May 2012 professional gateway question paper

Page 1

A1 - CIMA Professional Gateway Assessment 22 May 2012 – Tuesday Afternoon Session Instructions to candidates You are allowed three hours to answer this question paper. You are allowed 20 minutes reading time before the examination begins during which you should read the question paper and, if you wish, highlight and/or make notes on the question paper. However, you are not allowed, under any circumstances, to open the answer book and start writing or use your calculator during this reading time. You are strongly advised to carefully read ALL the question requirements before attempting the question concerned (that is, all parts and/or subquestions). The question requirements for Section A are highlighted in a dotted box. ALL answers must be written in the answer book. Answers or notes written on the question paper will not be submitted for marking. You should show all workings as marks are available for the method you use. ALL QUESTIONS ARE COMPULSORY. Section A comprises three questions on pages 2 to 7. Section B comprises one question containing 12 objective test sub-questions on pages 8 to 12. Maths tables and formulae are provided on pages 13 to 15. These are detachable for ease of reference. The list of verbs as published in the syllabus is given for reference on page 19. Write your candidate number, the paper number and the examination subject title in the spaces provided on the front of the examination answer book. Also write your contact ID and name in the space provided in the right hand margin and seal to close. Tick the appropriate boxes on the front of the answer book to indicate which questions you have answered.

A1 - CIMA Professional Gateway Assessment

DO NOT OPEN THIS QUESTION PAPER UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

TURN OVER

Š The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants 2012


SECTION A – 75 MARKS [You are advised to spend no longer than 45 minutes on each question in this section]

ANSWER ALL THREE QUESTIONS Question One RTY manufactures a number of products. One of its products, the RT23, is produced at a constant rate of 30,000 units per quarter. Selling prices and sales demand for the RT23 for the year commencing 1 April 2012 are expected to be as follows: Units Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Selling price per unit ($) 100 100 105 105

22,000 32,000 34,000 32,000

No inventory of product RT23 is expected to be held on 1 April 2012. During the year excess production units are held in inventory but these incur a holding cost (based on average inventory) of $5 per unit per quarter. Unit production costs for the RT23 for the year commencing 1 April 2012 (assuming a constant production level of 30,000 units per quarter) are expected to be as follows: Quarter

1

2

3

4

Direct materials ($) Direct labour ($) Variable overhead ($) Fixed overhead ($)

15.00 25.00 10.00 20.00

15.00 30.00 10.00 20.00

16.00 30.00 12.00 20.00

16.50 30.00 12.00 20.00

Total ($)

70.00

75.00

78.00

78.50

For some years RTY has used a Just-In-Time (JIT) purchasing system for its direct materials. The company is now considering whether it should also use a JIT system for the production of product RT23. RTY has already determined that if the production level in any one quarter exceeds 30,000 units, then the excess units would have to be produced by working overtime. This would mean that the unit direct labour and unit variable overhead costs of any units above 30,000 per quarter would be 50% greater than the unit costs indicated above. No other costs would be affected by the overtime working.

Required (a) Prepare a statement showing the difference in profits that would be earned by RTY from its RT23 product for the year commencing 1 April 2012 if it changed to a JIT production system. (10 marks)

Professional Gateway

2

May 2012


RTY is about to launch a new product into the market. The product is similar to many that have been launched by RTY's competitors over the last few weeks and, as a result, RTY will have to accept the market price of $75 per unit for its new product. RTY expects to sell 100,000 units of this product over its lifetime and has set a target contribution for this product of $5 per unit. Production will occur in batches of 10,000 units. Batch production costs for this unit for this product are forecast as follows: Direct materials Direct labour Variable overhead

$ per batch 180,000 See below 120,000

Direct labour costs per batch are expected to reduce as a result of a learning effect of 80%. The direct labour cost of the first batch is expected to be $900,000 and learning is expected to continue until the cumulative production reaches eight batches. Thereafter, the direct labour cost of subsequent batches is expected to be the same as the direct labour cost of the eighth batch.

