Anyone sitting BS2 Exams?

DeadMoney · 23-04-2010 7:10pm #1

Hey, anyone perhaps know much about the financial management module for bs2? Am completely screwed for this exam so have the next 4 weeks to really catch up. Have emailed the lecturer but he isn't too responsive to those who have not been attending all the lectures. Was actually going to these lectures a fair bit but just wasn't following it enough. Anyone have any tips or advice on how to tackle this one?
Thanks

sinn7 · 02-05-2010 3:40pm

Hey you should really try doing the past exam papers cos they're pretty much what we're going to get. Be warned though, we didn't cover preference shares, how to calculate return on debt, the dividend growth model or backwards bond price.

If you're really stuck it might be an idea to try and have someone who went to lectures explain some of the examples to you

DeadMoney · 03-05-2010 7:35pm

Thanks Sinn, I have been doing a bit if work on it over the past week and have learned a few of the topics. Still a lot of study to do though for it though especially section 1. Can you just tell me (if you know) what is the story with the structure of the exam paper? With the long questions in section B & C I know we have to answer one from each but are there assigned topics to these sections? Like is Porfolio theory gonna be one question and NPV another question etc.? Sorry for all the questions.
cheers

sinn7 · 04-05-2010 2:25pm

Yeah section B on the exam paper will only have questions relating the the 1st topic on Moodle (the presentation labelled as Section 1) which I think is mainly NPV style questions.

Section C will be a mixture of questions relating to Sections 2 & 3 on Moodle.

With section 3 you can skip slides 11-22 as he didn't cover them

DeadMoney · 04-05-2010 6:22pm

sinn7 wrote: »

Yeah section B on the exam paper will only have questions relating the the 1st topic on Moodle (the presentation labelled as Section 1) which I think is mainly NPV style questions.

Section C will be a mixture of questions relating to Sections 2 & 3 on Moodle.

With section 3 you can skip slides 11-22 as he didn't cover them

Many thanks!

DeadMoney · 06-05-2010 5:06pm

Thanks for the tip. Just after realizing that the first section on the exam is worth 50% over all! This is the 10 questions. Just wondering what is the best way to prepare for this part? Is it just a mix of all 3 section including theory?
Cheers

sinn7 · 06-05-2010 5:26pm

Actually have no idea there, sorry! I assume it's a mixture but he never mentioned it in the lectures

DeadMoney · 06-05-2010 7:42pm

sinn7 wrote: »

Actually have no idea there, sorry! I assume it's a mixture but he never mentioned it in the lectures

k thanks anyway, I assume its similar enough to previous years papers, which don't look too tough.

sinn7 · 06-05-2010 9:35pm

Yeah I'd say so although he didn't set last year's paper himself but he did set 07/08

Butters111 · 08-05-2010 3:57pm

Hey

Anyone know why the equation formula page he put up for the exam only has three formula's? Do we not need everything else he had up there originally? like FV, WACC etc.?

sinn7 · 08-05-2010 6:29pm

I think we do but we have to learn them off. If you look back through the exam papers, last year had all the formulae (but he didn't set last year's paper) whereas the year before only had three or four (and that's the paper he set)

Butters111 · 08-05-2010 6:44pm

Thanks!

DeadMoney · 09-05-2010 6:41pm

Hey does anyone else think the structure of Industrial economics is a bit stupid? I mean there are 11 questions to learn, and only 1 of which we will need to answer. Also half of the entire marks are going for this essay alone so basically we have to know every question in depth in order to be able to write an actual essay one of two Q's coming up. So far I have about 7/11 answers done out but I can't find answers to about 3 of the rest. The MCQ section seems ok but sort of worried about which long questions come up on the paper.

sinn7 · 09-05-2010 7:26pm

Oh tell me about it! That is my most dreaded exam by far! Technically you can afford to leave out one of the essays cos it's a choice of two but yeah they're still really hard. A lot of mine I have an answer for the first part of the essay and the second part I have to come up with on the day cos I really have nothing!

DeadMoney · 09-05-2010 7:54pm

yeah I think it would have been a lot better of he say put 4 Q's on paper and we had to answer 2 at 25% each. This way it would be a bit easier to cover yourself and make up marks rather than basing 50% of the entire module on one question alone. I dunno, just think its a bit of a weird structure. My plan is to just cover the ones I can do, and hope to try pick up a decent mark in the MCQ's (if they are similar to previous years, this shouldn't be tough). Can't see myself being confident in a full 10 Q's by next Friday so just gotta hope that one of my stronger Q's comes up. At least the toughest exam will be out of the way first I guess.
GL

sinn7 · 09-05-2010 10:21pm

If you get really stuck for answers you shoul try asking around, I know some people have (supposedly) really good notes on them that they might share? I'd offer a look at mine but tbh I don't think they're good enough!

