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Malawi College of Accountancy Exam Paper

This document is an examination paper for the Quantitative Techniques course at the Malawi College of Accountancy, covering various statistical and mathematical problems. It includes instructions for the exam, several questions requiring calculations related to probability, confidence intervals, linear programming, and revenue forecasting. The exam consists of two sections, with specific questions to be answered, and emphasizes the application of quantitative methods in real-world scenarios.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
75 views9 pages

Malawi College of Accountancy Exam Paper

This document is an examination paper for the Quantitative Techniques course at the Malawi College of Accountancy, covering various statistical and mathematical problems. It includes instructions for the exam, several questions requiring calculations related to probability, confidence intervals, linear programming, and revenue forecasting. The exam consists of two sections, with specific questions to be answered, and emphasizes the application of quantitative methods in real-world scenarios.

Uploaded by

go0215
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

MALAWI COLLEGE OF

ACCOUNTANCY

P.O Box 30644


Chichiri
BLANTYRE 3
SCHOOL OF COMMERCE
BAAAIS
QTD300 –QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES

JULY-DEC 2016 END SEMESTER EXAMS

Date: December 2016 Time allowed: 3 Hours


Instructions

1. DO NOT OPEN THIS PAPER UNTIL YOU ARE


INSTRUCTED BY THE INVIGILATOR TO DO SO
2. You are not allowed to take the question paper out of the
examination room. Please attach the question paper to your answer
sheet. Answer sheets without question papers will not be marked.
3. There are 3 questions in this paper. You are required to answer ALL
questions.
4. For each question, marks and a total and/or subtotal marks are
indicated at the end of each question or subset of questions
5. Begin each answer on a fresh page

Page 1 of 9
6. No reference material of any kind should be taken into the
examination room.
7. You have 15 minutes reading time
SECTION A: ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS IN
THIS SECTION
Question 1

a) The average commute to work (one way) is 25


minutes according to the 2005 American
Community Survey. If we assume that
commuting times are normally distributed and
that the standard deviation is 6.1 minutes.
What is the probability that a randomly
selected commuter spends more than 30
minutes commuting one way? Less than 18
minutes (10 marks)

b) A university dean of student wishes to estimate


the average number of hours students spend
doing homework per week. The standard
deviation from the previous study is 6.2 hours.
How large a sample must be selected if he
wants to be 99% confident of finding whether
the true mean differs from the sample mean by
1.5 (10 marks)

(Total 20 Marks)

Page 2 of 9
Question 2

a) The national average for the number of


students per teacher for all U.S public schools
is 15.9. A random sample of 12 school districts
from a moderately populated area showed that
the mean number of students per teacher was
19.2 with a variance of 4.41. Estimate the true
mean number of students per teacher with
95% confidence. How does your estimate
compare with the national average? (10 marks)

b) A survey of 35 individuals who passed the


seven exams and obtained the rank of Fellow in
the actuarial field find the average salary to be
$150,000. If the standard deviation for the
population is $15,000, construct a 95%
confidence interval for all Fellows. (10 marks)

(Total 20 Marks)

Page 3 of 9
SECTION B: ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS

Question 3

a) The average undergraduate cost for tuition,


fees, room , and board for all institutions last
year was $26,025. A random sample of 40
institutions of higher learning this year
indicated that the mean tuition, fees, room,
and board for the sample was $27,690 and the
population standard deviation is $5492. At the
0.05 level of significance, is there sufficient
evidence that the cost has increased? (10
marks)

b) During a recent year the average cost of


making a movie was $54.8 million. This year, a
random sample of 15 recent action movies had
an average production cost of $62.3 million
with a variance of $90.25 million. At the 0,05
level of significant, can it be concluded that it
costs more than average to produce an action
movie? (10 marks)

(Total 20 marks)

Page 4 of 9
Question 4

The Firm manufactures three types of products, A, B and C. Each


product uses three processes, I, II and III. The processing time per
unit of product A on process I is 4 hours, on the process II is 2
hours and utilizes 3 kg of materials in process III. The processing
time per unit of product B on process I is 2 hours, on process II is 3
hours and utilizes 2 kg of materials in process III. The processing
time of product C on process I is 4 hours, on process II is 6 hours
and utilizes 2 kg of materials on process III. Maximum hours and
materials available per week on process I, II and III are 2,000
hours, 1,500 hours and 5, 000 kg respectively. The contribution
realized from selling product A, B and C are K8, K6 and K5,
respectively.

a. Formulate a linear programming model so that the profit is


maximized (3 marks)
b. Solve this linear programming problem using the Simplex
solution method by:
i) Setting the initial Simplex Tableau including the
necessary slack variables (5 marks)
ii) In your last tableau determine the optimum values
of product A, B, and C and total contribution of
selling these products. (10 marks)
iii) From your last Tableau, determine the shadow
prices of this solution. (2 marks)

(Total 20 marks)

Page 5 of 9
Question 5

A manufacturing company has employed you as a consultant to


help them to compile revenue plans for the last quarter of 2016 and
the year 2017. The sales department has provided you with the
following data of the product produced in the company.

