - on the job / off the job, give examples

Training and development - training manager and line manager role

Part E

Cover everything in the past papers it should be repeating since most of the areas have been asked

- Password effectiveness
- Explain the layers of security DCA
- Computer security
- Data protection act
- Health and safety other legislation

Good luck on your exams on this Friday the 11 th of December 2009

Remember the best approach is never to study last minute, and if you are doing it last minute, the go for short burst studies of 20 minutes with high level of repeat items.

Preparing for the coming Dec 2009 T5 Exams

2009-08-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

Well for those that got thru the paper in the previous sitting - Congratulations. For those that did not get thru the paper - do not despair. There is still hope.

The previous paper had more "past paper elements" within it, increasing the importance of reviewing the past papers when preparing for the paper. In the past, the questions usually never repeat, but this seems to have changed in the current sitting and the previous sitting.

In the first of the new examination format the examiner had asked the following areas

1 Explain the purpose of business planning and outline the objectives and key decisions relevant to the three levels of planning within an organisation.
(14 marks)
This is a past paper question from Chapter 3 of the BPP text, planning chapter was questioned in Dec 2008 and then repeated in the June 2009 again, indicating that the examiner is aware of the previous style of studying - not covering areas that have come out already. This makes spotting the paper harder, since the examiner has added the elements of uncertainty in the paper sitting.

2 Explain the differences between internal and external audit.
(14 marks)
This is also another past paper, those that had done the T8 paper together with the T5 paper would have had it easier to recall the difference here. High score was possible in this question. The question comes from Chapter 5 of BPP

3 Explain the five functions of management identified by Henri Fayol.
(14 marks)
The functions of Fayol was examined in the earlier papers, repeat question from the past. This question comes from Chapter 9 of BPP, which is a favoured chapter.

4 Conflict often arises between individuals and teams within organisations. Outline four potential sources of conflict and explain the circumstances in which this might become destructive. (14 marks)
This is a new question, but one that could be answerable with common sense and practical knowledge. The question comes from Chapter 14 - Communication chapter which is another favoured chapter

5 (a) Outline the role and responsibilities of both senior managers and first line supervisors in promoting health and safety in the workplace. (14 marks)
(b) List six things that individual employees should do in order to contribute to and promote a healthy, safe and secure work environment. (6 marks)
(20 marks)

The examiners seems to be very keen in the health area and so far ignored the security aspect of the paper for a very very long time, the question is actually one that could be done using common sense and good knowledge of chapter 17 of the BPP text.

Questions for T5 CAT seems to be repeating from the 2006,5 & 4 time zone. This might indicate that
1. Examiner is helping students out
2. Examiner may have exhausted the areas examined.

I would recommend the following approach for the coming sitting
1. Cover the whole syllabus generally, having a broad set of knowledge on each area.
2. Use the recommended textbook - BPP and KAPLAN for preparing for this paper, I prefer BPP
3.Read the text atleast 2 times generally, additional emphasis can be placed on the following chapters
Chapter 15 & 16 of BPP
Chapter 10 & 11 of BPP
Chapter 6 & 7 of BPP
Chapter 1 & 2 of BPP
4. Cover all the T5 past papers in detail, especially those that have yet to be repeated.
5. DO NOT ASSUME THAT IF A CHAPTER IS EXAMINED IN WITHIN THE LAST 2 YEAR, it cannot be examined.

Focus on obtaining a memory of items needed, application to the questions by trying out the question and do WHAT IF SCENARIOS with the text area

Mr.Jay FCCA Lecturer

Possible for T5 in coming June 2009 Exams

2009-06-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

The following are the areas that should be likely to come out in the coming June 2009 Exams

Question 1 from Part A
Question should be drawn from organisation structure area - most likely advantage and disadvantage of given structures
Corporate governance requirements for Cadbury
Organisation differences
Organic and Mechanistic
Max Weber and SHIPRUST
Accounting department functional responsibilities
Accounting department and external influences

Question 2 from part B
Fraud chapter with the following being high chance
- Responsibilities for fraud
- 3 main requirements for fraud
- Risk of fraud occurring in computerized system
Internal controls chapter
- Internal auditor independence and scope of work
- Type of internal audit
- Internal controls for specific area - wages system

Question 3
- Most likely from chapter 10 (individual and groups), Name should be examined here
- Woodcock on team building
- Mintzberg on structure
- Vroom
- Ashridge Management school styles of management
- Likert on style
- Janis on group think
- (group behaviour - 3 variables)
- Peters and Waterman on culture and success
- Discipline

Question 4
- Most likely from the chapter 15 - appraisal or chapter 16 training
Cover the following in detail before going in
- On and off the job training -methods + advantage and disadvantage
- Measuring success of training - individual and organisation view point
- Reason for appraisal
- Effectiveness of appraisal
- Types of appraisal - 360, upwards, so on
- Conflict management
- Effective feedback

Question 5
Should be from the security chapter
Responsibilities for security
Password guidelines

The rest just cover the past year papers, since some of the questions are likely to be repeated especially for question 5 zone

Best of luck in the exams

Why so last - minute - so that you should have covered all the areas first before focusing on some areas. The format requires you to have the ability to answer all chapter unlike previous exams.

Techniques to pass T5 CAT

2009-03-31T05:49:00.000-07:00

Do we have bad memory? This is one of the major excuses given by the students when they say they cannot study....some even say that they cannot memorize anything.....that is just an excuse made up so that they can escape studying.

The truth is most have yet to try memorizing correctly.....just like exercising to loose weight. I would like to loose some weight, but most of the exercise that I should do, just feels too hard, so I never get down to doing it.....lack of motivation.

Most students that say they can't memorize, is the same excuse as some one saying they can't exercise - lazy.

Most of us have a really good memory, but we just don't have practice in using it efficiently. If the above is true, then why is it so hard for me to remember things?

Our memory works by association. If there is no obvious association between things, it's very difficult to remember them. For example, suppose you needed to remember that your plane takes off at 2 P.M. There is nothing about the plane that would suggest the number 2 more than it would any other number (at least at first glance). Therefore, 2 is easily forgotten.

Likewise, how does your best friend relate to his phone number, an arbitrary string of digits?

Simple. If memory works by association, we actively work to create an association between two bits of information. For example, for the plane that we need to catch at 2 P.M., we can imagine the plane in our mind, and notice that it has 2 wings. Two wings, 2 P.M. There's an association. We are now ten times more likely to remember the take-off time long after it has faded from our short-term memory.

The next issue for most students is the poor ability to plan any time for studying, most trying to do the work at the last minute.

This is not very practical for this paper.

Planning to study, you should understand the natural weekly cycle that most of us go thru.

Mondays every time is the same, with some adjustments
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday, Friday are usually the same.

It is Saturday and Sunday that changes.

Your planning should be based around your current time usage, then look for time available for studying and reviewing. This does not need to be 1 hour slots, or 30 minute slots, just 5 minutes to 10 minutes here and there should be significant if it is done daily.

Compare the following students

Student A allocates 1 hour of study every day for 7 days - a single slot

Student B allocates 8 slots of 5 minutes everyday (here and there in the day) = 40 minutes

Which one might have a better study effect?

Student B

Reasons:
1. Desperation makes the brain work faster and more efficiently, whereas student A would likely study in a slower and more relax manner therefore taking a longer time
2. Short burst of information are more easily retained compared to long burst
3. Since it is spliced with the daily affairs, it might be more "focused" to get the most out of the time

So.....based on this, any time you get to STUDY, REVIEW the NOTES, READ a LIST, RECALL a few names & what they said is a good effort.

Start now, 8 - 5 minutes slot and spread it to few subjects (make a list of items first)

Now this is still better than STUDENT C (typical Malaysian student)

Study 6 hours everyday for 4 days just before the exam, and the last day of the exam study 8-12 hours.
Total time studied = 32 - 36 hours.

Results will depend on LUCK.

Mr.Jay FCCA Lecturer

Latest updates for T5

2009-03-31T04:41:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since I had last posted anything about the T5, busy with work and loads of teaching......now I am taking care of the P1, P3, P5, F8 as well as T8 subjects. That is quite a heavy load. I have stayed with my strong points - Theory teaching, with some review of numbers (P3 and P5). Now back to the issue at hand, for those taking the T5 for the JUNE 2009 sitting, what can I say.

There is some changes in the T5 paper that you should be aware of.

1. The first 4 parts (A - D) will be examined by objective 6 marks and subjective 14 marks
2. The final part E is still a 20 marks question

In the coming examination, it would be necessary for you to have the following to handle the paper.

In the past, you could get away with just focusing in some parts of the text book and hoping for it to full come out, now this would be harder to do.

I would be more focused on covering the whole text briefly in some manner - using a list to recall the key points in each area and then trying to reduce the work load a bit more.

In my view, I would do a maximum full coverage of the part E (this does not gurantee that you will get 20 marks, but should be able to get some - examiner has been known to ask slightly different questions that test overview knowledge rather than just pure memory) - I suspect this time should be a security question, since it has already been some time this has been examined. Most likely a question on data security should be coming out (passwords, user profile)....there are many other security area (repeat from 2004 - 2006 papers are very possible here)

The other parts that you should consider it a more balanced approach. The following is the sample of the T5 objective questions that was prepared by Dr.Beverly Lee, this indicates the level of depth that is required to clear this paper. As you can see that certain chapters have been hit higher than other, this indicates that in the final exam, it might be that the objective questions will hit an area which is not questioned in the 14 marker.

For now, you should do a broad coverage and get a full view of the topics, do not try to "spot too much"

1 Which of the following is an acronym used to describe the key elements of an organisation’s external environment? - Chapter 1 BPP
A PERT
B PEST
C SWOT
D SPAM (2 marks)
2 Henry Mintzberg categorised five basic components of an organisation.
Which TWO the following statements describes the work of the technostructure of an organisation? - Chapter 2 BPP
1 Designing systems
2 Organising and controlling work
3 Standardising work
4 Securing inputs
A 1 and 2
B 1 and 3
C 2 and 3
D 3 and 4 (2 marks)

3 Which of the following is a correct definition of the term ‘span of control’? - Chapter 2 BPP
A The number of employees reporting to one manager
B The number of managers to whom one employee reports
C The number of levels in the hierarchy
D The number of employees at each level of the organisation (2 marks)

Syllabus section 2
Effective management of business and accounting systems
4 T o whom is the internal auditor accountable? - Chapter 5 BPP
A The directors of the company
B The employees of the company
C The shareholders of the company
D The external auditors of the company (2 marks)

5 SPAMSOAP is a mnemonic for the types of internal control employed by an organisation.
Which TWO of the following are types of internal control included in SPAMSOAP? - Chapter 5 BPP
1 Output
2 Arithmetic
3 Preventative
4 Physical
A 1 and 2
B 1 and 3
C 2 and 3
D 2 and 4 (2 marks)

6 Which of the following are typical responsibilities of the financial accountant in a large organisation? - Chapter 4 BPP (I believe that this question has been wrongly been classified into Section B)
1 Inventory valuation
2 Sales invoicing
3 Project appraisal
4 Payroll
A 1 and 2
B 2 and 4
C 1 and 4
D 3 and 4 (2 marks)

Syllabus section 3
Management theory, principles and techniques

7 Who was responsible for developing the ‘Situational Leadership’ model? - Chapter 9 BPP (Favourite area)
A Blake and Mouton
B Katz and Kahn
C Hersey and Blanchard
D Tannenbaum and Schmidt (2 marks)

8 Which of the following statements accurately describes a multi-disciplinary team? - Chapter 11
A All team members collaboratively decide how to organise their work
B All team members have different skills and specialisms which they pool
C All team members can perform any and all of the group’s tasks
D All team members are jointly responsible for the leadership of the team (2 marks)

9 Which TWO of the following are examples of content theories of motivation? - Chapter 12
1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
2 Vroom’s expectancy theory
3 Herzberg’s two factor theory
4 Adam’s equity theory
A 1 and 2
B 2 and 4
C 3 and 3
D 1 and 3 (2 marks)

Syllabus section 4
Individual effectiveness at work

10 Which TWO of the following are examples of ‘on the job’ training - Chapter 16
1 Formal training courses
2 Mentoring by a colleague
3 Self study courses
4 Secondments to other departments
A 1 and 2
B 2 and 3
C 3 and 4
D 2 and 4 (2 marks)

11 If a manager in the purchasing department requests the help of the Human Resources Director in preparing for a difficult appraisal, what direction is the communication flow? Chapter 15
A Vertical
B Horizontal
C Lateral
D Diagonal (2 marks)

12 Honey and Mumford classified four different learning styles.
Which of the following statements accurately describes the reflector? - Chapter 16
A Prefers to understand principles
B Prefers to think things through first
C Prefers to try things ‘hands on’
D Prefers to see practical examples (2 marks)
End of Sample Questions

Answers
Sample Multiple Choice Question Paper T5 Answers
Managing People and Systems
1 B
2 B
3 A
4 A
5 D
6 B
7 C
8 B
9 D
10 D
11 D
12 B

Tips for those doing ACCA OBU project

2009-03-18T02:59:00.000-07:00

When you are starting down the path of research, here are few pointers that you should consider.

1. For the topic that you have selected - do some initial research by finding some nice articles and journals to support the area. DO NOT START WRITING UP THE RESEARCH until this point. Especially for the organisation and industry that you are doing. The RULE is, what ever you are researching, you are not the first to do so, many had done it before, therefore there must be tons of research out there to support the findings - get a few to obtain an initial feel for the area.

2. The consider the approach that you will be taking for the research, some like the case study, primary, secondary, quantitative or qualitative approach. If you are doing research that requires the use of primary methods of data gathering - make sure the access of the data is not going to be a problem - that is the last thing you need if you are doing research - NO ACCESS to SUBJECTS.

3. Do select organisations that are interesting, THOSE that are doing TOPIC 8, there is not only the MALAYSIAN companies, any company that publishes the financial statement may be used, like FORD MOTORS, COKE COLA, DISNEY, STARBUCKS. Try to analyse companies that are interesting and exciting, one that will bring the readers into - "OH YES, THIS SHOULD BE GOOD"

4. Do NOT look too much at others research on the same topic, OR other mentors approach to the topic. Each mentor will have their own style for mentoring and review, it should not be the basis for evaluating your project.

Overall the most important aspect for the research is your desire to learn or your desire to just get a cert.

Hopefully it is DESIRE TO LEARN a NEW SKILL - ability to research with some guidance.

Mr.J.Sathiyaseelan FCCA(UK) Pg.Dip Marketing(UK) ACB (US)

OBU Mentoring Services

2009-01-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

For those students that are interested in getting their OBU degree, you can contact Boston Consulting & Training - email bostontrainers@gmail .com for more information regarding the packages.

Battle advice for adventurers of T5 realm

2008-11-26T22:57:00.000-08:00

Very soon the dreaded paper will be upon you. You might breakdown in fear or you might conquer the paper.

Defeating the paper requires a lot more than an ability to write, you must master the aspects of the text that examiner wants to hit you with.

Here is the balance of the TIPS for T5

The other areas that are important

For Part C or Question 3 (The name question)

Chapter 9 is the most favoured chapter for Dr.Beverly Lee, which makes it a candidate all the time for revision.

In this case I would pay attention to Charles Handy leadership styles, Ashridge advantages and disadvantages, Likert, Mintzberg on the roles of managers.

Would also pay attention delegation since it is usually tested. Go thru the past year paper on that one, since it was examined before.

Chapter 10

This is the most likely candidate this semester

You should probably focus on the following items

Perception

Personality

Group behaviour - defined

Group behaviour vs crowd

Why people go into groups

What is groups useful for

Trompenaar definition of culture

Peters and Waterman cultural excellence

Chapter 11

Is about team management, possibility is there.

Should consider the following:

- Team rewards

- Woodcock on teams

- Team building - identity, shared goals and cohesion

- Team uses

Chapter 12

This is a name chapter that your examiner would love

In this chapter it would be wise to know the following in detail

Herzberg - everything he said and mention

Vroom & JS Adam

Discipline

Charles Handy again - E theory

Methods of motivating the staff - pay, culture, style and job design

William Ouchi Theory Z

McGregor Theory X and Y

That would be the closure for Part C.

End of the day, you should be stronger in Chapter 10 and 12

The next area is Part D or Question 4

Chapter 13 - Time management and work roles

This chapter just came out last semester

Focus on Priority setting, resources management and work organisation which includes the work allocation, scheduling

Chapter 14 - Examiners favourite chapter - High chances of pulling something out here

This chapter is just too large, its like the Sahara desert and looking for water here is difficult.

The most that I can say about the Chapter - focus on assertive behaviour, counselling, advantages and disadvantages of communication (verbal and written)

Chapter 15

The chapter about Appraisal seems to be the likely candidate this semester, with MIA for some time already. The area has a lot of items that have yet to be tested

I would focus on purpose of appraisal and reason for requirement. I would also look at methods of evaluating the appraisal effectiveness.

Methods of appraisal can be considered in some level of depth.

Importance of feedback is very critical

Chapter 16

Is about the training and development chapter. In this case you will need to cover the different methods of training and its ADV and DISADV.

Methods of evaluating the training effectiveness

How to do a training needs analysis

Right that ends all the areas for part D

What about part E, well it should be something in the security chapter for sure, but there is a chance that the examiner decides to ask an old question from the past.

Run thru all the past year papers for this area, especially the older ones June 04 - Dec 05

Responsibilities of management for security and your own responsibility is important

Security devices should be considered.

Health and safety - emergency procedures, fire, alternative legislations are possible

That is the end of the tips from me.

To those that are not my students - if you passed because of this - have the courtesy to leave a comment behind.

WARNING: SURGEON GENERAL SAYS THAT TIPS ARE BAD FOR EXAM HEALTH. A FULL COURSE OF STUDY IS ALWAYS RECOMMENDED WITH A BALANCE APPROACH IN DEALING WITH QUESTIONS

This semester is the last T5 class

2008-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

The T5 classes for me this semester, G14 is the last of the T5 groups. After this onwards the site will be useful for all students since I will be providing support for any one in the world that has problem with this dreaded paper.

Starters will be my spots for the coming T5 examination

Approach for the coming examination - do not study a single chapter in each area. Go for wider coverage.

December 2005 and backwards are important for Section E since the examiner has already examined most of the part and a repeat question is very possible.