That 25% thing would be so much better but maybe not in the space of a two hour exam! I tend to find myself pretty pushed for time when writing essays

Butters111 · 09-05-2010 11:58pm

Its so much work! especially when you compare it to the likes of IR! I haven't got down to writing the essays yet

does it take long to write each essay??

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 12:58am

Butters111 wrote: »

Its so much work! especially when you compare it to the likes of IR! I haven't got down to writing the essays yet does it take long to write each essay??

Yeah this module is definitely talking up the biggest amount of over all study for me, I haven't even looked at Org theory or Marketing yet but since they are heavily weighted towards CA, I'm not too worried about making up the pass grade. As for economics though, I'm not sure where people are getting full essay's from coz I just have bullet points and stuff, so I guess my plan is to just try and waffle out some sort of coherant answer. Some Q's are definitely much easier than others to write about, but I am finding a few of them tough. There are about 3 or 4 which I haven't been able to write anything about. I have emailed the lecturer though about so will post up any feedback I get. As for the MCQ's, they are very repetitive over the past few years so fingers crossed he didn't decide to change it up this year (like operations management back in January :mad:). I'll be happy to just get my 40% in this module as I find this subject extremely tedious! It actually makes me enjoy studying Financial mgt. :rolleyes:

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 10:09am

Good luck getting a reply from him! He's the one who's always like, "I don't DO emails. There's too many of you". I doubt he'll change it up though, he said our MCQs would come from a bank of roughly 80 that he always uses.

Ah Financial Management, I actually almost enjoy studying that cos it's just doing questions rather than learning off lists of facts! Was trying to study Org Theory yesterday and I literally couldn't stop yawning! >.<

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 11:31am

sinn7 wrote: »

I doubt he'll change it up though, he said our MCQs would come from a bank of roughly 80 that he always uses. QUOTE]

Cool, I didn't know that, better get learning them all off so.

Butters111 · 10-05-2010 12:31pm

For the first question can we discuss Game Theory as an alternative approach even if its not directly a theory of IO?

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 12:45pm

Butters111 wrote: »

For the first question can we discuss Game Theory as an alternative approach even if its not directly a theory of IO?

For this question, I have Porters Diamond and Best's productivity triad as comparisons to SCP (dunno if these are even right). As far as I know game theory isn't exactly a broad framework but more a method that can be used to test other theories, so not sure if it would apply.

Butters111 · 10-05-2010 12:55pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

For this question, I have Porters Diamond and Best's productivity triad as comparisons to SCP (dunno if these are even right). As far as I know game theory isn't exactly a broad framework but more a method that can be used to test other theories, so not sure if it would apply.

Yeah I have notes from that class and Porter's and Best's can be used to answer the question. Just there doesn't seem to be much on them in the book whcih is why it would be easier to talk about game theory I'd also written down that he said you could discuss game Theory though and then i read in the book that its more a method of testing as you said so not sure!!:(

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 1:26pm

Butters111 wrote: »

Yeah I have notes from that class and Porter's and Best's can be used to answer the question. Just there doesn't seem to be much on them in the book whcih is why it would be easier to talk about game theory I'd also written down that he said you could discuss game Theory though and then i read in the book that its more a method of testing as you said so not sure!!:(

Yeah I'd say if you don't have a lot written for one of the alternatives you could probably (somehow) bring in how game theory could be used to test how good of an alternative it is or something. Anything to flesh that question out :P

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 1:31pm

How much are ye hoping to write for the essay question?

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 2:34pm

Depends on the essay really. My notes seem to be between 2 and 3 pages for most of them but that's bullet points so it's hard to tell how long it'd actually be

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 2:53pm

Butters111 wrote: »

Yeah I have notes from that class and Porter's and Best's can be used to answer the question. Just there doesn't seem to be much on them in the book

Just going through that question now and there's stuff on Porter's diamond in Chapter 8 under (I think) clusters. I have it as part of my notes for Q8 anyway. Haven't come across an awful lot on Best's productivity triad though -.-'

Butters111 · 10-05-2010 3:38pm

sinn7 wrote: »

Just going through that question now and there's stuff on Porter's diamond in Chapter 8 under (I think) clusters. I have it as part of my notes for Q8 anyway. Haven't come across an awful lot on Best's productivity triad though -.-'

Thanks I'll have a look! on a totally different subject does anyone know if, for IR we need to talk about the article he wrote for the Employment Relationship?

