Finally, the last question was a purely discursive question on budgeting. Part (a) was a simple three mark knowledge question asking for a description of the main steps involved in zero-based budgeting (ZBB).

Candidates seemed to either know this well or not at all. It was surprising to see how many candidates fell into the latter category as this particular requirement has been asked before. It suggested that there was a degree of question spotting going on, an approach which will never work in F5.

Part (b) asked for a discussion of the problems involved in introducing ZBB at the Lesting Regional Authority (LRA). Answers to this were weak because, once again, candidates simply wrote down the known problems of introducing ZBB without actually considering the particular circumstances existing
at the LRA.

It is not possible to pass application requirements unless knowledge is applied. Many candidates may have walked out of the exam thinking that they had done well because they had listed points such as time, cost, demotivation, but unless these were actually discussed in relation to the LRA and all the issues it had recently been experiencing, such candidates may find that they are disappointed with their results.

There was so much information in the scenario and it was there for a reason as it had relevance to the effect ZBB would have on the organisation. It must therefore have been referred to throughout the answer.

Another issue with part (b) was the fact that some answers just discussed the problems the LRA were having, rather than discussing the problems of implementing ZBB. Hence, they did not answer the question either and scored poorly.

Part (c) was more generic in its nature, asking for the benefits of introducing ZBB. Because of this, answers were fairly good, identifying the key points.