ACCA F8科目学习方法

正确答案：
(ii) Advantages and disadvantages of being non-executive rather than executive
The UK Combined Code, for example, allows for risk committees to be made up of either executive or non-executive
members.
Advantages of non-executive membership
Separation and detachment from the content being discussed is more likely to bring independent scrutiny.
Sensitive issues relating to one or more areas of executive oversight can be aired without vested interests being present.
Non-executive directors often bring specific expertise that will be more relevant to a risk problem than more
operationally-minded executive directors will have.
Chen’s four members, being from different backgrounds, are likely to bring a range of perspectives and suggested
strategies which may enrich the options open to the committee when considering specific risks.
Disadvantages of non-executive membership (advantages of executive membership)
Direct input and relevant information would be available from executives working directly with the products, systems
and procedures being discussed if they were on the committee. Non-executives are less likely to have specialist
knowledge of products, systems and procedures being discussed and will therefore be less likely to be able to comment
intelligently during meetings.
The membership, of four people, none of whom ‘had direct experience of Chen’s industry or products’ could produce
decisions taken without relevant information that an executive member could provide.
Non-executive directors will need to report their findings to the executive board. This reporting stage slows down the
process, thus requiring more time before actions can be implemented, and introducing the possibility of some
misunderstanding.

正确答案：
(d) Job rotation is an important training method and is often also seen as a means of motivation. It involves moving the trainee from one job to another and is therefore more suitable for lower level employees. The trainee is required to do different jobs in logical succession, thus broadening experience and gaining a picture of the organisation’s wider activities.

正确答案：

(b) Effective project management could have improved the conduct of the website re-design project in the following ways:
Detailed planning
During the delivery of the project the lack of a formal detailed plan means that there is no baseline for review and control.
The absence of monitoring progress against that plan is also very evident. The meetings are events where, although progress
appears to have been made, it is unclear how much progress has been made towards the delivery of the final re-designed
website. Effective project management would have mandated the production of a detailed plan. There is no mention of a
project plan, a critical path analysis, a Gantt chart or supporting project management software.
Effective monitoring and control
The board were not kept up to date about progress and were only alerted to potential issue when the finance director became
concerned about spiralling costs. This is a failure of monitoring and control, aggravated by the fact that there is no project
plan to monitor against. Effective project management would have required formal progress to the sponsor (in this case the
board). Such monitoring should lead to project control, where suggested actions are considered and implemented to deal with
project slippage. The planning, monitoring and controlling aspects of project management are completely absent from the
scenario and so none of the usual project management monitoring and reporting structures were in place to alert the board.
Mandating of substitutes
Initial progress is hampered by the absence of key personnel at meetings 3 and 4 and the inappropriate sign-off by the RP
(already discussed above) of the technical design. The requirement for the TD to produce a technical report also slows
progress. These problems could have been addressed by ensuring that substitutes were available for these meetings who
understood their role and the scope of their authority. Effective project management would have ensured that progress would
not have been delayed by the absence of key personnel from the progress meetings.
Standards for cost-benefit analysis
The cost-benefit analysis provided by the MM is flawed in two ways. Firstly, the assumptions underpinning the benefits are
not explained. There is no supporting documentation and it appears, at face value, that year four and five benefits have been
greatly inflated to justify the project. Secondly, it would be usual to discount future costs and benefits using an agreed discount
rate. This has not been done, so the time value of money has not been taken into account. Effective project management
would have defined standards for the cost-benefit analysis based on accepted practice.
Estimating, risks and quality
The reaction of the board to the cost-benefit analysis also appears unrealistic. They appear to have suggested a budget and
a timescale which does not take into account the complexity of the remaining work or the resources available to undertake
it. The estimating part of the project management framework appears to be lacking. It is clear at the final meeting that the
website will not be ready for launch. However, the MM decides to take the risk and achieve the imposed deadline and take
a chance on the quality of the software. This decision is made against the advice of his TD and without any information about
the quality of the software. Effective project management would have mandated a framework for considering the balance
between risk and quality.

The MM does not inform. the board of the TD’s advice. The MM, like many project managers (because the MM now appears
to have adopted this role) finds it politically more acceptable to deliver a poor quality product on time than a better quality
product late. Unfortunately the product quality is so poor that the decision proves to be the wrong one and the removal of the
software (and the resignation of the MM) ends the project scenario.