For now my suggestion for focus studying is using the BPP text book as a basis and review the following areas deeper

Chapter 1 - came out last sitting, just cover the corporate governance and organisation differences

Chapter 2 - looks like the most promising of the lot, Organisation structure - cover the centralisation and decentralisation, span of control, wide and narrow, functional and product form. Bureuacracy, Mechanistic and Organic, Informal and formal, Mintzberg

Chapter 3 - planning did come out before, focus on co-ordination and contingencies, what can go wrong in planning. Stay more alert about the ending of chapter 3 which is red hot this semester

Chapter 4 - most items have been examined except for accounting structure -look into it.

That ends the review for Part A or Question 1

Now Question 2

Chapter 5 - focus on internal checks and internal auditor

Chapter 6 - All areas need to be covered

Chapter 7 - Focus on output of purchases system and controls for wages

Chapter 8 - Information system, cover the diagram for the flow and MIS definition

End of Q 2 review the rest will follow

T5 Revision - Important notice

2008-11-16T06:15:00.000-08:00

The class time for revision - well is not as early as you want it to be

It is going to start at 9.00 am to 3.30pm

Please take note

Inform the others

Mr.Jay

Results for PT 2 CAT T5

2008-10-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

The major problem students that will be failing in the coming exams since the effort is not meeting the needs of the paper. You had better help yourself to extra effort or else it will be a repeat again for you.LEE HUI JING 28
ABILASHI A/P MATHAVAN 26
MICHAEL ONG BENG HUAT 23
HO HUEI WEN 20
LUKE BIN RUSLAN 20
CHENG YEE MEI 17
TAY BOON GUAN 15
TAN YUAN SHEN 12
YONG MAY KUAN 11
AQEEL BAKRI BIN RANEE 10
GENG TING 0
TIEN XUE ER 0
WANG XIN 0
YANG GUANG QIAN 0
DEEP.H.JOSHI 0

The next category of students are called the Dory Fish category, problem remembering the theories to pass the papers
YOGESWARI 37
TAN MEI YIAN 35
KANAPATHY A/L SUNDRAM 34
NURUL ASHIKIN 34
LIEW QING KER 32

The next batch of students have just made it, but it seems that the performance can be improved. Keep up the good work

YAM YEIN LEI 59
NG SWEE YING 57
CHUA PEK WUI 55
KOH YONG SIAN 53
YEAP ZI LING 53
HO CHIN YING 51
BHAJANMEET SINGH 50
LUM YAIK KHAY 48
DEEPATHARISINI 45
LEE HEE CHOR 45
KRYSTAL HO SOK YIM 43
LEONG WAI HOONG 41
LIM VOON THONG 40

The last batch of students are called the eagle category since the have the ability to fly high. Excellent work - keep it up.

LIM KAI SHEAN 89
LEE YUIN JUIN 88
LAU JING MEI 81
NABILAH BINTI MOHAMAD 81
NANTHINI A/P RAMRAS 79
YEO LI CEIK 74
LEE KERN LUN 73
CHENG SUET YIN 66
JOCELYN CHONG JIA YEN 64
PHANG KAH WAI 63

The performance is much worse since the marker was marking strict and following the requirements of the text. Waffling at this level is not going to get you too much marks

The next post will be regarding your MOCK papers. Regarding the answers for the PT1, Pt2 and Mock, you will get it later on in the EDC/EFC classes together with your scripts for both the papers.

Results for PT 1

2008-10-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

The following is as promised the score for the students according to PT 1 results

LIM KAI SHEAN	98
NABILAH BINTI MOHAMAD	96
LAU JING MEI	92
YEO LI CEIK	82
CHENG SUET YIN	81
LEE HEE CHOR	81
JOCELYN CHONG JIA YEN	80

HO CHIN YING	78
LEE YUIN JUIN	76
NANTHINI A/P RAMRAS	70
KOH YONG SIAN	67
MICHAEL ONG BENG HUAT	67
CHUA PEK WUI	66
LIM VOON THONG	64
NG SWEE YING	64
PHANG KAH WAI	64
LEE HUI JING	62

BHAJANMEET SINGH	56
KRYSTAL HO SOK YIM	56
YEAP ZI LING	56
YONG MAY KUAN	56
LUKE BIN RUSLAN	55
LEONG WAI HOONG	52
DEEPATHARISINI	51
LUM YAIK KHAY	49
YAM YEIN LEI	49
NURUL ASHIKIN	47
LEE KERN LUN	46
DEEP.H.JOSHI	45

AQEEL BAKRI BIN RANEE	42
ABILASHI A/P MATHAVAN	41
TAN MEI YIAN	41
TAN YUAN SHEN	41
TAY BOON GUAN	41
LIEW QING KER	40
YOGESWARI	36
CHENG YEE MEI	35
HO HUEI WEN	28
GENG TING	0
KANAPATHY A/L SUNDRAM	0
TIEN XUE ER	0
WANG XIN	0
YANG GUANG QIAN	0

ACCA Student Ethics

2008-10-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

There is something called ethical behaviour and I believe that this is one of the main problems that students will face in the study of ACCA.

If you are early and your friend is late, does that give you the right to book the place around you for your friends?

In this case if you book for one or two it would seem reasonable, but if you decide to book the whole row for all your friends - that is called unprofessional behaviour of the highest class.
Everyone that comes into the lecture should be served on a 1st come basis, and seating should be allocated that way.

Imagine you entered into an Air Asia flight and started to book all the seats in the front just because you were the first one in,
the other passengers will probably throw you out.

So for students that believe that booking the whole row of seats for friends - you are not doing a favour for the profession - you are doing it a disgrace. Such unethical behaviour should be looked down upon and not be see as a norm.

For those that are requesting your friends to book for you - stop doing it. It is unfair to ask your friend to engage in unethical behaviour just for your needs.

Sitting beside a friend is most likely to reduce your total concentration by at least 50%.

When I was studying in Sunway, whenever I sat with friends, we usually ended up chatting about other things rather than the paying attention to subject matter. Most of my friends got stuck in the other levels, so when I kept on moving forward, there was only 1 or 2 people in the class of 200 than I really knew.

It never occurred to me that you should book the best seats - the best seat is the one that allows you 100% concentration on the lecture, and the worst seat is the one that reduces the concentration.Think back to the time when you sat alone with no friends beside you and the time when you had friends beside you. Compare the amount of attention paid by you to the lecture.
This is not only for now, it is until you end your association with ACCA.

So later on there are classes where it is packed to the maximum - if you want to get a good seat, come early, not asking someone that comes early to book for you.

Stop booking seats for ghost and allow the rightful person to seat where they want to seat - Be ethical not parochial

Another issue is the code of dressing

No sandals for classes - makes the class look like a "pasar malam". There are other courses students that will look down on the CAT and ACCA students. Basically, dress as appropriately for the class.

If you are going to be professional - start thinking like one now - impression does count in this profession.

Do look charming a bit

Mr.Jay FCCA Management lecturer

Get ready for coming battle for PT1

2008-09-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Coming this week is the first battle for the T5 group

You will have to master

Chapter 1-4

Chapter 5 & 6

Chapter 10 & 12

Chapter 13 & 15

Chapter 17 & 18

All in all, a well balanced diet for the coming final exam. The paper is expected to be hard so focus on getting all the following in your memory capacity

1. SUNS

2. STARS

3. If possible some of the SATURNS

HAVE A FUN TIME GETTING READY

Mr.Jay FCCA

Management lecturer

World pass rates for CAT

2008-08-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

The following is the pass rates for the last sitting. Pay attention to harder papers

Results for the previous exam coming out

2008-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

For those that had taken the exam - Good luck in getting the email from ACCA giving your results.

The nut is your pass. The rat is you. You know how hard the rat struggles to get the nut and keep the nut, that is how hard it is for ACCA/CAT students to get the pass. Watch it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJO000zH600

This will be a stressful period but you need to make a contingency plan.

If you are now taking the following combo:

T6 T7 T8 T9 CAT Advance stage

and did not get thru the T5, you can still proceeed.

If you did not get thru T4, you can prepare and take the CBE

If you failed 2 papers then you need to consider whether you can cope with the load that you are handling. You could reduce the overall load by 2 other papers but then again it depends on your ability.

You have to remember that the current sitting is the last sitting for old syllabus for CAT, there is an update coming in JUNE 2009 which may change the overall pass rates applicable.

When ACCA decides to reset the papers, there is always a discontinuity of the past papers ability to predict the next papers, thus increasing the difficulty of the papers.\

In that sense I would not recommend delaying any papers, but attempting as much as possible within the current sitting.

My comment for the previous paper CAT T5 June 2008 Review

It was more difficult than the usual ones since more refine areas of the syllabus was examined. The examiner was consistent to her approach and did not ask overly difficult questions.

Question 5 was a bit difficult to understand since the wording of the question and the answer given does not seem to correspond. This could be a disaster for most since it is the most critical zone for getting marks for the risk taker students. (miserable death)

Question 4 was a fair question (die fast)

Question 3 was a fair question - those who had ignored the chapter could not have written anything (usually not covered by risk takers) (die quickly or live happily)

Question 2 was a fair question (die slowly!)

Question 1 was a bit tricky since it involved legal issues but for a well prepared student it should not be a problem (die!)

Conclusion: Fatality

Overall, most of the students would be able to achieve a pass rate, but this time the marks scored would be lower compared to previous sittings. 40 - 50 ranges would be higher.

In Sunway College, this time I was only teaching a small group of students (20) due to the requirement to cover T7 and T8 classes, so I seriously doubt that I can be able to produce a Malaysian prize as was the case in the last 2 sittings. Out of the last 5 sittings that I have taught paper 5 CAT, I have managed to get 3 Malaysian prize winner, 2 in Sunway PJ and one from Sunway JB.

The funny part about the Sunway JB student was that I never knew about her until she thanked me about it recently in Sunway PJ (she is doing her finals there). She said that 3 days was enough to bring her to the level required to get the best in Malaysia (I only did the revision during that time in Sunway JB)

There was another issue that cropped up about paper CAT 5 that amused me a bit. Some of the students that I never lectured before told me that it was a must to write in essay format for paper T5 (advice from others)

That is a serious misconception, the examiner only wants you to write in prose style

What is prose style writing?

http://www.hu.mtu.edu/~cwaddell/Basic_Prose_Style.html

In short writing like talking to the examiner, describing the facts.

I would stress that a good layout would go very far in helping the poor marker mark your paper.

The style that I teach in the class should be more the sufficient to get the maximum marks available for the question, you do not need to write an essay.

Ask any ACCA or CAT marker, how they feel about marking an essay paper......the really hate it, especially if the hand writing is really bad.

Remember this is a theory paper but not an essay paper. After all you are doing a practical paper that aims to test your ability to communicate as effectively and efficiently as possible, if you were doing A-levels - write in an essay format else try too be professional.

So those students that are taking my CAT paper 5 progress test, make sure that you are not writing in an essay format.

Signing off for now

Mr. J. Sathiyaseelan (Jay) BA FCCA Pg.Dip Marketing

Your lecturer

PS: About doing the T8 paper and doing the T10 paper, which option is better? Well if you can get a good T8 lecturer and you have reasonable ability to handle theory, do T8. If you are reallly bad with written stuffs than do the T10

It is only delaying the audit paper which hits you hard at level 2 for F8 ACCA paper.

My opinion is that the T10 examiner Ann Irons is really a helpful examiner, since she is quite consistent with her exam style and provides ample amount of written articles to support her exam areas

The T8 examiner - Brian Pine, well in the last sitting he did give a lot of articles but never examined anything in detail, which implies that he may not be as helpful as the T10 examiner. But than again, there is still this round of exams to go, and there is 2 articles yet to be examined.

Welcome new students G14

2008-07-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

The first week of classes is done. You are now in the know about paper T5 CAT. It is one of the more harder papers in the CAT stable of exams. So far the matters that have been covered in the class includes the following:

We should be on track to complete the next topic which is Organisation Strcuture. You should have been able to obtain some materials on the matter from the Sunway library using either an Organisation Behaviour text or Management text. Do not forget to complete your MAS stakeholder analysis by visiting the MAS website.

Exam over finally

2008-06-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

The exam is over. Most of the papers were harder than expected. In this case Paper T5 CAT was very very hard since the examiner decided to ask questions that did not really conform to the text books out right.

There was a slight change in the way the exam questions was asked but in the context of the syllabus, the examiner was still within the syallbus parameter. In this case the suns and the stars is what the examiner asked.

This is where I had warned you before that the sun and the stars approach is the sure fire way to get the marks. If you had just studied some of the sun and the stars and ignored the rest, then it is called gambling.

If your luck is good then the gamble pays off, else you will need to repeat the paper.

So for the students that have studied paper 5 and waiting for the result, the next important date is in August. (You will be catching up with me in the coming T8 class)

For the new students that are coming into the paper, you had better get yourself ready. Since the paper is getting harder and you will need to prepare yourself well for the battle.

Enjoy your holiday, make it last the longest.

Mr. J. Sathiyaseelan BA FCCA Pg.Dip Marketing
Your lecturer

Results for Paper T5 CAT out in Sunway

2008-02-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

There was a time of serious stress some adventurers felt. The pain and moments of anguish they felt waiting for the handphone to download the page was intense.

The battle for T5 is over with most of the adventurers getting thru without being to harmed by the works of the T5 Overlord from Kingdom of United.

For the warriors that have completed the paper - Congratulations and stay focused on the next papers - especially if you are facing the T8 Overlord Lord Brian.

Those of you ought to be informed that the highest score for the paper this time is 99, which is pretty close to the world top mark, but then again I will wait for the final verdict from the Kingdom, if they are awarding the Slayer of the D07 - T5 in Malaysia, Sunwaytes Kingdom.

For those that have passed - leave some good words of advice for the fellow warriors that are about to do battle again. For those that have fallen in the battle, don't despair, there is always hope, find the strength to overcome the evil spells of laziness and unfocusness.

This time, I have the smallest band of warriors to train for the T5 exam with many from the lands beyond the sea. The training for the warriors this time may be hardest yet since the fog of war is increasing in the T5 battlefield.

The end is near for T5 7/2007 intake

2007-11-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

I would like to say that the journey was an interesting on with its up and down, but at the end of it was enjoyable to me and hopefully for you to.

Now it is completely up to you, stay focused on your goals and commit yourself to passing this paper.

Now if you know something about your T5 CAT paper, it is that the examiner may bring out things that are usually not expected. Now on that note lets see what I can conjure up for those desperate souls out there for the paper.

This is highly focused spot which makes it very very dangerous, only for students who did not study with me (poor souls may have had to study everything)

Question 1

Describe the main provisions of the Cadbury Corporate governance code 10

Briefly explain the main regulations that impact financial reporting for public companies 10

Describe the difference between one organisation and another 10

Question 2

Describe the main activities undertaken by the internal audit department 10

Describe the main purpose of internal checks in the organisation 10

Explain the responsibilities of the director and auditor for fraud 20

Question 3

Describe the 4 roles in teams according to Belbin 10

Describe 4 building blocks for teams according to Woodcock 10

Question 4

Explain what is meant by the term "learning styles" 10

Describe the ways in which on the job training could be done in the company 10

Describe the ways in which off the job training can be done in the company 10

Question 5

Describe the reasons why data security has become important in recent times

List the procedures that should exist to protect data in the organisation

Describe the officials that are responsible for security in the organisation

NOW this is just a mock run for those who are prepared for the exam.

WARNING: SPOTS ARE DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO SURGEON GENERAL it is the cause of the failure of most CAT students.

Group 7 and 8 you have much more superior technology in your hand - the universe so stay focused

Malaysian top 3 paper 5 from SUNWAYTES under Mr. Jay

2007-09-22T07:19:00.000-07:00

The results for Paper 5 this time was indeed a surprise for me, since the top 3 student for Paper 5 JUNE 07 was students that had studied under me in Group 1 and 4.

The Scores were

97 for the top scorer
93 2nd highest
91 3rd highest

in Malaysia

now this is an honor indeed, the student, all the ones that got 90 and above the paper were awarded Mr.Jays Limited Edition GOLD COIN award even before they got their awards from ACCA.

Pictures of the students and their award will be posted soon.

On the other note, I was really disappointed by the performance of the current batch of students that are preparing for the exams...........most have been relaxed and not putting in the effort needed to get the marks.

To get them motivated to move into high gear, I have decided to post the names of each student and their standing in the list. This will highlight the need for them to make amendments to the study approach and increase the effort level to HIGH

Coverage so far

2007-08-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

We have already completed the following from your spell book

Chapter 5 - Internal controls

Chapter 15 - Appraisal

Chapter 10 - Individuals and Groups

Chapter 9 - Management and Leadership

We have the following balance areas:

Chapter 11 and 12 for the management side

Chapter 6, 7 and 8 for the Systems side

Chapter 13, 14 and 16 left.

The plan is to complete Part C first then move into the systems part completely and finish of with Part D.

Progress Test 1 Next week

2007-08-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

For CAT adventurers, time to see if your skills are as sharp as your looks.

For the beast that has been prepared by yours truely is one with intent to kill.

As you all know that chapters that are coming out for the exam, I am not going to repeat it here.

Now as for group 8 has agreed to the following terms

Anyone that scores the following mark

Below 20 marks = -6 Penalty

Below 30 marks = -4 Penalty

Below 40 marks = -2 Penalty

40 - 45 = -1 Penalty

45 -55 = 0, no sharing rights

Above 55 to 75 = 1 share right

Above 75 to 90 = 2 share rights

Above 90 = 3 share rights

I will contribute 10 for the POT as a starter.

The price of failing is high, so get started

Pick up your weapons and begin training yourself for the battle ahead.

Mind mapping project

2007-08-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

As you all know that you have to mind map 8 chapters by the coming week

Chapter 1-4

Chapter 17,18

Chapter 5,10 (pending)

I know it is hard but the process is worthwhile and once you have your map, it will be the source of questioning that I will be using to test you.

In this case, your map will be tested by me on you - one to one to see if you have an effective map

Use mnemonics as much as possible and make it a fun activity that you enjoy rather then dread. Once you hate doing something the whole learning experience goes down the drain.

Stay focus, find the energy to get the job done.

For those students that are interested in improving thier skills in this paper and coming papers this SITE will be worth the read

Spot is ok but spot within a spot is not

2007-08-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

I was just talking to my ex-T5 student who is now my T7 student. This is what I found out

For the last exam - he decided to spot within a spot.

So only focusing on some of the SUN areas that I had stated and not all of it.

He says the paper was hard, now I also talked to the other who had studied all the SUN and STARS only - they said the paper was easier then expected.

MORAL of the story - if it is a sun study it, if it is a star study it. Never try to break a system that has taken many years to develop.

