the cima student

The May 2018 CIMA Operational Case Study pre-seen materials have been released and this time it’s based on a company called Mansako.

You can find the pre-seen materials for the May 2018 OCS from CIMA website here.

CIMA OCS: Pre-Seen Analysis

The cornerstone of your work and revision for the OCS will be based around the pre-seen materials, there is a wealth of information, clues and pointers on what to expect on exam day so it’s crucial you re-read and make notes on the pre-seen materials.

To get you started, below is a preview video from Astranti on the Mansako pre-seen materials.

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

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

CIMA OCS: What do we know?

You are Finance Officer for Mansako and you will be supporting the Finance Manager with the preparation of budgets and monthly management accounts. There is also mention of annual financial reporting and the queries that could come up regarding this.

• Mansako is a luxury leather good company founded in 1971.
• They are listed on the Lowerland stock exchange.
• Mansako suffered when entering high-end luxury market, sales and profits dropped dramatically from 2012-15.
• A new creative director was appointed in 2015 and a change in product range meant that sales went back up to $218.5m but profits were only $9.8m (4.4% net profit margin).
• Company has 1400 employees – with 50% of staff based in production.
• Mansako’s senior management team has seen alot of recent changes the current management team are quite young.
• 72% of sales revenue comes from Lowerland, with 14% from Europe, 7% from Asia, 6% North America and 1% from ROW.

The above information was taken from the pre-seen materials and you can already see a few potential areas for questions on exam day.

While their sales revenue has been restored to normal levels $218.5m, operating profits are quite low (4.4%) this indicates Mansako’s overheads are higher than they should be.

• Do they have an effective budgeting system?
• Are they negotiating the right deal with suppliers?
• Are they over-staffed?

CIMA OCS: Mock Exams

You should know my thoughts on how much I value taking mock exams in mock conditions and this also applies to case study exams. It helps build your confidence and really tests where you are in terms of strengths and weaknesses.

To get a feel of what you can expect on exam day, you can take the free OCS mini mock from Astranti before taking the 3 full mock exams that are based on the xxx case study.

Astranti Mock Exam Deadlines

To get the full benefit of having the mock exams marked with personalised feedback, the below deadlines are recommended for the three mock exams for the May OCS exam.

You can find out more information about the Astranti Mansako mock exams here.

CIMA OCS: Case Study Exam Tips

Finally, below is a video on the things you must do before the OCS exam (it was taken from the February but the points remain the same for any of the OCS exam sittings!).

Good Luck and Happy Studying!