Every question, cut by section

A furniture retailer that has only ever sold in its home country begins selling its EXISTING product range through a newly opened store in a neighbouring country. Which Ansoff strategy is this?

A pet-care retailer's accessories division holds 45% of the UK market and grew revenue by 15% last year in a market forecast to keep expanding. Its grooming division's revenue declined over the same period, and it holds only a small share of a market that isn't growing.

Using portfolio analysis, what does the Boston Matrix indicate about these two divisions, and what is the correct limitation to raise alongside that classification?

A firm calculates a 3-year moving average of its annual sales. What is the moving average specifically designed to smooth away?

A business spends £60,000 on a project forecast to generate net cash inflows of £25,000 in each of Years 1, 2 and 3. Discount factors at 10%: Year 1 = 0.909, Year 2 = 0.826, Year 3 = 0.751.

What is the net present value?

Which of the following is a genuine limitation of critical path analysis, confirmed directly in a real examiner report?

A clothing retailer is legally required to pay the national minimum wage. It instead pays a higher, independently-verified "living wage" to every worker in its supply chain, at its own cost, despite no law requiring it. Which concept does this best illustrate?

A firm has 150 employees, each contracted to work 200 days in the year (30,000 total staff-days available). Employees were absent for a combined 390 staff-days over the year. What is the firm's absenteeism rate? (VERIDIAN-original figures, independently checked.)

A ten-person start-up and a 40,000-employee multinational both decide to change their expenses-approval process. Which factor best explains why the multinational's change is likely to take substantially longer to implement, even if both firms announce the decision on the same day?

A firm identifies that its factory machinery is now older and less efficient than its two closest rivals'. Is this best classified as a SWOT element, a PESTLE element, or both, and why?

A well-established company acquires a smaller technology start-up mainly to gain its patented software and its skilled engineering team, rather than to combine two similar-sized production lines making the same product. Which reason for inorganic growth does this best illustrate?

A firm's centred trend value for its most recent quarter is £71.25k, and the trend has been rising by an average of £1.821k per quarter. That firm's average variation for the quarter three periods ahead (actual − trend, averaged across every matching past quarter) is −£14.375k.

What is the forecast for that quarter, three periods ahead?

Which of the following correctly distinguishes a decision node from a chance node in a decision tree?

A firm switches from an unaudited, low-cost cobalt supplier to an independently-audited ethical supplier that charges more per unit, and holds its selling price constant rather than passing the cost on. What is the most direct effect, and what real risk does the alternative — raising price instead — carry?

A firm's statement of financial position shows non-current liabilities of £180,000 and total equity of £420,000. What is its gearing ratio? (VERIDIAN-original figures, independently checked.)

A firm identifies, in an internal report, that a flood at its only warehouse could halt deliveries for three weeks. It takes no further action. Has the firm completed its contingency planning?

Which one of the following correctly distinguishes SWOT analysis from PESTLE analysis?

A furniture manufacturer wins several large new export orders, growing its sales by 50% within a year. To meet them it buys significantly more raw timber on its usual 30-day supplier terms and takes on extra staff, paid weekly, while its new export customers are given 90 days to pay under standard trade-finance terms for that market. Its statement of comprehensive income shows genuinely rising operating profit throughout the year. Six months in, it fails to pay a supplier's invoice on the agreed date. Which internal cause of business failure does this best illustrate?

A business is offered £10,000 either today or in exactly three years' time, with no difference in how certain the payment is either way. Why is receiving it today worth more — before the business has even decided what to spend it on?

At a single chance node in a decision tree, what must be true of the probabilities on the branches leaving it?

Lush's bath-soap range sells at £5.50 per unit; variable cost is £1.00 per unit. On 3,300,000 units sold in a month, what is total contribution?

A company takes out a new 10-year bank loan to fund a factory expansion. Its current ratio is unaffected, but its gearing ratio rises. Which statement is correct?

Which of the following would a supplier, deciding whether to extend 60-day trade credit to a company, most directly find on its statement of financial position rather than its statement of comprehensive income?

Northfield Logistics needs to replace its ageing warehouse-management system. The board wants the switch completed within four weeks, before the peak season starts. Two warehouse teams will need to learn the new interface from scratch, and one senior warehouse manager has raised specific, detailed concerns that the new system's routing algorithm will actually increase weekend delivery times.

