(ii) Explain THREE strategies that might be adopted in order to improve the future prospects of Diverse
Holdings Plc. (6 marks)
(ii) Explain THREE strategies that might be adopted in order to improve the future prospects of Diverse
Holdings Plc. (6 marks)
3 Better budgeting in recent years may have been seen as a movement from ‘incremental budgeting’ to alternative
budgeting approaches.
However, academic studies (e.g. Beyond Budgeting – Hope & Fraser) argue that the annual budget model may be
seen as (i) having a number of inherent weaknesses and (ii) acting as a barrier to the effective implementation of
alternative models for use in the accomplishment of strategic change.
Required:
(a) Identify and comment on FIVE inherent weaknesses of the annual budget model irrespective of the budgeting
approach that is applied. (8 marks)
2 The Information Technology division (IT) of the RJ Business Consulting Group provides consulting services to its
clients as well as to other divisions within the group. Consultants always work in teams of two on every consulting
day. Each consulting day is charged to external clients at £750 which represents cost plus 150% profit mark up. The
total cost per consulting day has been estimated as being 80% variable and 20% fixed.
The director of the Human Resources (HR) division of RJ Business Consulting Group has requested the services of
two teams of consultants from the IT division on five days per week for a period of 48 weeks, and has suggested that
she meets with the director of the IT division in order to negotiate a transfer price. The director of the IT division has
responded by stating that he is aware of the limitations of using negotiated transfer prices and intends to charge the
HR division £750 per consulting day.
The IT division always uses ‘state of the art’ video-conferencing equipment on all internal consultations which would
reduce the variable costs by £50 per consulting day. Note: this equipment can only be used when providing internal
consultations.
Required:
(a) Calculate and discuss the transfer prices per consulting day at which the IT division should provide
consulting services to the HR division in order to ensure that the profit of the RJ Business Consulting Group
is maximised in each of the following situations:
(i) Every pair of consultants in the IT division is 100% utilised during the required 48-week period in
providing consulting services to external clients, i.e. there is no spare capacity.
(ii) There is one team of consultants who, being free from other commitments, would be available to
undertake the provision of services to the HR division during the required 48-week period. All other
teams of consultants would be 100% utilised in providing consulting services to external clients.
(iii) A major client has offered to pay the IT division £264,000 for the services of two teams of consultants
during the required 48-week period.
(12 marks)
5 Astrodome Sports Ltd was formed in December 2000 by seven engineers who comprise the board of directors of the
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)
(b) Discuss ways in which the traditional budgeting process may be seen as a barrier to the achievement of the
aims of EACH of the following models for the implementation of strategic change:
(i) benchmarking;
(ii) balanced scorecard; and
(iii) activity-based models. (12 marks)
(b) Briefly explain THREE limitations of negotiated transfer prices. (3 marks)
(b) Discuss FOUR factors that distinguish service from manufacturing organisations and explain how each of
these factors relates to the services provided by the Dental Health Partnership. (5 marks)
(b) Discuss the relevance of each of the following actions as steps in trying to remedy performance measurement
problems relating to the ‘365 Sports Complex’ and suggest examples of specific problem classifications that
may be reduced or eliminated by each action:
(i) Focusing on and improving the measurement of customer satisfaction
(ii) Involving staff at all levels in the development and implementation of performance measures
(iii) Being flexible in the extent to which formal performance measures are relied on
(iv) Giving consideration to the auditing of the performance measurement system. (8 marks)
(ii) Explain how the existing product range and the actions per Note (3) would feature in Ansoff’s
product-market matrix. (7 marks)
(c) Excluding the number of complaints by patients, identify and briefly explain THREE quantitative
non-financial performance measures that could be used to assess the ‘quality of service’ provided by the
Dental Health Partnership. (3 marks)
(b) Comment (with relevant calculations) on the performance of the business of Quicklink Ltd and Celer
Transport during the year ended 31 May 2005 and, insofar as the information permits, its projected
performance for the year ending 31 May 2006. Your answer should specifically consider:
(i) Revenue generation per vehicle
(ii) Vehicle utilisation and delivery mix
(iii) Service quality. (14 marks)