It emerged that the young hijacker was a survivor of a massacre of street children by off-duty Rio policemen in 1993.

Albacore Chess Stores (Albacore) is a chain of 12 shops specialising in selling items associated with the game of chess: boards, pieces, clocks, software and books. Three years ago, the company was the subject of a venture capital buyout from a larger group. A new senior management team was put in place after the buyout. They have the aim of running the business in order to maximise profits.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO), along with the other members of senior management, sets the annual budget and uses a standard costing approach with variance analysis in order to control individual shop performance. The head office handles all capital purchases and brand marketing. All inventory purchasing is done centrally and the shop opening times are set as standard across the company. As an illustration of senior management attitude, the CFO had set the budget for 2011 staff costs at $7 per hour for part-time staff and this was rigorously observed in the period.

Each shop is run by a manager who reports their financial results to head office. The shop managers recruit and manage the staffing of their shop. They have some autonomy in setting prices locally and have been given authority to vary prices by up to 10% from a master list produced by the CFO. They also have a local marketing budget agreed each year by the shop’s manager and the marketing director as part of the annual appraisal process.

The shop managers have approached the Chairman of Albacore to complain about the way that they are managed and their remuneration. They feel that their efforts are unrecognised by senior management. One manager commented, ‘I have had a successful year in hard economic circumstances. I have run a number of promotions in the shop that have been well received by the customers. However, the budgets that are set are impossible to achieve and as a result I have not been paid any bonus although I feel that I have done everything in my power to bring in good profits.’

The shop managers at Albacore are paid a basic salary of $27,000 with bonuses of up to 30% of basic salary dependent on two factors: performance above budget and the operational director’s performance assessment. The budget for the next year is prepared by the CFO and presented at the shop manager’s annual appraisal.

The Chairman has come to you to ask if you can consider the system of performance assessment for the shop managers and give an independent perspective on the reward systems at Albacore. She has provided the following illustrative information from the previous year for one shop:

Albacore Chess Stores

Tunny Branch Year to Sept 2011

Notes:

Property costs includes heating, lighting and rental.

Positive variances are favourable.

The manager of this shop commented at the appraisal meeting that she felt that the assessment was unfair since her failure to make budget was due to general economic conditions. The industry as a whole saw a 12% fall in revenues during the period and the budget for the period was set to be the same as the previous period. She was not paid a bonus for the period.

Required:

(a) Assess the suitability of the branch information given as a means of assessing the shop manager’s performance for this store, providing suitable additional calculations. (8 marks)

(b) Analyse the performance management style. and evaluate the performance appraisal system at Albacore. Suggest suitable improvements to its reward system for the shop managers. (12 marks)

Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually be accomplished." Well, that of course left only the impossible as the one thing remaining for daring intellectual adventurers to whittle away at Feinberg, for one, thought that "they'd succeed even there."

(2) It was a point worth considering. How many times in the past had certain things been said to be impossible, only to have it turn out shortly thereafter that the item in question had already been done or soon would be. What greater cliche was there in the history of science than the comic litany of false it-couldn't-be-dones; the infamous case of Auguste Comte saying in 1844 that it would never be known what the stars were made of, followed in a few years by the spectroscope being applied to starlight to reveal the stars' chemical composition; or the case of Lord Rutherford, the man who discovered the structure of the atom, saying in 1933 mat dreams of controlled nuclear fission were "moonshine." And those weren't even the worst examples. No, the huffiest of all it-couldn't-be-done claims centered on the notion that human beings could actually fly, either at all, or across long distances, or to the moon, the stars, or wherever else.

(3) There had been so many embarrassments of this type that about mid-century Arthur C. Clarke came out with a guideline for avoiding them, which he termed Clarke's Law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

(4) Still, one had to admit there were lots of things left that were really and truly impossible, even if it took some ingenuity in coming up with a proper list of examples. Such as. "A camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle." (Well, unless of course it was a very large needle.) On "It is impossible for a door to be simultaneously open and closed." (Well, unless of course it was a revolving door.)