Explain the most significant risk in the board's four-week timeline, given the two different sources of resistance described.

A fitness company's mission statement is "to use technology and connect the world through fitness." A genuine, exam-credited critique of this kind of broad, motivational mission statement is that it...

Anchorpoint Logistics, a haulage firm with average customer payment terms of 45 days and its own supplier/staff payment terms of 20 days, takes over Milbrook Freight, a smaller rival whose customers are used to 75-day payment terms. In the six months after the deal completes, Anchorpoint's combined sales rise by 30%, and it reports rising operating profit throughout the period.

Explain why the Milbrook takeover leaves the combined Anchorpoint Logistics group at meaningfully greater risk of overtrading than a hypothetical 30% sales increase achieved purely through organic growth on Anchorpoint's own original payment terms.

The same £80,000 investment: net cash inflows of £25,000, £30,000, £35,000 and £20,000 in Years 1–4.

What is the average rate of return (ARR)?

In the Solmere Outdoors network above, which one of the following activities has a positive total float?

A national environmental pressure group threatens to organise a public boycott of a food manufacturer unless it changes its packaging. Separately, at the same firm's AGM, a group of shareholders votes to replace two board members. Which of these is an example of stakeholder influence, and which of shareholder influence?

A firm employed an average of 120 staff over the year and ended the year with 132 staff, after replacing the 18 who left and making some net new hires. What is its labour turnover rate? (VERIDIAN-original figures, independently checked.)

A regional bakery chain's finance director identifies two separate risks: (1) the chain's single central ordering server going offline, and (2) the sudden departure of the one baker who developed the chain's signature sourdough recipe and trains every new site. Which pairing of risk-mitigation tools correctly matches each risk?

A single supermarket chain buys 40% of a small food manufacturer's entire output and can credibly threaten to switch to a rival manufacturer at short notice. Which of Porter's five forces does this describe, and what is its likely effect on the manufacturer's profitability?

A firm chooses to expand by opening new stores in towns it doesn't currently operate in, funded entirely from retained profit, rather than by acquiring another retailer. Which of the following is a genuine ADVANTAGE of this approach over growth by takeover?

A business plots six months of scatter data (advertising spend vs sales) and extends its line of best fit to predict sales at double last month's spend — well beyond any point actually plotted. What is the single greatest risk specific to this extrapolation?

A firm's contribution per unit is £6. It is already selling well above its break-even output this month, so every fixed cost is already covered. What happens to profit if it sells exactly one more unit, all else unchanged?

Two directors of the same firm disagree about a decision. Director X says: "Our only duty is to maximise the return to the people who own this company — nothing else should factor into the decision." Director Y says: "We owe something to everyone our decision affects, not only the people who hold shares." Which theory does each director hold?

A supplier is deciding whether to extend 60-day trade credit to a company. A shareholder is deciding whether to hold or sell their shares in the same company. Which pairing of statement to stakeholder is correct?

A firm's board formally approves a new customer-first service policy and adds it to the staff handbook the same week. Six months later, most staff are still handling complaints exactly as they did before the policy existed. What does this most likely show about organisational culture as a factor in change?

An industry has only two major raw-material suppliers worldwide, and every firm in the industry depends on one of them. Through which of Porter's five forces does this most directly affect the industry's average profitability, and in which direction?

Firm A's board and Firm B's board spend six months negotiating and agree, by mutual consent, to combine into a single new company; shareholders in both original firms exchange their shares for shares in the new entity. Separately, Firm C buys 60% of Firm D's shares directly from Firm D's existing shareholders, against the explicit wishes of Firm D's own board. Which pairing is correct?

Which of the following is the actual test used to find a project's simple payback period?

Two machines both cost £150,000 and both have an identical total forecast cash inflow of £200,000 over four years, giving both an identical average rate of return. Machine A generates most of its cash inflow in the earlier years; Machine B generates most of its cash inflow in the later years.

Explain, using the concept of discounting, why Machine A is the better investment even though both machines' ARR is identical.

Aldergate Print Co. normally sells posters at £8.00 each; variable cost per poster is £3.00. This month the firm has genuine spare capacity to produce 5,000 more posters without affecting its existing order book. A wholesale buyer offers a one-off order for exactly 5,000 posters at £4.50 each, with no ongoing commitment beyond this month. (VERIDIAN-original, testing the exact reasoning structure the real spec point 3.3.3.5c examines.)

