![](https://static.youtibao.com/asksite/comm/h5/images/m_q_title.png)
appraisal()
A.rucksack
B.the act or an instance of appraising
C.irregular swelling
![](https://static.youtibao.com/asksite/comm/h5/images/solist_ts.png)
A.rucksack
B.the act or an instance of appraising
C.irregular swelling
appraisal system.
Required:
(a) Describe three approaches to conducting the appraisal interview. (5 marks)
(b) Describe five main barriers to an effective appraisal interview. (10 marks)
(c) Discuss the reasons why the net present value investment appraisal method is preferred to other investment
appraisal methods such as payback, return on capital employed and internal rate of return. (9 marks)
(b) (i) State FOUR reasons why payback period is widely used by organisations in the capital investment
appraisal process. (2 marks)
Production and sales from the new machine are expected to be 100,000 units per year. Each unit can be sold for $16 per unit and will incur variable costs of $11 per unit. Incremental fixed costs arising from the operation of the machine will be $160,000 per year.
Warden Co has an after-tax cost of capital of 11% which it uses as a discount rate in investment appraisal. The company pays profit tax one year in arrears at an annual rate of 30% per year. Capital allowances and inflation should be ignored.
Required:
(a) Calculate the net present value of investing in the new machine and advise whether the investment is financially acceptable. (7 marks)
(b) Calculate the internal rate of return of investing in the new machine and advise whether the investment is financially acceptable. (4 marks)
(c) (i) Explain briefly the meaning of the term ‘sensitivity analysis’ in the context of investment appraisal; (1 mark) (ii) Calculate the sensitivity of the investment in the new machine to a change in selling price and to a change in discount rate, and comment on your findings. (6 marks)
(d) Discuss the nature and causes of the problem of capital rationing in the context of investment appraisal, and explain how this problem can be overcome in reaching the optimal investment decision for a company. (7 marks)
1. ‘Good’, allowing students to continue with no issues;
2. ‘Some concerns’, meaning students are counselled and then allowed to continue; and,
3. ‘Poor’, where students are dismissed from the audit practice.
The appraisal committee is comprised of three people: managing partner Jack Hu, the training manager (both of whom are professional accountants) and the person responsible for human resources. The committee receives confidential reports on each student and makes decisions based on the views of relevant engagement partners and also exam results. It is normally the training manager who makes the recommendation and in most cases his appraisal is agreed and then acted upon accordingly. Because the appraisals are confidential between the student and the firm, the list of students and their appraisal categories are not publicised within the firm.
When the 2010 intake was being appraised last year, one student was appraised by the training manager as ‘poor’ but was not dismissed. Polly Shah was unpopular among other students because she was considered lazy and technically weak. She also failed a number of her exams. Other students who were appraised as ‘poor’ were dismissed, but Polly received a brief counselling session from Jack Hu and then returned to her duties. Polly stayed for another year and then, having failed more exams, left Jojo to pursue other career interests outside accounting.
Polly’s departure triggered some discussion amongst Jojo’s partners as to why she had been retained when other poor performers had not. It later emerged that Jack Hu was a close friend of Polly’s parents and had enjoyed free holidays in the Shah family’s villa for several years. Because he was the managing partner, Mr Hu was able to insist on retaining Polly, despite the objections of the training manager and the human resources representative, although the training manager was reported to be furious at the decision to retain Polly.
Required:
(a) Define ‘conflict of interest’ and assess the consequences of Jack Hu’s behaviour after Polly Shah’s appraisal. (10 marks)
(b) Describe four ethical safeguards that could be used in Jojo to prevent a recurrence of the events like those described in the case. (8 marks)
(c) The case raises issues of the importance of senior management performance measurement. In a public company, this refers to directors, and in a privately-owned partnership like Jojo, it refers to partners. The managing partner (Mr Hu’s position) is equivalent to the role of chief executive.
Required:
Explain the typical criteria used in the performance measurement of individual directors and discuss the reasons why individual performance measurement of partners may be difficult to implement at Jojo. (7 marks)
As the college is a virtual organisation using serviced training rooms, Judy rarely sees her manager Blake Jones. However, he contacted her recently to suggest that they should conduct her fi rst appraisal and a date and time was agreed. Blake explained that ‘it would be just a general chat looking at how the year had gone. We need to do one to satisfy the college and the IMF’. The time of the appraisal was set for 3.00 pm, fi nishing at 5.00 pm.
The appraisal did start with a general discussion. Blake outlined the plans of the organisation and his own promotion hopes. Judy was surprised to see that Blake was not following any standard list of questions or noting down any of the answers she made. She told him that one of her main problems was the numeracy level of some of the candidates. She recognised that the course had no pre-conditions, ‘but it does require some basic mathematical skills that some of our candidates just do not have’.
After listening to Judy for a while Blake produced a statistical summary of the feedback questionnaires from the courses she had run in the last year. He said that the organisation expected its lecturers to attain an acceptable result in all 10 questions given in the post-course questionnaire. An acceptable result ‘is that 90% of all candidates said that they were ‘satisfi ed or very satisfi ed’ with key aspects of the course’. Judy had achieved this on seven of the questions but specifi cally failed on the following performance measures;
– Percentage of candidates who felt that the course was relevant to their current job – only 65% of your candidates felt that the course was relevant to their current job.
– Percentage of candidates who passed the examination – only 88?88% of your candidates passed the examination.
– Percentage of candidates who felt that the course pace was satisfactory – only 75% of your candidates felt that the pace of the course was satisfactory.
After expressing her surprise that she had not been given this information before, she immediately returned to the problem of numeracy skills. ‘As I told you’ she said ‘some of these students lack the mathematical skills to pass. That’s not my fault, it is yours – you should not have let them on the course in the fi rst place. You are just fi lling the places to make money’.
After a heated discussion, Blake then turned to the ‘last thing on my agenda’. He explained that it was only college policy to give pay increases to lecturers who had achieved 90% in all 10 questions, so there would be no increase for Judy next year. However, he also needed to discuss her workload for next year. He produced a spreadsheet and had just begun to discuss course planning and locations in great detail when his mobile phone rang. ‘I am sorry, Judy, I have to collect the children from school – I must go. I will write down your planned course assignments and e-mail them to you. I think that was a very useful discussion. Overall we are very happy with you. See you at the end-of-year party, and of course at next year’s appraisal.’ He left at 4.30 pm.
Required:
(a) Based on Judy’s appraisal, evaluate the appropriateness of the appraisal process and performance measures at the National College, from both an employee and an organisational perspective. (15 marks)
(b) Explain the concept and purpose of competency frameworks for organisations, assessing their potential use at the National College and the Institute of Managerial Finance. (10 marks)