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 3:47pm

I'm not sure but I have a feeling we might. The lecture notes on it are pretty thin. Plus he said we should include "further reading"

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 4:19pm

sinn7 wrote: »

I'm not sure but I have a feeling we might. The lecture notes on it are pretty thin. Plus he said we should include "further reading"

Yeah I am using the other reading about the employment relatioship for IR. I'd say this will be the best guide for covering a question on it.

Butters111 · 10-05-2010 4:35pm

sorry goin back again to economics for the neoclassical and non neoclassical theory q, do you go into the neoclassical respones- managerial theory and principal agent theories etc. as well as all the non neoclassical theories? it just seems like a lot of info for one essay!?

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 4:39pm

Butters111 wrote: »

sorry goin back again to economics for the neoclassical and non neoclassical theory q, do you go into the neoclassical respones- managerial theory and principal agent theories etc. as well as all the non neoclassical theories?

I assume so? I guess you don't have to go into too much depth. I remember he took like two weeks to do the lectures for it. It does seem a bit much though >.<

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 4:43pm

Butters111 wrote: »

sorry goin back again to economics for the neoclassical and non neoclassical theory q, do you go into the neoclassical respones- managerial theory and principal agent theories etc. as well as all the non neoclassical theories? it just seems like a lot of info for one essay!?

Yeah sort of stuck on this one too. Not sure which are neoclassical and which are not. But yeah I assume a brief description of each of the theories should be fine. I think the main difference is just their that neoclassical focuses purely on profit maximization where as the others focus on different things.

Butters111 · 10-05-2010 4:45pm

sinn7 wrote: »

I assume so? I guess you don't have to go into too much depth. I remember he took like two weeks to do the lectures for it. It does seem a bit much though >.<

yeah I've tons of notes which I can never see myself writing in the exam! Do managerial theory, revenue maximisation, political governance systems , pricipal-agent theory and agency problems all come under neoclassical theories of the firm? Thanks for all the help

sinn7 · 10-05-2010 4:45pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

Not sure which are neoclassical and which are not.

I have written down that managerial theory & principal-agent theory are neoclassical. Then under non-neoclassicial I have transaction cost theory, behavioural theory & stakeholder theory. Hope that helps!

Butters111 · 10-05-2010 4:52pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

Yeah sort of stuck on this one too. Not sure which are neoclassical and which are not. But yeah I assume a brief description of each of the theories should be fine. I think the main difference is just their that neoclassical focuses purely on profit maximization where as the others focus on different things.

As far as i know Transaction Cost Theory, and Evolutionary are non-neoclassical as well as the Behavioural and Stakeholder theories (although these two have some exceptions according to his notes!) Confused about the rest!:rolleyes:

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 4:56pm

sinn7 wrote: »

I have written down that managerial theory & principal-agent theory are neoclassical. Then under non-neoclassicial I have transaction cost theory, behavioural theory & stakeholder theory. Hope that helps!

ty

DeadMoney · 10-05-2010 11:38pm

Hey, does anyone know what to write for the Q "to advertise or not to advertise?". There is a lot of stuff in the book about advertising but not sure what to focus on.

sinn7 · 11-05-2010 11:43am

I'm pretty sure I bailed halfway through that lecture to finish org theory so I'm not sure if he gave any extra tips but the way my notes are structured is kinda like this:

- Background info: Few main points about advertising and product differentiation

- Neoclassical Approach: Mainly focusing on applying it to a monopoly and how it affects elasticity

- Advertising as Information: Summary of the different approaches different authors have taken

- Advertising as Persuasion: Few points on how this works and what it leads to

Overall I think I found that you should advertise but determining the amount of advertising is more difficult

DeadMoney · 11-05-2010 3:10pm

sinn7 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I bailed halfway through that lecture to finish org theory so I'm not sure if he gave any extra tips but the way my notes are structured is kinda like this:

- Background info: Few main points about advertising and product differentiation

- Neoclassical Approach: Mainly focusing on applying it to a monopoly and how it affects elasticity

- Advertising as Information: Summary of the different approaches different authors have taken

- Advertising as Persuasion: Few points on how this works and what it leads to

Overall I think I found that you should advertise but determining the amount of advertising is more difficult

Thanks for that, it is a big help. That brings me up to 8 questions, think i'm just gonna try learn this 8 as best as I can and roll the dice on the day of the exam hoping at least 1/8 comes up.

sinn7 · 11-05-2010 3:25pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

Thanks for that, it is a big help. That brings me up to 8 questions, think i'm just gonna try learn this 8 as best as I can and roll the dice on the day of the exam hoping at least 1/8 comes up.

