CIMA lecturer, Pilisa Matyholo, has broken down the Operational Case Study Pre-Seen and highlighted some things you should know when preparing for the August Case Study exam.
Here is what he had to say;
The August Operational Case Study Exam sittings will be based on an unlisted organisation named Meals@Home, a business that sells meal kits directly to customers through a digital subscription service.
Meals@Home is based in Newland, a fictional country in Europe. The closes real business example in South Africa is UCOOK, and other global examples would be Hellofresh and Hello-chef.
Since being founded in 2012, the company has grown significantly throughout Newland. Sales growth was up 24% on the previous year and is expected to grow by 22% for the upcoming financial year. Despite the good growth in sales, the company has been recording losses since it's inception, which is something consistent with other meal-kit companies. The company is expected to generate profits for the first time in the upcoming financial year. The survival and growth of the company has been made possible by the investment and support of venture capitalists and angel investors.
Meals@Home aims to provide good quality ingredients with a clear recipe card that helps customers prepare and cook healthy and nutritious meals in less than 45 minutes. Each recipe is calorie counted with a focus on low carbohydrates, while still being high in nutritional value. The company targets aspiring cooks, customers that do not have enough time to plan meals or do grocery shopping, and those who wish to cook healthy and nutritious meals at home. The company offers new customers promotional discounts of 50% off on the first box, and 30% off each of the next two boxes.
Meal@Home considers sustainability to be at the heart of the organisation, focusing on the reduction of food wastage and food kilometres. The company seeks to source ingredients locally and use recyclable packaging.
Their subscriptions are flexiable, allowing customers to cancel, pause, or amend at any time without additional charges. Customers can choose from delivery options of once a week, once a fortnight and once a month with the option to choose between Small or Big kit sizes. There are 50 different meal kits to choose from each week, offering preferences such as vegetarian, low calorie, etc.
Meals@Home has established great relationships with its suppliers, meaning that only the freshest and best quality ingredients will be delivered to customers. Ingredients comprise of three categories; long-life, fresh and chilled goods. Long-life goods are bought in bulk, whilst fresh and chilled goods are bought daily. The production process uses a combination of manual and automated processes, and include the production of herbs and spices, meal-kits, and box packaging.
The meal-kit industry in Newland is dominated by six large players, two of which are multinationals, and the rest smaller regional players. The local industry enjoyed growth of about 7% in the last five years, but it is now starting to decline with many of the companies forced to extend their product ranges. The market is increasingly aggressive with price competition, reduction in customer loyalty, pressure to reduce packaging, and sustainable sourcing.
In preparation for the August Case Study Exam, candidates need to consider the following possible exam angles:
- New product development, for example - vegan and “free-from” meals
- Launch the service in another geographical location, e,g. another country
- The 5-year project to convert diesel fuels into biogas or electric cars
- Something of sustainability, especially around food kilometres, wastage, and recyclability
- A possible sale of Meals@Home or insourcing of distribution
- Adoption of digital technology such as Artificial intelligence
Revising for the exam with these key themes in place will help candidates consider an approach to follow.
Preparation for the CIMA Operational Case study Exam requires a strong understanding of the underlying models, specifically P1.
Candidates should make use of the following resources:
- CIMA Operational Blueprints: This is to ensure that your revision is laser-focused as opposed to touching here and there. Revise key themes from E1, P1, and F1 based on the CIMA Operational Blueprints. You can find the Blueprints here.
- Get hold of at least 2-3 past exam sitting kits (May-Aug 2021, Nov 2021-Feb 2022).
- Attempt as many mock exams as you possibly can under exam conditions.
- Make use of a tuition provider such as IBTC to assist you on your CIMA journey.
We're wishing you the best of luck for your Operational Case Study Exam. This is the first real test on your way to becoming a CGMA.
