ACCA考试机考浙江省预约流程是怎么样的？

正确答案：
(a) Quality
Quality has become an increasingly important issue in organisations. For some companies it is an important differentiator,
allowing the organisation to pursue a high price/high quality strategy. For other organisations, such as UPC, the quality
threshold requirements for their products have increased significantly over the last few years. Customers have increased
expectations of product construction, longevity and reliability. Quality is rarely absolute; and it is usually constrained by such
factors as selling price. This particularly applies in UPC’s market where it is likely that the quality of the product is limited by
the relatively low price consumers are willing to pay for it. Quality concerns how a product meets its designed purpose and
satisfies its original requirements. The target selling price is likely to be one of those requirements.
At UPC quality appears to be defined in terms of the physical condition of the products (no breakages, cracks or chips) and
in the accurate positioning of the printed image on the product. These are the reasons given by the UPC management for
setting up the inspection team. However, this perception of quality would have to be confirmed by the customer. It may be
that other issues, such as the density of the printed image, are also important to the customer but have not yet been fed back
to UPC.
Many definitions of quality include references to the customer. They stress meeting the requirements of the customer or user
of the product. UPC might benefit from re-considering who it perceives to be the customer. Their current perception appears
to be that the customer is the gift shop that sells the product. It is not the ultimate person or consumer who buys the product
from the shop and uses it. For this consumer, other issues may be significant such as:
– The ability to wash the item in a dishwasher.
– The long-term safety of the product, for example: the handle does not break off a cup and spill its content on the drinker.
– The long-term clarity of the image on the item after many washes.
Investigating the issue of quality from the perspective of the consumer may identify other problems that need addressing.
Finally, quality has to be considered in the context of responsibility. UPC currently uses a courier company to deliver its
products to the gift shops. This means that freedom from breakage is only partly under UPC’s control. The delivery condition
of products is partly determined by the care with which the courier company handles the package. Hence delivery quality
depends on courier performance as well as on packaging care. In contrast, the quality of the printed image on the item is
completely within the control of UPC.
Quality control
Quality Control (QC) is primarily concerned with checking and reviewing work that has been done. It is an inspection system
for ensuring that pre-determined quality standards are being met. In theory, the responsibility for the control of quality lies
with the person undertaking the process, whether it is the production of goods, delivery of a service or the passing of
information. QC is the part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements.
In many quality control systems, sample products are removed and inspected. Defects in these sampled products may lead
to the whole batch being inspected and defective items destroyed. This is essentially the role of the inspection team at UPC,
where 1 in 20 packed packages are inspected for accuracy of printing and correctness of packing. Incorrect packing in a
sampled package will lead to the inspection (and potential re-packing) of all packages packed by that employee. Failure in
the accuracy of the printed image is likely to lead to the destruction of the whole batch, and the re-setting of the production
imaging machine to address the positional inaccuracy of the image. It has to be stressed that, in this instance, quality control
is a sampling activity and so it is very likely that defective batches will get through to the customer. To criticise the inspection
unit for failing to find defective batches (‘the quality inspection team is just not working’) fails to recognise the sampling nature
of the role.

In the context of UPC there are at least three further factors that inhibit effective quality control.
– The quality control of the positioning of the image takes place too late in the process. It should take place before packing,
not after it. Valuable packing time and materials can be wasted by packing items with defective images which are found
when the package is inspected.
– The reward system for packers is based on the throughput of packages rather than the quality of packing. In the past
many manufacturing organisations have valued productivity more than quality and reflected this in their reward system.
This is the case at UPC where faults in packing are not reflected in the reward system of the packers. In fact, the very
opposite appears to be true. Packers are incentivised to pack quickly, not effectively. Beckford suggests that ‘a major
barrier to quality may be built into the reward system of the organisation’.
– There is evidence that the inspection team has participated in the achievement of the required throughput targets by
passing packages that did not meet the required quality. This is clearly giving the wrong message, but the inspection
team is only reflecting the need for the company to meet certain deadlines.
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance (QA) is the part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be
fulfilled. It may be defined as a set of procedures designed to ensure that quality standards and processes are adhered to and
that the final product meets or exceeds the required technical and performance requirements. Quality assurance covers
activities such as product design, development, production, installation and servicing. It also sets the pre-determined
standards required for effective quality control. If quality control is primarily concerned with detecting defective products, then
quality assurance is primarily about the prevention of quality problems through planned and systematic activities.
There is little evidence of quality assurance at UPC. However, the company may wish to consider:
– Setting quality targets and delegating responsibility for achieving those targets to the people who are meant to achieve
them. In UPC it would be preferable to give responsibility for product quality to the employees who actually make the
products and to reflect this in their reward structure. One of the roles of QA is to enable quality improvement initiatives.
A possible initiative is to investigate the purchasing of imaging machines (or adopting the current ones) with a facility
to automatically assess the accuracy of the image before printing. If the image falls outside certain tolerances then it
may be feasible for the machine to automatically adjust it before printing. If these machines were installed, it would be
the responsibility of QA to ensure that they were calibrated correctly and to verify that every product had undergone the
necessary check.
– QA also offers quality advice and expertise and trains employees in quality matters. They would set standards for
materials used in packing and establish systems for monitoring raw materials sent by suppliers to ensure that these
standards were met. It may also be possible to improve how items are physically laid out in the package to reduce the
chance of damage. The internal layout of the packages may be constructed in such a way that they only allow products
to be packed in a prescribed pattern. QA would be involved in defining that prescribed pattern and training packers to
use it – as well as subsequently monitoring that the prescribed pattern had been followed.
– The increased importance of quality means that many customers now demand some proof that the supplier is capable
of consistently producing quality products. This proof is part of the ‘confidence’ factor of QA and may be demonstrated
by a third party certification, such as ISO 9000. Certification helps show the customer that the supplier has a
commitment to consistently supplying a quality product. QA will be concerned with gaining and maintaining such
certification and this should assist the company in securing and retaining contracts.
At UPC the current inspection team is focused on QC. The responsibility for this should be moved to the production process
itself or to the people who actually undertake that process. The inspection team could then focus on QA, setting standards
for quality, establishing how those standards should be monitored, and then ensuring that such monitoring is being
performed. In making this transition, the company will move to a culture of attempting to prevent faults rather than relyingsolely on detecting them.

