Reference no: EM131190558

Part -1:

The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:

- Demonstrate an understanding of accounting principles.
- Systematically record the financial aspects of business transactions.
- Prepare financial statements to know the result of business operations for a particular period of time.
- To meet the financial information needs of the decision-makers and help them in rational decision-making.
- Report the results and position of business to "Users" of financial statements.
- Presenting ‘true and fair' view of financial transactions.
- Show accurate calculations for all transactions.

QUESTION

Assume a Vat rate of 14%.

Assume an income tax rate of 28% and dividend tax rate of 15%.

Stress Management Limited was incorporated in 1996. The company is an engineering company that develops and sells a variety of electronic goods. The company is a registered VAT vendor and has a November year-end. The financial director provides you with an extract of the financial statements and some information about financial transactions entered into during the current financial year.

Stress Management Limited Extract from the Statement of financial position as 30 November 2004
		2004	2003
Equity
Share capital-Class A		?	1 800 000
Retained earnings(profits)		?	10 500 000

Extract from notes to the Statement of financial position as at 30 November 2004

Class A shares have voting rights, with no fixed distribution.

Class B shares have no voting rights, and a fixed dividend of 12% on a face value of R1.

Additional information:

a) Authorised class A share capital consists of 200 000 shares.

There was only one share issue, in 1996, at a price of R6 per share. However, during the financial year, the company decided to fund expansion with equity and offered 100 000 class A shares to the public on 1 February 2004.These shares were offered at a price of R5 per share. The applications closed on 31 March 2004 and the minimum capital amount was stated in the prospectus at R350 000. At the closing date 85 000 shares had been applied for by the public. The share were issued on 30 April 2004.Share issue costs amounting to R262 000(VAT inclusive) were incurred on credit on 1 March 2004.

b) Authorised Class B share capital consists of 400 000 shares.

There was only one issue of class B shares, in 1998, at an issue price of R6. At 30 November 2003, the ratio of class A to class B shares is 1:5.

c) On 1 May 2004, the directors declared a class A dividend of 50 cents per share. All dividends declared were paid cash on 31 December 2004.Theses were the only dividends declared during the 2004 financial year. If dividends are to be declared by Stress Management Limited, It is company policy to do so on 1 May of the financial year.

d) The profit before taxation expense for the year ended 30 November 2004 amounted to R14 600 000.

e) Taxable income for the year ended 30 November 2004 amounted R9 800 000.

f) Stress Management Limited had not received dividends during the 2004 financial year.

You are required to:

Prepare ALL the general journal entries to record the issue of the class A shares. Refer to additional information point 1.

Prepare the general journal entry(ies) required in respect of share issue costs. Dates must be shown. Narrations are not required.

Calculate the total dividends declared on May 2004. Refer to additional information points (b) and (c).

Prepare ALL the general journal entries required to record the transactions relating to dividends for the year ended 30 November 2004.

3. Calculate the total tax expense that would appear in the statement of comprehensive income of Stress Management Limited for the end 30 November 2004. Show all workings.

4. Prepare the Equity section of the statement of financial position of Stress Management Limited for the year ended 30 November 2004, after taking into consideration the additional information points(a) - (f) above.

Part -2:

The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:
- Use methods of enquiry and research in a disciplined field.
- Interpret and evaluate text.
- Have a sound understanding of key principles and theories, rules and awareness.
- Solve unfamiliar problems using correct procedures as well as investigate and critically analyse information and report thereof.
- Present and communicate information reliably and coherently.

Instructions and guidelines for writing assignments

1. Use the correct cover page provided by the institution.

2. All essay type assignments must include the following:

Table of contents
Introduction
Main body with subheadings
Conclusions and recommendations
Bibliography

3. The length of the entire assignment must have minimum of 5 pages. Preferably typed with font size 12
The quality of work submitted is more important than the number of assigned pages.

4. Copying is a serious offence which attracts a severe penalty and must be avoided at all costs. If any learner transgresses this rule, the lecturer will retain the assignments and ask the affected learners to resubmit a new assignment which will be capped at 50%.

5. Use the Harvard referencing method.

QUESTIONS

QUESTION ONE

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of the Republic of South Africa. The primary purpose of the Bank is to achieve and maintain price stability in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth in South Africa. It also plays a pivotal role in ensuring financial stability. In view of this statement,

Critique the functions of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

Discuss functions of money as a medium of exchange. Illustrate your answer with practical examples.

QUESTION TWO

There is a school of thought that believes Nationalisation is the best direction to take in order to better a nation, and there are some who believe Privatisation is the best way forward.