RULE - keep the sun and stars to yourself, there are precious gifts from me to you only and not to the world. Not to be shared at any cost (exclusive to Group 7 and 8 of SunwayTES only)

The world can sort out thier own problems with thier own lecturers.

We are now moving into Chapter 5 of the text - internal controls

Procrastination

2007-08-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Overcoming Procrastination
Procrastination is a habit, not a fatal flaw. It takes persistence to change, but you can do it.

Here's how:
Clarify Your Personal Goals

Articulate and write down your personal goals. Post them on your door, mirror, notebook — so you'll see them frequently.

Be sure the task you think you "should" do is one that is really important to you, that leads to your goal. If your actions aren't in line with your intentions, perhaps you should change your intentions: "I said I'd study history now, but it's more important to rest after my test today. I'll plan to do it tomorrow morning."

Manage Your Time Effectively

If you don't know how to manage your time, learn. Consult a counselor, attend a time management workshop, or work with an independent study program

Break your goal up into little parts. Write out and list the steps you must take to accomplish your goal.

Write out a plan for yourself. Make a schedule.

Establish a regular time each day to work toward your goal. Get out of a disorganized lifestyle and make working toward your goal part of your routine.

Organize your environment, complete with the tools you'll need, so it's conducive to working. Or ... move yourself to an environment which is conducive to working.

If you aren't sure how to reach your goal, learn. For example, if you aren't clear about an assignment, plan to consult with your professor. Build this appointment into your schedule.

Start early. Build procrastination time into your schedule. Call it "creative leisure."

Start small and easily. Build gradually.

Change Your Attitude

Do you feel that the world is too difficult? That you are inadequate to meet its challenges? That you cannot function without a lot of approval? Are you frustrated with the limitations of others?

Expect nothing less of yourself and others than perfection? Convinced that disaster hinges on your actions? ... These are immobilizing, self-defeating, avoidance-producing attitudes and beliefs. Recognize them as such, and use them only to the extent that they are helpful. Don't indulge them and don't believe them! Replace them with self-enhancing beliefs and attitudes.

Remind yourself of the emotional and physical consequences of procrastination. Then remind yourself of the consequences of not procrastinating.

Concentrate on little bits and pieces of your project; don't think "all or nothing."
For a day, pretend that you are a well-organized non-procrastinator. Imagine how you would think and behave. Then behave and think that way ... even if only for a few minutes at a time.

Value your mistakes; don't judge them. What is curious, useful, interesting about them? What is worthwhile? Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
Know your escapes and avoidances: self-indulgence? socializing? reading? doing it yourself? over-doing it? running away? daydreaming? Call yourself on them.

Rage, complain, and vent: don't hold it in ... or, hold it in, if that works for you!

Change Your Behavior

Use your friends. Set up a contract with someone to get something done. Make an appointment to study with a friend who has no difficulty studying. Make an appointment to consult with someone who can help you with your task. Arrange to meet with a friend for support, someone who'll listen and who'll share your highs and lows.

Make something you normally do and enjoy contingent upon doing the avoided task: "I'll work on my term paper in the library half an hour before going to play racquetball."

Keep your tasks visible in front of you: set up reminders, signs, slogans, notes, lists.
Use your impulsiveness. When you get going, keep going. Do something when you think of it — don't think about it. Do instant, tiny things.

Do something daily. Agree to start a project and stay with it for 5 minutes. Consider another 5 minutes at the end of the first.

Establish priorities among tasks according to the degree of unpleasantness. Start with the most unpleasant task and work down until you get to the easier ones.
If you've got something hard to do, rehearse it in your imagination or with someone. Work the bugs out; don't terrify yourself.

Be sure the rest of your life is in good shape ... so your awful task is less awful within the context of a good general quality of life.

Accept Yourself

Give yourself time to change.
Expect and forgive backsliding.
Give yourself credit for anything you do. Forgive yourself a lot.

ABOUT THE BLOGGER
Mr. Jay FCCA Pg.Dip Marketing has 12 years experience lecturing
ACCA, CIM, ABE, AIA
University of Suntherland
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
Oxford Brookes University
London School of Economics - University of London

Subjects taught so far include the following
ACCA - 1.2,1.3,2.1,2.4,2.5,2.6,3.1,3.5 (F1, ,F5, F7, F8, P1, P3, P7)
CAT - 4,5,7,8,10
CIM - ME,MIP,CC,MRI,MC,MP,SMIP,MMP,A&E,SMD
ABE - OB, ECONS,QM,FM,MO
LSE - AUDIT, FINANCE (3rd year)
UNN - Degree Supervision
US - Business Planning & Control (3rd year) & Degree Supervision
OBU - ACCA Project mentoring\

SECURITY

2007-07-31T05:05:00.000-07:00

The homework for this section included:

Mission Impossible and Italian Job.

Now lets recap the section. This section is a SUN

Now the areas covered

Importance of security

Security principles

Security threats - physical, assets and people

Security devices - locks,windows, CCTV, phone entry

Data security - why is it important?

Data security - threats and how to overcome it

Data security - passwords, profiles and virus preventions

Responsibility for security

If you have any questions about the area you should clarify it here.

Forgiven and forgotten

2007-07-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

It is common for everyone to have the darker side of their personality and the brighter side. Most of the time - you see only the brighter side but then once in a while the darker side emerges out.

For some its a burst of anger, for others it can be a transforming experience.

I feel that class time is to precious for me to loose my anger or cool, its better for me to keep those out of the class as far as possible. That means that I have already forgiven those that have had ethical issues in the class, since they have become aware of their mistakes.

Since the class now knows the lines, its easier for the class to move forward.

If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything - so put your mind to work on what matters the most - SCORE and STRIVE for SUPERIORITY in the EXAMS.

YOU are WHAT you WANT to BE.

lOSER or WINNER.

FAILURE or SUCCESS

Its all up to your effort and determination.

Completion of PART A

2007-07-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

This week sees the completion of PART A of the syllabus.

This covers the following areas:

1. Business environment
2. Organisation structure
3. Planning
4. Accounting function

Of the 4 areas, the history of the area includes the following:
Pilot paper - 2
--------------
June 04 - 1
Dec 04 - 4
Jun 05 - 2
Dec 05 - 3
Jun 06 - 1 (repeat)
Dec 06 - 4
Jun 07 - 2

This would imply that area 1 and 3 is considered a SUN SIGN whereas area 4 is SATURN SIGN and AREA 2 to be MOON, but then examiners are known to be nasty and not stick to a pattern. But if you study the above - can you see a pattern?

It is quite obvious is it?

Now we are going to move into the next area - security which covers the following areas:

Why is it important?
Understanding security risk and threats in the organisation (What is the problem?)
Security counter-measures (How to solve it?)
Security responsibility (Who should solve it?)
Data security and its implications

You should check out the following sites for some information about the chapter:
Physical security

Courtesy & Respect

2007-07-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that CAT students need a reminder on this topic again. The last time I talked about this was some time back, but this time it has taken a different twist.

Here are some ground rules for CAT students in Group 7 and 8

1. If I make a joke in the class - take it at face value and don't go add or subtract or infer into MY personal life cause if you start doing that, I will probably feel very annoyed - that may result in me doing either one of the following:

a) Stop joking and start releasing sleeping gas in the following classes from then on - no more jokes or any fun - just teach and go.
b) The same as above!

2. If you know something about my personal life, well keep it to yourself and you don't need to guess what else goes on there - CAUSE that is NON of YOUR BUSINESS. Your curiosity on what happened in my past life is irrelvant to your study.

3. Behave in a professional manner - that is you are here to study and gain some knowledge, I am here to deliver that knowledge (this is an agency relationship) if you fail to do your part - you fail, if I fail to do my part - all fail

4. If you feel that you need to talk and joke to enlighten and smoothen the class - please do but if you do that you also have a responsibility to 1. you fellow classmates 2. the feeling of your lecturer 3. your own pride and honour

You need to read the rules of professional conduct of ACCA to really understand this:

Wednesday, October 04, 2006 (posted before)

Respect and courtesy

1.ACCA registered students, affiliates and members are required to observe proper standards of professional conduct.

2.ACCA registered students, affiliates and members must specifically refrain from what is described in ACCA's bye-law 8(a)(i) as misconduct.
Registered students, affiliates and members must also refrain from taking any action which amounts to a serious departure from the standards set out in this Code of Ethics and Conduct as specified in bye-law 8(a)(ii).

3.Those failing to observe the standards expected of them may be required to answer a complaint before ACCA's Disciplinary Committee.

4.It is not possible to specify all those combinations of circumstances in which a member may be held by Disciplinary Committee to have committed professional misconduct, as defined above. However, this section of the Rulebook (which may be added to or varied from time to time) sets out ACCA's ethical requirements in relation to those professional situations that most commonly arise.

5.ACCA registered students, affiliates and members who are in doubt as to their correct course of action in particular cases should obtain further guidance from ACCA. It is advisable to seek guidance prior to embarking on a course of action.

6.Where statutory and regulatory requirements are concerned, ACCA registered students, affiliates and members are reminded that they must also refer to, and comply with, the legislation and regulatory requirements of the countries in which they work.

7.The Code of Ethics and Conduct applies to all registered students, affiliates and members.The ACCA ethical guideline states that the above is a requirement for all ACCA graduates and students.

So as students of ACCA/CAT you should be able to show some courtesy to the lecturer and people that you meet. Remember that if anyone feels that you don't act in a professional manner, they have the right to put you into enquiry with the ACCA disciplinary board.Make sure that you leave the course a better person than you came in, in terms of knowledge as well as attitude and manners.

Remember that skills can be trained but attitude is developed within you over many years.Being called a GENTLEMAN and a LADY is purely due to the manner in which one conducts him or herself. Being called a MAN and a WOMAN implies a lack of good conduct.

New batch of souls to torture

2007-07-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well looks like we have already started up with the 1st week of classes and you already now something about paper 5 - dreaded killer paper in CAT level.

100% Theory

Examiner = Dr. Bevereley Lee

Exam = 2 hours

Format = 5 Questions from 5 Areas

5 Areas = Environment + Systems + Management + Personal effectiveness + Health and Security

Exam life time = First sitting in June 04, total available sitting = 7

Old name for the paper = C3

Counterpart paper in ACCA = 1.3 and new F1

What have you studied this week?

Difference between SyUC and Toyota

Systems - Open / Close

Defining the organisation

PEST

Stakeholders

Organisation environments

Understanding KFC

Regulation and accounting standards

Legal impact on organisation

Your homework = MI 1,2,3 and read a annual report.

Enjoy the ride from now on.........

What a waste - P1 and p2

2007-06-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Latest news for those doing ACCA, it seems that ACCA has signed an agreement with the Malaysian Education Ministry that allows the students with Form 5 Prinsip Perakaunan paper to get exemption from P1 and P2 of the CAT programme. In fact they are going to award the paper FOC to the students.

Now the pre-text given by ACCA is to recognize the qualification to date. (More like trying to corner the market for accountancy in Malaysia)

So for those students that have done your PA in form 5 and then forced to do it again in the CAT programme in Malaysia - what a waste.

Those that are doing your PA now will really benefit from the deal since it will accelerate your progression into the accounting world by atleast 3-6 months time.

It is indeed sad for those that have the PA and forced to sit for the P1 and P2 paper, since most of it is considered to be elementary, but then again I might be wrong. Those that did do PA and then did your P1 and P2 care to comment on the issue.

The paper is done with - prepare the for the next level

2007-06-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

For those students that have completed paper 3,4 and 5 and moving on to the next level - paper 6,7,8 and 9 (Malaysian students) and 10 ( Non-malaysian students) here are some tips about the papers - so you are prepared for the paper better.

You have just completed the batttle with the following Lords of CAT

Nigel Coulthurst The Wizard of Cost (Paper 4 examiner for CAT)
Ronnie Patton The Slayer of Accounts (Paper 3 examiner for CAT)
Beverley Lee The Invoker of Management (Paper 5 examiner for CAT)

Your next battle with the Lords of the CAT

Scourge of the accounting(Paper 6) -Christopher Pyke - sounds like puke
Lord of management accounting (Paper 7)-Steve Jay - sounds like evil Jay
Grand wizard of Audit (Paper 8) - Brian Pine - sounds like PAIN
Sage of Tax (Paper 9) - Siew Chuen Yong - the only Malaysian Lord

Paper 6 CAT

You should recall all the accounting concepts that you studied in Paper 3 CAT.

There will be extensions to the partnership accounts - so make sure you are comfortable with it.

The new area is is consolidation of accounts

The knowledge of accounting standards is important

Paper 7 CAT

This paper is a following up from Paper 2 and Paper 4.

In this case the new areas in the paper is

ABC

Standard costing

Budgeting

Decision making

Management Accounting conceptual areas

Performance management

You should do well to recall the Breakeven, Absorption costing, Marginal costing, Overhead treatment and ROI and RI concepts.

Paper 8 CAT

The paper is a following up on some aspects of Paper 5 - mainly the audit aspects.

It will be a new paper with some similar ideas

Internal controls are important - sales, purchases, wages

The new areas will include the study of auditing standards.

Substantive procedures and compliance testing is important (I suggest watching the series in internet called "Death Note" which uses excellent deductive and auditing techniques to obtain evidence)

Paper 9 CAT

The tax paper in Sunway has always obtained an excellent result but there is some changes that are already occuring on the paper.

In the initial days the paper was primarily a computational paper but the examiner probably got commented on the lack of conceptual testing. Hence the paper has been slowly evolving, not to worry you are still in the initial stages of evolution.

The paper is very similar to accounting paper - just compute according to proforma.

Paper 10 CAT

The examiner is probably the most balance of the examiners as she has been consistent with her style and kind to the students by giving sufficient articles to back up the students.

The paper focuses on the following main areas

Cash management (budget and cash flow)

Investment appraisal (with long term decision making concepts)

Working capital management ( inculding debtors, stocks and creditors)

Finance source and implications ( includes debt and equity consideration)

The end of paper reviews.

In conclusion the papers in the next level can be categorised into 60% computational and 40% theory. Paper 5 will now move into Paper 7 and Paper 8 in a significant manner.

The theory that moves on are:

Performance management and staff appraisal
Organisation structure
Business environment
Motivation

FOR paper 7

Internal controls
Fraud
Control systems

FOR paper 8

So don't forget what you studied before will make an appearance in the future.

Enjoy you holidays and see you again in July. I am taking a break to.

Final battle is here - Prepared P5 CAT Sunway June 2007

2007-06-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Paper T5 CAT Examination

Prepared by: Dr B. Lee

Venue: Sunway University College

Battle time: 2 hours

Opponents: 5 Questions from study guide

Are you prepared? Going into the battle unprepared is sure sign of doom. The many failures that I talked to for the last exam said that they deserved to fail the paper because they prepared on the last minute.

Now you decide if you are going to be the one that is going to tell me that you deserved to fail when the results come out in August?

Final meeting for those students that feel weak and need some clarification before the exam is on Saturday 2 June from 3.30 to 6.30 pm ( if need be can go on longer)

For those that believe that you can make it to the exam without any problems stay focused on your preparation. You don't need to come for the meeting - it is aimed for those that really need help.

Sales system

Organisation structure

Personal effectiveness

Appraisal

Teams

Security

Reliance on spots are dangerous for your marks - be sure to cover all the requirements

Good luck in your exams. May the force be with you.

Mr. Jay - Lecturer SunwayTES Paper 5

End of EDC/EFC

2007-05-18T23:56:00.000-07:00

Well it was 2 days of massive recall for most of the students. Hope the cartoons were entertaining but then again, when it is a large class with 100 over students from different groups it would be very difficult to keep the momentum going. I belief that EDC/EFC classes should not be longer than 6 hours in a day for it to be effective. Student mental burn out occurs about approximately in 5 hours.

What do you think, EDC and EFC should accomplish in the future - suggestion so that future EDC and EFC can be improved.

Well the 2nd day was suppose to finish up earlier, but Mr TES came in and took much time from the whole class.

Well I was wondering what was going on inside there for so so long, but it is the CUSTOMER APPRAISAL FORM using the grading approach that you have already learnt in Performance appraisal chapter.

I saw a few of you guys writing away as if you were taking a p5 examination.

Well here is the game plan form NOW to the EXAM date - 8 June 2007

You already have a diet of items to consume 88 questions + C6 + 1.3 + PT1 + Pt2 + Mock

The students that have failed continuously in the past - you have to meet me on 2 June 2007 or if you want to see me earlier in a group, make an appointment. The purpose of the 2nd June meeting is to gauge your readiness and sort out any fears and issues that you have.

The students that have scored above 40 in the mock, you should be safe, but stay focused. I am really proud of your performance and hope that you keep up the good work.

The students that have managed to get 90 to 100, you should strive for the best, since you are already there in terms of performance. You can score if you keep focused and manage your time efficiently.

Overall it was a pleasure lecturing you all paper 5 (The theory paper of CAT). Those of you that will be under me for Paper 7, there is a new blog being created for you to move over.

I will begin posting there once the exams are over, so that you can get yourself prepared for the future battles much earlier.

This time make it count - all your effort needs to pay off

Read

Recall

Recall

Read

Review past papers (including the CAT p5 past papers by Dr. Beverely Lee)

What do you think?

2007-05-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

How was the paper - any comments for those that have gone thru the mock paper?

Was it as expected - harder / easier / spotted ?

Well now I have to collect it and start marking it - aarghhhh, the horror of going thru some of the hand-writings.

I hope some of you did try some heavy duty waffling, as I need some lighter moments during the hard times of marking the papers.

Get ready for the EDC/EFC, where you should try to recall the most for the exams.

Results out and it was shocking! Help for WORMS

2007-04-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

To tell you the truth, I was shocked that I was forced to give 100 to people. But then again, it was thier skill I suppose.

Congratulations to those that managed to get 100 - both from Group 1.

Highest score for group 4 is 84 and highest score for group 10 is 88.

Group 1 has the current lead on all other groups in terms of pass rate as well as top scorers.

I have to apologize for the delay,

1. my internet connection is snail speed now. I can't do much posting at home. Even when I tried to post all the names of the people and what they scored, it was difficult (maybe it was the students praying hard that I won't get to release the marks on the net)

2. administrative issues relating the papers, which copies need to be kept for the office.

3. i was really out of the with a bad cold which I have yet to recover

Even this posting is done at SYUC PC's.

On the issue of the MOCK paper, I have been thinking that it will be to cruel to ask you to study everything, as a bonus

So here it come - tips for the MOCKS.

