Tips for ACCA Paper P3 Business Analysis Q1 Normal appraisal and advice.

Perhaps with takeovers and expected values Q2 Marketing, particularly pricing Q3 Project project initiation documents and gateways

Q4 Strategic use of IT Q5 Strategy and people -----------------------------------------------------------------------------BPP Important areas to cover: Strategy models Analysis of the environment and/or internal factors has featured in most exams. Key models include PESTEL, Porter s Five Forces and the value chain. Expect someth ing on forecasting soon. Evaluation of strategic options is usually tested one way or another (although w asn t in the last paper).SAF can be a useful framework to generate ideas but don t f eel you need to follow it slavishly. Strategic action (largely change management and organisational configuration) is often overlooked, but has featured in the last two papers, emphasising the need for good syllabus coverage. Business Process Change A popular area, which may be based around models such as Harmon, or completely u nstructured, describing a process and asking for improvements. Expect to see som e numbers coming in to questions in this area to help with decisions such as aut omation and outsourcing. Information Technology A pervasive theme in many questions. Make sure you are comfortable with some of the more important recent concepts in technology such as cloud computing, viral marketing and new business models. Project Management This is a major topic and was not tested in the last sitting so may well be this time. Questions could well focus on analysis and realisation of benefits and ag ain are likely to include a numerical element. Financial Analysis Lots of management accounting knowledge from F5 is assumed knowledge here, inclu ding budgeting, variance analysis and relevant costing. The lessons from Q1 in t he last paper are that, 1) this may be in the compulsory question and 2) you may not be specifically told which techniques to use, but have to work it out from the data given. People This is most likely to be tested in conjunction with one of the other topics, as it was in the last paper. Most importantly Knowledge alone will not get you close to a pass on this paper. You need to be a ble to apply your knowledge to specific situations. Practice this using past que stions and stories in the press or on the web as often as you can and you will b e ready for whatever the exam throws at you! Kaplan tips Question 1 may be less strategic than we have seen in the past and feature a lar ge element of project management. It should have some element of strategic analy sis, possibly a SWOT. Section B will combine all elements of the syllabus (strategic analysis, choice and implementation) possibly including:

Pricing Project appraisal Strategy and people Change management First Intuition Section A Environment analysis, people with financial analysis Section B Project management Strategic action Information technology pricing strategy Icount Project management skills Internal resources and competences Supply chain management Decision tree Budgeting Change management ATC During the ACCA conference this year, the examiner, Steve Skidmore, confirmed th at good coverage of the syllabus will help candidates to succeed in this paper. The key syllabus topics are: 1) Strategic position 2) Strategic choice 3) Strategy in Action 4) Business process change 5) Information technology 6) Project management 7) Financial analysis 8 ) People The exam consists of two sections. Section A is a compulsory 50-mark question, w ith up to 4 parts. Candidates must select 2 questions from 3 25-mark questions i n Section B. The examiner tries to test as much of the syllabus as possible, oft en combining several topics within one question. Hence candidates must have soli d knowledge of all the subject areas listed above. The most useful and recent technical articles, in student accountant, written fo r this paper are by Ken Garrett. Business strategy and pricing, Feb 2011 considers influences on price and exam q uestions are likely to ask candidates to explain the process companies should go through to set price in the context of their overall business strategy. Business forecasting and strategy, Jan 2011 focuses on forecasting techniques. N o difficult calculations are expected in this area but candidates will need to p ick on a likely scenario where characters have used a technique inappropriately (e.g. linear regression) and explain how the variables really relate to each oth er. The Strategic Use of IT, Oct 2010, analyses how technology can be harnessed in t he supply chain management and customer relationship management, a highly examin able areas. Some interesting, real-life examples are given. Position-based and resources-based strategies, Oct 2010, provides insight into t he interaction between internal and external elements of strategy formation. Mod els such as PESTL, Porter s 5 forces, Porter s Value Chain and SWOT (corporate appra isal) have come up in almost every exam. All these articles can be downloaded from the ACCA website. Exam Tips

Environmental analysis, using PESTEL or Porter s 5 forces How to harness the use of IT in the value chain The role of outsourcing in realising business strategies Using Johnson, Whittington & Scholes model to evaluate strategic options under t he headings Suitability, Acceptability and Feasibility Highlighting key business processes for process redesign (through Harmon s matrix) and setting in place a change management strategy (Lewin s Forcefield Analysis) Project management, focussing on the cost/benefit analysis of the business case for a project, and in particular benefits management. Exam Preparation Ensure that you cover and revise the whole syllabus. Many of the questions integ rate a number of Study Guide learning outcomes. Practice scenario questions under realistic time constraints; this will help you r time management in the exam. Always read the question requirement before readi ng the scenario. A scenario without context is meaningless. Make sure you use the quantitative data when it is provided in the scenario and apply your answers to the context of the question scenario. Re-read the scenario and ask yourself have I used all the information provided? If you have not, consi der where this information might be relevant. EXP Project management Environmental analysis such as PESTELand Porter s 5 forces Value Chain Analysis Ansoff sMatrix Strategy Evaluation Business Process Change / Reengineering possibly including IT aspects and new tech nology such as cloud computing International expansion or some form of business relationship between companies in different countries.