In view of the above statement, debate on the advantages and disadvantages of Nationalisation and Privatisation.

Discuss the difference between Monetary and Fiscal policy. Explain the major instruments of both policies and give some practical examples

QUESTION ONE

You have been asked to investigate several customer complaints regarding the supply of cheese in your local supermarket. Your terms of reference are:

- Investigate the customers complaints regarding the cheese
- Record these complaints and analyse them
- Draw conclusions about whether the complaints are justified or not.
- Recommend specific action.

Present your findings using the following guidelines:
- Terms of reference
- Summary
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Findings
- Conclusions
- Recommendations

QUESTION TWO

With the aid of theory, discuss the importance and value of graphics in mass communication.

REQUIREMENTS
- Use a minimum of five (5) recent textbooks to prepare your assignment.
- If you are using information from the internet, ensure that you write in your own words and reference the site correctly.
- Be critical and support your discussions with practical examples and theory.
- Write in complete sentences and use paragraphs. You may use headings and subheadings as required.

Part -3:

Read the following case study and answer the question/s that follows:

South Africa's Bill Lynchnamed Ernst& Young 2006 World Entrepreneurof The Year

Bill Lynch, CEO of South Africa's Imperial Holdings, was named the 2006 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of The Year at a glittering awards ceremony held in Monte Carlo's Grimaldi Forum. The ceremony marked the culmination of the Entrepreneur of The Year World Summit, which brought together hundreds of the world's most respected entrepreneurs for three days of dialogue, learning and networking.

Lynch, who built Imperial into South Africa's largest transport and mobility conglomerate after arriving there in 1971 with just GBP 2,000 and no job, was picked from a strong field of 32 national winners in this, the sixth annual World Entrepreneur of The Year competition. Today Imperial Holdings has annual revenues of EUR 6.5 billion across seven synergistic divisions (integrated logistics solutions; fleet management; vehicle and forklift leasing; aviation operations, sales and leasing; car rental and tourism; motor vehicle importation, sales and after-sales services; and related financial services) and employs 36,000 people on three continents

Chairman of the nine-member independent judging panel, Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder of Bharti Enterprises and 2004 India Entrepreneur of The Year, said, "Bill is the epitome of an entrepreneur - he started with nothing, but he grew an amazing business over thirty years, and today makes a huge positive impact in South Africa. He does that not only through the jobs he creates but also through the training, education and other community support Imperial provides."

"Bill's story is a classic one: he started from humble origins and through hard work and smart diversification built a multi-billion dollar international business."

This kind of achievement would not have been possible had Lynch not integrated and synchronised the various key functional department from finance to human resources management.

"The year was a particularly strong field of country winners to choose from, so the judges had a very difficult decision to make," said Greg Ericksen, Ernst & Young's Global Vice-Chair for Strategic Growth Markets. "Bill has seen it all and done it all and is a great role model for entrepreneurs everywhere with his love of business and hard work," he continued.

"What has been the special feature of the 20 years of the Entrepreneur of The Year program has been the amazing story that each entrepreneur has to tell," said Ernst & Young Chairman and CEO James S. Turley. "Bill's story is a classic one: he started from humble origins and through hard work and smart diversification built a multi-billion dollar international business."

Question:

Based on the above a case study and your understanding of the synergies of integrating the different key organisational functions give an account of how different functional departments (finance & resource allocation, human resources, supply chain, production & operations, leadership etc.) can synchronize (coordinate) their operations in order to contribute to the competitiveness, sustainable customer satisfaction and optimize the profitability of the organisation as a whole.

Part -4:

The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:
- Use methods of enquiry and research in a disciplined field.
- Interpret and evaluate text.
- Have a sound understanding of key principles and theories, rules and awareness.
- Solve unfamiliar problems using correct procedures as well as investigate and critically analyse information and report thereof.
- Present and communicate information reliably and coherently.

QUESTION -1

Diversity efforts were driven in the 80's, and early '90's primarily by the need to begin to adapt to the realities of a shrinking talent pool, and revised legislation ‘outlawing' discriminatory HR practices based on colour and gender. For instance, ‘Equal Employment Opportunity' practices and subsequent ‘Valuing Diversity' efforts focused on a subset of the population, requiring employers to increase the presence of under-represented groups in their workforce.

The scope of diversity work expanded dramatically from 1994 onwards with the promulgation of the South Africa Constitution Act, and from 1998 onwards with the passing of the Employment Equity Act. Employers have been forced (by law) to accelerate the hiring of a more diverse workforce and to remove the barriers to employment progress for previously disadvantaged groups. However, changing the numbers has not been enough; figuring out how to effectively work together is the bigger challenge, and education about differences has been introduced.