Part A, I will be asking 2 chapters only. The questions will be coming from Chapter 1 and 2

Part B, I will be asking 2 chapters only. Questions will appear from Chapter 5 and Chapter 7

Part C, I will ask from Chapter 9 and 12

Part D, its a secret, but I will not ask Chapter 16 anymore.

Part E, well this one is coming from 2 chapters that are there.

For those that did not manage to pass Pt2, if your marks are below 30, you really have to be worried. You are 80% dead. I would like to call you a p5 Worm.

And you will be meeting your doom very soon in the coming paper. Meet MOCK the UNDEAD paper holder

I hope that narrows down for you the work load.

Most of the questions will be 8 + 12 or 10 + 10. If there are 3 chapters the breakdowns are too numerous for me to tell you.

Results for Group 1 and Group 10

2007-04-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

The release here was delayed by technical issues - internet connection down. The names are from your class attendance list, initials are being used. The papers can be collected at the main office at Monday.

Group 10 Results

ABA 18
AIZBZ 20
ABH 64
CJF 58
CPH 43
GHY 44
HPS 14
IL 21
LA 44
LKW 69
LWY 88
LMT 82
NMY 37
OLH 16
TM 13
WHL 18
ZSS 3
NMA 35
NWW 31
MNU 0

Group 1 Results

ANBA 64
AM 39
CSK 13
CYK 91
CAT 44
CHX 73
CJM 100
CTS 76
CKL 34
CYH 39
CSW 66
CSC 47
CXN 33
CCJ 50
CCCH 95
ELCH 69
KJJ 49
LWY 16
LSL 17
LTJ 100
LSY 76
LTY 50
LJX 29
LSM 61
MG 33
MPYF 53
NYM 73
NZP 63
PHP 78
RNMS 97
SN 42
SSH 54
TCH 59
TKC 22
TXL 15
TYQ 78
TYY 30
TSY 43
TYH 81
VDA 59
WTY 32
YCW 50

Congratulations to those that scored above 80, especially those that managed to get the world prize level of marks. Its rare that I have given 100 marks to any scripts, but there were 2 here that managed it. Comment on the technique used.

As for MOCK exams, the tips will be following:

2 chapters from A
2 chapters from B
2 chapters from C
2 chapters from D
2 chapters from E * past year has chance of repeating

The rest of the chapters - past year will not be repeated, PT1 and Pt2 questions will not be repeated.

That leaves a few areas for you to identify and master. Enjoy and show that time does make some serious difference.

Some assistance for poor souls

2007-04-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

I was looking for some form of help for those that complain about thier inability to cope with the current situation.

First of all - as the saying goes "It's all in your mind".

It is a matter of perception of what you feel you are in right now. If you "if you set your mind into it, nothing is impossible"

To get you going, I set into a search mode and found this wonderful web-sites that could give you some benefit.

The American universities are light years in advance of the Malaysian universities when it comes to being emphatic of student situation. Just look at this site at University of Texas, I especially liked the part on Study strategies.

The other area that is a must for CAT paper 5 is Memory techniques

As you all know that time management is a diffcult item, I found this nice scheduler for you to use. It is a EXCEL sheet that can be set by you to schedule your work. Those of you that are serious about your time, should really try out this tutorial.

If you are keen on EXCEL spreadsheets for the future and just for fun or those who have to do advance investment appraisal or P7 or P10, this SITE is great.

The DOOM that awaits those that don't prepare

2007-04-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

After a disasterous performance in PT1, many zeroes have been targeted for destruction. Some heroes that did make it in the whole episode, be prepared

The assistance that can be given to you - stay focus and may the force be with you

The following wil be the areas examined

Part A - Chapter 1,2,3 / Part B - Chapter 5,7,8 / Part C - Chapter 10,11 / Part D - Chapter 16 / Part E - Chapter 17,18

I will only ask 1 chapter and not all those listed above. If you want to spot for this one, do so on your own risk. My suggested strategy is to aim for C,D and E first. Full coverage. The other 2 if you have time cover everything.

The Horror of PT1 - Heroes to Zeroes

2007-04-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

It seems that the paper was a disaster for many of the students. Some students should be auditioning for the next HEROES episode since they have the ability to cause severe headache to marker just by writing and other have the ability to cause non-stop laughter by just writing in the exam papers.

Some managed to become the zeroes of their classes scoring a perfect 0.

Overall the paper was set a very manageable level that tested your ability to

1. Recall terms

2. Recall procedures

The areas tested were indicative of the future progress test that will be set.

Most faired reasonably in Q1, probably because it was a spotted area by many.

Q2 had a mixed reaction, where there were students being able to score full marks, though many tried to waffle thier way to get some marks. It was evident when marking the scripts that the students that did do thier work managed to achieve a pass mark easily.

Q3 was a question that most missed the PART A, which was only answered well by 4-5 students out of the 110+ students that set for the paper. As explained in the class, this was due to not reading the question in full and not appreciating the wording of the question.

Q4 was my favourite question, as it was one of the question that was designed to test your ability to use general knowledge to answer the question. In this case most of the answers were very entertaining and funny but failed to score the marks that was needed. It seems that general knowledge is a power that fails all the time for most of the Heroes.

Q5 is one of the question that few managed to score full marks. Possibly because the area was not something most decided to study for the progress test. Most tried to waffle using thier general knowledge but it was apparent that that approach failed most people.

Overall the performance of the students in this paper is poor, indicating that most decided to study last minute, hoping to cram 3 months worth of classes in 2-3 days. From my review of the students that did manage to get 60 and above, it was apparent that some had

1. Spotted the correct thing in the short amount of time (RISKY FOCUSING)

2. Decided to focus on 3 questions and messing up on the other 2 (FOCUSING)

3. Consistent studying of the materials from the begining of the course (BROAD)

I Hope that students that did very badly seriously sit down an think about what caused the failure in thier papers and quickly discuss with me an approach to overcome the problem.

I am leaving it YOU, HEROES out there to get the necessary powers to overcome the DOOM that awaits you

Prepare a report on your expected performance

2007-03-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

When I give you back the results of the progress test, in exchange I want a report from you individually that tell me

1. Each question how much do you expect and why you expect this much
2. What were the cause of this marks
3. Overall conclusion on your performance - good/ bad and why
4. Future action plan that you will implement for PT2

Signed

This is for me to assess if I need to send you to see Mr.T

Understanding the Accounting system

2007-03-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

In Paper 5, this semester, there is a real need for you to understand this aspect of the syllabus.

What is the accounting system?

It is made up of the inputs-processes-outputs that come out. Now each system has its own output, but for the accounting system, the main output is the financial statements that are audited by the auditors and sent to the shareholders.

The financial statements represents the final output of the accounting system. The accounting system itself can be analysed into sub-systems

Purchasing system

Sales system

Cash system

Inventory system

Non-current assets system

Equity systems

Debt systems

Expenses systems

Other income system

Each system is controlled by thier own individual internal control systems that has specific objectives to meet.

The requirement for paper 5 is knowledge of SALES, PURCHASES, WAGES, CASH system. From this 2 have already been examined, leaving behind another 2 which I feel this time should be red hot.

The above is the description of the sales system without the controls being mentioned. You need to use the SPAMSOAP to figure what controls need to be in place.

The start of the sales cycle is the customer order. This can be received by post, in which case it will take the form of a piece of paper which is usually inside an envelope and which is opened by the person responsible for opening the post. It is important that the system is such that the person opening the post can recognize a customer order and pass it on promptly to the correct department for speedy processing.

It can be received by fax or e-mail. It can be received by telephone. For the purposes of this description I want you to imagine that the system employs a number of people responsible for taking customer orders over the telephone.

The questions that have to be addressed by the system are:
How can we be sure that orders are only accepted from customers that are likely to pay up?
How can we be sure that we don't promise to deliver goods that are out of stock?
How can we be sure that we don't promise to deliver goods that are no longer sold/ have never been sold?
How can we be sure that one of the people accepting telephone orders does not try to sell goods already sold to someone else just a few seconds before ,by one of the other people accepting telephone orders?
How do we make sure that goods do not run out of stock?
How can we make sure that we do not order out of stock goods when we already have an outstanding purchase order i.e. we have already ordered them but they have yet to arrive?

The system needs to be operating a series of internal controls to overcome the above difficulties.

This is what we would expect to find happening:
on receipt of the sales order, we ask if the enquirer is an existing customer. If the answer to this question is no then we accept sales on a cash only basis and instigate a credit control check on the enquirer. If satisfactory, the new customer will be assigned a credit limit which will be checked each time an order is requested. If the order is from an existing customer then the following checks need to be made:

Will the value of this order take the customer over their credit limit? If so they are requested to pay off some of their debt and allowed further sales on a cash only basis. Information concerning the credit limit of any particular customer is expected to be stored on the customer records.

Is the customer listed on the age analysis as an old debt? If so the customer is asked to pay up some of the old debt.

Is the customer on the bad debts list? If so then all further dealings are suspended.

Failure to implement these internal controls could mean that the business is in danger of selling goods to customers who will be unable to pay for them OR that the business could be in the position of delivering goods to people who have no intention of paying for them. This latter category is referred to as the bogus customer syndrome. It usually means that goods are delivered to unknown people, at an unknown address and there is therefore no way they can be traced to present them with the sales invoice, which is the request to pay for the goods they have received.

Once the order has been authorized for customer rating, which means that this is an existing customer with no history of late payment and no outstanding disputes and no problem of going over their credit limit, it is important to check on the stock position.
If there is no stock left, it is important to check that a purchase order has been requested and if not then one must be requested. If one has already been requested, then the system must allow for it's progress to be tracked. for instance it is important to be able to inform the customer at this point that the item requested is currently temporary out of stock but is due to be available on a particular date. This information would normally be expected to be seen on the stock records and would be called something like " Estimated delivery date for outstanding purchase order".

It is also important that the purchase system will prevent more than one person ordering these out of stock goods. This is commonly done by all purchase requests being sent to a designated purchasing officer who has the authority to purchase goods.

If the computer records indicate that stock does exist, can the system ensure that the physical stock really does exist in the stores? Some stock control systems involve a time delay between the date of the goods coming into stores and the date when the stock records are updated to account for this. Likewise it is common for goods to go out of stores some time before the goods are booked out of stock on the computer records. These recording delays must be monitored. It is therefore quite possible for the computer records not to reflect actual physical stock at any one time.

One aspect of the system which is vitally important is that there is evidence that these internal controls have been operating. It is not good enough for controls to be happening, there must be evidence that this is the case. This evidence is usually provided by a signature. Supervisors, managers and auditors who have the responsibility of ensuring that these controls are operating effectively, will therefore be checking the existence of these signatures. For instance when examining a written confirmation of a customer order it will be checked to ensure that the correct person has signed to state that a credit limit check has been done, that an age analysis check has been done and a bad debt check has been done. It is quite often the case that these signatures are found in small boxes which are "rubber stamped " on to the sales order. In this way , all of the signatures can be kept together.

What information needs to be on the sales order?
The sales order needs to hold customer details and also stock details as indicated below

Picking note
Once the sales order has been confirmed, an internal sales order is made out which ideally should be on a sequentially pre-numbered multipart set. This means that one copy of this set can be used as the picking note. A picking note journeys down to the warehouse and is handed over to someone responsible for reading the note and finding and retrieving the items from stock. On completion, a responsible officer checks the items to those on the picking note and when satisfied that everything is in order, signs to indicate that the goods have been checked and off they go to be packed.

What information needs to be on the picking note?
Customer name
Customer account code
Customer order number
On each stock line the following information is required:
Stock code
Stock description
Stock unit of measure
Stock quantity ordered
Location in the warehouse
Goods delivery note

When the picked goods have been packed they will be loaded onto a vehicle for delivery to the customer. The van driver will take two copies from the document set which will form the delivery note. Sometimes people refer to this note as the Goods outwards note or "G.O.N.". On delivery to the customer, the van driver will secure the signature of the customer on both copies to indicate acceptance of the goods. One copy will be retained by the customer and one returned to the business for filing. It is at this point that the stock records need to be updated so that the goods taken from stock for delivery to the customer are booked out of stock. If there is a delay in doing this, it is entirely possible for customer orders to be accepted when there is no stock available to deliver to them.

What information needs to be on the deliver note?
Customer name
Customer delivery address
Customer order number - this is the internally generated reference
Customer's own reference
For each stock line:
Stock code
Stock description
Stock unit of measure
Quantity delivered
Sales invoice

Once the goods are successfully delivered to the customer, two more copies of the set are used as the sales invoice. One is sent to the customer and serves as a record of the amount contracted to pay for the goods delivered. The other is used to update the customer records and to file in customer and/or date order in the accounts office.

What information needs to be on the sales invoice?
Customer name
Customer account code
Customer accounts address
Customer order number and their own reference
Customer delivery note number [if different from order number]
Invoice number [if different from order number]
Customer contact name
Invoice date and delivery date
details of goods delivered
amount due including the vat
any settlement discount information

Updating the accounting records
There are many files which need to be updated as a result of the above sales cycle. We will however only tackle two parts of this system - the sales ledger and the stock records. In many systems there are two files maintained for each ledger. The master file contains that information which does not change frequently such as names, addresses, stock descriptions e.t.c. In addition it can contain totals such as total balances .The transaction file or working file contains details of every transaction occurring. Updating of accounting records is known as "posting the transactions".
Stock files
The master file would contain the following fields:
Code
Description
discount category
unit of measure
physical quantity in stock
quantity on order
quantity matched to sales orders and not yet delivered
minimum order quantity
unit cost price
unit sales price
total purchases made [cost]
year to date quantity sold
current month quantity sold
year to date quantity purchased
current month quantity purchased
The field which needs to be updated is the physical stock. The items picked and delivered to customers need to be deducted from this.
The transaction file would contain:
Stock code
Transaction type "s" for sale
delivery date
delivery/order/invoice number
invoice date
sale price
quantity
possibly the cost price taken from the master file in order to be able to calculate profit made per event from this file
A transaction record will be created for every stock entry line on the delivery/picking note.

Sales ledger files
The Master file might contain the following fields:
customer name
customer accounts address
customer delivery address - only possible if delivery address is always the same. If this is not the case then the delivery address is either not stored at all or else it is held on a transaction file
customer code
contact name
phone number
fax number
e-mail
URL address
discount code
credit limit
total amount owed from current month
total amount owed for 30 days
total amount owed for 60 days
total amount owed for 90 days
total amount owed for longer than 90 days These last fields are useful for obtaining a quick age analysis of the amounts owed by each customer without having to read the transaction file.
The total sales invoice value will be added to the current month balance.
The transaction file might contain the following fields:
transaction type
invoice number
invoice date
customer account code
customer order number
delivery number if different from the invoice number
delivery date
total goods value
total vat

A record will be created for every invoice raised. Cash/cheque receipts from customers.When cheques and cash is received from customers, the customers' accounts must be updated so that their amount owed is reduced by their payment. This is usually done in one of two ways:
The amounts received from each customer is matched to sales invoices outstanding on the sales ledger. If invoices cannot be found to match the amounts received, then this is posted as unallocated cash. The month end routine will involve the matching of all invoice numbers to the allocated cash and if the receipts match the amounts on the invoice then the month end programme will delete all truncations relating to that invoice number. In other words after the month end routine the sales ledger will not show the paid invoices as still owing. This is considered important in order for the records not to become cluttered up with old data. Sometimes the cash received is less than the invoice amount. If the difference is due to discounts or other legitimate events, then the invoice will be properly deleted at the month end. However if there is no reason for the amounts not to match, the invoice will remain on the customer ledger along with the underpaid cash received. It is important that the statement is run off before the sales ledger month end routine, so that the statement contains the details that are deleted at the month end.
The amounts received from each customer are matched to a month and year e.g. £3000 received from customer J.Bloggs is matched:
£1000 to May 07
£2000 to June 07
The month end routine in this system will match amounts allocated to each month. Only when the transactions for a particular month come to zero, i.e. all invoices that month have been paid, will the month end routine delete the months transactions from the ledger

Internal Controls

2007-03-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

The need for internal controls in the organisation stems for the results of risk management view of directors.

The BOD is given authority by the shareholders to run the company anyway they feel fit as long as they can generate the returns that are required by them. The way the company is being managed is the prime responsibility of the BOD and they are held accountable thru the financial statement.

Senior executives have long sought ways to better control the enterprises they run. Internal controls are put in place to keep the company on course toward profitability goals and achievement of its mission, and to minimize surprises along the way. They enable management to deal with rapidly changing economic and competitive environments, shifting customer demands and priorities, and restructuring for future growth. Internal controls promote efficiency, reduce risk of asset loss, and help ensure the reliability of financial statements and compliance with laws and regulations.

Because internal control serves many important purposes, there are increasing calls for better internal control systems and report cards on them. Internal control is looked upon more and more as a solution to a variety of potential problems.

What Internal Control Is

Internal control is broadly defined as a process, effected by an entity's board of directors, management and other personnel, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories:

Adherence to policies and compliance to law/regulation
Effectiveness and efficiency of operations.
Safeguarding assets
Completeness and Accuracy of Financial records

Internal control systems operate at different levels of effectiveness. Internal control can be judged effective in each of the three categories, respectively, if the board of directors and management have reasonable assurance that:
They understand the extent to which the entity's operations objectives are being achieved.
Published financial statements are being prepared reliably.
Applicable laws and regulations are being complied with.
While internal control is a process, its effectiveness is a state or condition of the process at one or more points in time.

Internal control consists of five interrelated components. These are derived from the way management runs a business, and are integrated with the management process. Although the components apply to all entities, small and mid-size companies may implement them differently than large ones. Its controls may be less formal and less structured, yet a small company can still have effective internal control. The components are:

Control Environment
--The control environment sets the tone of an organization, influencing the control consciousness of its people. It is the foundation for all other components of internal control, providing discipline and structure. Control environment factors include the integrity, ethical values and competence of the entity's people; management's philosophy and operating style; the way management assigns authority and responsibility, and organizes and develops its people; and the attention and direction provided by the board of directors.

Risk Assessment
--Every entity faces a variety of risks from external and internal sources that must be assessed. A precondition to risk assessment is establishment of objectives, linked at different levels and internally consistent. Risk assessment is the identification and analysis of relevant risks to achievement of the objectives, forming a basis for determining how the risks should be managed. Because economic, industry, regulatory and operating conditions will continue to change, mechanisms are needed to identify and deal with the special risks associated with change.

Control Activities
--Control activities are the policies and procedures that help ensure management directives are carried out. They help ensure that necessary actions are taken to address risks to achievement of the entity's objectives. Control activities occur throughout the organization, at all levels and in all functions. They include a range of activities as diverse as approvals, authorizations, verifications, reconciliations, reviews of operating performance, security of assets and segregation of duties.