Required (b)

(i)

Calculate the average direct labour cost per batch of the first eight batches. (2 marks)

(ii)

Calculate the direct labour cost of the eighth batch. (3 marks)

(iii)

Prepare a statement showing the contribution expected from this new product over its lifetime, assuming that the selling price remains at $75 per unit. (5 marks)

(iv)

Explain Kaizen costing and how it may be used by RTY to increase the contribution it earns from the new product during its lifetime. (5 marks) (Total for Question One = 25 marks)

Note: The learning index for an 80% learning curve is -0.3219

Section A continues on page 4

TURN OVER May 2012

3

Professional Gateway


Question Two F has recently been appointed as the Project Manager of a major construction project. The project objective is to build a new stadium for P City. The stadium will be used for a range of purposes including athletic meetings, football and rugby matches and musical events. Whilst there are likely to be a number of risks and uncertainties associated with the project, meeting the completion date for the stadium is critical since it needs to be ready to host a world athletics event in two years' time. However, the construction project is a complex one and F is aware that it will be important to invest time in the first stage of the project and develop a good project initiation document. As with most construction projects, the company that F works for will receive stage payments for the construction work, but will also be subject to financial penalties linked to both the time of completion of the various stages and also meeting the quality requirements.

Required: (a)

Discuss what will be involved in the initiation stage of the stadium construction project and explain what should be included in the project initiation document. (10 marks)

(b)

Explain to F the various ways in which the risks and uncertainties associated with the arena and stadium construction project can be managed. (15 marks) (Total for Question Two = 25 marks)

Section A continues on page 6

Professional Gateway

4

May 2012


This page is blank

TURN OVER May 2012

5

Professional Gateway


Question Three The statement of financial position of the DEF Group as at 31 December 2011 and its comparative for 2010 are shown below:

ASSETS Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment (Note 1) Goodwill (Note 4) Intangible assets (Note 2) Investment in associate Investments – available for sale (Note 3) Current assets Inventories Receivables Investments – held for trading (Note 3) Cash and cash equivalents Total assets EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Equity attributable to equity holders of the parent Share capital ($1 ordinary shares) Share premium Other reserves Retained earnings Non-controlling interests Total equity Non-current liabilities Long term borrowing Provision for deferred tax Current liabilities Payables Income tax Total liabilities Total equities and liabilities

2011 $m

2010 $m

1,694 216 210 480 120 2,720

1,680 150 120 400 106 2,456

640 720 52 104 1,516 4,236

560 620 40 72 1,292 3,748

900 560 98 894 2,452 328 2,780

600 400 84 760 1,844 240 2,084

760 156 916

1,080 140 1,220

460 80 540 1,456 4,236

380 64 444 1,664 3,748

The statement of total comprehensive income for the DEF Group for the year ended 31 December 2011 is shown below: $m 3,600 (2,100) 1,500 (512) (610) (280) 100 198 (40) 158

Revenue Cost of Sales Gross profit Distribution costs Administrative expenses Finance costs (Note 3) Share of profit of associate Profit before tax Income tax expense Profit for the year Profit for the year attributable to: Owners of the parent Non-controlling interest

Professional Gateway

134 24 158

6

May 2012


Additional information: 1. Depreciation of $260 million was charged in arriving at profit before tax. Items of plant were purchased from a foreign supplier and a gain on translation of $10 million arose on the settlement of the related payables. The gain has been included in administrative expenses. 2. Intangible assets relate to capitalised development expenditure. An amount of $60 million was amortised in the year and charged to administrative expenses. 3. There were no purchases or disposals of the investments held as available for sale or those designated as held for trading. These investments have been accounted for in accordance with IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and measurement. Gains on held for trading investments are offset against finance costs. 4. DEF acquired 80% of the ordinary share capital of XY on 1 July 2011 for a cash consideration of $120million plus the issue of 200 million $1 ordinary shares in DEF, which had a deemed value $1.50 per share at the date of acquisition. The fair values of the net assets acquired on 1 July 2011 were as follows: $m 140 120 140 40 (60) 380

Property, plant and equipment Inventories Receivables Cash and cash equivalents Payables

DEF made no other purchases or sales of investments in the year. The group policy is to value non-controlling interests at acquisition at its proportionate share of the fair value of the net assets. An impairment review of purchased goodwill resulted in an impairment loss being charged to administrative expenses.