(5) Indeed, watertight examples of the really and truly impossible were so exceptionally hard to come by that paradigm cases turned out to be either trivial or absurd. "I know I will never play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz," offered Milton Rothman, a physicist, "no matter how hard I try". Or, from Scott Lankford, a mountaineer "Everest on roller skates."

The false it-couldn't-be-dones in science are comic because ______.

A．they are cliches, repeated too often by scientists

B．they are almost always proved to be wrong by later scientific research

C．they are mocked at by later generations

D．they provide material for good comedies

Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually be accomplished." Well, that of course left only the impossible as the one thing remaining for daring intellectual adventurers to whittle away at Feinberg, for one, thought that "they'd succeed even there."

(2) It was a point worth considering. How many times in the past had certain things been said to be impossible, only to have it turn out shortly thereafter that the item in question had already been done or soon would be. What greater cliche was there in the history of science than the comic litany of false it-couldn't-be-dones; the infamous case of Auguste Comte saying in 1844 that it would never be known what the stars were made of, followed in a few years by the spectroscope being applied to starlight to reveal the stars' chemical composition; or the case of Lord Rutherford, the man who discovered the structure of the atom, saying in 1933 mat dreams of controlled nuclear fission were "moonshine." And those weren't even the worst examples. No, the huffiest of all it-couldn't-be-done claims centered on the notion that human beings could actually fly, either at all, or across long distances, or to the moon, the stars, or wherever else.

(3) There had been so many embarrassments of this type that about mid-century Arthur C. Clarke came out with a guideline for avoiding them, which he termed Clarke's Law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

(4) Still, one had to admit there were lots of things left that were really and truly impossible, even if it took some ingenuity in coming up with a proper list of examples. Such as. "A camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle." (Well, unless of course it was a very large needle.) On "It is impossible for a door to be simultaneously open and closed." (Well, unless of course it was a revolving door.)

(5) Indeed, watertight examples of the really and truly impossible were so exceptionally hard to come by that paradigm cases turned out to be either trivial or absurd. "I know I will never play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz," offered Milton Rothman, a physicist, "no matter how hard I try". Or, from Scott Lankford, a mountaineer "Everest on roller skates."

The false it-couldn't-be-dones in science are comic because ______.

A．they are cliches, repeated too often by scientists

B．they are almost always proved to be wrong by later scientific research

C．they are mocked at by later generations

D．they provide material for good comedies

听力原文： One in 10 young people claim to have had no career advice during their education.

Around two thirds have not decided on a career by the time they leave school, says the YouGov poll for recruitment consultancy, Harvey Nash.

Most rely on friends but many are turning to the Internet for advice instead, and the careers service needs to embrace this, say experts.

The knock-on effect of confusing and unhelpful careers advice is that young people are not making the best use of their skills, and industry is losing out on the most talented candidates.

Harvey Nash chief, Albert Ellis, said: "Without direction and advice, not only are young people missing out on potential career opportunities themselves, but businesses too, could be missing out on the next generation of skills they need to compete".

What is the main message of the news item?

A．Young people should seek careers advice.

B．Careers service needs to be improved.

C．Businesses are not getting talented people.

D．Careers advice is not offered on the Internet.

听力原文： One in 10 young people claim to have had no career advice during their education.

Around two thirds have not decided on a career by the time they leave school, says the YouGov poll for recruitment consultancy, Harvey Nash.

Most rely on friends but many are turning to the Internet for advice instead, and the careers service needs to embrace this, say experts.

The knock-on effect of confusing and unhelpful careers advice is that young people are not making the best use of their skills, and industry is losing out on the most talented candidates.

Harvey Nash chief, Albert Ellis, said: "Without direction and advice, not only are young people missing out on potential career opportunities themselves, but businesses too, could be missing out on the next generation of skills they need to compete".

What is the main message of the news item?

A．Young people should seek careers advice.

B．Careers service needs to be improved.

C．Businesses are not getting talented people.

D．Careers advice is not offered on the Internet.