ACCA P3 flashcards – set 4

When customers consider more than the price when buying. For example, a strong brand can stimulate sales.

* Observable
* Measurable
* Quantifiable
* Financial

* Small
* Representative
* Stable
* Suitable facilities for promotion and delivery.

The trend (the underlying increase/decrease);
The seasonal variations

As each stage of a project is completed, it is subject to independent review.
The ‘gateway’ is not opened to the next stage unless the last stage has been successfully completed.

Initially a very high price (as some customers will pay that). Then the price is lowered to attract other customers and to sale greater numbers o goods.

How well is the project scope defined?
How large is the project?
How complex is the project?

0.3 x 3000 + 0.7 x 5000 = 4400

Problems:
How are probabilities estimated
The expected value is usually not ‘expected’
Risk is not captured (eg a poor outcome of 3000 is quite possible in the above case)

Suitability
Acceptability
Feasibility

* Post-project review – This is about how well the project was conducted
* Post implementation review – This is about what the project achieved eg costs v benefits

* Quality
* Design
* Brand
* Packaging

Benefits arising from projects are not automatic even in a technically successful project.
Therefore, the project manager should carry out tasks such as: demonstrations and presentations, training, managing and championing change.

Transactions marketing: Focuses on the product and develops marketing mixes for it according to the needs customers satisfy when they buy it.
Relationship marketing: Seeks to attract, maintain and enhance customer relationships by focusing on the whole satisfaction experienced by the customer when dealing with the firm.

* Past performance
* Future potential and career path
* Rewards

A very low initial price to gain a large market share. A very large market share might allow the low price to be sustained and can act as a barrier to entry.

* Job enlargement,
* Job rotation
* Job enrichment.

* Defines the project, its scope and its deliverables.
* Justifies the project: cost/benefit analysis; risk analysis.
* Secures funding for the project.
* Defines the roles and responsibilities of project participants.
* Gives people the information they need to be productive and effective right from the start.
What? Who? How? How much? Why? When?

Establish needs (market research) and develop the appropriate product or service (R&D).

A data warehouse is a vast collection of historic transaction data (eg, sales by a supermarket).
Data mining is searching though that looking for patterns and associations that might be helpful in increasing profits.

The fit must be tested using the coefficient of correlation (r), or the coefficient of determination (r2).
If only a few points are used the results are not reliable
Extrapolation (predicting outside the range) is dangerous
Other known influences (such as inflation) should be removed first.
Even good correlation does no prove cause and effect.

They all attempt to increase motivation. Job enlargement = more of almost exactly the same; a horizontal change
Job rotation = moving round jobs of the same skill level; a horizontal change
Job enrichment = introducing greater interest and challenge to a job to increase; a vertical change.
Only job enrichment is likely to be very successful at increasing motivation.

The critical determines the time it will take to complete a project.
A critical activity lies on the critical path.
If a critical activity takes longer, project completion will be delayed.

A start/end, non-routine
Novel, unique challenges
Team members from different backgrounds so different: priorities, terminology and outlooks
No benefit until finished

* Net present value/payback/ROCE
* Sensitivity analysis and risk analysis
* Forecasting techniques
* Expected values
* Decision trees

* Cost
* Time
* Quality
* Scope

* Leadership abilities, including the ability to motivate
* Technical ability in running projects and in the subject matter
* Ability to negotiate with project sponsors, project team members and suppliers.
* Reporting on progress and difficulties
* The ability to stay calm in a crisis
* Excellent communication
* Ability to delegate to team members.