Required: Prepare the consolidated statement of cash flows for the DEF group for the year ended 31 December 2011 in accordance with IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows. Use the indirect method for calculating cash flows from operating activities. (Total for Question Three = 25 marks)

(Total for Section A = 75 marks)

End of Section A Section B starts on the next page

TURN OVER May 2012

7

Professional Gateway


SECTION B – 25 MARKS [You are advised to spend no longer than 45 minutes on this section]

ANSWER ALL TWELVE QUESTIONS

Instructions for answering Section B: The answers to the twelve sub-questions in Section B should ALL be written in your answer book. Your answers should be clearly numbered with the sub-question number and ruled off so that the markers know which sub-question you are answering. For multiple choice questions you need only write the sub-question number and the letter of the answer option you have chosen. You do not need to start a new page for each sub-question.

Question Four 4.1

B produces a range of different products. The production budget for product G and the materials purchasing budget are being prepared. Relevant data are as follows: Opening inventories; Raw materials Finished units of G

32,000 kgs 8,600 units

Budgeted sales of G

97,000 units

Planned closing inventories; Raw materials Finished units of G

35,000 kgs 7,200 units

Each unit of G produced requires 5 kgs of material The budgeted purchases of raw materials for the forthcoming period are A

478,000 kgs

B

481,000 kgs

C

485,000 kgs

D

488,000 kgs (2 marks)

Section B continues on the opposite page

Professional Gateway

8

May 2012


4.2

Z and Y are two divisions of M, a large manufacturing company. Z manufactures three products, two of which are sold to external customers. The other product, Z3, is sold only to division Y at a transfer price of £130 per unit. The production cost of Z3 is £90 per unit (variable cost £70 and absorbed fixed overhead £20). An external supplier has offered to supply division Y with a substitute for Z3 at a price of £115 per unit. Z division is operating below full capacity. None of the fixed overheads are avoidable in the short to medium term. If division Y accepts the external supplier's offer, what will be the effect on profits?

A

Z's profit will increase; M's overall company profit will increase.

B

Z's profit will increase; M's overall company profit will decrease.

C

Z's profit will decrease; M's overall company profit will decrease.

D

Z's profit will decrease; M's overall company profit will increase. (2 marks)

4.3

S produces and sells one product, P, for which the data are as follows: Selling price Variable cost Fixed cost

€ per unit 28 16 4

The fixed costs are based on a budgeted production and sales level of 25,000 units for the next period. Due to market changes both the selling price and the variable cost are expected to increase above the budgeted level in the next period. If the selling price and variable cost per unit increase by 10% and 8% respectively, by how much must sales volume change, compared with the original budgeted level, in order to achieve the original budgeted profit for the period? A

10.1% decrease

B

11.2% decrease

C

13.3% decrease

D

16.0% decrease (2 marks)

4.4

Which ONE of the following statements is correct?

A

If there is only one scarce resource linear programming must be used.

B

In linear programming the point where resource constraints intersect furthest from the origin will always be the point of profit maximisation.

C

The slope of the objective function depends on the contributions of the products.

D

When maximising the profit from the use of a limiting factor the products should always be ranked according to the contribution per unit sold. (2 marks)

Section B continues on the next page TURN OVER

May 2012

9

Professional Gateway


4.5

The minimum level of assets which an organisation needs in order to carry out its business is referred to as which ONE of the following?

A

Core competences

B

Threshold resources

C

Threshold competences

D

Unique resources (2 marks)

4.6

Which ONE of the following types of organisational control requires the development of employees' strong identification with management goals and acceptance of the values and beliefs of the organisation?

