ACCAP1-P3模拟题及解析(3)11750.pdf

财经网络教育领导品牌 _ 高顿网校 All Rights Reserved 版权所有 复制必究 1 ACCA P1-P3 模拟题及解析（3）1 Introduction The EA Group has a portfolio of companies that currently specialise in alternative energy supply and associated products and services.It grew out of Power of the Sun(POTS)Co,one of the pioneers of solar heating,which still remains an autonomous company in the Group.The profits generated by POTS funded the initial development of the Group,which now comprises 12 companies.Only four of these companies are considered in this scenario.Power of the Sun(POTS)Co POTS Co was one of the first companies to realise the potential of solar powered energy solutions and it pioneered the use of the technology,particularly in government and city council(public sector)buildings.From 1995 to 2005 its net profit regularly exceeded 15%.Recent results for the company are shown in Figure 1.The approximate size of the overall market is also given(sector turnover).All figures in$m 2011 2010 2009 2008 Sector turnover 35700 35700 35600 35500 POTS sales revenue 10710 10000 9610 8880 Gross profit 2250 2100 2210 2220 Net profit 750 700 870 980 Figure 1:Selected data for POTS Co Although POTS was the main source of the profits which drove the expansion of the EA Group,many employees within POTS feel that it is now relatively neglected.Consumer surveys suggest that the brand is not as well recognized as it was and respondents who did recognise it saw it as a tired and traditional brand.Many of its most gifted managers have been promoted into the EA Group headquarters or other companies within the Group.It was expected that their expertise,gained with POTS,would help improve the performance of acquired companies.However,despite this loss of valuable resources,POTS still has recognised expertise and many valuable contacts and contracts in the public sector which the EA Group has been able to exploit.These contracts,particularly with city councils,have allowed the company to retain a significant presence in the solar powered energy market at a time when competitors have withdrawn from,or scaled down,their operations.Neach Glass The EA Group acquired Neach Glass in 2005.Neach Glass was founded by Kevin Neach to provide high quality glass products.These were used in the original solar panels developed by POTS and a close relationship was built up between Kevin Neach and the managing director of POTS,Ken Nyg.Ken later became chief executive officer(CEO)of the EA Group.The glass panels continue to be used 财经网络教育领导品牌 _ 高顿网校 All Rights Reserved 版权所有 复制必究 2 in POTS products.In 2005,Kevin Neach informed Ken Nyg that Neach Glass was on the brink of going into administration.As a result,the EA Group acquired the company to help secure the supply of a vital component in the POTS product.Since that time,financial and management resources have been invested in Neach Glass in an attempt to improve market share and profitability.Some of POTSs best managers have been transferred to the company.Data for Neach Glass is shown in Figure 2.Again,the estimated size of the total market is shown as sector turnover.All figures in$m 2011 2010 2009 2008 Sector turnover 8820 8900 8950 9000 Neach turnover 794 712 716 630 Gross profit 145 128 122 107 Net profit 072 057 057 045 Figure 2:Selected data for Neach Glass ENCOS In 2007,Ken Nyg recognised that other alternative energy sources other than solar power were becoming increasingly important.Council managers were increasingly requesting a combination of power sources with control systems that could be used to switch the power source to reflect the most economic combination of sources.As a result of this,the EA Group acquired ENergy COntrol Systems(ENCOS),a company with innovative control systems for monitoring power use and matching it to the most suitable and cheapest source of supply.ENCOS was acknowledged as a technical leader,but had little marketing expertise and few contracts in the public sector.ENCOSs control systems have sophisticated mathematical algorithms which are now used in many private sector applications.It has an excellent record in profitable delivery,with each contract carefully estimated and a detailed analysis of gross profit reported per contract.Financial data for ENCOS is shown in Figure 3.The market sector turnover is again given.All figures in$m 2011 2010 2009 2008 Sector turnover 8100 7600 7150 7000 ENCOS turnover 2100 1700 1430 1330 Gross profit 500 400 275 255 Net profit 335 300 185 165 Figure 3:Selected data for ENCOS Steeltown Information Technology Steeltown City Council is the second largest city council in the country.Two years ago,responding to government initiatives to outsource non-core activities,it decided to outsource its information technology department to the private sector.The department developed and implemented bespoke 财经网络教育领导品牌 _ 高顿网校 All Rights Reserved 版权所有 复制必究 3 in-house systems to support the departments of the council(housing,education,social services etc).Trade