What ones did you leave out? I didn't do the one about concentration

Butters111 · 11-05-2010 3:32pm

I've only got 5 done so far, finding it really hard to come up with the second half of each question!!

this might sound like a silly question but say, worst case scenario you came out with a negative mark in mcq's, would this eat into your essay mark!!?

sinn7 · 11-05-2010 3:38pm

Butters111 wrote: »

I've only got 5 done so far, finding it really hard to come up with the second half of each question!! this might sound like a silly question but say, worst case scenario you came out with a negative mark in mcq's, would this eat into your essay mark!!?

Honestly, I have no idea! I imagine they'd be treated as two separate things. Like the lowest you could get would be 0 but I'm only guessing

DeadMoney · 11-05-2010 3:50pm

sinn7 wrote: »

Honestly, I have no idea! I imagine they'd be treated as two separate things. Like the lowest you could get would be 0 but I'm only guessing

Yeah i'd say this is about right. The lowest you could score in the MCQ's would be zero putting you at -50% meaning that you would have to get 80% in the essay to make up 40% to pass. Honestly I highly doubt anyone will score zero in the MCQ's unless they didnt do any revision over past papers. The lecturer set 4 papers which are last years summer & repeat and the year before. Apparently covering all of these 4 papers's MCQ's session will see you ok for the exam. I'm banking on the MCQ's to get me most of the marks.

Sinn, as for questions I left out, I left out 'how firms agglomerate etc', 'globalisation destroying indigenous firms', and 'national system of innovation'. Have so much else to cover in other subjects and don't want to spend all my time on economics and leave myself stuck for other things.

sinn7 · 11-05-2010 3:54pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

Sinn, as for questions I left out, I left out 'how firms agglomerate etc', 'globalisation destroying indigenous firms', and 'national system of innovation'. Have so much else to cover in other subjects and don't want to spend all my time on economics and leave myself stuck for other things.

I have decent-ish notes for the agglomerate Q and the globalisation Q. I can email them to you if you'd like to even glance over them? I'd be way too nervous to leave out 3 whole questions, although my NSI notes are woeful.

Butters111 · 11-05-2010 3:59pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

Yeah i'd say this is about right. The lowest you could score in the MCQ's would be zero putting you at -50% meaning that you would have to get 80% in the essay to make up 40% to pass. Honestly I highly doubt anyone will score zero in the MCQ's unless they didnt do any revision over past papers. The lecturer set 4 papers which are last years summer & repeat and the year before. Apparently covering all of these 4 papers's MCQ's session will see you ok for the exam. I'm banking on the MCQ's to get me most of the marks.

Yeah Its just I'm really bad at MCQ's! Would prefer just short questions! Thanks I'll have a look at the past papers!

Butters111 · 11-05-2010 4:28pm

anyone know if for the Industry concentration Q we include the relationship between concentration and integration, barriers to entry and procurement markets?

DeadMoney · 11-05-2010 6:08pm

Butters111 wrote: »

anyone know if for the Industry concentration Q we include the relationship between concentration and integration, barriers to entry and procurement markets?

sorry i haven't a clue, on that question all I have is the methods used to measure concentration and some of the problems of these methods. Don't know what to write about "why" concentration measures are important. I should probably add that I did not go to one economics lecture through out the last semester so my pointers may be way off. I'm just basing stuff on the book.

Butters111 · 11-05-2010 6:31pm

DeadMoney wrote: »

sorry i haven't a clue, on that question all I have is the methods used to measure concentration and some of the problems of these methods. Don't know what to write about "why" concentration measures are important. I should probably add that I did not go to one economics lecture through out the last semester so my pointers may be way off. I'm just basing stuff on the book.

I think one answer as to why is that its an easy way to identify whether an industry is a monopoly or leans more towards perfect competition etc,... at least that's something!:)

DeadMoney · 11-05-2010 6:38pm

Butters111 wrote: »

I think one answer as to why is that its an easy way to identify whether an industry is a monopoly or leans more towards perfect competition etc,... at least that's something!:)

thanks i'll use that. Reasons I have is that it is important from investors point of view to see which firm/industries are worth investing in. Might be worth something.

DeadMoney · 11-05-2010 6:40pm

hey do ye guys know if we are gonna have any CA results back before the exams?

Anyone sitting BS2 Exams?

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