Exam success: Management case study exams

Christian Gagiano B.COM, ACMA

Learning Support Manager

Learning Directorate - CIMA

April 2016

Session Focus / Outcomes

• MCS – key facts

• Walk through demonstration

• Pre-seen material

• Study tips

• Useful links

Challenges

• No syllabus !

• Exempted from subjects E2, P2 and F2 !

• Passed some subjects few years ago !

• Marks allocated based on competency framework !

• Marks for integration !

• Writing / typing skills !

• Time management !

27/04/2016 Syllabus 2015 6

Why Case Study Exams?

Assessing what you can do (not just what you know)

Assessing Competencies

Assessing Integration

Assessing what cannot be assessed in OT Exams!

• Communication Skills

• Analysis of complex and ambiguous situations

• Justifying / reasoning recommendations

27/04/2016 Syllabus 2015 7

Levels mapped to career

Management Level – Finance Manager

Communicates with CFO & senior business managers

Monitor

Medium term

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Case studies(Long and short answer essay questions)

Objective tests

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4

3

2

1

You are a ‘manager’ reporting to the CFO / senior executives who require your advice in dealing with problems and evaluating opportunities

Influences

Produces

Competencies

At the management level, Sally is responsible for monitoring the implementation of strategy. Her focus is on the medium – term. She needs to translate the long-term strategy (decided at the senior management / board level), into more tangible shorter-term goals (to be implemented at the operational level).

Decisions need to be taken about which investments in products, their prices and the long-term assets are needed to ensure they are produced. The costing calculated at the operational level will help with this. The costing information will also enable Sally to analyse and manage the drivers of costs. These decisions cannot be made in a vacuum, they need to consider the environment in which the business operates, as well as key stakeholders. The performance of both individual s and of divisions needs to be measured.

A more detailed consideration of risk is required for this longer term decision making, as well as the options for long-term finance. More advanced financial reporting is required in order to paint a picture of past performance; this may involve group accounts for a number of entities.

Key Features of the Case Study Exam

- Each section has a specified time allocation

- No specific requirement to calculate, hence no specific marks for calculations, although there may be interpretation of calculations required

- No specific marks for industry research information (outside pre-seen information)

- 4 exam windows per year over 5 days

- Variants are completely random

- Human-marked

- Your mark will be reported as a scaled score out of 150, with 80 being equivalent to a pass (not a percentage)

- Students are also expected to reach a minimum threshold score for each competency and integration (approximately one third of the total marks available for that competency).

In the MCS Exam …

• Think and write from the perspective of who you are: Finance Manager.

• Identify what your line manager/audience want from you (the question requirements), including the depth of detail required.

• Remember why you are supplying this information (e.g. to assist in decision making about a branch closure).

• Plan how you are going to communicate your response and to whom (format, tone, level of detail and technical complexity).

• Consider what the impact may be for other parts of the business, such as other stakeholders and the financial statements (this is where you may be able to demonstrate business and people skills).

• Consider what long term measures can be taken for driving performance of the business (this is where you may be able to demonstrate leadership skills)

During the exam, you will need to demonstrate …

• Technical skills such as preparing plans for final reporting including group accounts for a number of entities (F2). Analyse and manage costs using information produced at operational level (P2). Ensure compliance with tax and regulatory regimes (F2).

• Business skills such as defining short term goals. Understanding the environment in which the business operates, identifying stakeholders, appreciation of risk (E2).

• People skills such as communicating plans in order to influence or empower as an aid to decision making (E2).

• Leadership skills such as managing change, driving performance improvements (E2).

Page 92 – 2015 Syllabus Book

How to cover the knowledge gaps?

• Self assessment via Component Learning Outcomes

• 2010 past paper questions (via CIMA Connect)

• CIMA-Kaplan Exam Practice Kit

• ‘Aptitude’ (within CIMAstudy.com)

• CIMA-Kaplan Study Text

• Application of knowledge is more important !