unions in the council mounted a vigorous campaign against the plan and employees were overwhelmingly against it.Many of the employees had worked for the council for many years and had experienced a stable work environment.However,this opposition hardened the councils resolve and they forced through the plan,citing the unions restricted working practices as a major problem.The council invited private sector companies to tender for the work and resources of the department.The EA Group were keen to broaden their technological services to the public sector and saw this as an opportunity to acquire an organisation that could spearhead its growth.As Ken Nyg said we must avoid being too narrow in focus.We started out in solar energy,before broadening out into other energy sources and services.We now wish to broaden again into information technology services in general and the acquisition of the Steeltown City Councils information technology department is a perfect vehicle for this.We see clear technology synergies with ENCOS who are technical leaders in control software design and development.Steeltown Information Technology,as the company is now called,has entered into a ten year exclusive contract with Steeltown City Council to supply information technology services.The contract price is based on current costs,plus inflation,plus a 5%gross profit margin.The contract will be renegotiated after five years,when it is expected that savings made by the company can be passed on to the council.The IT director and his deputy,who both vigorously opposed privatisation,have not been transferred to the new company.They both took voluntary redundancy from the council.Other managers are philosophical,glad that the uncertainty of the last two years was behind them.One manager commented that although he was against outsourcing in principle,now the sale has been agreed,lets get on with it.Very few new systems have been developed in the last two years whilst the future of the department was being discussed.There is now a backlog of applications to develop for a number of council departments.Users in these departments usually find it very difficult to specify system requirements in advance and there have been very few successfully implemented IT solutions.Although the Steeltown City Council contract is on a cost plus basis,managers who have always been budget and service-driven will be expected to profitably deliver solutions to other potential customers in the public sector.As part of preparing for strategic change at Steeltown Information Technology,the EA Group wishes to benchmark its performance.They have been provided with the information given in Figure 4.财经网络教育领导品牌 _ 高顿网校 All Rights Reserved 版权所有 复制必究 4 2011 2010 2009 2008 User satisfaction(1)48%46%45%44%Faults reported(2)200 250 375 425 User satisfaction(nationwide)(3)45%44%44%43%Figure 4:Data for Steeltown City Council information technology department(1)measured by internally constructed and analysed user surveys at Steeltown City Council(2)measured by reported faults in software at Steeltown City Council(3)reported by city councils throughout the country As another part of their preparation for strategic change at Steeltown Information Technology,the EA Group also wish to understand the contextual factors that will affect such change.They want to explore these factors before they firm up their proposed strategy for the newly acquired company.Required:(a)Analyse the performance of each of the four companies described in the scenario and assess each companys potential future contribution to the EA Group portfolio of businesses.(24 marks)Professional marks will be awarded in part(a)for the clarity and structure of the answer.(4 marks)(b)Time,scope,capability and readiness for change are four contextual factors that affect strategic change.Evaluate the potential influence of these four factors at Steeltown Information Technology on any strategic change proposed by the EA Group.(12 marks)(c)Discuss the principles,together with the advantages and the disadvantages,of benchmarking in the context of Steeltown Information Technology.(10 marks)(50 marks)Section B TWO questions ONLY to be attempted 2 Moor Farm is a large estate in the rural district of Cornaille.The estate covers a large area of forest,upland and farmland.It also includes two villages,and although many of the properties in these villages have been sold off to private homeowners,the estate still owns properties which it rents out.The estate also has a large mansion house set inside a landscape garden designed in the 19th century by James Kent.The garden,although now overgrown and neglected,is the only surviving example of his work in the district.The estate was left as a gift to a charitable trust ten years ago.The trust is based at the estate.A condition of the gift to the trust was that the upland and forest should be freely accessible to visitors.The estate has a manager,four full-time staff and 45 volunteers.These volunteers