正确答案：

 

正确答案：

 

正确答案：
(b) Essentially, Universal is a one product or service company selling its services into two main customer segments in the housing
market. From the performance information provided in Table 1, the company has achieved impressive rates of growth over
the 2001–4 period and this growth has come almost exclusively from private house owners. Universal is in the replacement
market. Its customers are looking to replace existing roofing systems with low maintenance/high attractiveness Universal
systems. To date growth has been exclusively within one region and been achieved by growing the area served through
investment in showrooms and depots.
Universal has chosen to grow its business through a differentiation focus strategy. It has identified a niche not served by the
major PVC doors and windows installers and poorly served by small independent installers. The value chain analysis
discussed above has shown the ways in which Universal has successfully distinguished itself from its competitors. Growth
has been through increasing its market penetration of one particular region. Such is the size of the private house owner market
and the lack of effective competition that the company has achieved a significant share of the market in its particular region.
However, in national terms, with 1% of the available market, Universal is a small operator. What is clear from the sales figures
is that as the firm grows bigger the relative rate of growth inevitably slows down, so that by 2004 it has an annual growth of
27% – still impressive by most companies standards. The move into supplying the commercial housing market has been
successful, but the share of total sales seems to have stabilised at around 5%. Universal clearly is finding it difficult to commit
sufficient new resources to this sector while coping with the growth from the domestic housing sector. Direct labour and other
direct costs seem to be a reasonable proportion of sales and predictably grow with the number of installation teams. Overall,
the gross margin, which sustains sales, marketing and overhead expenses, is moving in the right direction with a gross margin
of 52·6% achieved in 2004.
Labour, not surprisingly in a service business, consumes a considerable amount of costs. If one combines the direct labour
with the commission costs of sales canvassers and representatives together with salaries to staff in head office, one is in a
business where well over 50% of costs are attributable to people. Equally important is the fact that over 80% of the staff
employed by Universal is paid by results. This has significant consequences for the structure of reward systems and the
training and development of staff looking to maximise their incomes through either their individual or team performance.
Clearly, Universal sees no incompatibility between a reward system dominated by payments by results and the delivery of a
quality service differentiating it from its competitors.
Marketing has grown considerably over the period and reflects the recruitment of Mick Hendry as Sales and Marketing Director
in 2002. The marketing and sales model is very much one influenced by the one used by large PVC installers of doors and
windows. Here there is a heavy emphasis on direct selling techniques supported by increasing levels of advertising. Universal
sells to its customers directly and therefore avoids the costs and channel complications of using third parties to provide its
services. In many ways the direct selling techniques used are a very well established way of reaching the customer. Elements
of the marketing mix may be influenced by changes in communication technology, but the nature of the service requires
effective face-to-face contact with the customer. Sales to private house owners using credit generates significant finance
commission and is an important source of extra margin to Universal. Often in businesses depending on significant amounts
of credit sales the sales representative receives significant reward for selling a finance arrangement to the customer.
In terms of net profit achieved, 2001 and 2002 represents a significant change and, as argued in the scenario, this reflects
the recruitment of the Sales and Marketing Director. The achievement of this ‘step change’ in sales required commensurate
increases in most costs, but it is the significant increase in sales costs that explains the losses experienced in 2002. Sales
costs as a proportion of total sales rose from 14% in 2001 to almost 34% in 2002.
Particularly significant is the increase in sales commissions paid. The detailed changes in the way commission is paid is not
given in the case scenario, but it seems likely to reflect the previous experience of the Sales and Marketing Director in a closely
related industry. Similar levels of sales costs are incurred in 2003 and 2004 but the increase in sales, improvement in gross
margin and slower rate of growth in commissions paid explain the improved return on sales from –6·7% in 2002 to 4·2%
in 2003 and 5·8% in 2004.
Equally significant is the growth in showrooms and depots to support the growth in sales. Each additional facility costs in the
order of ￡30K with significant additions to costs in terms of staff and stock. Overall the performance of Universal over the
2001–2004 period is of a company achieving high rates of growth, incurring significant costs in so doing and moving into
modest levels of profit over the period. Its cost structure reflects the service it provides and the staff and reward systemsenabling the service to be provided.