While heeding the law is mandatory, this "extra effort," which focuses on diversity training and interpersonal learning, is still perhaps viewed as an optional extra frequently not tied to the business, and often not as effective as newly ‘affirmed' leadership intends. While there are a few success stories (like SA Breweries), there were many cases in which participants either do not know why they are there or are not able to apply what they had learned back on the job because their corporate culture does not reinforce components of the education they receive.

Some organisations are at the starting blocks where they are genuinely trying to understand the business rationale behind doing this work, and not just stopping there, unsure of what to do next. At the other end of the continuum, some leaders have already learned that attending to diversity issues could differentiate their organisation as an employer, vendor, or service provider - and continue to take action. Within the next 3-5 years the legislation around Employment Equity (second generation legislation) will undoubtedly begin to force employers to examine diversity in the context of not only the business case, but also the people dimension of the business strategy, which, in turn, has an impact on both the workforce and its customers.

With the above in mind, discuss the importance and role of diversity when it comes to employee recruitment and employee retention in helping form a resourceful and productive organisation.

Part -5:

The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:

- Use methods of enquiry and research in a disciplined field.
- Interpret and evaluate text.
- Have a sound understanding of key principles and theories, rules and awareness.
- Solve unfamiliar problems using correct procedures as well as investigate and critically analyse information and report thereof.
- Present and communicate information reliably and coherently.

Question One

Training practitioners and top management strategists rarely have total freedom to pursue what they believe is the best optimal choice, rather they must consider possible strategies for long term learning efforts based on tests of acceptability. In view of the above statement:

State and explain the grand strategic choices available to an organization and their importance. (20)
Identify and discuss general approaches to training interventions which can be implemented in an enterprise. (20)

Question Two

State and explain the factors that contribute to successful implementation of e-learning. Illustrate your answer with examples. (30)

Training facilities are resources allows the trainer to conduct training in an effective manner once all needs have been determined and all requirements have been met. Evaluate facilities required to conduct effective training. (30)

Part -6:

The purpose of an assignment is to ensure that the Learner is able to:
- Use methods of enquiry and research in a disciplined field.
- Interpret and evaluate text.
- Have a sound understanding of key principles and theories, rules and awareness.
- Solve unfamiliar problems using correct procedures as well as investigate and critically analyse information and report thereof.
- Present and communicate information reliably and coherently.

QUESTION ONE

Communication is one of the Fundamental Values of Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology College, although it would be more accurate to say that effective communication is what Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology College deems critical to its success. It further understands that communication is the act of transmitting information between individuals.

1.1.1 Briefly describe communication in relation to information systems. Using examples explain different types of communication technologies and discuss types of networks used for communication.

With the aid of a diagram and examples, discuss any Four types of physical transmission media with their advantages and the disadvantages, of each media type.

QUESTION TWO

You are employed as a communications advisor at Telemark, a telemarketing firm with over 1,500 telemarketers. The president of the company recently attended the annual Internet Telephony Conference & Expo and came away with the idea that the company can save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on local, long distance, and international calls by using Internet Telephony, rather than the conventional public switched telephone network (PSTN). She has asked you to look into the feasibility of making the switch. Use the Web and/or print media to research the advantage and disadvantage of internet telephony.

How does Internet telephony work?

What type of hardware and software must the company purchase to make calls over the Internet?

Describe cloud storage, give examples of services provided and the reasons to use cloud storage.

3.1 Umbono Ltd is a South African based retail company. The company has 45 retail
outlets located throughout the South Africa. At a recent board meeting the directors approved a proposal for the development of a new range of enhanced payment receipting technologies to replace its existing EPOS card based systems. The new system will be introduced into all of the company's 45 retail outlets over the next two
(2) years and the directors have estimated that its introduction will result in an overall net reduction in retail staffing levels of approximately 30%.

Unlike the existing EPOS card based system, the proposed payment receipting technologies will require Umbono Ltd to store and process confidential personal data about all retail customers. All confidential personal data will be encrypted and securely stored at the company's head office in Pretoria.

In the context of change management, briefly explain the primary objectives of the systems development process and distinguish between the systems development life cycle approach and, the prototyping approach to systems development.

Describe the key stages of the systems development life cycle approach and briefly explain the advantages and disadvantages of using such an approach for the development and introduction of a new range of enhanced payment receipting technologies by Umbono Ltd.

4.1 Using theory and practical examples, critically evaluate the importance of Project Management, Feasibility Assessment, Data and Information Gathering Techniques, and documentation in Software Development Life Cycle

4.2 Using practical examples, explain embedded operating system.