A

Output control

B

Personal centralised control

C

Clan/cultural control

D

Bureaucratic control (2 marks)

4.7

The move by some organisations to encourage greater employee involvement, flexible working and flatter organisational structures have placed greater emphasis on which ONE of the following styles of management?

A

Exploitative authoritative

B

Benevolent authoritative

C

Participative

D

Country club (2 marks)

4.8

Describe THREE characteristics of the positioning view of strategy. (3 marks)

Section B continues on the opposite page

Professional Gateway

10

May 2012


4.9

SR granted 1,000 share appreciation rights (SARs) to its 300 employees on 1 January 2011. To be eligible, employees must remain employed for 3 years from the date of issue and the rights must be exercised in January 2014, with settlement due in cash. In the year to 31 December 2011, 32 members of staff left and a further 35 were expected to leave over the following 2 years. The fair value of each SAR was $8 at 31 December 2011. The accounting entry to record the expense associated with the SARs (to the nearest $), for the year to 31 December 2011, in accordance with IFRS 2 Share-based Payment is to:

A

debit staff costs $1,864,000 and credit other reserves (within equity) $1,864,000.

B

debit staff costs $1,864,000 and credit liabilities $1,864,000.

C

debit staff costs $621,333 and credit other reserves (within equity) $621,333.

D

debit staff costs $621,333 and credit liabilities $621,333. (2 marks)

4.10 KL issued a long term debt instrument with a nominal value of $9.5 million on 1 January 2011. The costs associated with the issue totalled $370,000. The instrument carries a coupon rate of 5%. However, effective interest rate for this instrument is 7%. The value of the debt instrument in KL's statement of financial position at 31 December 2011 was A

$8,965,900

B

$9,294,100

C

$9,312,600

D

$9,690,000 (2 marks)

4.11 The following information is available for GHJ for the year ended 31 March 2012: Profit for the year Total comprehensive income for the year Share capital ($1 equity shares)

$160m $248m $300m

The share capital at the year-end includes 100m shares that were issued as a bonus issue on 1 July 2011. The basic earnings per share for the year ended 31 March 2012 is A

53.3 cents

B

58.2 cents

C

82.7 cents

D

90.2 cents (2 marks)

Section B continues on the next page

TURN OVER May 2012

11

Professional Gateway


4.12 SR acquired 60% of the 1 million $1 ordinary shares of BN on 1 July 2011 for $3,250,000 when BN's retained earnings were $2,760,000. The group policy is to measure noncontrolling interests at fair value at the date of acquisition. The fair value of non-controlling interests at 1 July 2011 was $1,960,000. There has been no impairment of goodwill since the date of acquisition. SR acquired a further 20% of BN's share capital on 1 March 2012 for $1,000,000 when the retained earnings of BN were $2,960,000. The value of goodwill appearing on SR Group's statement of financial position at 31 March 2012 is A

$994,000

B

$1,450,000

C

$1,594,000

D

$2,250,000 (2 marks)

Total for Section B = 25 marks)

End of Question Paper

Reminder All answers to Section B must be written in your answer book. Answers to Section B written on the question paper will not be submitted for marking Maths tables and formulae are on pages 13 -15 which are detachable for ease of reference

Professional Gateway

12

May 2012


Maths Tables and Formulae Present Value Table

Present value of $1, that is (1+ r ) payment or receipt.

