General: The question paper attempted to examinee students’ knowledge base of conceptual framework and their ability to relate selected concepts to case based questions and those that were applicative in nature. It was generally observed that the theoretical questions were handled better than those that required application of concepts. However, in many cases it was seen that students responded to theoretical questions on the basis of their general knowledge and their own perception of the management concepts. This along with the inability of students to balance the marks allotted for each sub-part of a question with the overall time factor, resulted in low scores.

Question-wise comments:

Q.1	(a)	Students generally scored well in this part by giving team dynamics seen in the four stages of team development process. However, some students who did not have clear concepts gave overlapping answers and missed the key points of each stage. Hence they lost marks although there was an opportunity to score high.

	(b)	Answers to this part were pretty general in nature but earned marks because general references to the concepts also made sense in this particular question.

Q.2	(a)	In this part, students were able to relate poor decision making with inadequate assessment of external and internal environment but they did not point out specific factors such as failure to anticipate threats. In some cases they completely missed out the point that under the circumstances, the managing director of the company should have had an adequate contingency plan in place.

	(b)	This part was generally misunderstood. The question used past tense and asked for alternative methods that were available to Shahbaz instead of the decision of new investment of Rs. 500 million. Students on the contrary advised Shahbaz to use alternative marketing methods, like advertisement etc. that were related to the future, once the investment had already been made.

Q.3	Majority of the answers to all three parts of the question were well directed and as per requirement. Examinees were able to properly differentiate between penetration pricing and market skimming pricing strategies.

	However, in part (b) quite a few said that the company should go with the suggestions of the distributors and at the same time they also counted the risks involved in following that line of course. They were not penalized for it but it did show lack of understanding of the question to some extent. Some students gave the verdict without giving proper reasons.

Q.4	The question was relatively simple asking positive impacts of supplier process improvement program. Students generally missed the important concept of cross company networking and the need for research and development programs.

	Part (b) of the question required examinees to give recommendations to multinationals investing in Pakistan about how they can help the local suppliers based on their cumulative knowledge and international experience. This involved the concept of training, technology transfer, networking and sharing international best practices, which was not satisfactorily answered by majority of the students. A large number of students misunderstood the requirement completely and discussed the process of selection of supplies.

Q.5	The growth strategy discussed in the question is called Conglomerate Diversification. The strategy is risky as the personnel lack experience of new business, intense efforts are needed and it is expected that attention from a profitable venture will be diverted. Diversification and Synergy are the main advantages. Most students were able to perform well .

Q.6	This question was assigned 6 marks and the replies to section (a) of the question were quite satisfactory. However, in section (b) the responses included such replies as ‘ignore the conflict’, ‘call a meeting and impose management decision’ etc. which depicted lack of basic understanding of the principles regarding resolution of conflicts.

Q.7	The concept of NICHE MARKET was partly explained in the question, so most of the students used the same points i.e. low turnover and high margin as the characteristics of niche marketing. The concept of niche marketing actually entails concentrating the resources to a single segment to penetrate one market in depth and acquire a reputation as specialist or expert in that limited market. The strategy results in low turnover, high margin as the focus is limited and companies can charge premium for that focused segment.

	The lack of knowledge of niche marketing became evident in the second part of the question, when 90% of the examinees were not able to identify eight specialist roles. Instead, they mostly discussed advantages of niche marketing and the precautions to be taken while adopting niche marketing, which were not required.

Q.8	An easy question, however, some students confused this with the modes of payment and mentioned telegraphic transfer and cheques etc. losing precious marks. Part (b) was simple and most of the students answered it correctly.

Q.9	Fairly good answers were produced. However, it was noticed that many students got misdirected and failed to mention the benefits of adopting SHE standards from the business point of view i.e. its bottom line effects, which was the actual requirement.

Q.10	(a)		Students did have a fair idea about the term corporate culture but were unable to describe it in the desired manner. The term embodies values and standards that guide people’s behaviour, including allocation of resources, reward system and how problems are dealt with when they arise.

	(b)		In this part most students confined their answers to BOSS/SUBORDINATE relationship and missed out other important points like administrative processes, reward and communication systems and work group commitment etc.

	(c)		This was well attempted and the overall score was also good.

Q.11	With technological advancements taking place, offering superior product quality definitely results in higher return on investment and is also a key for survival in this competitive world.

	Some students argued against this concept, using the concept of low quality/low cost/higher sales/cheap products strategy for price conscious market.

	Both types of arguments were given due weightage.