Staff Training

2005 Past Paper Question and Solution

Discuss the costs and benefits of training staff.

Costs
Financial costs of courses
Working time is lost
Quality of work may be slower/poorer quality when staff are training
Resistance to the benefits of training


Benefits
Increased competence
Improves flexibility of staff
Increased motivation of staff
Increased production levels
Easier to introduce change
Image of organisation improves

Cash Flow Question

From 2005 Past Paper


Identify 4 sources of cash flow problems and suggest one solution for each source you have identified.

Sources of cash flow problems:

too much money tied up in stock
allowing customers too long to pay
debtors not paying on time
high levels of borrowing along with high interest rates
high drawings
low sales
high expenses
purchasing capital equipment

Solutions
introduce JIT
offer discounts to encourage prompt payment
offer discounts/promote cash sales
sell any unused assets
reduce loans by eg increasing number of investors
debt factoring
sale and leaseback
extended credit
arrange overdraft/loan
cut costs
promote product or serv

Prelim

I hope you all did well in the Prelim.

I think it was pretty fair and the only problem I would say is that sometimes it is a test of English that sometimes throw people off. And by that I mean students sometimes write the wrong answers when if it was explained in plain English they would be able to rattle off 2,000 words.

Unfortunately that is a problem that has to be met for the final exam.

I have told you that the cut off scores will be inflated by 5% to help for appeals.

Students who totally blow the exam will have to drop down to Int 2. For those students we will see on an individual basis whether it is better for them to sit the Int 2 NABs or to complete the remaining Higher NAB.

For borderline candidates we will talk and see what you feel about it.

And again, I am not being Mr Nasty here. It is just that our job is to make sure you guys all achieve and do not fail. It is better to pass at Int 2 than fail the Higher.

I will try my best to get it marked and returned for you by Monday, but I do have another Higher to mark also. So please don't go mad if it is not done. And again... some other subjects may have it marked quicker than me but that is because they either have only one Higher class or they have more members of staff and they can divide the workload!

I hope you all did well and we shall soon find out!