Fail Moderate Strong

< 1/3rd available marks Between 1/3rd and 2/3rd

available marksBetween 2/3rd and 3/3rd

available marks

• 3 hours with a 15 minute compulsory tutorial

• Pre-seen available to download 7 weeks before exam

• 4 sections in each exam

• Students will be forced to ‘move on’ when time is up

• Not possible to return to previous task once moved on

• Result given in 4 – 5 weeks

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Exam logistics

WALK THROUGH DEMONSTRATION

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19

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Example scene setting or task screen

Example exhibit screen

Example answer screen

Task background

Task requirement

Format

One task: write a reportTwo Requirements- Financial performance- Balanced scorecard

Task requirement

Example exhibit screen

Task requirement

Task Answer

Task Answer

Competency link to syllabus

Examiner feedback

Marking guide

• Two answers may earn same marks –students need to believe in

their intuition and ‘business common sense’

• Students need to identify ‘what the company could / should do’,

and of course justify

• Elaborate your answer with ‘why’ - demonstrates BS, PS and LS

• Magic words in the answer

– … because …

– However, …

– Alternatively, ….

• Students need to think within the ‘Job Role’ in the pre-seen

• No specific marks for calculations, and marks are for

interpretation

Insights

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PRE-SEEN MATERIAL

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Pre-seen materials

• Dossier of true-to-life business information

• Industry background

• Company background

• Financial statements , sometimes of a competitor as well as main company

• Articles etc to add flavour

• Operation and management may contain budgets and costing information

• Exam tasks will draw on pre-seen materials and ensure that candidates cannot be successful if

they have not fully absorbed and analysed the pre-seen information

• Purpose of pre-seen materials – to provide a sufficient wealth of information for candidates

to analyse and absorb in advance in order to step into the assigned role in that organisation

on exam day

Pre-seen materials could include:

Financial statements

(extracts from) annual report

Tax regime

Industry analysis

Competitor analysis

Industry newsletters

Press releases

Organisation charts

Slide presentations

Mission statements

Company’s strategy

Newspaper or website articles

Product images or brochures

Risk report

What to do with pre-seen?

• You must understand the industry and company

• Do not try and second guess the examiner

• Don’t question spot

• Think about the business and imagine several possible scenarios – look at past exam questions and relate them to your pre-seen?

• Additional research – newspapers, news shows, articles

Pre-seen preparation

• Read through and …– Understand key affairs of the organisation and its industry

– Understand its products and services

– Identify key personnel, main suppliers, customers

– Analyse financial information (past performance figures, share price, market share ..)

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gse4A46OeoE

– https://connect.cimaglobal.com/resources/management-case-study-exam/may-2016-management-level-case-study-exam---pre-seen-material

Why a pre-seen is given?

Examiner’s Comments:

EXAM TIPS

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• Requirement(s) correctly interpreted

• Answered all requirements

• Logical and coherent answer

• Demonstration of understanding of theory/principles

• Application of theories to specific issue

• Conforms to the format required

• Short concise sentences with less punctuation

• Headings and sub-headings

• Short paragraphs, and make a separate paragraph for each point

• Good time management

What will a ‘good answer’ looks like?

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Time management in CS Exams

During the time available for a task, you will have to:• Read the unseen ‘Trigger’.

• Identify the task or tasks being sure to distinguish separate components within each task.

• Plan an answer which covers all the required issues

• Produce the answer

• Check your answer

The cases are written and time allocated to accommodate all of the above activities (20 words per minute average typing speed)

Necessary contents in your study plan

• Identify knowledge gaps and a course of action to

address them

• 2010 past paper question practice (Case Study Exams

are based on Learning Outcomes)

• Analyse pre-seen

• Look at previous MCS exam variants

• Mock exams

• Fully absorb and analyse the pre-seen information in order to step

into the assigned role of the organisation on exam day (story of

the organisation and its environment / stakeholders)

• Understand the requirements and answer the questions

• Answer planning is very important (1/3 of the allocated time): think

more-write less!

• Relate the answer to the pre-seen information and exam scenario

all the time

• Time management – answer all the requirements

5 important things to success

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• https://connect.cimaglobal.com/resources/management-case-

study-exam/may-2016-management-level-case-study-exam---

pre-seen-material

• http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Student%20docs/2015-

exams/Taking-your-first-case-study.pdf

• https://connect.cimaglobal.com/groups/management-case-

study-exam/resources

• http://www.cimastudy.com/cima-levels/management-

level#tabs1tab4

• https://connect.cimaglobal.com/discussions/management-case-

study-exam/date-for-your-diary---ask-a-tutor-session%21

• May 2016 closing date: 4 May 2016

• May 2016 exam dates: 17 -21 May

Useful links

Thank you