Information and Communication
--Pertinent information must be identified, captured and communicated in a form and timeframe that enable people to carry out their responsibilities. Information systems produce reports, containing operational, financial and compliance-related information, that make it possible to run and control the business. They deal not only with internally generated data, but also information about external events, activities and conditions necessary to informed business decision-making and external reporting. Effective communication also must occur in a broader sense, flowing down, across and up the organization. All personnel must receive a clear message from top management that control responsibilities must be taken seriously. They must understand their own role in the internal control system, as well as how individual activities relate to the work of others. They must have a means of communicating significant information upstream. There also needs to be effective communication with external parties, such as customers, suppliers, regulators and shareholders.

Monitoring
--Internal control systems need to be monitored--a process that assesses the quality of the system's performance over time. This is accomplished through ongoing monitoring activities, separate evaluations or a combination of the two. Ongoing monitoring occurs in the course of operations. It includes regular management and supervisory activities, and other actions personnel take in performing their duties. The scope and frequency of separate evaluations will depend primarily on an assessment of risks and the effectiveness of ongoing monitoring procedures. Internal control deficiencies should be reported upstream, with serious matters reported to top management and the board.

There is synergy and linkage among these components, forming an integrated system that reacts dynamically to changing conditions. The internal control system is intertwined with the entity's operating activities and exists for fundamental business reasons. Internal control is most effective when controls are built into the entity's infrastructure and are a part of the essence of the enterprise. "Built in" controls support quality and empowerment initiatives, avoid unnecessary costs and enable quick response to changing conditions.
There is a direct relationship between the three categories of objectives, which are what an entity strives to achieve, and components, which represent what is needed to achieve the objectives. All components are relevant to each objectives category. When looking at any one category--the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, for instance--all five components must be present and functioning effectively to conclude that internal control over operations is effective.

The internal control definition--with its underlying fundamental concepts of a process, effected by people, providing reasonable assurance--together with the categorization of objectives and the components and criteria for effectiveness, and the associated discussions, constitute this internal control framework.

What Internal Control Can Do
Internal control can help an entity achieve its performance and profitability targets, and prevent loss of resources. It can help ensure reliable financial reporting. And it can help ensure that the enterprise complies with laws and regulations, avoiding damage to its reputation and other consequences. In sum, it can help an entity get to where it wants to go, and avoid pitfalls and surprises along the way.

What Internal Control Cannot Do
Unfortunately, some people have greater, and unrealistic, expectations. They look for absolutes, believing that:
Internal control can ensure an entity's success--that is, it will ensure achievement of basic business objectives or will, at the least, ensure survival.
Even effective internal control can only help an entity achieve these objectives. It can provide management information about the entity's progress, or lack of it, toward their achievement. But internal control cannot change an inherently poor manager into a good one. And, shifts in government policy or programs, competitors' actions or economic conditions can be beyond management's control. Internal control cannot ensure success, or even survival.
Internal control can ensure the reliability of financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations.

This belief is also unwarranted. An internal control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable--not absolute--assurance to management and the board regarding achievement of an entity's objectives. The likelihood of achievement is affected by limitations inherent in all internal control systems. These include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the collusion of two or more people, and management has the ability to override the system. Another limiting factor is that the design of an internal control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs.
Thus, while internal control can help an entity achieve its objectives, it is not a panacea.

Roles and Responsibilities
Everyone in an organization has responsibility for internal control.

Management
--The chief executive officer is ultimately responsible and should assume "ownership" of the system. More than any other individual, the chief executive sets the "tone at the top" that affects integrity and ethics and other factors of a positive control environment. In a large company, the chief executive fulfills this duty by providing leadership and direction to senior managers and reviewing the way they're controlling the business. Senior managers, in turn, assign responsibility for establishment of more specific internal control policies and procedures to personnel responsible for the unit's functions. In a smaller entity, the influence of the chief executive, often an owner-manager, is usually more direct. In any event, in a cascading responsibility, a manager is effectively a chief executive of his or her sphere of responsibility. Of particular significance are financial officers and their staffs, whose control activities cut across, as well as up and down, the operating and other units of an enterprise.

Board of Directors
--Management is accountable to the board of directors, which provides governance, guidance and oversight. Effective board members are objective, capable and inquisitive. They also have a knowledge of the entity's activities and environment, and commit the time necessary to fulfill their board responsibilities. Management may be in a position to override controls and ignore or stifle communications from subordinates, enabling a dishonest management which intentionally misrepresents results to cover its tracks. A strong, active board, particularly when coupled with effective upward communications channels and capable financial, legal and internal audit functions, is often best able to identify and correct such a problem.

Internal Auditors
--Internal auditors play an important role in evaluating the effectiveness of control systems, and contribute to ongoing effectiveness. Because of organizational position and authority in an entity, an internal audit function often plays a significant monitoring role.

Other Personnel
--Internal control is, to some degree, the responsibility of everyone in an organization and therefore should be an explicit or implicit part of everyone's job description. Virtually all employees produce information used in the internal control system or take other actions needed to effect control. Also, all personnel should be responsible for communicating upward problems in operations, noncompliance with the code of conduct, or other policy violations or illegal actions.
A number of external parties often contribute to achievement of an entity's objectives. External auditors, bringing an independent and objective view, contribute directly through the financial statement audit and indirectly by providing information useful to management and the board in carrying out their responsibilities. Others providing information to the entity useful in effecting internal control are legislators and regulators, customers and others transacting business with the enterprise, financial analysts, bond raters and the news media. External parties, however, are not responsible for, nor are they a part of, the entity's internal control system.

PROGRESS TEST 1

2007-03-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

PROGRESS TEST 1 is coming, are you READY?

DATE for EXAM: 23 March 2007.

This will not be enjoyable if you have yet to start.

DO NOT WAIT FOR THE LAST MINUTE.

Or you will end up like W.E. Coyote. Always aiming for the Roadrunner but never getting it.

Organisation of notes in the blog

2007-03-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

About Chapter 10 p5 Robert Waterman and Tom Peters go to March 2006 post plus there is one on Chapter 6 P5 CAT - Fraud.

For some interesting weapons for Chapter 9 and 11 of the P5 BPP, check out May 2006 posting.

There is a post called Spells of Accountability and Governance in the July 2006 post which is relevant to Chapter 1 BPP P5 text.

The post in August 2006 is full of information for Chapter 2, 10, 9.

There is one big job in the post for September 2006 - that is for Chapter 6 P5, Fraud. you MUST check out the link that is given there.

There are 2 names in the study guide that are not in the text, you will find them in November 2006 post

Well that is a recap of the areas that I have put in so far. The rest is the progress test to date for which I have given the answers.

Well hope that helps sort out your need to complete your work.

PAPER 5 Progress TEST 1

2007-03-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

The paper is designed to be testing. Only those who have seriously prepared will be able to get thru the paper.

Section A - 20 marks

Section C - 40 marks

Section E - 40 marks

This is the total marks for the whole exam.

Have fun preparing for it. Those who fail, below 40 will be given some form of punishment to be decided later.

Paper 5 CAT Results for Dec 2006

2007-03-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

The results that came out was a satisfactory performance, but with the areas that were already spotted coming out 80%, this means that there was no excuse for those that did not get thru the paper.

The students that I talked to after the results had come out had this to say:

1. I only studied the day before the exam

2. I only decided to study 3 chapters before going to the exam

3. I forgot the theories that were asked by the examiner (even after the theory was asked in the Progress test)

The above is the sample of the student that failed. Then there were the students that passed, most of them listened to the advice but only partially. There is one thing very clear about the ATTITUDE of Students that makes me feel like :

Well due to the ATTITUDE problem faced by the previous student, I think there is a need for a significant change in the way in which I approach the students, become more nasty and cruel.

I believe that would be the best solution after all.

Organisation structure

2007-02-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

Chapter 2 Paper 5 CAT / Paper 1.3 ACCA / Paper 3.5 ACCA

The issue on structure is quite critical when understanding the organisation. As seen in the McKinsey 7-S mode

The importance of Structure is seen in the dominance it plays in the model. Orgnisation structure is concerned about the distribution of AUTHORITY in the organisation (INFRASTRUCTURE) and the distribution of RESPONSIBILITY (SUPERSTRUCTURE).

INFRASTRUCTURE- AUTHORITY

1. Span of Control of managers

- Narrow

- Wide

- Depends on manager ability / staff ability / job complexity / organisation systems

2. Centralisation or Decentralisation of Authority or Location

- Depends on the benefits and drawbacks of each approach

- Cost saving vs. Flexibility, Specialist vs. Generalist, Broad prespective in decision making vs. Narrow prespective in decision making, Global prespective vs. Local prespective, Far vs Near,

Slow vs Fast

3. Tall or Flat organisation (which is a by-product of the 1 and 2)

- Impact the spped in which decisions are made, no. of promotional ladders available, administrative cost involved, supervision, control, delegation

SUPERSTRUCUTRE - RESPONSIBILITY

The organisation set up of who is responsible for what will start first with the identification of how the MD wants the people below him to account to him?

Are they going to be accountable via COST? - Functional departmentation

Are they going to be accountable via PROFIT? - Output departmentation (Product / Brand)

Are they going to be accountable via INVESTMENT? - Divisionalisation (Product / Brand / Geographic)

If the MD wants accountability via PROFIT and COST? - Matrix structure or Hybrid structure.

Each method has its own advantage and disadvantage -

Specialisation / Flexibility / Co-ordination / Recruitment / Development of managers / Cost /Duplication / Conflicts / Training / Communications

The other issues that are important in this chapter are the following:

Henri Fayol 14 principles

1.Specialization of labour. Specializing encourages continuous improvement in skills and the development of improvements in methods.

2.Authority. The right to give orders and the power to exact obedience.

3.Discipline. No slacking, bending of rules. The workers should be obedient and respectful of the organization.

4.Unity of command. Each employee has one and only one boss.

5.Unity of direction. A single mind generates a single plan and all play their part in that plan.

6.Subordination of Individual Interests. When at work, only work things should be pursued or thought about.

7.Remuneration. Employees receive fair payment for services, not what the company can get away with.

8.Centralization. Consolidation of management functions. Decisions are made from the top.

9.Chain of Superiors (line of authority). Formal chain of command running from top to bottom of the organization, like military

10.Order. All materials and personnel have a prescribed place, and they must remain there.

11.Equity. Equality of treatment (but not necessarily identical treatment)

12.Personnel Tenure. Limited turnover of personnel. Lifetime employment for good workers.

13.Initiative. Thinking out a plan and do what it takes to make it happen.

14.Esprit de corps. Harmony, cohesion among personnel. It's a great source of strength in the organisation. Fayol stated that for promoting esprit de corps, the principle of unity of command should be observed and the dangers of divide and rule and the abuse of written communication should be avoided.

Max Weber and Bureaucracy

From the research into types of authority, where he found 3 major types - Charismatic, Traditional and Rational-Legal he concluded that the best form of arganisation is those that uses the rational-legal type - the bureaucracy.

A bureaucratic organisation tends to be/to have:

Specialisation

Hierarchic

Impersonal

Professional

Rational

Uniform

Stable

Technical competence

BURNS and STALKER (click on the name for info)

We are finally left with the INFORMAL ORGANISATION vs FORMAL ORGANISATION

Here we debate about informal communication, work methods, leaders structure and how it can benefit the organisation or be a detriment to it.

The end.

Why students fail?

2007-02-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

The analysis of examiner comments from ACCA for Paper T5 Managing People and System provides the following insight into the reasons for failure of students

This can be pinned down to 4 major factors:

1. Not fully understanding the requirements of the questions

1.1 This means the answers given were completely different from the required answer due to poor reading or instant recall without thinking
1.2 This also implies a rushed reading of the questions asked and assuming what the question asked for rather then knowing it.

2. Not familiar with the syllabus content

2.1 In this case the student is only mastering some elements of the syllabus and ignoring the other parts. This situation occurs due to the spotting nature of students - tending to study last minute implies that the revision done would not be able to cover the syllabus.
2.2 The impact of this would be that the student has patchy knowledge of the area, not sufficient to write out a good answer.

3. Poor skills when answering questions

3.1 This would relate to the ability of the student to recall and provide the necessary key words that go with the answer.
3.2 Poor techniques used in memorizing would lead to a poor key word usage capacity.
3.3 Using the appropriate examples would also be a factor in this situation
3.4 Poor grammer would be the last reason to cause a problem here - lost in writing.
3.5 Answers that are focused in one or 2 points only, repeating it in many ways

4. Not fulfilling the requirements of the question

4.1 This relates to point 1, but here the student knows the answer but messes up in the requirements part by confusing the needs of the question. Typically here the student confuses the answers for part (A) and part (B). By mislabeling the answer and the question you will loose all the marks allocated.
4.2 The requirements could indicate 3 points but students end up giving only 2 points.
4.3 The requirements may indicte to use an example to illustrate, means use an example.

Exam results out.

2007-02-20T02:56:00.000-08:00

For those that did battle last winter against the creature conjured up by the ACCA examiners, know it is time to find out whether sweet success or bitter failure awaits you.

For the most of you that got thru the exams - CONGRATULATIONS, but the battle is yet to be finished. You still have the new ACCA syllabus to get thru. You will need to work even harder as time goes on.

SUNWAYTES is the current training grounds for you to sharpen your skills before you go into the world of AUDITING in PwC or KPMG or EY. This new places are dreaded places but think of it as right of passage to the accounting world.

Enjoy your victory.

Summary of CAT Paper 5 - Chapter 1

2007-01-16T00:09:00.000-08:00

In this chapter the areas that were covered include the following

1. Organisation - define + differences + reason
2. System - open + close + organisation as system
3. Environment - simple/stable + dynamic/complex + PEST + Stakeholders
4. Financial Accountability - co. act + tax + standards + stock exchange + corporate governance
5. Implication of legal - laws and acts + operations
6. Regulation - ACCA + ASB + IAS + Codes
7. External audit report / corporate governance report / internal controls report

Overall the rating for this chapter for the coming JUNE 2007 CAT exams would be MODERATE RISK.

Make sure that you can

Writing out answers for Paper 5 CAT

2007-01-16T00:08:00.000-08:00

If you are planning to write answers for the questions that may be coming out in the future exams - remember that your examiner from ACCA, Beverely Lee, has already stated that she would like the students to use - PROSE style.

So how do you write an answer out for the P5 CAT paper?

Well the approach is to use a combination of semi-bullets and prose.

A good example for CAT adventurer in SUNWAYTES is as follows:

Question 1(a)

Define an organisation and its environment

The organisation can be defined as one that has a social arrangement with its members to strive for the same purpose. The organisation will have a collective goal which all the members will aim for and it will control its performance by taking corrective actions if the goals are not being met. The boundries of the organisation will be clearly layed out to ensure it is distinct from the environment.

The organisation's environment can be classified as one that can be simple and stable or one that is complex and dynamic. The organisation's environment can be classified into 3 different levels: internal environment; specific environment and general environment.

Internal environment
This environment only affects the organisation's internal processes and functions.

Specific environment
This environment affects all organisation in an industry. This is normally made up of the stakeholders of the organisation

General environment
This environment affect all organisations in all industries. This is normally made up of the PEST variables: Political; Economical; Social and Technological

Analysis of answering technique:

The red indicates a pure prose style answer wheras the blue indicates the semi-bullet prose style.

Well the next few questions that are there

1b)
Identify the stakeholders in the organisation

Answer frame
1. Define stakeholders
2. Introduce the company : eg - McD
3. Identify internal stakeholders - Employee and Management
4. Identify external stakeholders - Supplier, Shareholders, Customers

Who are they?

WELCOME NEW ADVENTURERS

2007-01-04T02:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the class. Be ready for battles of knowledge and wit. This will be a semester for you to remember.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR

2006-12-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

To all the students that have studied under me for Paper 5 - I would like to wish you all a happy new year and for those celebrating Christmas - Merry Christmas.

I hope the new year brings you all a fresh breath of success and luck.

TRAINING COMPLETE

2006-12-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

The final exam is over. It looks like if you had just studied the # and HR only, you would have been able to score.

Enjoy your holidays since the journey of the young audit apprentice will start again in Jan 2007, where you meet the more complicated and miserable papers - 7,8,9.

Only 3 more to go before you complete your ascension into the ACCA throne.

Hope that all of you get thru the paper, and do post the results after you have got it in Feb 2007.

EXAM FOR PAPER 5 CAT - BE READY

2006-12-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

BEAST: TYPIACON II
SUMMONED BY: ACCA EXAMINATION DIVISION
APPEARANCE: 8 th DECEMBER 2006
PAPER 5 BEAST

Well the time is here for you to prove that you are going to get thru this paper. Be confident with your knowledge, trust me, if you did go thru the notes and spent some time memorizing the facts you should be able to get thru the paper without any problems.

The key to getting thru the paper is to focus your energy on atleast 3 areas in broad level (be able to recall from the text book without aid) and the 2 areas narrow level (be able to recall with assistance - short notes and others)

Be sure that you have an overall broad knowledge areas that you are not focusing by using the short notes that I gave you in the class (the pass cards) this will allow you to get some marks.

So far talking to most, it seems that most have yet to finish everything.

Don't panic.

Take 3 areas, go thru the high risk areas - memorise the answers in point format
Take 2 areas, go thru the high risk - memorise the answers in point format

Read all of Chapter 17 and 18 (Area E) Review the past papers on it - chance of repeat is there.
20 marks - aim to get atleast 15 marks

Read up (Area B) - Internal controls / Fraud / Control systems - can be repeat of past year or it can be one from the MOCK or PT 2 paper.
20 marks - aim to get atleast 15 marks

TOTAL: 30 marks

You need to pick one more area for another 10 marks - you decide

A,C or D

From the reviews, make sure you use the PASS CARD notes to speed up your reading and memorizing time

Review the MOCK and the PT's to date.

BEST OF LUCK IN DEFEATING THE BEAST.

IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TEACHING YOU GUYS and GIRLS from ETA,ZETA,GAMMA and IOTA

YOU ARE ALL CHAMPIONS IN YOUR OWN WAY, just stay focus and get thru the night in one peace.