竏地

where r = interest rate; n = number of periods until

Periods (n) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

1% 0.990 0.980 0.971 0.961 0.951 0.942 0.933 0.923 0.914 0.905 0.896 0.887 0.879 0.870 0.861 0.853 0.844 0.836 0.828 0.820

2% 0.980 0.961 0.942 0.924 0.906 0.888 0.871 0.853 0.837 0.820 0.804 0.788 0.773 0.758 0.743 0.728 0.714 0.700 0.686 0.673

3% 0.971 0.943 0.915 0.888 0.863 0.837 0.813 0.789 0.766 0.744 0.722 0.701 0.681 0.661 0.642 0.623 0.605 0.587 0.570 0.554

4% 0.962 0.925 0.889 0.855 0.822 0.790 0.760 0.731 0.703 0.676 0.650 0.625 0.601 0.577 0.555 0.534 0.513 0.494 0.475 0.456

Interest rates (r) 5% 6% 0.952 0.943 0.907 0.890 0.864 0.840 0.823 0.792 0.784 0.747 0.746 0.705 0.711 0.665 0.677 0.627 0.645 0.592 0.614 0.558 0.585 0.527 0.557 0.497 0.530 0.469 0.505 0.442 0.481 0.417 0.458 0.394 0.436 0.371 0.416 0.350 0.396 0.331 0.377 0.312

7% 0.935 0.873 0.816 0.763 0.713 0.666 0.623 0.582 0.544 0.508 0.475 0.444 0.415 0.388 0.362 0.339 0.317 0.296 0.277 0.258

8% 0.926 0.857 0.794 0.735 0.681 0.630 0.583 0.540 0.500 0.463 0.429 0.397 0.368 0.340 0.315 0.292 0.270 0.250 0.232 0.215

9% 0.917 0.842 0.772 0.708 0.650 0.596 0.547 0.502 0.460 0.422 0.388 0.356 0.326 0.299 0.275 0.252 0.231 0.212 0.194 0.178

10% 0.909 0.826 0.751 0.683 0.621 0.564 0.513 0.467 0.424 0.386 0.350 0.319 0.290 0.263 0.239 0.218 0.198 0.180 0.164 0.149

Periods (n) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

11% 0.901 0.812 0.731 0.659 0.593 0.535 0.482 0.434 0.391 0.352 0.317 0.286 0.258 0.232 0.209 0.188 0.170 0.153 0.138 0.124

12% 0.893 0.797 0.712 0.636 0.567 0.507 0.452 0.404 0.361 0.322 0.287 0.257 0.229 0.205 0.183 0.163 0.146 0.130 0.116 0.104

13% 0.885 0.783 0.693 0.613 0.543 0.480 0.425 0.376 0.333 0.295 0.261 0.231 0.204 0.181 0.160 0.141 0.125 0.111 0.098 0.087

14% 0.877 0.769 0.675 0.592 0.519 0.456 0.400 0.351 0.308 0.270 0.237 0.208 0.182 0.160 0.140 0.123 0.108 0.095 0.083 0.073

Interest rates (r) 15% 16% 0.870 0.862 0.756 0.743 0.658 0.641 0.572 0.552 0.497 0.476 0.432 0.410 0.376 0.354 0.327 0.305 0.284 0.263 0.247 0.227 0.215 0.195 0.187 0.168 0.163 0.145 0.141 0.125 0.123 0.108 0.107 0.093 0.093 0.080 0.081 0.069 0.070 0.060 0.061 0.051

17% 0.855 0.731 0.624 0.534 0.456 0.390 0.333 0.285 0.243 0.208 0.178 0.152 0.130 0.111 0.095 0.081 0.069 0.059 0.051 0.043

18% 0.847 0.718 0.609 0.516 0.437 0.370 0.314 0.266 0.225 0.191 0.162 0.137 0.116 0.099 0.084 0.071 0.060 0.051 0.043 0.037

19% 0.840 0.706 0.593 0.499 0.419 0.352 0.296 0.249 0.209 0.176 0.148 0.124 0.104 0.088 0.079 0.062 0.052 0.044 0.037 0.031

20% 0.833 0.694 0.579 0.482 0.402 0.335 0.279 0.233 0.194 0.162 0.135 0.112 0.093 0.078 0.065 0.054 0.045 0.038 0.031 0.026

May 2012

13

Professional Gateway


Cumulative present value of $1 per annum, Receivable or Payable at the end of each year for n years