undertake most 财经网络教育领导品牌 _ 高顿网校 All Rights Reserved 版权所有 复制必究 5 of the work on the estate,including the continuing excavation of Kents original garden design.They are happy,well-motivated and fully support the current manager who is due to retire in the very near future.Three of the volunteers have become acknowledged experts on land management,through their work on the estate.Government grants for initiatives such as tree planting,protected pasture land and rural employment have been received by the estate in the past.However,a recent change in government means that this funding is unlikely to continue.This will also affect funding for the maintenance of the mansion.It was built almost 80 years ago when the climate of the area was much colder and drier.Recent warm wet winters have caused the fabric of the building to decay and increased the cost of maintaining it.The estate has appointed a new manager who is due to take over the estate when the current manager retires.She s working alongside the current manager so that she understands her responsibilities and how the estate works.As a one-off project,she has commissioned a stakeholder survey which has requested information on the visitor experience to help with a planned re-design of the estates website.The website is generally thought to be well structured and presented,but it receives fewer visitors than might reasonably be expected.It provides mainly static information about the estate and forthcoming events but currently users cannot interact with the site in anyway.Here are some extracts from the survey:I live in one of the villages and I am angry about visitors crowding around the village attractions the tearooms,the craft shops,the souvenir stalls.We feel that we are prisoners in our own village and the traffic is terrible.Homeowner,from a village on the estate We had a good day,but the weather was awful.If we had known it was going to rain all day,then we probably would have postponed the visit until a fine day.It spoilt a family day out.Visitor with small family We were very disappointed,on arrival,to find that the family fun day was fully booked.Visitor who had travelled 100 kms with two small children to visit a special event We all love it here,but we didnt know you had a website!We almost had to type in the complete website address before we found it!I am sure more people would come if they could only find the website!Visitor aged mid-20s As usual,we had a great time here and took great photos.It would have been nice to be able to share our pleasure with other people.We would recommend it to anyone who loves the outdoors.Visitor family with teenage children We met the volunteers who were excavating the buildings in the landscape garden.They were so helpful and knowledgeable.They turned something that looked 财经网络教育领导品牌 _ 高顿网校 All Rights Reserved 版权所有 复制必究 6 like a series of small walls into something so much more tangible.Visitor elderly coupleI was disappointed that I was not allowed into the farmland with my dog.As a human being,I have the right to roam.It is a basic human right.Visitor elderly female dog-walkerWe are regular visitors and we really want to know what is going on!There are many of us who would like to reallybe involved with the estate and help it thrive.We need more than just occasional questionnaires.Visitor hiking group We came out for a nice walk and ended up dodging cyclists.Next time we will go somewhere where they are not welcome.Visitor hiking group As a farmer,I am appalled with the reckless attitude of some dog walkers.Last week,I lost two sheep,ravaged by dogs that should not have been off their leads.Farmer estate tenant Im a volunteer and I love it here.We are a happy,social group of people.I hope the new manager is not going to change things.Volunteer Required:(a)Evaluate the strategic position of the estate with specific reference to the expectations of stakeholders,to the external environmental factors beyond the control of the estate and to the strategic capabilities of the estate itself.(15 marks)(b)Discuss how the website could be further developed to address some of the issues highlighted in the survey.(10 marks)(25 marks)3 Emile Gonzalez is an industrial chemist who worked for the government of Pablos for more than 20 years.In his spare time,he continually experimented with formulating a product that could remove graffiti from all surfaces.Graffiti is a particular problem in Pablos and all previous removal methods were expensive,dangerous to apply and did not work on all surfaces.After many years of experimentation,Emile formulated a product that addressed all these issues.His product can be applied safely without protective clothing,it removes graffiti from all surfaces and it can be produced economically in small,as well as large,volumes.Three years ago,Emile left his government job to focus on refining the product and bringing it to market.He formed a limited liability company,Graffoff,with initial share cap