2006-11-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

It looks like many of the adventurers from the CAT REALM of SUNWAYTES in SUNWAY COLLEGE did not make it thru the battle. I was really amazed at the number of deaths per class. Never as a PAPER 5 in the time th I have been preparing the papers hd so many fails in one go. It looked like tsunami just hit the whole CAT adventurers after a magnitude 9 earthquake. Questions that I asked were:

QUESTION 1
Every organisation needs objectives and a structure to support it. Required: (a) Identify and explain the objectives of one private and one public organisation with examples 4 marks Answer: 1 mark for objective and 1 mark for example -2 marks x 2 [ private & public ] = 4

The objective of private organisations normally revolve around making profit and the related agendas that support the profit notion. The objective of AirAsia is to achieve a 25% return on capital employed. The objectives of public organisation normally revolve around the provision of services to public. The objective of the Road transport department is to ensure all public transports are maintained and are of good working condition

(b) Explain what is meant by the term “decentralisation” 4 marks Answer Well defined statement with key word – geographic (2)& decision making authority(2) – 4 marks

Decentralisation refer to the extent to which authority for decision making is either retained at the top (or centre) of the organisation or delegated to lower (or outer) levels. . Geography decentralisation implies that some functions may be centralised rather than 'scattered' in different offices, departments or locations. Authority decentralisation therefore implies increased delegation, empowerment and autonomy at lower levels of the organisation.

(c) Identify and explain two advantages and disadvantages of decentralisation 12 marks Answer Each advantage explained = 3 marks to maximum 6 Each disadvantage explained = 3 marks maximum to 6 marks

Disadvantage
The decisions are made at many points and so are harder to co-ordinate. The junior managers cannot take a wider view of the problem and consequences of thier decisions. Policies and procedures in the organisation are not standardized. The quality of decisions may be poor due to the level of experience of junior managers. The junior managers may not be able to keep the balnce between different departments and functions. The number of managers at the lower level could be increased, thus adding to the cost of the structure.

Advantages
It avoids overburdening the top managers in terms of workload and stress. The passing of responsibilities to junior manager could improve their motivation via intrinsic rewards. Decisions made will reflect the local situation. The speed at which the decisions are made is faster compared to centralized. It also improves the junior management general mangement skills, making them ready for upward progression.
* there is more points in the above answers then required.

QUESTION 2
Fraud is a bane to most organisation, be it private or public.
Required:
(a) Identify and explain the two main categories of corporate fraud 4 marks Answer Misappropriation of assets – theft of stocks or cash / Employee fraud – 2 marks Misrepresentation of financial statement – manipulation of FS / Management fraud – 2 marks

b) Identify and describe two common indicators of fraud 4 marks Answer 2 mark per point indicated. Maximum 4
Complex organisation structures. Profit levels/margins deviating from industry average without logical explanation. Low market opinion on the company. The behavioural indicators include secrecy, inadequate segregation of duties, untaken holidays.

(c) Explain the responsibilities of the company directors and auditors when it comes to fraud 12 marks Answer
The responsibilities for directors 3 marks for each point, maximum 6 marks

(a) Ensure that the activities of the entity are conducted honestly and that its assets are safeguarded (b) Establish arrangements to deter fraudulent or other dishonest conduct and to detect any that occurs (c) Ensure that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, financial information, whether used internally or for financial reporting, is reliable.

The responsibilities for auditors 3 marks for each point, maximum 6 marks

The responsibility of the external auditor is only to express an opinion upon whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the company's financial situation and results. The auditor should design audit procedures so as to have a reasonable expectation of detecting misstatements arising from fraud or error. It should be emphasised that, in the case of a sophisticated fraud, which has been designed to escape detection by the auditors, a reasonable expectation is all that they can have.

If the auditors become aware, during the audit, that fraud or error may exist, they should document their findings and report them to management. In the case of fraud, the auditors should then consider whether the matter should be reported to an appropriate authority in the public interest. If they decide that this is the case, they request that the directors make the report. If the directors do not do so, or if the fraud casts doubt upon the integrity of the directors, the auditors should make the report themselves.

QUESTION 3
Motivation of employees is a critical element in organisation success.
Required: (a) Briefly explain the findings of Douglas MacGregor in the way a managers style could be used as a motivational approach 10 marks

Answer Douglas MacGregor suggested that managers in the USA tended to behave as though they subscribed to one of two opposing philosophies about people's attitudes to work: Theory X and Theory Y. (a) Theory X (0.5) suggests that most people dislike work (1) and responsibility and will avoid both if possible. Because of this, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed and/or threatened with punishment to get them to make an adequate effort(3). Managers who operate according to these assumptions will tend to supervise closely, apply detailed rules and controls, and use 'carrot and stick' motivations.(2) (b) Theory Y(0.5) suggests that physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest (1). The ordinary person does not inherently dislike work(1): according to the conditions it may be a source of satisfaction or punishment. At present the potentialities of the average person are not being fully used. A manager with this sort of attitude to his staff is likely to be a democratic, consultative type(2) Total 10 marks allocated according the key words indicated.

(b) Briefly explain the findings of William Ouchi on the approach managers should take to motivate staffs 10 marks

Answer Ouchi described the Theory Z (1) organisation as being characterised by: (a) Long-term employment, with slow-progressing managerial career paths (as in the Japanese system, but with a more Western specialisation of skills) (b) Broad concern for employee welfare, both inside and outside the work context (not just work performance, as in the Western system): commitment to the 'organisation family' (c) Implicit informal controls (such as guiding values) alongside explicit, formal measures (d) Collective consensus decision-making processes (Japanese), but with individual retention of ultimate responsibility for defined areas of accountability (Western) (e) Industrial relations characterised by trust, co-operation and mutual adjustment, rather than unionisation, demarcation and artificial status barriers
3 marks for each point maximum up to 9 marks only

QUESTION 4
The ability of the organisation to learn from its mistake is critical in the current age.
Required: (a) Identify and explain any four sources of learning disability that was identified by Peter Senge 12 marks

Answer = 4 points illustrated well x 3 marks for each point

'I am my position'. When asked what they do for a living, most people describe the tasks they perform, not the purposes they fulfil; thus they tend to see their responsibilities as limited to the boundaries of their position. 'The enemy is out there'. If things go wrong it is all too easy to imagine that somebody else 'out there' was at fault. The illusion of taking charge. The individual decides to be more active in fighting the enemy out there, trying to destroy rather than to build. The fixation on events. Conversations in organisations are dominated by concern about events (last month's sales, who's just been promoted, the new product from our competitor), and this focus inevitably distracts us from seeing the longer-term patterns of change.

The parable of the boiled frog. Failure to adapt to gradually building threats is pervasive. (If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately try to scramble out; but if you place the frog in room temperature water, he will stay put. If you heat the water gradually, the frog will do nothing until he boils: this is because 'the frog's internal apparatus for sensing threats to survival is geared to sudden changes in his environment, not to slow, gradual changes'.) The delusion of learning from experience. We learn best from experience, but we never experience the results of our most important and significant decisions. Indeed, we never know what the outcomes would have been had we done something else. The myth of the management team. All too often, the management 'team' is not a team at all, but is a collection of individuals competing for power and resources. Other acceptable answers could have made reference to 7S principles

(b) Explain any two stages in the learning cycle with examples 8 marks
Answer Each stage maximum 4 marks x 2 = 8 marks
(a) Having an experience: being fully involved in an action or interaction, utilising your current knowledge and skills. (Not distracting your attention from the job to consider its 'training' implications.) Example - Preparing a bank reconciliation

(b) Reviewing the experience: afterwards, looking back at what happened, describing it, reflecting on how effective you were and what you could do better or differently. You may use a Personal Development Journal (PDJ) to write about events and interactions, to help you to reflect on these matters. Example - Understanding the steps that were taken in preparing the bank reconcilition

(c) Concluding from the experience: forming general principles or theories that suggest how you might do something different next time in order to achieve different results. Example - coming to a conclusion on the steps and why items reconcile in the bank reconciliation

(d) Planning the next steps: planning specific opportunities to apply and test your conclusions in action. Example - Getting the necessary information and preparing the template to be used for the coming bank reconciliation

QUESTION 5
Securing the building from threats of unauthorised entry can be done with a combination of procedures and device. Required:

(a) Identify and describe four devices that can be used to control access. 10 marks
Answer, Any 4 x 2.5 marks each = 10 marks
(a) Doors can be closed and locked
(b) Windows can be closed and locked. Sensitive areas may also have strengthened glass or bars. (c) Swipe cards (and more sophisticated equivalents, such as voice recognition systems) may allow only authorised individuals to trigger the opening of doors.
(d) Combination locks (in the form of electronic keypads) may control the opening of the doors: only authorised individuals are given the entry code number, which should be periodically changed.
(e) Video and entry phone systems may be used so that would-be entrants can be identified by those inside, before the door is opened.
(f) Cabinets, cupboards and drawers can be protected by means of locks.
(g) Some items should be kept in a strongbox or safe, cash being the most obvious example. Safes may be opened by combination (to which only authorised personnel have access) or electronically-controlled time locks (as in a bank).
(h) Computers and computer files can be protected using electronic passwords and access codes.

(b) Identify and explain four procedures that should be stated in the organisations security manual. 10 marks
Answers Any 4 procedures with some explanation is acceptable. 2.5 marks x 4 = 10 marks

There should be procedures in the manual that identifies the regular staffs. If staffs are required to wear badges to identify them, it must be followed. There should be a procedure for vetting non-staff. This includes the actions that must be taken by the staffs or security on the non-staff when he or she enters the building. Protecting the building, aresponsible official should be identified in the procedures to ensure that the office and windows are locked before closing up for the day.

The organisation should have procedures that protect the sensitive documents by ensuring that they are locked and kept in a secure place. The management should have procedures that ensure the security items are always safe and secure.

THE END OF REVIEW
Now - how hard is the paper, if you studied it should have been easier
Why did so many fail?
1. Lack of studying - especially the name, most missed the names
2. Marking was extra strict - so remark and see how well you do it
3. For those who have been failing the papers from the begining - SECTION E + B + A
4. Well the rest of you need to pay attention to the stars and suns in your text book
In this case you need to know that above spotting can go miserable wrong, hence the need to make sure you know most of the areas in general to be able to write something.
This can be done by doing the mind maps without refering to it. If you can reproduce the maps without refering to it means you have memorized sufficient to pass.

Business & Accounting environment
- General environment (LR)
- Organisation structure (HR)
- Planning (LR)
- Systems, Procedures and Policies (HR)
- Accounting department (MR)

Effective management of business and systems
- Internal controls (MR)
- Fraud (HR)
- Control objectives and activities (MR)
- Management information system (LR)

Management theory, principles and techniques
- Leadership, management and supervision (LR)
- Individuals and group behaviour (MR)
- Team management (HR)
- Motivation (HR)

Effectiveness at work
- Work effectiveness (MR)
- Communications (LR)
- Training and development (HR)
- Appraisal (MR)
- Learning (HR)

Health, safety and security
- Health at work place (HR)
- Security at work place (HR)

Environment
- Organisation
- Environment
- Stakeholders
- PEST
- Authorities #
- Financial Information #
- External auditor
- Accounting standard setting bodies #
- Corporate governance #
- Legislation – health, employment, data protection #

Organisation structure
- Objectives #
- Stages of setting up
- Influences #
- Business as system #
- Functional roles – Production / HR / Marketing / Accounting
- Level and spans
- Structure of organisation #
o DRUCKER
o FAYOL
o MINTZBERG
o JOAN WOODWARD
o BURNS & STALKER
o WEBER

Planning
- Objective
- Long vs. short
- Human resource plan
- Co-ordination in planning #

Systems and procedures #
- Purpose
- Principles of effective system
- Use flowchart
- Identify weakness – office procedures
- Identify weakness – financial controls

Accounting systems and procedures
- Function and purpose
- Key elements in system
- Integration with others
- Manual vs. Computerised #

Internal controls
- Importance #
- Responsibilities #
- External vs. Internal auditor role #
- Weakness
- Effective controls

Fraud
- Prerequisites
- Types #
- Implications #
- Scope – manual vs. computerised #
- System and procedures – prevention & detection
- Role of external auditor #
- Responsibilities of directors #

Control objectives and activities
- Payroll system
- Purchases cycles
- Sales cycles #
- Cash system #
- Integrated systems – improvements in controls #

Management information system
- Features of system #
- Information flow in accounting system
- Draft reports #
- Data processing and storage in A/C system

Leadership and supervision
- Authority (Woodward, Burns and Stalker, Weber, Fayol)
- Skills & Traits of leaders ( Hersey, Handy, Likert, Blake)
- Role of management (Drucker, Kanter, Ouchi, Peters)
- Role of supervisors
- Effective delegation
- Management vs. leadership vs. supervision vs. delegation #

Individual and group behaviour
- Culture & limitation ( Handy & Anthony)
- Individual vs. group behaviour #
- Contribution – individual & team #
- Work benefiting from team / individual #
- Behaviour facilitating and inhibiting success #

Teams
- Purpose
- Composition – Belbin & Peters and Waterman #
- Stages of formation – Tuckman
- Team building – Woodcock #
- Rewarding & Evaluating
Motivation #
- Key theories – Maslow, Herzberg, Handy, Argyris, Equity
- Key theories – Vroom, McGregor, Ouchi, McLelland
- Differences – process vs. content
- Motivators
- Rewards and motivation
- Importance of feedback
- Discipline

Working effectiveness
- Benefits of planning
- Priority
- Time management
- Planning tools
- Roles

Communications
- Importance
- Effective communication and effects of poor communication
- Verbal vs. non-verbal #
- Interpersonal skills #
- Importance of relationships
- Gaining commitment #
- Conflict

Learning #
- Process of learning
- Ways of learning
- Effect of difference
- Barriers to learning
- Management role
- Motivating to learn

Training and Development
- Training vs. Development #
- Importance – individual and company #
- Role & Responsibility Training manager vs. Line manager
- Training needs analysis
- Training solutions (including development) #

Appraisal
- Process
- Purpose and benefit #
- Barriers
- Management skills #
- Role of appraiser and appraisee
- Appraisal interview
- Feedback in appraisal #
- Link between appraisal and development

Health and safety #
- Legislation
- Source of danger
- Preventative and protective measures
- Role of training
- Safe working condition & hazards
- Role of management
- * Reporting
- * Emergency

Security #
- Sources of breaches
- Prevention of breaches
- Implication of breaches
- Security principle

# indicates a high chance of occuring this round

Study Guide 13 and 11

2006-11-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Who is Argyris mentioned in study guide 13?
Chris Argyris’s Theory of Adult Personality

This concept of motivation extends from the ideas that was proposed by Chris in his book “Personality and Orgnisation”

He concluded that traditional and hierarchical organisation structures and the needs and capabilities of mature adults are thrown into conflict due to personality of the adults.

He argues that certain ideas proposed by the classical schools are by itself a cause of de-motivation to the staffs.

Scientific management – principle of specialization assumes that people will work more efficiently as the task becomes better defined but this inhibit self-actualization in the work place.

In Weber’s bureaucracy, people in a clear hierarchy of authority with top-level managers directing and controlling lower levels but this creates dependent, passive workers who feel they have little control over their work environment.

In Fayol’s administrative principles, the concept of unity of direction assumes that efficiency will increase when person’s work is planned and directed by a supervisor but this creates conditions for psychological failure. Psychological success occurs when people define their own goals.

This brings us to the similar argument that was proposed by MacGregor, in his Theory X and Theory Y. Argyris recommends that the managers should try to expand job responsibilities, increase task variety and adjust supervisory style to allow for more participation.

He concludes that the common problems for the company such as employee absenteeism, turnover are all signs that there is a mismatch between workers’ mature personalities and outdated management practices.

Who is Anthony mentioned in study guide 11?

Richard Tanner Pascale and Anthony G Athos are the first few to pay attention to the fact that Japanese practices and business success were related closely. In their book “The Art of Japanese Management” they described the influences of Japanese culture on the organizations ability to strive of improvements.

The views that were proposed by Anthony does not differ too much from Ouchi especially since they both came from the same consultancy firm - McKinsey

Results out for PT 2

2006-11-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

The results for the paper is out - go and collect it at the office.
I decided not to publish it here since looking at the comments here.

The following is the grading situation.

0-20 marks = Sure fail in the final unless immediate remedial action is taken now

21 - 30 marks = 80% chance of failing the final paper - action needed

31 - 40 marks = 60% chance of failing the paper

40 - 44 marks = 40% chance of failing

Above 45 marks = You are in the safe zone = 20% chance of failing

Above 65 marks = excellent

Above 80 marks = superb

Above 90 marks = You make me proud

One more thing - please no swearing in the comments side, I really dislike any kind of swearing. Remember that this blog is for you to ask your questions and get answers, not designed for you to:

1. Voice out your opinion on others or yourself
2. Express yourself on other unrelated issues

Next time you comment - think first - is it necessary? What do you gain from doing it? What will other gain from your comment? Who are you to that person and what does that person mean to you?

If you gain nothing and others gain nothing - keep it to yourself and show some restraint on your part.
Because I hate to be wasting my time to delete comments that are irrelevant. Time is precious, don't waste it on simple issues.

Time is money, if you could earn RM100 for every hour, how would you have used you time? Writing comments or earning money?
Well get to work, start earning money.

Answering the essay questions

2006-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Most essay exam questions will have one or more "key words" that indicate which organizational pattern you should use in your answer. The six most common organizational patterns for essay exams are:
Definition
Analysis
Cause and Effect
Comparison-Contrast
Process
Thesis and Support

You may find these exercises (further down the page) helpful in better grasping the processes involved in answering the types of essay exam questions discussed here.

Definition
Typical questions:
"Define X."
"What is an X?"
"Choose N terms from the following list and define them."
ExampleQ: "What is a fanzine?"A: A fanzine is a magazine written, mimeographed, and distributed by and for science fiction or comic strip enthusiasts.Avoid constructions such as "An encounter group is where ..." and "General semantics is when ... ."

Process
State the term to be defined.
State the class of objects or concepts to which the term belongs.
Differentiate the term from other members of the class by listing the term's distinguishing characteristics.
Tools you can use
Details which describe the term
Examples and incidents
Comparisons to familiar terms
Negation to state what the term is not
Classification (i.e., break it down into parts)
Examination of origins or causes
Examination of results, effects, or uses

Analysis
Analysis involves breaking something down into its components and discovering the parts that make up the whole.
Typical questions
"Analyze X."
"What are the components of X?"
"What are the five different kinds of X?"
"Discuss the different types of X."
ExampleQ: "Discuss the different services a junior college offers a community."A: Thesis: A junior college offers the community at least three main types of educational services: vocational education for young people, continuing education for older people, and personal development for all individuals.

