CASE QUESTIONS

1. What are the needs that have been identified?

The student community service organization needs to obtain funds, more volunteers,
more space for storage, and more food donations.

2. What is the project objective?

To obtain more funds, precisely around $10,000 to cater to the increasing demand on
the food banks and stay afloat.

3. What assumptions, if any, should be made regarding the project to be undertaken?

In order to accomplish their need for volunteers, storage space, and food donations, they
need more funds. Based on their current situation, they need to conduct a fund-raising
project that operates with less money and doesn’t require as much manpower. Along
with the fund-raising project, it should also be used as an opportunity to invite more
people to volunteer at the community service organization. As a fund-raising project
though, they need to focus on the objective of raising enough funds to keep their
organization afloat in two months.

4. What are the risks involved in the project?

Some risks involved is despite conducting a fund-raising project is that they might not be able to
earn their target amount of $10,000 despite the efforts due to the time constraint of needing it
in two months. There is also the fact that their chosen project might cause them to spend more
than they have if they chose a fund-raising activity that needs money to succeed or to acquire
the resources they need. There is also a possibility that the organization would be forced to close
anyway in the time they are raising funds, seeing as the city government is strained of their
resources and have to cut their allocation of funds to the organization, in order to keep more
funds for the city government.

Security & Commodity Exchanges

Operate marketplaces in the form of physical trading floors or electronic platforms for trading
financial securities, commodities, or other financial instruments
https://www.sasb.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/SASB-Standards-Application-Guidance-
2018-10.pdf

Topic Highlights
 - Promoting Transparent & Efficient Capital Markets
o Facilitating equal access to information and exchange services among a broad set of
investors and companies.
o Security and commodity exchanges have a responsibility to ensure equal access to
capital markets for all investors.
o These companies play a critical role in efficient capital allocation and need to
provide for the equal application of rules to all participants.
o Disclosure on policies relating to the release of information (including the disclosure
of environmental, social, and governance data), halts of trading, and the risks and
opportunities associated with algorithmic or high frequency trading will allow
investors to further understand how security and commodity exchanges are
protecting shareholder value.

- Managing Conflicts of Interest

o Managing conflicts of interest between the industry’s for-profit status and role as
Self-Regulatory Organizations.
o Firms in this industry monitor membership information and regulatory compliance
to ensure market integrity and transparency.
o Controversies relating to market manipulation, tax fraud, investor protection rules,
and antitrust laws have sharpened concern about conflicts of interest that arise due
to security and commodity exchanges’ position as SROs (Self-Regulatory
Organizations).
o Companies that avoid information asymmetries and fraudulent or unethical
activities will maintain market integrity, limit reputational damage, and enhance
shareholder value.

- Managing Business Continuity & Technology Risks

o Integrating sophisticated, secure technology systems into business operations to
ensure continuity.
o The industry’s central position in financial markets requires it to manage issues
relating to security breaches and technology errors to prevent market disruptions.
o Increased disclosure on efforts taken to address the risks and opportunities
associated with technology will allow shareholders to accurately assess value.

General Issues

Social Capital

- Data Security: As information increases, newer and better technology is needed to retain all
the information in a secure storage, but there is no guarantee that all new and “better”
technology is safe and secure.
 Leadership & Governance

- Business Ethics: As the industry’s responsibility to ensure equal access to capital markets for
all investors, it is only fair that they practice proper business ethics wherein they must
practice transparency and proper disclosure of relevant information, lest they want to risk
the goodwill and trust they had formulated with investors and companies.
- Critical Incident Risk Management: The information being exchanged in the databases of
this industry are critical to keeping the market in check and any security breaches can result
to detrimental effects to shareholders and the organizations of this industry.

IFRS 1 - First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards

The IFRS 1 ensures that an entity’s first IFRS financial statements, and its interim financial
reports for part of the period covered by those financial statements, contain high quality
information that is transparent for users and comparable over all periods, provides a suitable
starting point for accounting in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS), and can be generated at a cost that does not exceed the benefits.

https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ifrs-1-first-time-adoption-of-ifrs/
#standardfinancial

Topic Highlights

- IFRS 1 provides guidance for entities adopting IFRS for the first time.
- According to the standard, an organization in this situation must adhere to IFRSs for the
recognition and measurement of assets and liabilities as of the end of its first IFRS
accounting period.
- There are a few exceptions to these rules where the cost for compliance would be more
expensive than reaping the benefits.
- Entities must disclose the effect of the transfer to IFRS on financial position, performance
and cash flows.

General Issues

Leadership and Governance

- Business Ethics: It is a given that all information material to the disclosures required by the
current IFRS must be presented and any material data being withheld can be grounds for
fraud and possible tax evasion unless expressly stipulated in the exemptions dictated by the
standard.