1− (1+ r ) − n r

Periods (n) 1 2 3 4 5

1% 0.990 1.970 2.941 3.902 4.853

2% 0.980 1.942 2.884 3.808 4.713

3% 0.971 1.913 2.829 3.717 4.580

4% 0.962 1.886 2.775 3.630 4.452

Interest rates (r) 5% 6% 0.952 0.943 1.859 1.833 2.723 2.673 3.546 3.465 4.329 4.212

7% 0.935 1.808 2.624 3.387 4.100

8% 0.926 1.783 2.577 3.312 3.993

9% 0.917 1.759 2.531 3.240 3.890

10% 0.909 1.736 2.487 3.170 3.791

6 7 8 9 10

5.795 6.728 7.652 8.566 9.471

5.601 6.472 7.325 8.162 8.983

5.417 6.230 7.020 7.786 8.530

5.242 6.002 6.733 7.435 8.111

5.076 5.786 6.463 7.108 7.722

4.917 5.582 6.210 6.802 7.360

4.767 5.389 5.971 6.515 7.024

4.623 5.206 5.747 6.247 6.710

4.486 5.033 5.535 5.995 6.418

4.355 4.868 5.335 5.759 6.145

11 12 13 14 15

10.368 11.255 12.134 13.004 13.865

9.787 10.575 11.348 12.106 12.849

9.253 9.954 10.635 11.296 11.938

8.760 9.385 9.986 10.563 11.118

8.306 8.863 9.394 9.899 10.380

7.887 8.384 8.853 9.295 9.712

7.499 7.943 8.358 8.745 9.108

7.139 7.536 7.904 8.244 8.559

6.805 7.161 7.487 7.786 8.061

6.495 6.814 7.103 7.367 7.606

16 17 18 19 20

14.718 15.562 16.398 17.226 18.046

13.578 14.292 14.992 15.679 16.351

12.561 13.166 13.754 14.324 14.878

11.652 12.166 12.659 13.134 13.590

10.838 11.274 11.690 12.085 12.462

10.106 10.477 10.828 11.158 11.470

9.447 9.763 10.059 10.336 10.594

8.851 9.122 9.372 9.604 9.818

8.313 8.544 8.756 8.950 9.129

7.824 8.022 8.201 8.365 8.514

Periods (n) 1 2 3 4 5

11% 0.901 1.713 2.444 3.102 3.696

12% 0.893 1.690 2.402 3.037 3.605

13% 0.885 1.668 2.361 2.974 3.517

14% 0.877 1.647 2.322 2.914 3.433

Interest rates (r) 15% 16% 0.870 0.862 1.626 1.605 2.283 2.246 2.855 2.798 3.352 3.274