Process
Outline for supporting details and examples. For example, if you were answering the example question, an outline might include:
Vocational education
Continuing education
Personal development
Write the essay, describing each part or component and making transitions between each of your descriptions. Some useful transition words include:
first, second, third, etc.
next
another
in addition
moreover
Conclude the essay by emphasizing how each part you have described makes up the whole you have been asked to analyze.

Cause and Effect
Cause and effect involves tracing probable or known effects of a certain cause or examining one or more effects and discussing the reasonable or known cause(s).
Typical questions
"What are the causes of X?"
"What led to X?"
"Why did X occur?"
"Why does X happen?"
"What would be the effects of X?"
ExampleQ: "Define recession and discuss the probable effects a recession would have on today's society."A: Thesis: A recession, which is a nationwide lull in business activity, would be detrimental to society in the following ways: it would .......A......., it would .......B......., and it would .......C....... .The rest of the answer would explain, in some detail, the three effects: A, B, and C.
Useful transition words
because
consequently
therefore
for this reason
as a result

Comparison-Contrast
Typical questions
"How does X differ from Y?"
"Compare X and Y."
"What are the advantages and disadvantages of X and Y"
ExampleQ: "Which would you rather own--a compact car or a full-sized car?"A: Thesis: I would own a compact car rather than a full-sized car for the following reasons: .......A......., .......B......., .......C......., and .......D.......
Two patterns of development

Pattern 1
Full-sized car
Advantages
Disadvantages
Compact car
Advantages
Disadvantages

Pattern 2
Advantages
Full-sized car
Compact car
Disadvantages
Full-sized car
Compact car

Useful transition words
on the other hand
similarly
yet
unlike A, B ...
in the same way
but
while both A and B are ..., only B ..nevertheless
on the contrary
though
despite
however
conversely
while A is ..., B is ...

Process
Typical questions
"Describe how X is accomplished."
"List the steps involved in X."
"Explain what happened in X."
"What is the procedure involved in X?"
Process (sometimes called process analysis)This involves giving directions or telling the reader how to do something. It may involve discussing some complex procedure as a series of discrete steps. The organization is almost always chronological.
ExampleQ: "According to Richard Bolles' What Color Is Your Parachute?, what is the best procedure for finding a job?"A: In What Color Is Your Parachute?, Richard Bolles lists seven steps that all job-hunters should follow: .....A....., .....B....., .....C....., .....D....., .....E....., .....F....., and .....G..... .The remainder of the answer should discuss each of these seven steps in some detail
Useful transition words
first, second, third, etc.
next
then
following this
finally
after, afterwards, after this
subsequently
simultaneously, concurrently

Thesis and Support
Thesis and support involves stating a clearly worded opinion or interpretation and then defending it with all the data, examples, facts, and so on that you can draw from the material you have studied.
Typical questions
"Discuss X."
"A noted authority has said X. Do you agree or disagree?"
"Defend or refute X."
"Do you think that X is valid? Defend your position."
ExampleQ: "Despite criticism, television is useful because it aids in the socializing process of our children."A: Television hinders rather than helps in the socializing process of our children because .......A......., .......B......., and .......C....... .The rest of the answer is devoted to developing arguments A, B, and C.
Useful transition words
therefore
for this reason
it follows that
as a result
because
however
consequently

Adapted from http://www.iamnext.com/academics/essayexeg.html

Respect and courtesy

2006-10-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

1.
ACCA registered students, affiliates and members are required to observe proper standards of professional conduct.
2.
ACCA registered students, affiliates and members must specifically refrain from what is described in ACCA's bye-law 8(a)(i) as misconduct. Registered students, affiliates and members must also refrain from taking any action which amounts to a serious departure from the standards set out in this Code of Ethics and Conduct as specified in bye-law 8(a)(ii).
3.
Those failing to observe the standards expected of them may be required to answer a complaint before ACCA's Disciplinary Committee.
4.
It is not possible to specify all those combinations of circumstances in which a member may be held by Disciplinary Committee to have committed professional misconduct, as defined above. However, this section of the Rulebook (which may be added to or varied from time to time) sets out ACCA's ethical requirements in relation to those professional situations that most commonly arise.
5.
ACCA registered students, affiliates and members who are in doubt as to their correct course of action in particular cases should obtain further guidance from ACCA. It is advisable to seek guidance prior to embarking on a course of action.
6.
Where statutory and regulatory requirements are concerned, ACCA registered students, affiliates and members are reminded that they must also refer to, and comply with, the legislation and regulatory requirements of the countries in which they work.
7.
The Code of Ethics and Conduct applies to all registered students, affiliates and members.

The ACCA ethical guideline states that the above is a requirement for all ACCA graduates and students.

So as students of ACCA/CAT you should be able to show some courtesy to the lecturer and people that you meet. Remember that if anyone feels that you don't act in a professional manner, they have the right to put you into enquiry with the ACCA disciplinary board.

Make sure that you leave the course a better person than you came in, in terms of knowledge as well as attitude and manners. Remember that skills can be trained but attitude is developed within you over many years.

Being called a GENTLEMAN and a LADY is purely due to the manner in which one conducts him or herself. Being called a MAN and a WOMAN implies a lack of good conduct.

Magical Aid for those on the verge of distruction

2006-10-03T02:32:00.000-07:00

BATTLE CRY: UNDEX LEGION IS UPON YOU

WARNING - YOU ARE NOW REACHING CRITICAL MASS - IF YOU DO NOT START YOU REVISION NOW..............................................DEATH IS A SWEET TASTE IN THE HANDS OF UNDEX

YOU SHOULD HAVE COMPLETED THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS BY THIS WEEK (OCT3-OCT7)

CHAPTER 17,18

CHAPTER 6,7

CHAPTER 2,3

CAUSE NEXT WEEK YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME ONLY FOR

(OCT8-OCT13)

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 11,12

REVISE EVERYTHING AGAIN BEFORE THE BATTLE.

Extra materials can be found in the following locations:

PT 1 2005

PT 1 q 2006 AND ANSWERS

MOCK 2006 JUNE

Some of the questions in there may give you the needed advantage to beat the undex but then again it all depends on the luck that you have.

Enjoy preparing.

How to use the past year papers - Theory papers in CAT/ACCA

2006-09-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that most of the adventurers in the realm of ACCA/CAT in SunwayTES are mostly misguided when it comes to using the past year papers that they get.

According to Study guide 4 of Paper 5 CAT, it would be sensible for the adventurers to have a standard operating procedure when approaching the reviewsof past year papers.

Most of the common methods used by students:
1. Read the question
2. Read the answer
3. Memorize the answer for that question.

This procedure seems to be faulty, since it only ensures that you can handle a similar question that comes out. It does nothing for the thinking process that is required in the exam hall.

I propose that you do the following chronological approach to the past year paper.

1. Read the question
2. Quickly jot down 2 - 6 keywords that would be the base of your answer
3. Decide on the style that you are going to use - Point/Prose
4. Take the text book/notes and identify where the answer is located, eg: Note 1.1,1.2 read the part
5. Now review the answer, check that
a. Your keywords are there
b. You identified the right part of the text.
c. Note whether your style was correctly selected - else identify the reason why it was not and make a note of it.
d. Check that you part a and b is correct else you need to read the question and identify why you got it wrong. If it was because you don't understand - check back with me.

PT 2 CAT - BEAST - Undex Knight

2006-09-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well its time for PT 2 for SUNWAY University College - CAT dimension adventurers. In this battle against the Undex beast the following groups will be pitting thier wits against the beast.

Group Eta
Group Zeta
Group Epsilon
Group Gamma (new edition)

In this battle the winner will be decided by reference to the 1 -average score obtained. So numbers do not have the impact, its the brains and how well the group manages both the weak and the strong. A few strong and many weaks will still lead to a defeat.

Sifu took some time to look at the past beast that was created by sifu as well as the CAT Examiner for Paper 5/C6 before deciding on the beast weapons of destruction.

The Undex will have the following coverage:
Part A of TEXT - ALL
Part B of TEXT - ALL
Part C of TEXT - ALL
Part D of TEXT - 13,14,16
PART E of TEXT - ALL

But initial sources close to the creator reveals the following will be its weak spots
A -2/3
B - 6/7
C - 11/12
D - 16
E - 17/18

There will be bonus scores for those that know how to get it. Atleast 2 will be bonus for those that use the right kill approach.

Venue of battle: Sunway University College
Zone: SunwayTES -ACCA/CAT
Duration of battle: 2 hours
Date of battle: 7th October - month of Scorpio
Immunnity of Beast: Detail spotting spells, Waffling spells, Poor timing impacts,
Weakness of Beast: Superior time management spells, Broad coverage spells

BE PREPARED - CAUSE IT IS GETTING HARDER NOW!

FRAUD STORIES

2006-09-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

Well it would seem that accountants are well know for many kinds of fraud

- round-trip transactions (AOL-TimeWarner)
- cookie-jar accounting (Microsoft)
- big bath accounting
- special purpose vehicles (SPV)
- voodoo accounting
- creative accounting

It would be good if you knew the terms since most of the accounting standards are there to prevent the above moves by accountants to commit financial fraud.

you can check out how some of the frauds were commited by going to FRAUD

RABEX Uncovered

2006-09-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

The RABEX was was designed to kill time of the students by including some overkill questions that would have been easy to do and some difficult questions.

Overall the review of the paper indacates that GAMMA student group had the following issues
1. Many of the students were not prepared for the test
2. Many did not follow the required approach to pass the exam
- no time management
- no analysis of questions to select the easier ones and the harder ones
- not preparing an attack plan for the answering sequence
- not formating the paper the way I required it - P.T.O and End of Question

The following is the questions that came out. For those in other groups - Eta, Zeta and Epsilon

Question 1
Explain what is meant by the term “span of control”
2 marks
State 2 arguments for narrow span of control and 2 arguments for wide span of control
8 marks
There are many factors that can influence the appropriate span of control. Describe 4 factors that could influence the managers choice on the span of control
10 marks

Question 2
What is the differences between a group and a crowd
6 marks
Explain the how groups can influence the behaviour of individuals
10 marks
Explain what is meant by individual perception
4 marks

Question 3
Write a memo to your manager that explains the following
2 marks
What are the common causes of conflict in the organisation
4 marks
Explain what causes healthy competition in the organisation to change into destructive conflict
6 marks
Give 4 approaches the management can use to manage conflict in the organisation
8 marks

Question 4
Describe 5 security procedures that should be adopted by the management to ensure that the organisation physical security risk can be reduced
10 marks
Describe 5 security procedures that should be adopted by the management to ensure that the organisations’ data security risk can be reduced
10 marks

Question 5
a. State the four objectives of the internal control system
6 marks
b. Briefly explain 5 internal controls that can be used by management
10 marks
c. State 2 limitations of the internal control system
4 marks

The answer scheme for the paper is as follows:
Solution 1
a.
Span of control refers to the number of subordinate immediately reporting to a superior official
- 2 marks (number/reporting)
b.
Arguments in favour of narrow span of control
Better control, co-ordination, communication
Efficient use of managerial time and cost – less time on routine task)
Reduce need for manager to delegate

Arguments in favour of wide span of control
· More efficient use of managerial time – forced to delegate
· More responsibility and discretion for subordinates – satisfaction

- 2 marks for each valid point – maximum 8
c.
Factors that are influencing the span of control
· manager capabilities
· nature of manager’s workload – supervision and non supervision
· capabilities of the subordinates – motivated and skills
· nature of the task – routine, repetitive, programmed vs. complex
· the technology involved in the task
· geographical dispersion of the subordinates – concentrated vs. dispersed
· level of team working in the organisation

- 2 marks for each valid point – maximum 10

Solution 2
a.
The difference between a crowd and group
· sense of identity
· sense of inclusion, belonging and loyalty
· interdependence and interaction

- 2 marks for each point mentioned and any other relevant points made to a maximum of 6 marks

b.
Groups can influence the individual by
social facilitation process – individuals perform task better in the presence of other observing on the same task
social loafing – individuals exert less effort when they feel that they are pooling their efforts towards attaining a common goal
Group conformity – the individuals are forced to follow the groups norms and are normally reinforced by positive (reward) or negative (rejection) manner
Group cohesion – individuals are impacted by the forces that attract and motivate the group to stay together, includes loyalty, identity and solidarity
Group polarisation – individuals tendencies and attitudes are amplified in the group by shifting the risk profiles of individuals into (risky-shift or cautious-shift)

2 marks for each valid explanation x 5 = 10 marks maximum

c.
The perception of individuals is the psychological process by which stimuli are selected, organised and processed into patterns which are meaningful to the individual
- 1 mark
In includes the following items
The context at which the information is provided
The nature of the stimuli provided in the situation
The internal factors of the individual – personality

- 1 mark for each point maximum 3

Solution 3
a.
The common cause of conflict in the organisation is
Power and resources re limited
Individuals and teams have their own goals, interest and priorities
Difference in the personality leading to clashes
Difference in the work methods, timescales and working style my frustrate the members of the organisation

1 mark for each point maximum 4, give marks for relevant other ideas

b.
Factors that contribute to changing competition into destructive conflict include
Poor communication
Limited co-ordination
Status barriers – superiors using power or subordinates hiding information
Demand of work pressures
Management style inappropriate
Information system not taking sufficient information

Any 3 points given – 2marks per point. Accept equally valid arguments

c.
Three strategies that can be used by management to settle conflict
Communication - between the parties
Communication – between the management
Negotiating the situation
Separating the parties involved in the conflict
Using their power to smooth things over (Dominance)
Denial and wait for it to resolve by itself
Compromise with the impacted parties

Any 3 will be sufficient
2 marks for each valid point
Accept other remarks that are equally valid.

Memo format

To:
From:
Date:
Ref:

Worth 2 marks

Solution 4
a.
5 procedures for security
Identifying the regular staffs - how
Vetting non staff members - how
Non business visitors – how to handle
Protecting the building – locking up
Protecting the assets – locking up
Protecting the procedures – not to reveal the passwords and other info
Protecting the documents – maintain confidentiality
Explaining what to do in case of breach
Any 5 – 1 mark for each point

b.
5 procedure for data security
Locking up important data
Using passwords
Not leaving critical information around
Avoiding careless talk
Having appropriate communication channels
Ensure secure transmission of data
Any 5 – 1 mark each

Solution 5
a.
Objective of the internal control system
Completeness and accuracy of financial records
Adherence to management policies
Safeguarding the assets
Efficient and orderly running of operations

1.5 marks for each – maximum 6

b.
Controls that can be used by the management
S – segregation of duties – authorisation, recording, execution, custody
P – Physical controls – locks and security issues
A – Authorisation and approval – limits
M – Management controls – internal audit and budgets
S – Supervision – adequate and knowledgeable
O - Organisation – clear responsibilities and authority allocation
A – Accounting and Arithmetical controls – use of control a/c, reconciliations
P – Personnel controls – Quality and reliability of staffs used

2 marks for each one to a maximum of 10 marks

c.
The main limitation of the internal control is
Collusion by the employees
Override of control by senior management
Abuse of authority by those with power.
- 2 mark for each point to a maximum of 4

Beast - Rabbex

2006-09-07T02:04:00.000-07:00

Progress Test for Group 9 is complete. This time SIFU has decided to change the attack pattern after seeing the Progores Dragon being destroyed, the new beast is Rabbex, son of Bugs. The evil rabbit that torments the souls of innocent adventurers (Elmor).

So be ready for the paper.

The paper will have the following chapters:
Chapter 1 & 2*
Chapter 17 & 18*
Chapter 13 & 14*
Chapter 5*
Chapter 9 & 10*

Total of 5 chapter will be examined for sure.

Individual performance and group performance

2006-08-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Is individual behaviour the same as individuals in group behaviour?

I(b) is not equal to I,G(b)

Where I(b) = f(Personality x Perception x Situation)

Personality = Self image + Personality development + Personality types + Personality traits

Perception = Context x Nature of Stimuli x Internal factors

Situation = Other people + Work + Culture + Systems + environment

I(b) = I,G(b) x SI x GI

SI = Social influences = (Social facilitation x Social loafing)
GI = Group influences = (Group cohesion x Group conformity x Group polarisation)

Where SI = SF x SL
Where GI = Cf x Ch x P

SF is from 1 to infinity
SL is form 0 to 1
Cf,Ch & P values are from 0 to infinity

So now we come to the famous Elton Mayo experiment

When individuals were measured first thier output for a given lighting level was much lower compared to when it was measured with the effects of groups.

How do we explain that increase in output using the formula above?

I(b), output <> 1

Let me illustrate this

Lets say the individual alone produces an output of 100

When put in a group the individual output improves because of the following:

SF = 2 - some facilitation takes place
SL = 0.9 - a little loafing occurs
Ch = 1.2 - group becomes cohesive (bonding)
Cf = 1.2 - group establishes the group norms about what is expected
P = 1 - no significant polarisation occurs

In this case I(b),100 = I,G(b) - 100 x (SI) x (GI)
I,G(b) = 100 x (2 x 0.9) x (1.2 x 1.2 x 1)
I,G(b) = 100 x 2.592 = 259 units
In this we can conclude that I(b),10 = I,G(b),10 x (1.8) x (1.44)
I(b),100 < I,G(b),259 is proven.

Using this, we can support the claims made by Elton Mayo about the impact of groups on the performance of individuals.

But can groups have a negative impact on the performance of an individual?
According to Janis, this is possible thru the existence of "group think"

We can also use the formula above to explain the impact on individuals performance

SF = ?
SL = ?
Cf = ?
Ch = ?
P = ?

Well can you prove that I(b),100 > I,G(b), 50?

So using groups can be effective in some situations but it may suppress the performance in some situations.

So should we be using groups?

Depends on

I(b) = f(P x P x S)
I,G(b) = I(b) / (SI x GI)

therefore , PPS/SIGI.

Thats the main issue to remember for the first part of chapter 10.

Return of the Kings - CAT/ACCA Results are out

2006-08-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Results are out for the previous warriors -

Well the battle for the middle CAT is complete, now it is the Upper half which is left.

Final battle for those on CAT December 2006.

Progores Dragon Defeated

2006-08-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

The Battle against the Progores Dragon suprised SIFU significantly. With most of the DRAGON YEAR BABIES being able to handle a evil dragon easily. This has led SIFU to consider using a different BEAST for the coming Battle 2 - maybe a Ogre or Hydra possiblly.

The GROUP 7η(Eta) became the winners of the current 3-way battle with average score of 59% damage whereas the second group is GROUP 5ε (Epsilon) with an average score of 54% damage. The final spot goes to GROUP 6ζ(Zeta) which managed an average score of 44% damage. CONGRATULATIONS TO GROUP 7η for an outstanding performance in the battle.