- Critical Incident Risk Management: The standard requires that all relevant data, correct
estimates, errors, and reconciliations must be included in the entity’s first IFRS financial
statements in its transition to complying with IFRS standards. Human as we are, there are
always mistakes that can happen and, in these situations, these possibilities can lead to
 information and data in these financial statements to be incorrect, irrelevant, and obsolete.
Leading to possible critical losses.

Project Involved With: Pick-which Sandwich

- Small customizable sandwich business where customers can create their own sandwich for our
Senior High business simulation class.

Attributes:

- Objective: As a school requirement, of course our main objective at first was to perform well
enough to get a high grade for class, but as we planned for the business more and more, we
started having fun and also thinking that our business was a very ambitious one that involves a
lot of capital so our objective had turned into earning as much revenue as possible in order to
get back as much as what we have spent or were planning to spend in order for the business to
run well.

- Set of Interdependent Activities: There were many tasks that need to be done for the
formulation of our business. First and foremost, we had to formulate a business plan and be
given approval from our teacher who was an expert in the field of business formulation and
management. Then in order to make a substantial business plan, we had to research and
actively go around the city to check the prices and potential ingredients needed. We had to
research regarding other businesses who have a similar business execution as us and determine
what they were doing that made their business afloat. We also had to conduct surveys around
the school for what majority of our customer base would want in a sandwich as our business
was only limited to inside the school premises. We had to create the menus and business
conduct we would have to practice. There also was the fact that although our whole ABM class
were grouped for making the different businesses, it would be presented as some sort of “Sugbo
Mercado” in the middle of an empty area in the school with lots of traffic with no roofing so as a
class, we also had to look for people who owned, and we can rent out a tent big enough to
house 6 stalls and where we can get enough tables and chairs to borrow for the week we would
be selling. Then we had to think of the presentation or design for our stall and assigning and
training ourselves for when we begin operating. During the operation of our business, we also
had to ensure that we maintained a great level of sanitation and speed and offered our best
services and attitude. Then at the end of the day, we had to ensure that our stalls and general
assigned area were clean and had accounted for all the sales we had made in the day.

- Resources: To make all these possible, our most important resource was my classmates and me.
This was the output they decided for us but in the end, my old school had decided to give us
free reign, or in the eyes of us students, left everything to us to decide and procure. As for my
group, of course we had to gather all the equipment, ingredients, and advertising ourselves. We
decided to bring in our own cooking utensils and assigned each of ourselves which ingredients
to bring. Thankfully I had a very competent group, with people familiar in conducting businesses
 as they have family businesses themselves, having lots of connections, and had the necessary
cooking skills for our business.

- Specific Time Frame: We were set to open on April 8, 2019, and run for one week, ending on
April 12. Due to that time frame, we limited the number of sales we could do for each day and
the amount of ingredients we’d display so that our supplies can last for the whole week. We had
already budgeted our money to be able to last for the week with some left over for any needed
spending. Just in case there’s any ingredient that’s really sought after so we need to buy more of
it.

- Unique: You could say that the business was quite unique as it was the only business among the
businesses in the class that offered customers a chance to be creative and customized what they
ordered, and the only limit is their allowance.

- Sponsor or Customer: The sponsor of this project was my groupmates and I or rather, our
parent’s allowances for us. There were 6 of us in the group. This whole project could not have
been made possible if not for us as we funded and provided all the resources we needed for the
business to run. We bought all the ingredients, packaging materials, designs for our stall, tables,
cooking utensils, and acting fees for our business commercial with our own wallets. Which we
budgeted and had amounted to almost Php 15,000. Thankfully, our parents were understanding
of the fact that this was a school project that was very much related to our course, otherwise
the school would already have been in hot water for making students spend this much.

- Degree of Uncertainty: Along with our business plan, we already anticipated a certain degree of
uncertainty considering we were only students, relying on our parents ‘ given allowance and our
own capabilities as well. We had quite an ambitious business that involved a lot of factors such
as perishables, storage, availability, and capital. As we were performing our businesses, we still
had to attend our regular classes from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM and had to request for the teachers
of the classes we had before break time if we could be excused in order to prepare for selling
time. Fortunately, they were very understanding of our situation. Also, although we had a
budget down for the expenditure of the ingredients and had already accounted for and
calculated the necessary prices for the sandwiches and ingredients, we were still skeptical as the
time frame from submitting and finishing the business proposal and the actual execution was
quite long time, about 2-3 months and a lot of things could happen within those few months like
price changes, personal problems resulting into a lack of money due to having to pay back any
outstanding dues, and overall any problems that could interfere in the financial capabilities of us
students.

