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However, both would usually be included in a project initiation document…correct?
Thank you
Benefits Management takes place throughout the project. Potential benefits are firstly identified and quantified e.g. financial, observable etc… They are assessed in terms of the overall strategy i.e. why are they being purseued, what will the organization gain from these benefits. A Benefits Realization Network is then considered. This will basically provide you with the necessary change action to obtain the benefits. Here change and benefit owners are given responsibility. Execution begins (i.e. the project work begins) and benefits are reassessed. Some benefits will no longer be achievable and others may not be needed. so they are dropped. Likewise other benefits may be pursued. at the end of the project a post implementation review is undertaken to assess what benefits were realized or missed. Unexpected benefits are also documented here. Benefits management takes place throughout the project not simply at the end. From initial benefit analysis to monitor/control and evaluation. It is an important part of project management as without benefits the project would never be initiated.
I hope that helps.
Hi Techno,
Yes your spot on when you say;
So with Egoism, do you mean that you might decide to act in an ethical way because it makes you feel good about yourself, and therefore an unexpected consequence is that society also benefits, but the real motivation for my choice was that I wanted to make myself feel good about myself?
The idea is that of Adam Smith and the invisible hand. Acting in self interest is generally good for society as society also benefits.
But don’t forget that Egoism also considers society. For example it is ethical for me to produce products. Deep down this benefits me profit wise but the egoistic argument must be that it also benefits society otherwise I wouldn’t do it.
Exam starts at 10.. Writing time at 10:15. 100%. it’s on my docket
Your asked to take a seat at around 9.45 to complete the front page of your exam book with your personnel details
Exam starts at 10.. Writing time at 10:15. 100%. it’s on my docket
Your asked to take a seat at around 9.45 to complete the front page of your exam book with your personnel details
Page 180 in the Kaplan complete text book if you can somehow find access to it
Hi Techno,
Sorry for the late response. The 5 step COSO came from the Kaplan Exam Kit. They stated that when faced with a question that asks you too “assess the Internal Control System” always use the 5 step approach.
The difference between this and your 8 steps is that the 8 steps is about risk management (i.e. whats the risk, is it big, this is our reponse, implement it etc… and the 5 steps is more like an audit of the whole control system. Apologies as I thought you meant COSO and internal control systems rather then management.
They are 2 different techniques for 2 different types of question.
Only if it says list you can write in bullet points. Everything else should be in short paragraphs.
In regards abbreviations you can use them if they are obvious e.g. CEO, NED etc… This is what I am going to do. This is usually how they are referred to in Annual accounts of many companies so I’m pretty sure the examiner wouldn’t penalize us. Abbreviate the company if you need to but write it out in full the first time and put your abbreviation in brackets next to the full version. I’ve noticed however that the Examiner usually does this for us in the question.
A Company uses child labor as it’s cheaper.
The Deontological Approach would say that this is not ethical. Firstly it impedes on the dignity of the child. A child has a right to be in education and he would be if he was not working for the company. Secondly the majority of opinion would be against this sort of action. This is true as many legal constitutions make such an action illegal. Therefore it cannot be deemed to be Consistent. Finally it isn’t universal. The company wouldn’t want this news released in the press as they know most people would not agree and probably form protests etc…
If, however you applied the Teleological approach then you could argue that Child labor is ethical if say it gives the child the money needed to provide food for its family (assuming the parents don’t work etc…)
In respect to your example going 30mph on a 20mph motorway would be ethical, even if it wasn’t legal.
CSR refers to the organisation considering and managing its impact on a variety of stakeholders.In order to do this it must satisfy the 4 components of Carrol (i.e. Economic-satisfying shareholders, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic).
Corporate citizenship is very similar to individual citizenship i.e. both have rights and responsibilities. For example a company has the right to operate and to trade freely within the limits of the law. It has the right to be present in society. The public shouldn’t stop this. In regards responsibilities they have a duty to uphold the norms of society, pay taxes, not block freedom of speech etc…
So if the Equivalent view of Corporate Citizenship is taken then it simply means fulfillment of CSR. However if the extended view is taken then it takes Carrol’s criteria further and says that as a corporate citizen a company must not only act ethically, make donations, act legally but must recognize its responsibilities on a wider level.