The other groups should be getting ready and coming up with a battle strategy for the coming battle.

Outcome of the battle:
GROUPS------------ETA--------EPSILON--------ZETA
GRAND WIZARDS----1------------0---------------0
WIZARDS------------16-----------14--------------8
FIGHTERS-----------12------------3--------------3
SURVIVALIST-------12------------10-------------9
BANTHA FODDER----2------------3---------------5
WORMS--------------1-------------3---------------6

It would seem that since ETA had one grand wizard that manage to give them the edge plus loads of wizards anf fighter to make a destructive blow to the dragon. On the other hand the ZETA was completely paralysed by fear as many of the worms and batha fodder got in the way of their wizards, hence causing them the battle.

THE AWARD OF GRAND WIZARD GOES TO : NG JIN KEAT from ETA

CONTENDING TOP FOR OTHER GROUPS - TOP WIZARDS
EPSILON GROUP : HO SHEN YEN
ZETA GROUP : KUAN YEE ZHEN

CONGRATULATIONS IN ACHIEVING THE HIGHEST SCORE IN YOUR RESPECTIVE GROUPS

ON THE BOTTOM PILE THE AWARD OF GRAND WORM GOES TO:
LOCAL GRAND WORM : TAN ON PO & MOH EU JIN SHARING THE TITLE
OVERALL GRAND WORM : LI WEN

Individuals at WORK

2006-08-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

When looking at individuals at working environment, we need to understand the person that is running the body.

In this case we are looking at the persons self-image and personality.

SELF IMAGE - powerful concept of oneself.

It is how we see ourselves, if you believe that you are going to be succesful then you will be. If you believe that you are intelligent then you will be.

The story of the Thailand Elephant trainers is interesting in this situation. When they are young the elephants are tied down to an iron pole by a thick chain. At this young age the elephants are not strong enough to just walk away. It tries and tries but never succeeds. In the end it will give up and just believe that I can never break the chain.

Now it will live its whole life with that believe, when it is already old and much more stronger, it will still not break-away from the chain. Its self-image of its strength has already taken hold.

Its just the same for most students - they failed before, or just passed barely in previous exams. They begin to believe that that is all that is in them, that they cannot go beyond that limit that is placed in thier head.

Once you believe that it is possible - it will always be possible, once you believe that it is impossible - then it will always be impossible.

What is possible or not is only limited by the mind that conceptualizes it.

PERSONALITY - the software that governs the body

Its how you relate to the outside world. The components of this is broken down to:
- Personality traits - enduring and stable way of behaving
- Personality types - psychological preference in the way of behaving

The most famous one is Myers Briggs Type Inventory - which is aimed at analysing your personality types by asking you a barrage of questions.

It is important to ensure that your personality is compatible with:
- the job that you are doing
- other people that you have to work with
- the system and culture of the company

Else you have incompatible situations. In a relationship between a girl and a boy its called a break-up but between a married couple its called a divorce. One is just emotionally painful the other is financially painful.

Your personality develops over time by reference to:
- the context in which you deal with the world
- the stimuli that you mind is drawn too
- internal factors - items that match your personality

hence your personality is developed using - perception.

Clashes of perception is common in some business situations
- clashes between managers and staffs
- clashes between race/culture/sex

Lets test your perceptional view of these pictures below: What can you see in Picture 1 & 2 and what word is in Picture 3.

Progores Dragon Revealed

2006-08-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

QUESTION 1
Business organisations vary considerably in their choice of management structures.
Required:
(a) Define a tall organisation and a flat organisation giving one real life example of an industry or organisation for each type. (4 marks)
(b) Identify and explain the key business and environmental factors affecting the height and width of a business organisation. (8 marks)
(c) Briefly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a flat organisational structure compared with a tall organisational structure. (8 marks)

QUESTION 2
Organisations can be described as open systems, interacting with a variety of different stakeholders in an ever changing environment.
Required:
(a) Explain what you understand by the term ‘stakeholders’. (2 marks)
(b) Identify and describe three key stakeholders of an organisation and briefly explain their relationship with the organisation. (6 marks)
(c) Identify and briefly explain the key external environmental influences which might impact on any organisation and its stakeholders. (6 marks)
(d) Give examples of how any two of the influences you have described in part (c) might impact on your organisation, or an organisation with which you are familiar. (6 marks)

QUESTION 3
All employees, at whatever level, have a responsibility not only for their own safety in the workplace, but also for those around them.
Required:
(a) Identify and describe typical activities in which accidents might happen or where there may be risk or potential danger to employees. (10 marks)
(b) What advice would you give to a new employee to enable them to minimise their exposure to safety hazards and risks in the workplace, thereby ensuring as safe a working environment as possible? (10 marks)

QUESTION 4
Security aims to prevent others from illegally accessing, stealing and damaging the property of an organisation and/or the people who work in it.
Required:
(a) Identify and explain the three basic principles of effective security. (12 marks)
(b) Provide two examples of who or what might be particularly at risk in a business organisation. (4 marks)
(c) Provide two examples of particular locations within an organisation that might be at risk. (4 marks)

QUESTION 5
a) Explain 2 ways financial accountability is maintained on public listed companies
(5 marks)
b) State 5 Objectives that is suggested by Peter Drucker (5 marks)
c) State 5 risk that is faced by electronic data in the organization and describe one
(5 marks)
d) State 5 causes of work place stress in the organization and describe one
(5 marks)
Answer 1
An organisation usually has a vertical arrangement of direct authority and responsibility. Fayol called this the “scalar chain”. The managerial structure of an organisation is normally hierarchical in that authority and responsibility cascades down through various levels from the top (strategic level) down to the bottom (operational level).
The number of levels or layers of management and authority in an organisation determines how tall or flat an organizational structure is. A tall structure is one where there are many management layers and where each manager within each level has a narrow span control. In such organisations managers are normally responsible for fewer subordinates, a narrower and more specialist and complex range of activities and tasks and where the difference between each level in terms of responsibility and authority is small.
Examples of such organisations could include the following:
– London Transport
– Local Authority
– Maybank
– Inland Revenue
A flat structure is one where there are few management layers and where each manager within each level has a wide span control and the width of control varies considerably between layers. In such organisations managers are normally responsible for many subordinates, a wide range of activities and tasks and the difference between each level in terms of responsibility and authority is often significant.
Examples of such organisations could include the following:
– An IT sub-contractor
– A new Formula One racing car team
– A business school at a University
– A supermarket
– A large motor car manufacturer.
(1 mark for defining 1 mark for example = 2 x 2) = max 4

(b) Tall organisations are usually large in overall size, possibly well established and a major player or operate in a monopolistic position in their particular sector. They may be in a mature or static but complex environment and or in a highly regulated market such as the public sector. Tasks and procedures within these organisations can be complex and sometimes highly varied and each employee at each level demands a lot of time from their immediate superior.
Flat organisations can be large like mass manufacturing organisations where much of the work is automated and supervision needs not be close. On the other hand many flat organisations can be small, possibly newly established, fast growing and a relatively minor player in a highly competitive market within their particular sector and are probably operating in a “decentralised” or high technology environment.

Other major factors affecting span of control are the following:
The level of skill, competence and self-reliance of a subordinate will influence the span of control. In some organizations corporate value lies mainly in the abilities of their staff and their technical, intellectual knowledge and experience. Where these staff members are loosely associated on a decentralised basis and can work quite independently, there can be scope for quite large spans of control. Where close supervision and management of staff is required, the narrower will be the span of control, such as situations where individual development plans and appraisals are part of a formal staff support system. Where tasks, roles and responsibilities are well documented, automated or formally structured there is usually scope for a wider span of control. A wider span of control is also possible where the pace of change is low and the environment static. There is usually more scope for a manager to have a wider span of control where there are good and fast lateral communications within an organisation and between the manager and their subordinates.

(1 mark for each factor x 8) maximum 8 marks

(c) Advantages of tall organisations include a steady flow of promotional opportunities where staff can be motivated to aspire to higher levels of authority and responsibility in smaller steps and where more positions higher up in the hierarchy are often available. There is also more immediate contact between superiors and subordinates ensuring more effective control over tasks and people.

Disadvantages of tall organisations include cost effectiveness. Tall organisations are more expensive to run, as more levels of management require a greater range of salaries to allow differentials to be maintained between levels. There are also higher overheads associated with multiple levels of management and the associated costs of supervising, appraising, recruiting and developing staff.

Other disadvantages include the difficulty in delineating and separating lines of authority and responsibilities because these can often overlap. Vertical communications can be difficult, as lines of communications have to pass through multiple levels and can become distorted and confused. There is little by way of scope for job enrichment or to delegate tasks as the role of the manager is so closely associated with the work of the subordinate and teams are so small and in such specialist, differentiated areas. (2 marks for each advantage max 4, 2 marks for each disadvantage max 4) maximum 8 marks

Answer 2
(a) A stakeholder is someone who has the ability to influence an organisation and can in turn be influenced by it. Stakeholders can also be considered as those individuals who depend on the organisation in some way and on whom in turn, the organisation depends e.g. shareholders. Stakeholders have varying degrees of power and can vary in importance to the organisation depending on this power and their ability and desire to use it. Stakeholders can be individuals or groups of individuals, in which case they would be referred to as a coalition.
( 2 marks – influence and interest)
(b) Key stakeholders of an organisation are: shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the local community. Shareholders are the owners of the firm and a source of finance and in some cases expertise. Organisations need to satisfy the expectations of the shareholders. These expectations may be a requirement for the payment of a dividend which shows a satisfactory return on investment, or they may be in terms of the survival and growth of the firm. Employees at all levels are important stakeholders. They provide the firm with the knowledge, skills and expertise to meet the requirements of the owners. In turn, the organisation rewards them appropriately through remuneration packages and opportunities for career and personal development. Customers are important stakeholders in that they transact with the organisation for whatever goods or services it is providing. The organisation needs to respond to the needs of customers in terms of the types of products and services they expect to be able to purchase or receive in order to retain customer loyalty. Suppliers are an important stakeholder in that they provide the goods and services needed by an organisation to carry out its business. Suppliers expect to be treated fairly and equitably at all stages of the purchasing cycle e.g. to be given as much information as possible when preparing a quotation; to be paid as per the agreed terms of payment. The organisation needs to be a good citizen within the local community. It takes from the community in terms of labour and resources and has the potential to give back to the community in terms of its support for local projects and also providing incomes for those that it employs.
(2 marks for each stakeholder – who and what interest) x 3 = max 6 marks
(c) The key environmental influences which might impact on an organisation and its stakeholders can be examined using a PESTEL analysis. This is a mnemonic for the following key factors, all of which can be considered regionally, nationally or internationally. Some of these factors may overlap and can be considered in more than one category.
(i) Political e.g. government policies on imports and exports;
(ii) Economic e.g. tax changes, interest rates, exchange rates;
(iii) Social e.g. changing age profiles, increased incidence of overseas travel, increasingly diverse work groups;
(iv) Technological e.g. impact of the internet, developments in mobile communications technology;
(v) Environmental e.g. issues associated with the production of genetically modified food, powerful lobby groups;
(vi) Legal e.g. legislation affecting employment, health and safety legislation.
( 2 mark for each variable with example maximum 6 marks)
(d) Considering a medium sized manufacturing firm, selling its products in international markets as the example, two influences which might impact on this organisation are technological and economic.
(i) Technological. Factors such as the technology available to help the firm communicate more effectively with its customers e.g. e-mail and the use of websites, or developing process technologies which might require them to make capital investments in new equipment in order to keep up with competitors.
(ii) Economic. Factors such as potential changes in government policies with regard to exporting to the countries where they do business, or changes which may enable them to open up new markets. Factors such as exchange rates which will affect the price of their goods overseas and of any supplies being purchased from international sources. (3 marks for each item explained with good example)

ANSWER 3
(a) There are many activities which are undertaken in the workplace which can give rise to hazards and risks and where accidents can easily happen. Whilst many of the ones that you are likely to come across will be in the office environment, there are a variety of other situations that you may need to be aware of, e.g. those that might occur in a manufacturing environment. The broad range of activities which might give rise to hazards and risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
General maintenance of building and fabric – involving use of ladders or roof work where there is potential for people to fall from high buildings or constructions.
Using certain types of equipment e.g. VDUs where there is potential for eyestrain or repetitive strain injury associated with the continued use of a keyboard or a mouse.
Using badly designed workspaces and office accommodation, where posture may be affected or there is potential for falls or tripping over electrical or computer connections; or where light is inappropriate.
Using electricity, hand tools or extension leads where there is potential for electric shock or physical harm if using the equipment incorrectly.
Carrying and/or lifting equipment which might lead to muscle strain or damage to the spine if not carried out correctly.
Receiving raw materials – involving lifting or carrying, again having the potential to cause muscle damage or damage to the spine.
Stacking or storing material – there may be falling materials.
Moving material – using forklift trucks or lifting equipment.
Operating machinery, where it is important that appropriate guards and shields are correctly deployed and where it is important to operate the machine within specified operational limits in terms of speed, or running time.
Not wearing protective clothing and equipment for example ear defenders, safety glasses, protective footwear or using appropriate barrier creams when using certain substances.
Dealing with emergencies, this is especially important as it is when dealing with emergency situations that standard procedures and ways of working are often inadvertently ignored or forgotten. (2 marks for each item identified and explained x 5) = maximum 10

(b) All new employees should attend any health and safety training offered as part of their induction programme and employees should be encouraged to update their knowledge and the information provided on a regular basis. This can be done by attending further training or by reading notice boards or any safety bulletins which may be issued. They should be fully aware of any procedures associated with evacuation in the event of accidents or fire and this will include familiarisation with the location of fire escapes, fire extinguishers and any other safety equipment. They should make themselves aware of the nominated first aider in their area. They should be aware of any specific hazards associated with the nature of their work i.e. exposure to substances hazardous to health, unsafe operating practices, potential dangers when using machinery and lifting equipment and the possible hazards of using computers. They should wear protective clothing if necessary e.g. gloves, eye shields or ear defenders and ensure that they adopt safe seating positions and avoid repetitive strain injuries by having adequate and regular breaks from work stations during the working day. These measures should be provided and promoted by the organisation as necessary but all employees have a responsibility to ensure that they are made available and appropriately used. (2 marks for each item identified x 5) = max 10

ANSWER 4
(a) The three basic principles of security are delay, checking and alarm. Delay means providing appropriate lines of defence before vulnerable areas and items can be reached. This could include some or all of the following: making sure that outer doors to the main building are securely locked and bolted, ensuring that there is a secure, staffed reception area for visitors, ensuring that all offices are locked and where appropriate, guarded, by making sure that filing cabinets are lockable and are kept locked when not in use and finally by providing safes.
The second principle of security is checking – this means having appropriate procedures for authorised access to vulnerable areas or items. This could include some or all of the following: making sure that authorised staff can be clearly identified either by a uniform or an identity badge, (preferably showing a photograph), by ensuring that all visitors are checked in, escorted while they are on the premises and checked out on departure, by always ensuring that any unauthorised visitors on the premises are challenged, by the use of personal pass words or swipe cards to gain authorised access to different parts of the organisation and finally by seeking appropriate authorisation before access to files can be allowed.
The third principle of effective security is alarm. This means making sure that there are adequate procedures for alerting those responsible for responding to security breaches. This could include some or all of the following: ensuring that buildings are fitted with electronic security alarms and by carefully controlling access to entry codes, by training all individuals in the organisation to be alert to potential security breaches and to be aware of the procedures for reporting them and through ensuring that computer systems have the ability to warn of any unauthorised attempts to access files. Internal security is also important and organisations should ensure that they have effective recruitment, selection and screening systems for all staff and security staff in particular.
(Each item with example –2 mark for principle 2 mark for example x 3 = 12 marks)

(b) Items that are valuable, portable and easily saleable are particular security risks in an organisation, for example small equipment such as computers, printers, video and television equipment; vehicles or office furniture. Documentation such as ownership documents e.g. share certificates or title deeds and cash and cheques are also vulnerable. Other vulnerable items include security devices like pass cards and keys or information stored in portable form e.g. paper files, floppy discs and CD Roms. The types of people who might be at particular risk in an organisation are: front line security staff e.g. security guards and reception staff, staff with custody of important assets e.g. counter staff in banks. Key personnel may also be at risk of intimidation for the purposes of obtaining cash, assets or security codes. (Any 2 items x 2 marks = 4 marks)

(c) The following are some of the most vulnerable areas or locations in an organisation: all public or open areas (such as entrances, hallways, parking areas, toilets, stairways and lifts), especially if they are unattended, all points of entry and exit (doors, windows, gates and lifts), all unattended areas (store rooms), unlit areas, and reception areas. Points of transit or storage outside the organisation’s premises can also be a source of security risk e.g. valuable items may be taken out of the office e.g. cash for banking, products for delivery, laptop computers for working at home. Finally any areas where at-risk items and data might be concentrated also pose a security risk e.g. store rooms, computer rooms, offices, file stores etc – especially if they are located near points of entry or exit or busy public areas. (Any 2 items x 2 marks = 4 marks)

Question 5
a. Financial accountability for a public listed company is usually maintained by the operations of company law requirements which state that the company must submit a copy of the financial statements to the Registrar of Companies. The law also indicates that the accounts must show a true and fair view and specifies the format that is required. Alternatively the stock exchange also regulates the public listed companies thru its requirements for disclosure of accounting information and issues relating to corporate governance. Other methods that are used to regulate the financial reporting for public listed companies include the use to tax law and non-statutory regulation such as accounting standards. The accounting standards are given authority by the reference to Company law requirements for True and Fair view. ( Any 2 mentioned and briefly explained x 2.5 each = 5 marks)

b. Management writer Peter Drucker suggests that objectives are needed in 8 key areas for the business. This include marketing standing, innovation, productivity, physical and financial resources, profitability, managerial performance and development, worker performance and attitude and finally on corporate responsibility. (Any 5 mentioned x1 = 5)

c. The risk that is faced by electronic data includes risk of human error, risk of catastrophic events, risk of malicious damage, risk of industrial espionage and sabotage and dishonesty. The risk of human error is the chance that individuals lose, damage or incorrectly input or store data into the system. (Any 5 mentioned x0.5)+(1 explained = 2.5)

d. Workplace stress is concerned about the mental well being of the employee. Stress in the workplace can be caused by work overload, work under-load, poor management style, isolation, uncertainty, personality, non-work factors. (Any 5 mentioned x0.5)+(1 explained = 2.5)