www.TOPCIMA.biz Reed Business School's CIMA T4 Case Study Website
Marking
This exam is marked in a very different way compared with any other CIMA subject. No longer can you rely on 1 mark for each reasonable point made or calcuation you get correct. Markers aim to get a feel for your report as a whole and then grade it according to a range of criteria set out in a marking guide.
Until June 2008 a detailed marking matrix was present in all TOPCIMA exams. Although this was designed to be used as a guide to how each criteria was marked, it did not truly reflect the way the examiners guided markers to mark, and so, in June 2008, the marking matrix was simplified to show just the criteria and marks awared under each heading. This simplified version will now appear in all exam papers going forward. Alongside this revision, the examiners issued separate guidance on how each category would be marked.
Understanding this guidance is the key to your exam success. You must write a report which aims to earn marks against this guidance.
The following guide shows you the marking criteria, marks awarded for each, and how you should approach writing your report to earn marks in each area.
As you can see there's a lot to do and include in your report, much of which you've never been required to do in previous exams. Its so easy to forget to put in industry examples or to forget to make recommendations on your ethical issues.
Practise writing reports yourself and then review your answers critically against these criteria to decide how you got on.
On Reed Business School Case Study courses you will undertake exercises aimed at helping you both understand these criteria, will be provided with detailed feedback on practise scripts based on how well you are addressing each criteria. You will also learn how to use a report format which is specifically designed to earn marks based around this matrix, enabling you to systemise your approach to writing your report and guarantee that you will earn marks across all sections.
Which theories to use?
So which theories should you be focusing on using in the exam? Some are essential, others quite commonly used, while some are used only occasionally in certain circumstances. Here are the key views of each of the main theories and how you should use them for the exam.
SWOT analysis - You must dos thissince the examiner has specifically stated this - it should be your first appendix.
PEST analysis - Very common and applicable to most companies, and most unseens. You should be able to find 2-3 unseen issues which relate to the PEST headings to suggest using it though.
Johnston and Scholes - Suitability, Acceptability, Feasibility - A must in the main body of your report to analyse one issue.
Porter's Generic Strategies - Most cases offer the opportunity to use this model, since the pre-seen information usually tells you the basis on which the company competes. I suggest including an appendix showing the company's competitive position alongside competitors mentioned in the case or real life companies.
Ansoff's product/market matrix - Used by many students well. Put the strategic options from the unseen into the matrix, plus one or two others to make sure you have one in each box. I often recommend this to good students and a nice, easy additional one to gain 2 extra marks.
Porter's five forces - Rarely used in the exam, although there's no real reason why you should not use it. Look out for particular supplier or customer issues in the unseen, or new companies entering the market, as a guide that it might be useful in your unseen.
Porter's Value chain - Rarely used in this exam, unless there is some specific indication that a review of value added is required.
Mendelow's stakeholder analysis - A very common model which I recommend to most students. Every issue has at least one stakeholder, so this model can virtually always be referenced.
BCG matrix and life cycle analysis - Uncommon. Consider on a case by case basis, depending on the unseen. BCG is useful where there are multiple products. The life-cycle where the product is obviously going into decline or in the growth stage.
Motivational theories - Herzberg and Maslow - Very useful for HR issues, of which there is almost always one, although few students use it in my experience.
Risk assessment/profiling - Rarely useful
Net Present Value (NPV) analysis - Common - look out for a cost of capital being provided as a clue that you should do some discounting
Ratio analysis - Rare for you to be specifically asked to do ratio analysis in the exam, but you can include some in an appendix as part of your business evaluation. Generally I would suggest not doing this, unless you have a specfic reason to do so.
Business valuations - another common calculation area, but dependent on the unseen. The key methods you should know are: discounting future cashflows, P/E ratio based valuations, net asset values and share price valuations.
Lewin's Change models (Forcefield/Unfreeze) - Very useful for any issue involving cultural change e.g. September 2008 exam in which this was a specific requirement.
McFarlan's strategic grid/Earl's Grid (information systems) - Could be used for IT issues, but I've never seen it used effectively for this exam so I'd say one to avoid.
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