Constraints

- Scope: As mentioned before, there were a lot of things that needed to be done to properly be
able to conduct the business and sell sandwiches with the level and quality that we would’ve
liked to give to our customers, that being of high quality. We needed to have research on what
people usually included in their sandwiches and in a survey, made our target customers
 determine which ingredients they are more likely to want in their sandwiches, in order to
narrow down the ingredients to be prepared. We also had to hop to different grocery stores to
get the most bang for our buck. We conducted a food experiment, trying out different
combinations of sandwiches to offer a pre-made option sandwich for customers who might be
more on the indecisive side.

- Quality: As a food business, high quality was what we made sure the level of quality our
sandwiches and ingredients would be in, meaning there were no messy sauces, everything was
neatly tiered on top of each other and wrapped in tissue and our personally designed packaging
with no stray dirt, hair, or oil was present. We also planned out that as one of our SOP’s, we
would practice CLAYGO in order to have a workable and highly sanitized area to make our
sandwiches so that our customers would be assured that their food was only handled in the best
care and kept in the best places. Before and after operations, we always checked our cooking
utensils and equipment to be clean and present. We checked ourselves to be always wearing
clean gloves, wearing clean aprons, and wearing hairnets to be at our most presentable.

- Schedule: As to our schedule, we arrive early in the morning, at around 6 AM, to set up the
equipment and make sure our food is being properly stored and that no damages or lost of
items incurred as we left on the day before. Then we attend class as usual. At around 9 AM, we
excuse ourselves 30 minutes before recess to put on our business uniforms and go to our stalls
and get the ingredients prepped and the tools ready. We then do business as usual during the
30-minute recess and when recess is almost over, we close our stall and clean up the area and
go back to our classrooms for classes. With special permission, we ask our teacher before lunch
to let us eat 30 minutes before lunch started so at 11:30 AM, we ate our lunch and got dressed
then proceeded to head to our stall to ready ourselves for lunch time. We do business as usual
during lunch time and by the end of lunch time we close down the stall and get ourselves
cleaned up and start cleaning up the stalls and the area. Due to this business simulation, we
were given a special pardon from class in the afternoon to just clean our stalls and get
everything ready for the next day.

- Budget: Based on our calculations and research, our budget of Php 15,000 was enough to cover
our expenses for the ingredients, tent rentals, acting fees for our commercial, packaging,
advertising gimmicks, and other consumables. All proceeds from the business would in turn
become my groupmate and I’s salaries. From our estimates, the ingredients alone that would
cover for one week amounted to around Php 8,000. The tent rental used by the class asked for
Php 3,000 from each group so each member had to pay Php 500 each. We paid the four actors
we hired for our commercial Php 500 each that totaled to Php 2,000 for the acting fees and the
remaining Php 2,000 was used for the personalized packaging and stickers placed on our
packaging, tissues, and printing out order forms and personalized receipts for the business.

- Risks: There were many risks that posed as an obstacle in the conducting of our business
project. There were possibilities that the prices of ingredients are not the same as when we had
initially calculated the ingredients to be, even if we had already adjusted our prices to possible
 changes. Which could result in our group being short on cash. There was also the weather. Since
our stalls were located in an open area with no other roofing other than a tent, it didn’t assure
the safety of our equipment should any possible rainstorm were to occur on the week we would
be conducting business. Fortunately, by the time came we had to conduct the business, the
prices did change but they were within our estimations and as a precaution, we decided to bring
in any equipment that has the possibility of being damaged by the weather by the end of the
day to the classroom for safety.

- Customer Satisfaction: Every time we had a customer, we would offer them a paper that was
our survey on our services and food and we would regularly chat with customers as they were
waiting for their orders and personally ask how they felt and what they would’ve wanted for our
business. We also regularly chat about mundane things as we work on their sandwiches. Based
on what I can remember, sales would gradually increase as the days went by so I think it was
safe to say, many customers felt satisfied with our business.

- Stakeholders: Our stakeholders also involved our teachers and our customers wherein we
offered them our, in a sense, soft opening to them where they were our first customers and a
few chosen “popular” students. Offering the best we had to offer in order for them to
recommend more potential customers to buy from us such as other teachers, staff, and
personnel of the school and different students of different grades to expand our customer base.

Dream Project: Owning an Apartment Complex

It had always been a dream of mine, ever since I’ve learned the different ways of earning passive
income, to own an apartment complex. The thought of being able to earn while not actually
doing any back-breaking work really intrigued me, especially for long term. As to why an
apartment complex, one of my main goals in life is to own a house or my own dwelling place. So
why not cover both bases. So as of now, I am researching for possible locations and possible
floor plans and other utilities needed for a usual apartment complex. Once I graduate and get
my own job, I plan to reserve an account specifically for the saving and investing for my dream
apartment complex. I’m still not sure what amount would be the goal but I’m assuming the
safest goal is to save up to Php 50,000,000. As this is the average price of a house and lot when I
was researching. I also plan to invest in stocks in the near future in order to up my chances of
making my dream project of owning an apartment complex a reality.