Provide training in systematic methods so the team ______its energy ____ the project.
A.expend…to
B.expend…in
C.expend…on
A.expend…to
B.expend…in
C.expend…on
employment.
A.formation
B.efficiency
C.selection
D.dignity
late 1990s it has extended its operations throughout Europe and most recently to Asia, where it is expanding rapidly.
You are a manager in Andando, a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants. You have been approached by Duncan
Seymour, the chief finance officer of Plaza, to advise on a bid that Plaza is proposing to make for the purchase of
MCM. You have ascertained the following from a briefing note received from Duncan.
MCM provides training in management, communications and marketing to a wide range of corporate clients, including
multi-nationals. The ‘MCM’ name is well regarded in its areas of expertise. MCM is currently wholly-owned by
Frontiers, an international publisher of textbooks, whose shares are quoted on a recognised stock exchange. MCM
has a National and an International business.
The National business comprises 11 training centres. The audited financial statements show revenue of
$12·5 million and profit before taxation of $1·3 million for this geographic segment for the year to 31 December
2004. Most of the National business’s premises are owned or held on long leases. Trainers in the National business
are mainly full-time employees.
The International business has five training centres in Europe and Asia. For these segments, revenue amounted to
$6·3 million and profit before tax $2·4 million for the year to 31 December 2004. Most of the International business’s
premises are held on operating leases. International trade receivables at 31 December 2004 amounted to
$3·7 million. Although the International centres employ some full-time trainers, the majority of trainers provide their
services as freelance consultants.
Required:
(a) Define ‘due diligence’ and describe the nature and purpose of a due diligence review. (4 marks)
company. The seven engineers previously worked together for ‘Telstar’, a satellite navigation company.
In conjunction with one of the three largest construction companies within their country they constructed the ‘365
Sports Complex’ which has a roof that opens and uses revolutionary satellite technology to maintain grass surfaces
within the complex. The complex facilities, which are available for use on each day of the year, include two tennis
courts, a cricket pitch, an equestrian centre and six bowling greens. The tennis courts and cricket pitch are suitable
for use as venues for national competitions. The equestrian centre offers horse-riding lessons to the general public and
is also a suitable venue for show-jumping competitions. The equestrian centre and bowling greens have increased in
popularity as a consequence of regular television coverage of equestrian and bowling events.
In spite of the high standard of the grass surfaces within the sports complex, the directors are concerned by reduced
profit levels as a consequence of both falling revenues and increasing costs. The area in which the ‘365 Sports
Complex’ is located has high unemployment but is served by all public transport services.
The directors of Astrodome Sports Ltd have different views about the course of action that should be taken to provide
a strategy for the future improvement in the performance of the complex. Each director’s view is based on his/her
individual perception as to the interpretation of the information contained in the performance measurement system of
the complex. These are as follows:
Director
(a) ‘There is no point whatsoever in encouraging staff to focus on interaction with customers in efforts to create a
‘user friendly’ environment. What we need is to maintain the quality of our grass surfaces at all costs since that
is the distinguishing feature of our business.’
(b) ‘Buy more equipment which can be hired out to users of our facilities. This will improve our utilisation ratios
which will lead to increased profits.’
(c) ‘We should focus our attention on maximising the opening hours of our facilities. Everything else will take care
of itself.’
(d) ‘Recent analysis of customer feedback forms indicates that most of our customers are satisfied with the facilities.
In fact, the only complaints are from three customers – the LCA University which uses the cricket pitch for
matches, the National Youth Training Academy which held training sessions on the tennis courts, and a local
bowling team.’
(e) ‘We should reduce the buildings maintenance budget by 25% and spend the money on increased advertising of
our facilities which will surely attract more customers.’
(f) ‘We should hold back on our efforts to overcome the shortage of bowling equipment for hire. Recent rumours are
that the National Bowling Association is likely to offer large financial grants next year to sports complexes who
can show they have a demand for the sport but have deficiencies in availability of equipment.’
(g) ‘Why change our performance management system? Our current areas of focus provide us with all the
information we need to ensure that we remain a profitable and effective business.’
As management accountant of Astrodome Sports Ltd you have recently read an article which discussed the following
performance measurement problems:
(i) Tunnel vision
(ii) Sub-optimisation
(iii) Misinterpretation
(iv) Myopia
(v) Measure fixation
(vi) Misrepresentation
(vii) Gaming
(viii) Ossification.
