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ACCA F1 Organisations

VIVA
View all ACCA Paper F1 lectures >>This F1 lecture is based on OpenTuition slides view/download here>>

An organisation can be defined as:

“A social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which is a boundary separating it from its environment.”

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This is, perhaps, a deceptively simple definition. Probably the most important word is ‘social’. Organisations consist of people and we are all social animals. We have to get on with our colleagues; ideally we would like our boss, or at least respect our boss. We have to get on with customers; we have our own ambitions; we have our own motivations.

Early management theory tended to neglect the social side of organisations and management and had a rather cold, militaristic approach. Modern theories have changed this considerably.

Another important aspect of the definition is that of ‘collective goal’s. There has to be an assumption that people within an organisation are ultimately aiming at the same end results, if they are not, then chaos is likely to rule. One of the functions of management is to arrange the business and the people in it so that everyone is pulling in the same direction, and the collective goals are ultimately established.

Types of organisations

You need to be aware of the characteristics of several types of organisation.
Commercial organisations are profit-seeking. They can be sole traders, partnerships,
limited liability partnerships and limited companies. The main advantage of limited
liability partnerships and limited companies is that if the organisation hits hard times
and has to go to liquidation, the owners of the organisation are protected. Creditors
and banks can pursue only the assets which are in the company. Sole traders and
partners, on the other hand, have unlimited liability for all the business’s debts.

The second type of organisation is a not-for-profit organisation. An example of a notfor-
profit organisation could be a charity, such as a charitable hospital. Instead of
producing a profit and loss account, they tend to produce income and expenditure
accounts. Ultimately their income has to exceed their expenditure or they will run out
of money.

Public sector organisations are owned by the state either at a national level or at a
local level. Examples could be the defence department, many health services and
educational systems. In some economies other industries or businesses are also
owned by the state. For example, many national airlines are state-owned.

Non-governmental organisations tend to be not-for-profit organisations but with an
international brief. Many United Nations organisations will fall into this category.

Co-operatives are owned by the people who work in the organisation. Some farmers,
for example, set up co-operatives to market their products more effectively than they
could on their own. Usually they seek some sort of profit, but the ownership is shared
widely amongst the people who are working in the organisation.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. toanchu says

    August 20, 2012 at 1:13 pm

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  2. Pobi says

    August 13, 2012 at 9:14 am

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  3. havang0304 says

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    August 9, 2012 at 9:34 am

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  8. kizikyon says

    July 18, 2012 at 2:09 pm

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  9. akhh says

    July 6, 2012 at 11:56 am

    are those lectures sufficient to obtain at least 60% in f1?

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  10. lakshi says

    July 6, 2012 at 9:29 am

    thanks

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  11. malkyrox says

    June 11, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Thanks!
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  12. elbek says

    June 8, 2012 at 2:32 pm

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  13. eloacca says

    June 8, 2012 at 12:29 pm

    cud i read dis for the december diet??

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    • admin says

      June 8, 2012 at 12:30 pm

      Yes, of course they are valid for December 2012

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  14. eloacca says

    June 8, 2012 at 12:27 pm

    thanks admin very helpful

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  15. osman sesay says

    May 26, 2012 at 12:32 am

    I am about attempting F1 – F3 by December 2012. I now have full confidence I’ll make it despite having absent from the academia for 20 years due to circumstances beyond my control. They materials are very helpful.

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  16. vickyleo says

    May 24, 2012 at 7:19 pm

    anyone can help me please. i cant see any of these videos, i dunno why..!!!

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    • hasanih says

      May 31, 2012 at 10:54 am

      @vickyleo, i had the same problem when i used windows explorer until i switched to firefox. it could be the browser that you are using

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  17. Mehmood says

    April 29, 2012 at 3:51 pm

    Will anybody elaborate Matrix Organization a little bit.

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  18. efmbond says

    April 25, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Thanks

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  19. efmbond says

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  20. prishan says

    April 2, 2012 at 3:15 pm

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