the cima student

The May OCS (operational case study) exam pre-seen materials were released by CIMA on Friday 24th March, so here is insight to what we know with the Ashworth Lea OCS case study as well as some excellent preview videos from Astranti that focus on the pre-seen, top 10 issues and strategic analysis

You can find the official OCS pre-seen materials from CIMA here.

I posted an article earlier this month on CIMA Case Study Advice: May 2017 that will give you some more pointers and advice on how to approach the case study and the different resources available to you – ranging from post exam kits to study advice.

For those interested in the complete Astranti OCS course for Ashworth Lea you can find it here.

Ashworth Lea: Who are they?

The company in the OCS exam, Ashworth Lea, are a producer of high quality prestigious motor cars and your role in the exam is that of a Finance Officer for the company.

Here are a few key pointers and background information taken from the pre-seen materials.

• The company began in the early 1900’s as a partnership between Robert Ashworth and Andrew Lea.
• The company has been consistently linked to high-quality, premium priced cars.
• They are considered to be a niche producer with worldwide sales.
• Ashworth Lea hit troubled times 30 years ago due to a lack of new models being released, however, a large mass producer of vehicles DOM acquired a 60% stake in the company and invested significant funds into the ailing company.
• Nevertheless, DOM recently sold 45% of the stake in the company so the current structure looks like this.
• a) original owners 40%, DOM 15%, INV group 45%

Ashworth Lea: Pre-Seen Video Analysis

Here is a preview video of the Astranti pre-seen analysis on Ashworth Lea, however, I would first recommend to go through the pre-seen materials once yourself and make notes on the key points before watching the video.

Then you can align your thoughts with that of the tutor.

The detailed page by page analysis of the pre-seen materials is a must view for any student taking the exam in May.

You can find the full set of videos on the May OCS here.

Ashworth Lea: Strategic Video Analysis

By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of Ashworth Lea you will be able to understand the full picture and give greater depth to your answers on exam day. Drawing up your own SWOT analysis of the company is a good start before getting stuck into the Astranti strategic analysis video.

Here you can find the full set of videos on the May OCS here.

Ashworth Lea: Top 10 Issues

Here the Astranti tutors give their opinions on the most likely topics that could come up on exam day. This is of course subjective, but I found it to be very close the mark when I took the OCS exam 18 months ago.

It is a great way to add some focus to your OCS revision – but don’t use it as a way to question spot or write practice answers that you will replicate during the actual exam.

Here you can find the full set of videos on the May OCS here.