Required:
(a) Explain FOUR of the above-mentioned performance measurement problems (i-viii) and discuss which of the
views of the directors (a-g) illustrate its application in each case. (12 marks)
sports retailing business in the UK has undergone a major change over the past ten years. First of all the supply side
has been transformed by the emergence of a few global manufacturers of the core sports products, such as training
shoes and football shirts. This consolidation has made them increasingly unwilling to provide good service to the
independent sportswear retailers too small to buy in sufficiently large quantities. These independent retailers can stock
popular global brands, but have to order using the Internet and have no opportunity to meet the manufacturer’s sales
representatives. Secondly, UK’s sportswear retailing has undergone significant structural change with the rapid growth
of a small number of national retail chains with the buying power to offset the power of the global manufacturers.
These retail chains stock a limited range of high volume branded products and charge low prices the independent
retailer cannot hope to match.
Good Sports has survived by becoming a specialist niche retailer catering for less popular sports such as cricket,
hockey and rugby. They are able to offer the specialist advice and stock the goods that their customers want.
Increasingly since 2000 Good Sports has become aware of the growing impact of e-business in general and e-retailing
in particular. They employed a specialist website designer and created an online purchasing facility for their
customers. The results were less than impressive, with the Internet search engines not picking up the company
website. The seasonal nature of Good Sports’ business, together with the variations in sizes and colours needed to
meet an individual customer’s needs, meant that the sales volumes were insufficient to justify the costs of running
the site.
Bob, however, is convinced that developing an e-business strategy suited to the needs of the independent sports
retailer such as Good Sports will be key to business survival. He has been encouraged by the growing interest of
customers in other countries to the service and product range they offer. He is also aware of the need to integrate an
e-business strategy with their current marketing, which to date has been limited to the sponsorship of local sports
teams and advertisements taken in specialist sports magazines. Above all, he wants to avoid head-on competition
with the national retailers and their emphasis on popular branded sportswear sold at retail prices that are below the
cost price at which Good Sports can buy the goods.
Required:
(a) Provide the partners with a short report on the advantages and disadvantages to Good Sports of developing
an e-business strategy and the processes most likely to be affected by such a strategy. (12 marks)
(a) Contrast the role of internal and external auditors. (8 marks)
(b) Conoy Co designs and manufactures luxury motor vehicles. The company employs 2,500 staff and consistently makes a net profit of between 10% and 15% of sales. Conoy Co is not listed; its shares are held by 15 individuals, most of them from the same family. The maximum shareholding is 15% of the share capital.
The executive directors are drawn mainly from the shareholders. There are no non-executive directors because the company legislation in Conoy Co’s jurisdiction does not require any. The executive directors are very successful in running Conoy Co, partly from their training in production and management techniques, and partly from their ‘hands-on’ approach providing motivation to employees.
The board are considering a significant expansion of the company. However, the company’s bankers are
concerned with the standard of financial reporting as the financial director (FD) has recently left Conoy Co. The board are delaying provision of additional financial information until a new FD is appointed.
Conoy Co does have an internal audit department, although the chief internal auditor frequently comments that the board of Conoy Co do not understand his reports or provide sufficient support for his department or the internal control systems within Conoy Co. The board of Conoy Co concur with this view. Anders & Co, the external auditors have also expressed concern in this area and the fact that the internal audit department focuses work on control systems, not financial reporting. Anders & Co are appointed by and report to the board of Conoy Co.
The board of Conoy Co are considering a proposal from the chief internal auditor to establish an audit committee.
The committee would consist of one executive director, the chief internal auditor as well as three new appointees.
One appointee would have a non-executive seat on the board of directors.
Required:
Discuss the benefits to Conoy Co of forming an audit committee. (12 marks)
Advice about medical schools can be got from books and magazines like The,Princeton Review,which provide information about medical schools, study programs and jobs. Competition (竞争 ) toenter medical schools is strong. American medical schools have only about 16,000 openings forstudents each year. However, more than two times this many want to enter medical schools.
An important part of their application (申请) is the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).The Association of American Medical Colleges provides the test by computer." It is offered in theUnited States and in other countries. Applicants need to do well on MCAT. They also need a goodrecord in their college studies.
An interview(面试) is also required for entrance to medical schools. The interviewer wants toknow if the applicant understands the demands of life as a medical student and doctor in training. Healso wants to know about the applicant&39; s goals for a life in medicine.
People who want to become doctors often study a lot of biology,, chemistry or other science. Somestudents work for a year or two in a medical or research job before they attempt to enter medical schools.A medical education can cost a lot,from 15,000 dollars to 40,000 dollars a year or more. Moststudents need to borrow money to pay for the education.
How many people hope to go to medical school in the U. S. each,year?
A.More than 32,000.
B.About 24,000.
C.Less than 16,000.
D.About 20,000.
Who prepares MCAT for medical school applicants?A.The Princeton Review.
