ACCA F1 flashcards – set 1

It is the part of the organisation that has been designed by management and which management knows about: organisation charts, procedures manuals, mission statements, plans, staff appraisals.

A closed system

An open system

A proportional tax takes exactly the same proportion of income tax from all levels of income.

An intranet is an internal internet. Similar to a LAN, but access is through an internet browser.

Strategic, tactical, operational.

People who are temporarily unemployed as they move jobs.

Many management layers and small spans of control.

This information would typically be used by the strategic level of management

A simple organisation with essentially just the boss and the workers.

Training is very specific and is needed for your current role.
Development is much less specific; it’s needed at some time in the future.
Education is knowledge acquired gradually through learning and instruction. It might or might not be work-related.

The business is organised by function: sales, manufacturing, accounting, IT etc. Each function is a separate department with a departmental head.

Motivation, spreading decision-making load and leaving more time ofr top managers to make the important decisions, faster decisions, local decisions, greater expertise of the decision maker, training and assessment.

* Accurate
* Complete
* Cost-beneficial
* Understandable/user-targeted
* Relevant
* Adaptable/authoritative
* Timely,
* Easy to use.

A MIS produces information which is useful for management for making decisions. For example, aged receivables listings and slow-moving inventory reports.

A TPS processes transactions such as sales, wages and salaries. It is essentially just automation of what had been done by armies of accountants.
There is nothing very clever about a TPS, but it removes a lot of repetitive manual calculation and processing, speeds up processing, increases accuracy and saves costs.

A LAN is a local area network using specially installed cables to join computers together and with peripheral devices such as printers.

Theorists: like to understand.
Reflectors: observe and consider.
Activists: hands-on learners.
Pragmatists: motivated to learn if they perceive a practical use.

A DSS helps and supports people making decisions. For example there is no right or wrong way of deciding what next year’s budget should be: it’s a process which depends on judgment and experience. However, a spreadsheet where you set up a budget is going to be extremely useful in helping you reach a conclusion about what next year’s budget should be.

Relatively few management layers each with relatively wide spans of control.

A boundary

These provide information to top management. Typically and EIS has access to external information, will allow ‘drilling down’ to more detail, will be flexible and will make use of graphics, such as bar charts.

The leader, the task, the subordinates and the environment.

An organisation is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance and which has a boundary separating it from its environment.

An extranet is where one organisation’s computer network has access to another organisation’s network.

They have to take reasonable care of themselves and others; They must allow the employer to carry out the duties in relation to safety; They mustn’t interfere intentionally or recklessly with machinery; They must inform the employer of any situation which they think is a danger; They have to use equipment properly, making use of all safety features.

A structure that can, for example, be organised by project and function. Thus a person can report to his/her functional manager and project manager.

Effectiveness depends on the leadership style (psychologically close or distant) and situational favourableness ie the degree to which the situation gives the leader control and influence.

It is the part of the organisation that has not been designed by management and which management might not know about: friendships, likes/dislikes, personal ambitions, alliances, short-cuts, cover-ups.

A WAN is a wide area network making use of telecommunication systems to network individual computers and local area networks over a wide geographical area.

Concern for individuals, concern for the group, concern for the task.

Strategic apex, middle line, technostructure, support, operating core.