MAC3703 Assignment 2
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2025 - DUE 30
September 2025;
USER
[Email address]
,MAC3703 Assignment 2 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DUE 30
September 2025; The foreign exchange market for travellers is a multi-billion
pound business shared by established financial institutions. Travellers buy
the currency that they need at one exchange rate and then sell any surplus
back to the bank at a much lower rate. The gap between the two rates is
considerable, particularly in SA, i.e. the existing banks enjoy significant
profits from these exchange rates. Many travellers use this service and write
off the currency loss as part of the costs of their trip, but many keep the
currency in a drawer hoping to use it on a subsequent trip. There are
disrupter banks hovering in the wings in this lucrative market. The
emergence of disruptor banks has introduced the concept of multi-currency
bank accounts, where an individual account holder can have a bank account
in multiple currencies. Consequently, a traveller in this position can simply
“bank” their spare currency rather than convert it back after their trip.
Aligned with this is the concept of peer-to-peer transactions where, via an
app, two unconnected individuals can agree to transfer currency between
each other at a rate where both benefit (compared to the bank’s buy and sell
rate). This creates the vital win/win scenario, which is the bedrock of great
ideas. The amounts per transaction are often small, but the volume could be
huge, and the disrupter banks involved see it as a way of rapidly increasing
customer numbers and making a small margin on every transaction
(significantly smaller than what is currently being made but requiring no
further involvement once the programming is complete). The established
banks are worried about this development as it represents yet another
lucrative element of the financial markets that may be lost. Required: (a)
Discuss the risks and benefits of the main strategic options open to the
existing banks (established financial institutions) to prevent the loss of the
foreign exchange profits that they currently enjoy.The foreign exchange
market for travellers is a multi-billion pound business shared by established
financial institutions. Travellers buy the currency that they need at one
exchange rate and then sell any surplus back to the bank at a much lower
rate. The gap between the two rates is considerable, particularly in SA, i.e.
the existing banks enjoy significant profits from these exchange XYZF Ltd is
a South African factory shop producing clothing for men and women from the
age of 16 upwards. XYZF gets all their materials from ABCD Ltd, a local
supplier. There are other local suppliers in the country for the materials used
by XYZF Ltd. XYZF does not have its own sewing machines and rents them in
from company X. The clothes produced by XYZF Ltd are sold to various
clothing wholesalers in South Africa, who then supply the local retailers who
physically supply the consumers. XYZF Ltd has its own delivery trucks which
delivers the clothes from the factory straight to the wholesalers’ premises.
Company Y uses various courier companies to deliver the clothes to the local
retailers. XYZF Ltd is competing with All Clothing Limited. Although XYZF Ltd
does not supply directly to consumers, the directors believe that XYZF Ltd is
creating value for the end user and XYZF Ltd is now considering expanding
, its business by supplying the clothes directly to the consumer through
creating and launching an online retail store. The online retail store will be
accessible all over the world. The directors of XYZF Ltd have appointed a
project team, led by a project manager, to investigate the feasibility of the
expansion being considered. The directors have indicated that they will not
be appointing a steering committee for the project instead they will be
steering the project themselves. The software supplier will be TNX. The
instructions in terms of what the investigation should entail are clearly stated
and include additional ecosystem participants that will need to be added to
the current ecosystem and their roles in the ecosystem, the features for the
online store application to ensure value creation, other extra resources, and
their costs, amongst others. The project manager has indicated that he is
clueless about project management, however he trusts his management and
leadership skills. The project management team is obedient, eager to learn
and prefer healthy competition, i.e., compete by performing their tasks well.
The project manager’s name is John. 4 Required: A. (i) Identify and explain
the roles of at least two business ecosystem participants in the current XYZ
Ltd ecosystem, and two in the new ecosystem resulting from the introduction
of the online retail store. (6) (ii) Identify and explain at least two features
that need to be present for the online store application to satisfy digital
customer needs. Your explanation should be specific to XYZ Ltd and clearly
indicate the benefits to digital customers. (4) (iii) What would be the effect of
introducing the online retail store to XYZ Ltd business value creation? (4) (iv)
Assuming that XYZ Ltd profit before tax is R2m (fully taxable), tax rate is
28% and they have a policy of distributing 20% of their profit after tax as a
dividend to their shareholders, demonstrate how residual value is captured
and shared (show all your workings). (4) B. (i) Differentiate between the term
management and leadership in relation to the XYZ online retail store project.
(4) (ii) Which leadership style do you think the project manager should adopt
in managing the XYZ project and why? (6) (iii) Based on the culture of the
project team, advise the project manager of the performance appraisal
approach he should adopt in monitoring and controlling the performance of
the project team. Your answer should highlight how benefits outweigh
shortfalls of the recommended approach. (14) C. (i) Discuss the feasibility of
the creation and launching of the online store. (8) (ii) Draft a project
identification document for the online retail store project. Many travellers use
this service and write off the currency loss as part of the costs of their trip,
but many keep the currency in a drawer hoping to use it on a subsequent
trip. There are disrupter banks hovering in the wings in this lucrative market.
The emergence of disruptor banks has introduced the concept of multi-
currency bank accounts, where an individual account holder can have a bank
account in multiple currencies. Consequently, a traveller in this position can
simply “bank” their spare currency rather than convert it back after their
trip. Aligned with this is the concept of peer-to-peer transactions where, via
an app, two unconnected individuals can agree to bank’s buy and sell rate).
This creates the vital win/win scenario, which is the bedrock of great ideas.
