This set has ten original questions, ordered from easier to harder, covering all five lessons in external business conditions. Questions 1 and 2 use exchange rates, 3 and 4 inflation, 5 and 6 trade exposure, 7 and 8 supplied rules, 9 policy mechanisms, and 10 combines two conditions.
All businesses and rules here are fictional, and all figures are invented. Write each answer on paper in full sentences before opening the worked answer. The mistake log and retest queue helps you keep track of the errors you make.
Questions
1. Dapur Mesin Sdn Bhd imports blenders priced at USD 60. The rate moves from USD 1 = RM4.50 to USD 1 = RM4.30. Find the cost per blender before and after, say whether the ringgit is weaker or stronger, and find the profit per blender at a selling price of RM400.
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Before: 60 × 4.50 = RM270. After: 60 × 4.30 = RM258. The cost falls by RM12, which is 12 ÷ 270 = 4.44%. A dollar buys fewer ringgit, so the ringgit is stronger. Profit per blender rises from 400 − 270 = RM130 to 400 − 258 = RM142.
2. A firm orders 40 machines at EUR 1,500 each when EUR 1 = RM5.00. It pays 60 days later, when EUR 1 = RM5.10. How much more does it pay in ringgit than expected?
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Total in euros: 40 × 1,500 = EUR 60,000. Expected: 60,000 × 5.00 = RM300,000. Actual: 60,000 × 5.10 = RM306,000. The firm pays RM6,000 more. The cash versus profit bridge shows why the date of payment matters for cash.
3. Salon Seri Sdn Bhd has monthly costs of RM6,000 for products (rising 5%), RM10,000 for wages (rising 3%) and RM4,000 for rent (fixed by contract). Find the new total monthly cost and the percentage rise.
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Products: 6,000 × 1.05 = RM6,300. Wages: 10,000 × 1.03 = RM10,300. Rent: RM4,000. New total: 6,300 + 10,300 + 4,000 = RM20,600. Old total: RM20,000. The rise is RM600, which is 600 ÷ 20,000 = 3%.
4. The salon’s monthly revenue is RM24,000. Find the old profit and the new profit after the cost rise in Question 3. Then find the percentage fall in profit. Finally, find the percentage price rise needed to restore the old profit with the same number of customers.
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Old profit: 24,000 − 20,000 = RM4,000. New profit: 24,000 − 20,600 = RM3,400. The fall is 600 ÷ 4,000 = 15%. To restore RM4,000, revenue must rise by RM600, which is 600 ÷ 24,000 = 2.5%. The case does not say whether customers would accept this.
5. Firm P sells RM800,000 a year, half of it priced in US dollars. It imports nothing. Firm Q sells only in ringgit and imports materials costing RM150,000 a year, priced in US dollars. The dollar becomes worth 4% more ringgit. Find the effect on each firm.
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Firm P: foreign revenue is RM400,000, and 400,000 × 0.04 = +RM16,000. Firm Q: 150,000 × 0.04 = −RM6,000 from higher costs, with no change in revenue. P gains and Q loses.
6. Firm R earns RM200,000 a year in US dollars and pays RM200,000 a year for imports in US dollars. The dollar becomes worth 6% fewer ringgit. Find the net effect and explain it.
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Revenue falls by 200,000 × 0.06 = RM12,000. Costs fall by RM12,000. Net effect: RM0. The firm earns and pays in the same currency in equal amounts, so the two effects cancel.
7. In a fictional case, Rule 1 says a shop with yearly sales of RM100,000 or more must charge at least RM0.20 per plastic bag. Rule 2 says a shop giving bags free pays RM500 for each month in which it is caught. Kedai Runcit Hasnah has yearly sales of RM180,000 and gives away 3,000 bags a month. Does Rule 1 apply, and what would the charge bring in a month at 3,000 bags?
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RM180,000 is above RM100,000, so Rule 1 applies. At 3,000 bags, 3,000 × 0.20 = RM600 a month, if customers take the same number of bags.
8. Using the same rules, the shop expects customers to take only 2,000 bags once a charge applies. Find the monthly charge income, and state one thing the rules do not tell the owner.
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2,000 × 0.20 = RM400. The rules do not say who keeps the bag charge, how often shops are checked, or whether the RM500 is repeated for each month caught. Naming any one of these is acceptable.
9. In a fictional case, import duty on bicycles falls from 15% to 5%. A shop buys bicycles at RM800 before duty and sells 200 a month. Find the saving per bicycle and per month, then write one sentence of mechanism and one of endorsement about this change.
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Duty before: 800 × 0.15 = RM120, so cost RM920. After: 800 × 0.05 = RM40, so cost RM840. Saving: RM80 per bicycle, or 80 × 200 = RM16,000 a month. Mechanism: “The lower duty cuts the shop’s cost by RM80 per bicycle, which lifts its profit or lets it lower its price.” Endorsement: “The cut is a good policy.” Only the first earns analysis marks.
10. Kopi Gunung Sdn Bhd imports beans at USD 8 per kg and buys 1,000 kg a month. Monthly revenue is RM80,000. Other costs are RM20,000, rising by 5%, and RM12,000 fixed. The rate moves from USD 1 = RM4.50 to USD 1 = RM4.65. Find the old and new profit.
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Old bean cost: 8 × 4.50 × 1,000 = RM36,000. Old total cost: 36,000 + 20,000 + 12,000 = RM68,000. Old profit: RM12,000. New bean cost: 8 × 4.65 × 1,000 = RM37,200. Other costs: 20,000 × 1.05 = RM21,000. New total: 37,200 + 21,000 + 12,000 = RM70,200. New profit: RM9,800, a fall of 2,200 ÷ 12,000 = 18.3%.
If you got these wrong
| Error you made | What to revise |
|---|---|
| Wrong direction (weaker or stronger), or the wrong currency multiplied (Questions 1, 2, 10) | Trace a change in exchange rate through a fictional importer |
| Applied one rate to every cost, or changed a fixed cost (Questions 3, 4, 10) | Explain an inflation effect on stated costs |
| Counted only revenue or only costs when comparing firms (Questions 5, 6) | Compare trade exposure for two firms |
| Misread a threshold, or added facts that the rules do not give (Questions 7, 8) | Analyse a regulatory scenario using only supplied rules |
| Gave a verdict where a chain of cause and effect was needed (Question 9) | Separate economic mechanism from political endorsement |
For percentages of profit and margins, the ratios tool offers a formula trace you can check your working against.
What next?
If you scored well, move to case analysis and evaluation to practise bringing these ideas into a longer judgement. If one lesson keeps appearing in your errors, reread it and retry a fresh question a few days later.
Our teachers use mixed sets like this in online one-to-one Business tuition to find which step of a case answer slips under pressure.