CIMA—E2模拟题及分析（3）
1.TS Consultants has been asked to investigate the issues underlying the underperformance and low staff morale of the Finance Department in YR Hospital.
The consultants have access to various sources of information such as the recent staff satisfaction survey which shows that staff morale in the department is low. In addition, statistics from the HR Department reveals that both absenteeism and staff turnover are exceptionally high in the Finance Department. There have also been many complaints from other areas of the hospital about both the management and staff working in the department. However, staff enjoy competitive salaries and other excellent working conditions such as free car parking, a subsidised canteen and access to sports facilities.
The consultants have run some focus groups with members of staff working in the department to try to gather more information to help them better understand the causes of underperformance and low staff m
orale. The findings suggest that there appears to be very much a “them and us” culture between management and staff, with the managers in the department exerting power based on their position and status. Staff say that they are only allowed to undertake the specific activities included in their narrow job descriptions and feel unable to fully contribute as a result of the chain of command in the Finance Department. Staff also say that they are not involved in decisions regarding the department’s activities, and many say they have not had any training.
They mentioned that there are very few career progression opportunities because of this. They feel their contributions are not recognised by management and that they never receive feedback on their performance. Staff characterise the leadership and management of the department as task-focused, with tight controls and close supervision.
Having undertaken the review, the consultants are preparing the recommendations on how to improve the poor performance and low staff morale.
Required
With reference to theory, discuss the recommendations TS Consultants could make to help improve performance and staff morale in the Finance Department of YR Hospital.
(Total for Question One = 10 marks)
2. M is a business that sells custom made computer-based information systems. Each customer order is for a unique system, which will involve experts from many functional areas within M. Each customer expects a high level of individual attention. Some systems take only four to six months to design and produce and cost less than €50,000, whereas other systems cost several million Euros and can take up to three years to complete. Projects are continually being completed and started.
A Management Consultant's review of M's organisational effectiveness has concluded that the matrix structure is the most appropriate for M.
Required:
Identify the characteristics of the organisation that make it appropriate for M to have a matrix structure.
(Total for Question Two = 10 marks)
3. JB has recently joined the Finance Department of P Company as a trainee management accountant. As part of the Company's induction, she has been offered a mentor. However, since JB has not had any previous experience of mentoring, she is unconvinced of the benefits. She has asked LC, the facilitator of the induction session, to explain what is involved in the process  of mentoring and how it might be a benefit to her as a new member of staff.
Required:
Explain the points that LC should make concerning the process and the benefits of mentoring for new members of staff.
(Total for Question Three = 10 marks)
4. PRC Company, a retailer of baby clothes and toys, has been in existence for 20 years. Its approach to strategy has tended to be informal and emergent rather than planned. However, the company is facing uncertain times and at a recent Board meeting, one of the directors  suggested that the company should adopt a more formal approach to how it develops its strategy. He has suggested that the use of strategic management tools and techniques could help and, as a start, has recommended that the company should undertake a corporate appraisal.
Required:
Explain the purpose of corporate appraisal (SWOT), and what would be involved in PRC Company undertaking a corporate appraisal.
(Total for Question Four = 10 marks)
(6 marks) (Total for Question Three = 10 marks)
试题答案：
1、【答案】
In making their recommendations TS Consultants could refer to Hertzberg’s theory on motivation. Essentially, the two factor theory proposed by Herzberg suggests that there are hygiene factors which need to be in place in order to reduce staff dissatisfaction. If they are absent this can lead to dissatisfaction and consequently impact on performance. For  ex ample, factors surrounding the job context such as pay, working environment, company policy and interpersonal relationships. These factors tend to be extrinsic to the job itself and whilst they are unlikely to motivate staff, if they are not right can cause dissatisfaction and de- motivation. The other set of factors are those, which if present,
can motivate individuals to superior effort and performance. They tend to be related to the job itself, in other words are intrinsic factors and are referred to as motivators or growth factors.
Applying this theory to the Finance Department based on the Consultants findings, it is apparent that the hygiene factors such as competitive salaries and good physical working conditions are in place. However, there are some hygiene factors that need attention, specifically the nature of supervision. The consultants should recommend that action is needed to address the nature of supervision by management and the poor relationships suggested by the 'them and us' culture, which would involve a shift in the approach to leadership in the department.
Another set of recommendations should be made which relate to the potential motivating factors, such as those relating to recognition, challenging work, responsibility and advancement. This could include reviewing job design to determine possibilities for job enlargement and job enrichment. This would involve exploring the design of job roles in the Finance Department to widen the scope
of jobs, providing more interesting and challenging work for staff. The benefit to employees would be the development of new skills and being given greater responsibility through empowerment. This would, however, require the managers to adopt a more participative leadership style, with junior staff given greater responsibility for their own areas of work and encouraged to participate in decision making, but with managers providing constructive feedback.
Another recommendation would be to look at how improved prospects for career development could be achieved. This might mean providing opportunities for lateral moves to enable staff  to gain new experiences and competencies.
A recommendation could be made to introduce some kind of recognition scheme since recognition is an important motivator. This could be achieved, at one level, by simply encouraging managers to thank members of staff for their contribution, acknowledging extra effort and performance. More formal recognition systems could also be considered.
TS Consultants should make a recommendation which highlights the training and development needs of managers in the Finance Department. To resolve some of the difficulties, it is likely that the managers will need to adapt their leadership style to a more democratic approach. Reference to the Bl
ake and Mouton managerial grid would help identify the focus on the training needs for the managers. It would seem from the scenario that currently they have the characteristics of authority-compliance management with a high concern for the task, but low concern for people. Leadership training and development should be designed to help the managers to understand the need to balance concern for the task  with the concern for people. Development interventions should focus on helping them to develop better working relationships with their teams, perhaps using team building  techniques.