Revenue in MK' Million)

Year Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

2013 69 46 78 88

2014 70 47 79 89

2015 71 50 80 90

2016 70 52 81

a. Calculate the four-quarterly moving average trend for this


set of data (7 marks)
b. Calculate seasonal factors using the additive model (7
marks)
Using the information obtained in a) and b) above, explain without
calculating how you would forecast the revenue for the last quarter of
2016 and the year 2017 (6 marks

(Total 20 marks)

Question 6

Page 6 of 9
i. Mr. Banda has 4 mechanics who work in his garage. His
task is to allocate assignments to repair cars from various
companies. During a certain Monday, he received 5 cars
from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and
Development for repair. He managed to estimate hourly
time to repair each car a week as follows:

Mechanics

Cars Albert John Chance Tuntufye

Jeep 10 14 16 13

Benz 12 13 15 12

Collora 9 12 12 11

Tilda 14 16 18 16

Lorry 18 14 10 17

a. Help Mr. Banda to allocate cars to minimize the total time


taken to repair the cars in a week (8 Marks)
b. Identify the car which will not be repaired (2 Marks)

ii. The Government of Malawi is facing perpetual electricity


blackouts. Management of ESCOM are contemplating of
borrowing funds from the commercial bank with a
guarantee from Government to invest in boosting up
electricity in the country. Management has agreed on three
options to either buy a coal power plant, buy a hydro-
Page 7 of 9
electric plant, or elect no plant at all. The performance in
generating in generating electricity can be good, average, or
bad. The probabilities for these three possibilities are 0.2
for a good performance, 0.5 for an average performance
and 0.3 for a bad performance. The net profit or loss for the
hydro-electric power plant and coal power plant for the
various market conditions are given in the following table.
Electing no plant at all yields no loss and no gain.

Good Market Average Market


Alternative (MK' 000) (MK' 000)

Coal Power Plant 65,000 30,000

Hydro Power Plant 120,000 45,000

No Plant 0 0

Required

As a management accountant advisor to ESCOM, what would you


recommend to management?

(Total 20 marks)

Question 7

Page 8 of 9
a. Describe 4 advantages and 4 disadvantages of using the
simulation model. (8 Marks)
b. Waiting lines in the single channel model is based on several
assumptions. Sate six assumptions that can be used to
formulate queuing equations (6 marks)
c. Multiple regression model is built with several exogenous
variables. Describe any three assumptions of multiple
regressions (6 marks)

(Total 20 marks)

End of Question Paper

Page 9 of 9

Common questions

Powered by AI

To determine the sample size, use the formula: n = (Z*σ / E)^2, where Z is the Z-value for a 99% confidence level, which is 2.576, σ is the standard deviation of 6.2 hours, and E is the margin of error of 1.5 hours. n = (2.576 * 6.2 / 1.5)^2 ≈ 72.96. Therefore, a sample of at least 73 is required .

Calculate the expected value for each plant by multiplying the profits for good, average, and bad market conditions by their respective probabilities and summing the results. For the coal power plant: (0.2 * 65,000) + (0.5 * 30,000) + (0.3 * 0) = 29,000 MK. For the hydro power plant: (0.2 * 120,000) + (0.5 * 45,000) + (0.3 * 0) = 51,000 MK. The hydro plant has a higher expected return, suggesting it's a more favorable choice .

Perform a one-sample t-test using the sample mean of $62.3 million, the sample size of 15, and the population variance of $90.25 million. Calculate the t-value: (62.3 - 54.8) / (√90.25/√15). The t-value is approximately 5.29. With degrees of freedom (n-1)=14, compare the t-value against the critical t-value from the t-distribution table at 0.05 significance level, which is approximately 2.145. Since 5.29 > 2.145, we reject the null hypothesis, supporting that costs have increased .

To solve the linear programming model, set constraints for processing times and material usage, and create the objective function based on profits for products A, B, and C. By implementing the Simplex solution method, determine the feasible solution space, then locate the maximum profit point. The optimum solution would be the quantities that utilize processing times and materials without exceeding available resources, thus maximizing the profit defined by maximizing the equation 8A + 6B + 5C under given constraints .

Multiple regression analysis is based on assumptions such as linearity (the relationship between independent and dependent variables is linear), independence (observations are independent of one another), homoscedasticity (constant variance of errors), normality (regression residuals are normally distributed), lack of multicollinearity (little correlation between independent variables), and correct specification (model is correctly specified and includes all relevant variables).

Apply the assignment problem method by constructing a cost matrix using the provided repair times. Use the Hungarian algorithm to determine the minimal total repair time assignment for each mechanic to a car, ensuring each mechanic is assigned uniquely. This approach minimizes the repair time spent across all assignments while ensuring efficiency .

The four-quarter moving average for each of the years is calculated by averaging the revenue of four consecutive quarters. For instance, for the end of 2013, the moving average is (69 + 46 + 78 + 88) / 4 = 70.25. Repeat this process for each year and quarter available to represent the trend smoothing out seasonal variations and short-term fluctuations .

To find the probability that a commuter spends more than 30 minutes, we use the Z-score formula, Z = (X - μ) / σ, where X is 30 minutes, μ is 25 minutes, and σ is 6.1 minutes. Z = (30 - 25) / 6.1 ≈ 0.82. Using a standard normal distribution table, the probability for Z > 0.82 is approximately 0.2061. Hence, the probability is 0.2061 .

Advantages of simulation models include the ability to test scenarios without real-world risks, flexibility to model complex systems, ability to gain insights into system behavior, and visualization of data. Disadvantages include potential high costs and time of development, the risk of model oversimplification or overcomplexity, the reliance on accurate input data, and difficulties in interpreting results .

First, calculate the confidence interval using the sample mean of 19.2, a variance of 4.41, and a sample size of 12. The standard deviation is √4.41 = 2.1. The standard error is 2.1/√12 ≈ 0.606. The 95% confidence interval is: 19.2 ± (1.96 * 0.606) = 19.2 ± 1.188 ≈ (18.012, 20.388). This interval doesn't include the national average of 15.9, indicating that this district likely has a higher student-teacher ratio than the national average .

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