Using contribution, which of the following correctly evaluates whether Aldergate Print Co. should accept the wholesale buyer's order?

A national supermarket chain's profit and share price have both grown for three consecutive years. At the AGM, shareholders vote on a proposal to cut the workforce's paid break time by 15 minutes per shift to reduce staffing costs further and raise the dividend. Employee representatives argue the change would harm morale and increase staff turnover, which they say would raise recruitment and training costs beyond any saving. (VERIDIAN-original stimulus, written in the style of a confirmed real WBS13 stakeholder-conflict question — not a reproduction of it.)

Explain how this scenario illustrates a genuine conflict between shareholder influence and stakeholder influence, rather than simply two groups disagreeing about the same facts.

Marchmont Print Solutions' main print run produced 18,000 units in Year 1 with an average of 24 staff, and 21,000 units in Year 2 with an average of 30 staff — a genuine rise in total output of roughly 16.7%.

Explain what has happened to labour productivity at Marchmont between Year 1 and Year 2, and why a manager who only looked at the rise in total output could draw the wrong conclusion. (VERIDIAN-original scenario, independently checked.)

A company's new CEO wants staff to genuinely believe in a shift toward sustainable manufacturing, not merely comply with a new rule. Which leadership approach is most likely to achieve genuine buy-in rather than mere compliance, and why?

A regional bakery chain's board approves a plan to build a new, larger production facility in a different city and recruit 200 new staff over the next two years, funded by a new bank loan. In the same month, the bakery's operations manager also changes the delivery schedule for one existing van route.

Explain, using the strategic/tactical distinction, why the board's decision and the operations manager's decision place fundamentally different demands on the bakery's financial, physical and human resources. (VERIDIAN-original, written in the Explain/4-mark style confirmed on this paper.)

Which of the following firms is at the GREATEST risk of overtrading?

A business spends £80,000 on new equipment, forecast to generate net cash inflows of £25,000, £30,000, £35,000 and £20,000 in Years 1–4.

What is the simple payback period?

Option P costs £200,000 to set up; it has a 0.5 probability of paying £500,000 and a 0.5 probability of paying £100,000. Option Q costs £30,000 to set up; it has a 0.5 probability of paying £250,000 and a 0.5 probability of paying £90,000. (VERIDIAN-original.)

Based on net gain, which option should be chosen, and why?

A consultancy firm pulls two accountants, a lawyer and a data analyst from their usual departments to work together on a single client's one-off restructuring project. Once the project finishes, all four return to their original departments. Which Handy culture type does this team structure best illustrate, and why?

A firm's statement of comprehensive income shows operating profit of £54,000, profit for the year of £40,000, and revenue of £450,000. Its statement of financial position shows capital employed of £360,000. What is its ROCE? (VERIDIAN-original figures, independently checked.)

A firm's payroll clerk, who has spent a decade becoming the office's go-to expert on the old spreadsheet-based payroll system, is told the firm is switching to automated payroll software next month. She starts finding reasons to delay the switch. Which single management response is best matched to the underlying cause of her resistance?

A café chain launches a completely new range of bottled soft drinks, sold through its EXISTING chain of cafés to its EXISTING customer base. Which Ansoff strategy is this?

A firm grants independent operators the right to trade under its own brand and operating system in new towns, in exchange for royalty payments — the operators fund their own premises and stock, not the firm itself. Is this organic or inorganic growth?

A firm's annual sales (£000) for five years: Year 1 = 180, Year 2 = 210, Year 3 = 195, Year 4 = 240, Year 5 = 225.

What is the 3-year moving average centred on Year 3?

In critical path analysis, an activity has a total float of exactly zero. What does this tell you about that activity?

A firm's day-to-day decisions are made almost entirely by its founder, based on instinct and personal relationships, with very few written procedures anywhere in the business. Using Handy's typology, which culture does this describe?

A firm's labour turnover rate rises sharply from 8% to 35% within a year, with no change in the number of employees retiring. What is the most likely direct cost consequence for the firm?

Two employees at the same firm are both resisting a new stock-management system. One keeps saying the new system will slow down deliveries and can explain exactly why. The other has given no reason at all, and just quietly avoids using it. A manager sends both the same reassuring email explaining the benefits of the change. What is the most likely outcome?