(Answers could develop with reference to alternative theories on motivation and management/leadership styles).
2、【答案】
The characteristics of M that are appropriate to it adopting a matrix organisational structure are as follows:
•The business of M consists of a series of projects which are custom made, which are complex and require staff from a number of different functional areas;
•The projects undertaken by M have different start and end dates, so the organisation is continually reassigning resources from project to project as one ends and another begins;
•The projects undertaken by M are complex so the staff benefit from also being assigned to a technical function (such as finance or procurement) where they can share knowledge and experience with colleagues in their functional teams;
•The projects undertaken by M are often expensive, so having resources controlled by functional heads should lead to improved utilisation and reduced duplication across the different projects; •The projects undertaken by M are customer facing and customers expect a high level of customer focus. Therefore, the customer will require a single point of contact (the project manager) to deal with customer requests and problems.
3、【答案】
LC could start by explaining to JB that the purpose of a mentoring system is to provide new employees with a forum to discuss development issues in a relaxed and supportive environment. A mentoring
system would be useful to JB, as a new member of staff, in helping her socialise into the culture of the organisation and facilitate quicker learning about the way the organisation works. LC could go on to say that the mentoring relationship is not based on authority but, rather, a genuine wish by a mentor to share knowledge, advice and experience with junior members of staff.
LC should explain that the mentor would be in a senior position within P Company, and the purpose would be to guide and support JB, as a less experienced employee. LC should also explain that whilst JB’s mentor will hopefully be from the finance function that she has joined, the person acting as mentor would not be her direct line manager. The reason for this is to ensure that the mentor can act as an independent arbiter, and avoid the danger of conflict given the developmental nature of mentoring versus line management. The mentor would normally be a role model, having already achieved a status to which JB might aspire.
LC could then explain the different functions of mentoring, for example differentiating between career-enhancing and psychological functions.
In terms of career enhancing, a mentor could help JB in her career with P Company through exposure, visibility and sponsorship. Having a mentor could also help JB in expanding her network of contacts and in gaining greater exposure in the organisation.
The psychological function of mentoring could help JB enhance her competence and effectiveness in her role. LC could point out that the role of the mentor would be to encourage and assist JB in analysing her performance and identifying her strengths and weaknesses.
The mentor would provide JB with honest but supportive feedback and guidance on how she could work on her weaknesses. The mentor would also provide feedback and encourage JB  to reflect on her behaviour and experiences as she develops into her new role. LC could explain that JB could ask her mentor questions and learn from her mentor’s experience, using the mentor as a safe sounding board. So having a mentor should help JB in her new job through encouragement and nurturing her learning and development.
LC should also explain that mentoring would work alongside some of the more formal control mechanisms such as appraisal. The mentor would be able discuss with JB her training needs, advise on qualifications and provide a forum for her to discuss any interpersonal problems  a nd career goals.
4、【答案】
Corporate appraisal, sometimes referred to as SWOT, involves the quantitative and  qualitative review of a company’s internal strengths and weaknesses and its relationship with external opportunities and t
hreats. In essence, it could be used to summarise the key issues from PRC's business environment and its strategic capability, that are most likely to impact on its future strategic development.
Conducting a corporate appraisal brings together information derived from an analysis of the trends in the external and competitive environments and internal developments that may be of significance to PRC Company. The outcomes from the corporate appraisal could then be  used to determine the company's current position and inform whether it should continue with its existing strategy or formulate a new strategy that will enable it to operate more effectively.
The process of conducting a corporate appraisal will require PRC to draw on two sets of data: •Information on the current performance and resource position of the company to establish
internal capability. Data will need to be captured from performing an
analysis of the internal position of PRC Company, its resources and competences, and conclusions from value chain analysis.
•Information on the business environment and how this is likely to change, identifying key trends. This information will need to be collected through the process of external environment analysis (for example using the PESTEL framework and competitor analysis using Porter’s five forces framework).
The internal appraisal for PRC Company should highlight:
•Strengths, which are the particular skills or distinctive/core competences which the company possesses and which will give it an advantage over its competitors. These are the things the company should seek to exploit. In identifying strengths, it is important that it highlights not just what PRC Company is good at, but how it is better, relative to the competition. •Weaknesses, which are the shortcomings in the company and which can hinder it in achieving its strategic aims. For example, lack of resources, expertise or skill.
Strengths and weaknesses should relate to industry key factors for success and help PRC Company to assess how capable it is in dealing with changes in its business environment. •Opportunities relate to the events or changes outside the company, i.e. trends in its external business environment which are favourable to the company. For example, what opportunities exist in the business environment, what is the capability profile of the competitors, are they better placed to exploit these opportunities? T
he events or changes identified will provide some strategic focus to the decision-making for managers in the company.
•Threats relate to events or changes outside the company, i.e. trends in its business environment which are unfavourable and that must be defended against. The company will need to introduce strategies to overcome these threats in some way or it may start to lose market share to its competitors.
The external appraisal will assist PRC Company in identifying opportunities which can be exploited by the company’s strengths and also to anticipate environmental threats against which the company must protect itself. In other words, strategies should be developed to minimise weaknesses, or develop strengths, taking advantage of opportunities or counteracting problems from environmental changes.
Using the SWOT analysis should help PRC Company to focus on future choices and gain a better understanding of the extent to which it has the internal capability to support the changes. It will also facilitate the identification and generation of possible future strategic options for PRC.
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