Exercise 4

Question 1

You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this task.

A study was carried out to compare the market shares of four hypermarkets from 2008 to 2014
in Malaysia. Write a report using only the information provided. In your answer, you are to link
the information presented in the visuals. You should write 150 to 200 words.

[40 marks]

Figure 1: Market Shares of Four Hypermarkets in Malaysia (2008 – 2014)

45%
40%
35% Prosper
Market Share (%)

30% Mighty
25% Premium
20%
Super
15%
10%
5%
0%
2008 2010 2012 2014
Year

Year
2008 2010 2012 2014
Hypermarket
Prosper 31% 30% 31% 40%
Mighty 28% 31% 31% 28%
Premium 25% 23% 21% 17%
Super 16% 16% 17% 15%

Table 1: Profile of Four Hypermarkets in Malaysia (2008 and 2014)

Hypermarket Prosper Mighty Premium Super
Profile 2008 2014 2008 2014 2008 2014 2008 2014
Number of stores 35 75 32 33 10 9 6 5
Number of workers 1000 2000 1000 1000 250 220 150 140

(MUET November 2016, Question 1)

SUGGESTED ANSWERS
(Note: Other suitable answers may be accepted)

T - Title

Title: Market Share of Four Hypermarkets in Malaysia (2008-2014) and their Profiles (2008
and 2014)

I - Introduction

Introductory sentence:
Figure 1 displays the market shares of four hypermarkets in Malaysia (2008-2014) while Table
1 shows their profiles (2008 and 2014).

O - Overview

Overview:
• Overall, the market share of four hypermarkets in Malaysia for the years 2008 and 2014 is
influenced by their profiles in the two years.
• It can be seen that the profiles of the four hypermarkets in Malaysia had an effect on their
percentage of market shares in 2008 and 2014.
• Generally, there is a correlation between the percentage of market shares of the four
hypermarkets in Malaysia and their profiles in 2008 and 2014.
• In general, the percentage of market shares of the four hypermarkets in Malaysia
corresponded to their number of stores and workers in 2008 and 2014.

P - Point (Analysis)

Analysis:
• The percentage of market share of Prosper Hypermarket decreased slightly from 31% in
2008 to 30% in 2010 and it bounced back to 31% in 2012 before rising to its highest at
40% in 2014. [4 Analyses]
• Market share of Mighty Hypermarket increased from 28% in 2008 to 31% in 2010 whereby it
remained unchanged at 31% in 2012 before dropping to the same amount as in 2008 at
28%. [4 Analyses]
• Premium Hypermarket was the only hypermarket that had a downward trend in the
percentage of market share from 25% in 2008 to 17% in 2014. [2 Analyses]
• In 2008 and 2010, the percentage of Super’s market share was the same at 16%, but in
WRITING

2012, it rose marginally to 17%, and in 2014, it dipped to 15% which was the lowest
percentage among all the hypermarkets. [4 Analyses]
P - Point (Synthesis)

1. Complete and accurate synthesis (S) 

a. The percentage of market share of Prosper Hypermarket rose from 31% in 2008
to its highest at 40% in 2014 probably because the number of stores and
workers increased from 35 to 75 stores and from 1000 to 2000 workers
respectively in the two years. (4 Analyses and 2 Syntheses in one sentence)

Key Feature (Subject Reference) - Percentage of market share of Prosper

Hypermarket
- number of stores of Prosper Hypermarket
- number of workers of Proper Hypermarket
‘Trend’ Word - rose
- highest
- increased (in the number of stores)
- increased (in the number of workers)
Data - 31% to 40% (the rise)
- 40% (the highest percentage of market share)
- 35 to 75 (the increase in the number of stores)
- 1000 to 2000 (the increase in the number of
workers)
Time Frame - 2008 and 2014
Linker (Synthesis) - probably because
2 Syntheses:
(1) Link between the rise in percentage of
market share of Prosper Hypermarket and
the increase in the number of stores
(2) Link between the rise in percentage of
market share of Prosper Hypermarket and
the increase in the number of workers
b. Although Mighty Hypermarket had more stores in 2014 (33) than in 2008 (32),
its percentage of market share was the same at 28% in the two years. (2 Analyses
and 1 Synthesis in one sentence)

Key Feature (Subject Reference) - Mighty Hypermarket’s number of stores

- percentage of market share of Mighty
Hypermarket
‘Trend’ Word - more (in the number of stores)
- same (percentage of market share of Mighty
Hypermarket)
Data - 32 and 33
- 28% percentage of market share)
Time Frame - 2008 and 2014
Linker (Synthesis) - Although
1 Synthesis:
‘Link’ (unexpected outcome – more number of
stores but same percentage of market share)

c. As Super’s number of stores and workers were the least among the four
hypermarkets in 2014 (5 stores and 140 workers), its market share was the
lowest at 15% in 2014. (3 Analyses and 2 Syntheses in one sentence)

Key Feature (Subject Reference) - Super’s number of stores

- Super’s number of workers
- Super’s market share
‘Trend’ Word - least (number of stores in 2014)
- least (number of workers in 2014)
- lowest (market share in 2014)
Data - 5 stores
- 140 workers
- 15%
Time Frame - 2014
Linker (Synthesis) - As
Exercise 4 (MUET November 2016)

Suggested Answer:

Market Share of Four Hypermarkets in Malaysia (2008-2014)

and Their Profiles (2008 & 2014)

Figure 1 depicts the four hypermarkets’ market share in Malaysia (2008-2014) while
Table 1 shows their profiles in 2008 and 2014. Generally, the four hypermarkets’ profiles
influenced their market share in 2008 and 2014.

In 2008, Prosper Hypermarket had the largest market share at 31% possibly because it
had the highest number of stores (35). However, its market share dropped to the second
highest at 30% in 2010 and Mighty Hypermarket had the biggest share when its share rose
from 28% in 2008 to 31% in 2010. In 2012, both hypermarkets had the same percentage of
market share (the highest at 31%). Two years later, Prosper had the biggest share of 40%
probably because it had the most number of stores (75) and workers (2000).

As for Premium Hypermarket, its market share decreased from 25% in 2008 to 17% in
2014 when its number of workers dropped from 250 in 2008 to 220 in 2014. Market share of
Super Hypermarket was the lowest in 2008 (16%) and 2014 (15%) most likely because it had
the least number of stores (6 and 5) and workers (150 and 140) respectively.

In conclusion, the hypermarkets’ market share corresponded to their profiles in 2008

and 2014.

(200 words)