B.The Medical College Admissions Office
C.The medical schools in the United States
D.The Association of American Medical Colleges.
Which of the following do interviewers want to know about the applicants?A.What courses they want to learn in medical schools.
B.How much money they hope to earn in future
C.When they plan to start their medical training
D.Whether they understand a doctor’s duties
What can be inferred about the applicants from the text?A.They must be hard-working
B.They have to do well in medicine
C.They should have work experience
D.They must earn 15,000 dollars a year
Saxophone Enterprises Co (Saxophone) has been trading for 15 years selling insurance and has recently become a listed company. In accordance with corporate governance principles Saxophone maintains a small internal audit department. The directors feel that the team needs to increase in size and specialist skills are required, but they are unsure whether to recruit more internal auditors, or to outsource the whole function to their external auditors, Cello & Co.
Saxophone is required to comply with corporate governance principles in order to maintain its listed status; hence the finance director has undertaken a review of whether or not the company complies.
Bill Bassoon is the chairman of Saxophone, until last year he was the chief executive. Bill is unsure if Saxophone needs more non-executive directors as there are currently three non-executive directors out of the eight board members. He is considering appointing one of his close friends, who is a retired chief executive of a manufacturing company, as a non-executive director.
The finance director, Jessie Oboe, decides on the amount of remuneration each director is paid. Currently all remuneration is in the form. of an annual bonus based on profits. Jessie is considering setting up an audit committee, but has not undertaken this task yet as she is very busy. A new sales director was appointed nine months ago. He has yet to undertake his board training as this is normally provided by the chief executive and this role is currently vacant.
There are a large number of shareholders and therefore the directors believe that it is impractical and too costly to hold an annual general meeting of shareholders. Instead, the board has suggested sending out the financial statements and any voting resolutions by email; shareholders can then vote on the resolutions via email.
Required:
(a) Explain the advantages and disadvantages for each of Saxophone Enterprises Co AND Cello & Co of outsourcing the internal audit department.
Note: The total marks will be split as follows:
Saxophone Enterprises Co (8 marks)
Cello & Co (2 marks) (10 marks)
(b) In respect of the corporate governance of Saxophone Enterprises Co:
(i) Identify and explain FIVE corporate governance weaknesses; and
(ii) Provide a recommendation to address each weakness.
Note: The total marks will be split equally between each part. (10 marks)
Europeans looking to buy new homes and apartments in the coastal regions of Mediterranean Spain. His frequent
contact with property buyers has made him aware of their need for low cost hotel accommodation during the lengthy
period between finding a property to buy and when they actually move into their new home. These would-be property
owners are looking for inexpensive hotels in the same locations as tourists looking for cheap holiday accommodation.
Closer investigation of the market for inexpensive or budget hotel accommodation has convinced Ramon of the
opportunity to offer something really different to his potential customers. He has the advantage of having no
preconceived idea of what his chain of hotels might look like. The overall picture for the budget hotel industry is not
encouraging with the industry suffering from low growth and consequent overcapacity. There are two distinct market
segments in the budget hotel industry; firstly, no-star and one-star hotels, whose average price per room is between
30 and 45 euros. Customers are simply attracted by the low price. The second segment is the service provided by
two-star hotels with an average price of 100 euros a night. These more expensive hotels attract customers by offering
a better sleeping environment than the no-star and one-star hotels. Customers therefore have to choose between low
prices and getting a poor night’s sleep owing to noise and inferior beds or paying more for an untroubled night’s sleep.
Ramon quickly deduced that a hotel chain that can offer a better price/quality combination could be a winner.
The two-star hotels typically offer a full range of services including restaurants, bars and lounges, all of which are
costly to operate. The low price budget hotels offer simple overnight accommodation with cheaply furnished rooms
and staffed by part-time receptionists. Ramon is convinced that considerable cost savings are available through better
room design, construction and furniture and a more effective use of hotel staff. He feels that through offering hotel
franchises under the ‘La Familia Amable’ (‘The Friendly Family’) group name, he could recruit husband and wife teams
to own and operate them. The couples, with suitable training, could offer most of the services provided in a two-star
hotel, and create a friendly, family atmosphere – hence the company name. He is sure he can offer the customer twostar
hotel value at budget prices. He is confident that the value-for-money option he offers would need little marketing
promotion to launch it and achieve rapid growth.
Required:
(a) Provide Ramon with a brief report, using strategic models where appropriate, showing where his proposed
hotel service can add value to the customer’s experience. (12 marks)
Because of the complexity of our modern machine, we need our workers ______.
A. to train special
B. specified in training
C. to have specified training
D. training specially