I never do it it hasn’t impacted my marks as far as I am aware. I always start a new question on a new page but not different sections of a question
generally using 5% and 10% works in the majority of questions. If the interest rate is say 15% then maybe using 10% and 20% would be more appropriate. It doesn’t really matter which ones you use…as you still come back to the same value more or less. But do try and use a discount rate that will give a positive and then a negative PV.
I hope that helps
If the project ends add working capital back. If it doesn’t end e.g cash flows will continue in perpetuity then don’t add it back.
Part of a CSR report will include elements on the environment. A CSR report is enhanced if the company can say that it is accredited by EMAS. To be accredited by EMAS you need to 1) be in a position to report on your environmental performance and 2) the report is audited by external environmental auditors (part of EMAS). However a pre requisite to being able to include such a luxury in your CSR reports is to have an effective EMS system in place. An EMS system is formulated using ISO 14000. The system will aid in identifying environmental objectives and enabling the company to meet them.
Hi Azzal, thanks for your response. You are correct. I had this clarified at work. The risk manager will identify and assess risks whilst the committee approve the strategy.
License fee on a physical asset can be capitalized. Capitalized items receive tax benefits.
Put the petty cash vouchers on numeric slips. This was you can ensure that all slips are processed. What if a petty cash voucher is very big…another signature maybe by the head of finance?? How do you check that the departmental manager has actually approved? do you have an approval database of signatures, is this updated at least once a month with limits etc…?
I think it depends on who the investor is. If the investor is European then the answer would be correct but if the investor is from the US then your answer is correct. I’m not 100% on this one but I’m pretty sure that’s how it works ; )
Hi Kodwo,
There’s two ways you can look at this
1) “Bank Buys High – sounds like bye bye” “Bank Sells Low sounds like hello” = so if the company wants to buy then the bank will sell and do so at the low rate.
2) or calculate it = lets say company wants $100 so the company will buy and the bank will sell. The bank can sell at $100/€1.3520 and get €73.96 or it can sell at the high rate = $100/€1.3540 and get €73.85. Clearly the bank will want the higher proceeds and will therefore sell at the low rate.
Yeah I don’t know why researchers spend so much time on theories that don’t relate to the real world. M&M came up with this marvelous concept on financial management. They said that shareholder wealth is only affected by the investment decision and not the dividend or financing decision under the condition that capital markets were perfect. As Barbara pointed out above the financial decision to use debt or equity is not important. Likewise the dividend irrelevant theory states that paying a dividend or not does’t effect shareholder wealth assuming that there is full information.
But we don’t live in perfect capital markets; we don’t have freedom of information and we do pay tax. Hence M&M quickly carried out another study this time using tax. But this is still flawed as companies don’t gear up like headless chickens as Insolvency risk and finance pressures quite rightly have a say in this.
and to expand;
1. if it doesn’t have the same business risk then you should use a project specific discount rate using CAPM. Ungearing/regearing etc…
2. I don’t think this is quite right. You can use WACC as a discount rate on large projects assuming the business and financial risk are the same. WACC is still appropriate on smaller projects if the risks are different. I may be incorrect but I’m pretty sure that this was an “or” and not an “and” in the Kaplan text book
3. If the existing capital structure is not maintained then you should consider adjusting the AC by the MCI hope that this helps
I think that this can be expanded on. A Remuneration committee must ensure that it is developing packages for the directors that are in the best interests of its shareholders. So whilst it must be in line with past experience, retention needs, market rates and so on it must also provide an incentive. Performance based pay is a key principle that a remuneration committee must look at. Should they offer long or short term bonuses/shares. Other general principles would include pension and ad hoc benefits such as a company car i.e. is an expensive company car in the best interests of the shareholders.
When reviewing an Internal Control System COSO is generally applied. The format is as follows;
1) Review the internal control environment – discuss with managers, Internal audit department etc… the level of controls needed
2) Ascertain the level and types of risk the company faces e.g. by reading the risk report, discussions with risk management
3) Now that you now know the environment you can assess what is in place. Review the application of the Internal controls i.e. review internal audit reports
4) Review how recommendations and reports are received and acted on. Discussions with the audit committee may be relevant here
5) Review how internal controls are managed e.g. talk with senior/departmental mangers charges with such a responsibilityCOSO provides a way to review the whole system of internal controls