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2025 - DUE 30
September 2025;
USER
[Email address]
,MAC3703 Assignment 2 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DUE 30
September 2025; The foreign exchange market for travellers is a multi-billion
pound business shared by established financial institutions. Travellers buy
the currency that they need at one exchange rate and then sell any surplus
back to the bank at a much lower rate. The gap between the two rates is
considerable, particularly in SA, i.e. the existing banks enjoy significant
profits from these exchange rates. Many travellers use this service and write
off the currency loss as part of the costs of their trip, but many keep the
currency in a drawer hoping to use it on a subsequent trip. There are
disrupter banks hovering in the wings in this lucrative market. The
emergence of disruptor banks has introduced the concept of multi-currency
bank accounts, where an individual account holder can have a bank account
in multiple currencies. Consequently, a traveller in this position can simply
“bank” their spare currency rather than convert it back after their trip.
Aligned with this is the concept of peer-to-peer transactions where, via an
app, two unconnected individuals can agree to transfer currency between
each other at a rate where both benefit (compared to the bank’s buy and sell
rate). This creates the vital win/win scenario, which is the bedrock of great
ideas. The amounts per transaction are often small, but the volume could be
huge, and the disrupter banks involved see it as a way of rapidly increasing
customer numbers and making a small margin on every transaction
(significantly smaller than what is currently being made but requiring no
further involvement once the programming is complete). The established
banks are worried about this development as it represents yet another
lucrative element of the financial markets that may be lost. Required: (a)
Discuss the risks and benefits of the main strategic options open to the
existing banks (established financial institutions) to prevent the loss of the
foreign exchange profits that they currently enjoy.The foreign exchange
market for travellers is a multi-billion pound business shared by established
financial institutions. Travellers buy the currency that they need at one
exchange rate and then sell any surplus back to the bank at a much lower
rate. The gap between the two rates is considerable, particularly in SA, i.e.
the existing banks enjoy significant profits from these exchange XYZF Ltd is
a South African factory shop producing clothing for men and women from the
age of 16 upwards. XYZF gets all their materials from ABCD Ltd, a local
supplier. There are other local suppliers in the country for the materials used
by XYZF Ltd. XYZF does not have its own sewing machines and rents them in
from company X. The clothes produced by XYZF Ltd are sold to various
clothing wholesalers in South Africa, who then supply the local retailers who
physically supply the consumers. XYZF Ltd has its own delivery trucks which
delivers the clothes from the factory straight to the wholesalers’ premises.
Company Y uses various courier companies to deliver the clothes to the local
retailers. XYZF Ltd is competing with All Clothing Limited. Although XYZF Ltd
does not supply directly to consumers, the directors believe that XYZF Ltd is
creating value for the end user and XYZF Ltd is now considering expanding
, its business by supplying the clothes directly to the consumer through
creating and launching an online retail store. The online retail store will be
accessible all over the world. The directors of XYZF Ltd have appointed a
project team, led by a project manager, to investigate the feasibility of the
expansion being considered. The directors have indicated that they will not
be appointing a steering committee for the project instead they will be
steering the project themselves. The software supplier will be TNX. The
instructions in terms of what the investigation should entail are clearly stated
and include additional ecosystem participants that will need to be added to
the current ecosystem and their roles in the ecosystem, the features for the
online store application to ensure value creation, other extra resources, and
their costs, amongst others. The project manager has indicated that he is
clueless about project management, however he trusts his management and
leadership skills. The project management team is obedient, eager to learn
and prefer healthy competition, i.e., compete by performing their tasks well.
The project manager’s name is John. 4 Required: A. (i) Identify and explain
the roles of at least two business ecosystem participants in the current XYZ
Ltd ecosystem, and two in the new ecosystem resulting from the introduction
of the online retail store. (6) (ii) Identify and explain at least two features
that need to be present for the online store application to satisfy digital
customer needs. Your explanation should be specific to XYZ Ltd and clearly
indicate the benefits to digital customers. (4) (iii) What would be the effect of
introducing the online retail store to XYZ Ltd business value creation? (4) (iv)
Assuming that XYZ Ltd profit before tax is R2m (fully taxable), tax rate is
28% and they have a policy of distributing 20% of their profit after tax as a
dividend to their shareholders, demonstrate how residual value is captured
and shared (show all your workings). (4) B. (i) Differentiate between the term
management and leadership in relation to the XYZ online retail store project.
(4) (ii) Which leadership style do you think the project manager should adopt
in managing the XYZ project and why? (6) (iii) Based on the culture of the
project team, advise the project manager of the performance appraisal
approach he should adopt in monitoring and controlling the performance of
the project team. Your answer should highlight how benefits outweigh
shortfalls of the recommended approach. (14) C. (i) Discuss the feasibility of
the creation and launching of the online store. (8) (ii) Draft a project
identification document for the online retail store project. Many travellers use
this service and write off the currency loss as part of the costs of their trip,
but many keep the currency in a drawer hoping to use it on a subsequent
trip. There are disrupter banks hovering in the wings in this lucrative market.
The emergence of disruptor banks has introduced the concept of multi-
currency bank accounts, where an individual account holder can have a bank
account in multiple currencies. Consequently, a traveller in this position can
simply “bank” their spare currency rather than convert it back after their
trip. Aligned with this is the concept of peer-to-peer transactions where, via
an app, two unconnected individuals can agree to bank’s buy and sell rate).
This creates the vital win/win scenario, which is the bedrock of great ideas.
