CS3 Sample Questions Answers

Hello

I have attached a news article

Arrfield does not set the price for aviation fuel sold at our airports, but we do receive a percentage of the revenues earned by the fuel companies.

I need your help to prepare for a Board meeting to discuss this matter Please write a paper covering the following

* Firstly, explain the impact that the criticisms voiced by the environmental campaigners will have on the frequent PESTEL analysis that Arrfield's Board conducts.

[sub-task (a) = 34%

* Secondly, evaluate the commercial logic of Arrfield's strategy of basing charges for non-aeronautical services (such as fuel sales and retail activities) on percentages of the revenues generated by the companies that operate at its airports

[sub-task (b) = 33%)

* Thirdly, recommend with reasons whether Arrfield should attempt to justify strategic decisions to its shareholders when the commercial logic of those decisions is not immediately obvious

[sub-task (c) = 33%}

Thanks

Romuald Marek

Chief Finance Officer

A week later, Romuald Marek stops by your workspace and hands you a document.

The Board minute extract from Romuald can be viewed by clicking the Reference Material button above.

Reference Material

Board minutes extract: proposal to profit from ongoing strength of NS

Anna Obalowu Sole, Chief Operating Officer, reported that the strong NS was helping generate revenues from fuel sales. Discussion followed as to whether the strong N$ was likely to persist and whether a strong N$ benefits Arrfield overall.

Markus Jokela. Chief Executive Officer, stated that the Board should develop contingency plans that could be implemented if it seemed likely that the strong N$ would persist. In particular. Arrfield need not renew the contracts that permit aviation fuel suppliers to operate from its airports. Arrfield would then be free to create its own fuel sale business, buying fuel in bulk to replenish the storage tanks at each of its airports in Norland and then selling it directly to airlines He stated that this would almost certainly enhance Arrfield's share price

Romuald Marek reminded the Board that four of Arrfield's six airports are located in Norland and that those airports charge for aeronautical and non-aeronautical services in N$.

The following email has been forwarded to you by William Seaton, Director of Finance:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Yesterday’s Board meeting

Hi,

One of my fellow Board members made a brief presentation to the Board. I am attaching the slides that were used in this presentation.

I have to say that I thought that some of the advice being offered to the Board was incorrect, but I would rather make a positive contribution to the discussion and so I said very little.

I need you to email me your thoughts on the following:

Your views on the presentation relating to tax matters

Your views on the briefing relating to the decision making process

Your views on the briefing’s recommendations on driving performance

Finally, an alternative briefing note on driving performance. Ideally, that should be two or three headings, with a

clear explanation for each.

As usual, this is urgent. Many thanks for your help so far with this project.

William

The slides can be found by clicking on the Reference Materials button.

You received a telephone call at home early in the morning, asking you to check your emails. The following email was waiting for you:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Public relations crisis

Hi,

This email arrived from the Head of our Middle East office just now. They are a few hours ahead of us, so he rang me at home to make sure that I had seen his message.

We have a few hours before the news article will be published, so I need to make the best use of that time in order to limit the damage to Slide. Your priority is to protect our reputation because I have already woken up the engineers and geologists and they are going to deal with the actual oil spillage.

I am not thinking too clearly, so I need you to provide some initial thoughts on the following:

Should we use our business relationship with Business News to have them withdraw the story? We are a major advertiser and we spend millions with them every month. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Should we respond with the facts as we know them? All we know for certain is that there have been reports of oil contamination in an area that has countless oil facilities nearby, and so we could deny all responsibility, at least until our experts have had the chance to get there and to investigate.

If we do decide to make a public announcement then we will need to have a plan in place. We need to assemble a team to deal with the press. How should we structure our media response team?

What are the key factors that the Board should consider when communicating with the press? Explain why the factors that you have identified are important.

I realise that it is still very early, but I need your thoughts very quickly.

Thanks

William

The email referred to above can be found by clicking on the Reference Materials button.

A month has passed since you submitted the report requested by William Seaton, Director of Finance on the Board’s proposals.

You have received the following email:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Shale oil

Hi,

One of the geologists made a presentation to the Board, proposing that we investigate the extraction of shale oil deposits. I have attached the slides that were used as the basis for this presentation.

I need you to work on a response to this document:

Firstly, what risks do you envisage in our entry to the shale oil business?

Secondly, what do you regard as the key factors that we should consider when deciding on proceeding with this

proposal? Please justify your selection.

Thirdly, what factors should we take into account when deciding on which country or countries to commence this

side of the business?

Finally, what are the challenges in creating a team of technical staff to lead our efforts in this area?

William

The presentation slides can be found by clicking on the Reference Materials button.

Three weeks have passed since you were informed that the relocation would definitely proceed.

You have received the following email from William Seaton, Director of Finance:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Detailed issues associated with the relocation

Hi,

Congratulations, you are now officially in charge of the transition team! I am confident that you will do an excellent job and that it will be an opportunity to enhance your career.

I realise that the transition team is expected to reduce the pressure on the Board, but I have been asked to keep an eye on things and to ensure that your team has everything that it needs. I won’t interfere, but I will stay in touch.

There are a few matters that I think you should address as a matter of urgency.

Firstly, we need to have plans in place to ensure that our information systems are ready. What changes will we have to make in order to best align the information system with the company’s needs? I am not asking about hardware issues or the physical relocation, but the changes to the information system itself.

Secondly, how might we make use of the data in our own records and external sources to ensure that the new Head Office is managed as efficiently as possible? Remember that the present Head Office is a large and complex operation in its own right and it costs a significant amount to run.

Thirdly, our relocation will create a number of challenges for our corporate treasury team. I need you to identify the key challenges and suggest how they might be dealt with.

Finally, I would like you to identify the criteria against which the success or failure of your team will be judged once the transition is complete. I need your recommendations to be relevant and measurable.

William

Six months have passed since you briefed William Seaton, Director of Finance on the relationship between Slide and Fouce Oil.

You have been called into William Seaton’s office:

“We had a visit from the Chief Executive Officer of Fouce Oil yesterday. We had not received any prior notice of the purpose of the visit and assumed that he simply wished to make a courtesy call while he was visiting Fouce Oil’s subsidiary in this country. Instead, he came to initiate discussions over a strategy of collaboration on oil exploration.

Rather than explain things myself, please read the memorandum of understanding that he has asked us to sign. It is self-explanatory.

Once you have read the memorandum, I would like you to email me your thoughts on the following:

The suitability of this proposal for Slide.

The likelihood that Fouce Oil’s strategic interests will clash with our own.

The strategic risks that are likely to arise because of this arrangement.

The manner in which this strategic relationship should be communicated to the stock market.

I realise that this is a challenging request, but I need your response quickly because we need to respond to Fouce Oil.”

The Memorandum of Understanding can be found by clicking on the Reference Materials button.