17% 0.855 1.585 2.210 2.743 3.199

18% 0.847 1.566 2.174 2.690 3.127

19% 0.840 1.547 2.140 2.639 3.058

20% 0.833 1.528 2.106 2.589 2.991

6 7 8 9 10

4.231 4.712 5.146 5.537 5.889

4.111 4.564 4.968 5.328 5.650

3.998 4.423 4.799 5.132 5.426

3.889 4.288 4.639 4.946 5.216

3.784 4.160 4.487 4.772 5.019

3.685 4.039 4.344 4.607 4.833

3.589 3.922 4.207 4.451 4.659

3.498 3.812 4.078 4.303 4.494

3.410 3.706 3.954 4.163 4.339

3.326 3.605 3.837 4.031 4.192

11 12 13 14 15

6.207 6.492 6.750 6.982 7.191

5.938 6.194 6.424 6.628 6.811

5.687 5.918 6.122 6.302 6.462

5.453 5.660 5.842 6.002 6.142

5.234 5.421 5.583 5.724 5.847

5.029 5.197 5.342 5.468 5.575

4.836 4.988 5.118 5.229 5.324

4.656 7.793 4.910 5.008 5.092

4.486 4.611 4.715 4.802 4.876

4.327 4.439 4.533 4.611 4.675

16 17 18 19 20

7.379 7.549 7.702 7.839 7.963

6.974 7.120 7.250 7.366 7.469

6.604 6.729 6.840 6.938 7.025

6.265 6.373 6.467 6.550 6.623

5.954 6.047 6.128 6.198 6.259

5.668 5.749 5.818 5.877 5.929

5.405 5.475 5.534 5.584 5.628

5.162 5.222 5.273 5.316 5.353

4.938 4.990 5.033 5.070 5.101

4.730 4.775 4.812 4.843 4.870

Professional Gateway

14

May 2012


FORMULAE Annuity

Present value of an annuity of $1 per annum receivable or payable for n years, commencing in one year, discounted at r% per annum: PV =

1 1  1 −  r  [1 + r ]n 

Perpetuity Present value of $1 per annum receivable or payable in perpetuity, commencing in one year, discounted at r% per annum: PV =

1 r

Growing Perpetuity Present value of $1 per annum, receivable or payable, commencing in one year, growing in perpetuity at a constant rate of g% per annum, discounted at r% per annum: PV =

1 r −g

Time series Additive model: Series = Trend + Seasonal + Random Multiplicative model: Series = Trend*Seasonal*Random Regression analysis The linear regression equation of Y on X is given by: Y = a + bX

or Y – Y = b(X – X ),

where: b=

Covariance ( XY )

=

n ∑ XY − ( ∑ X )( ∑ Y )

Variance ( X )

and or solve

2

n ∑ X − (∑ X )

2

a= Y –bX

∑ Y = na + b ∑ X ∑ XY = a ∑ X + b ∑ X2 Exponential Geometric

x

Y = ab b Y = aX

Learning curve b

Yx = aX

where: Yx = the cumulative average time per unit to produce X units; a = the time required to produce the first unit of output; X = the cumulative number of units; b = the index of learning. The exponent b is defined as the log of the learning curve improvement rate divided by log 2.

May 2012

15

Professional Gateway


This page is blank

Professional Gateway

16

May 2012


This page is blank

May 2012

17

Professional Gateway


This page is blank

Professional Gateway

18

May 2012


LIST OF VERBS USED IN THE QUESTION REQUIREMENTS A list of the learning objectives and verbs that appear in the syllabus and in the question requirements for each question in this paper. It is important that you answer the question according to the definition of the verb. LEARNING OBJECTIVE Level 1 - KNOWLEDGE What you are expected to know.

Level 2 - COMPREHENSION What you are expected to understand.

VERBS USED

DEFINITION

List State Define

Make a list of Express, fully or clearly, the details of/facts of Give the exact meaning of

Describe Distinguish Explain

Communicate the key features Highlight the differences between Make clear or intelligible/State the meaning or purpose of Recognise, establish or select after consideration Use an example to describe or explain something

Identify Illustrate Level 3 - APPLICATION How you are expected to apply your knowledge.

Apply Calculate Demonstrate Prepare Reconcile Solve Tabulate

Level 4 - ANALYSIS How you are expected to analyse the detail of what you have learned.

Level 5 - EVALUATION How you are expected to use your learning to evaluate, make decisions or recommendations.

May 2012

Analyse Categorise Compare and contrast

Put to practical use Ascertain or reckon mathematically Prove with certainty or to exhibit by practical means Make or get ready for use Make or prove consistent/compatible Find an answer to Arrange in a table

Construct Discuss Interpret Prioritise Produce

Examine in detail the structure of Place into a defined class or division Show the similarities and/or differences between Build up or compile Examine in detail by argument Translate into intelligible or familiar terms Place in order of priority or sequence for action Create or bring into existence

Advise Evaluate Recommend

Counsel, inform or notify Appraise or assess the value of Advise on a course of action

19

Professional Gateway


CIMA Professional Gateway Assessment

May 2012

Tuesday Afternoon Session

Professional Gateway

20

May 2012


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.