ACCA

Relevant to ACCA Qualification Papers P3 and P5 Critical success factors Critical success factors (CSFs) are often quoted in management literature as those areas in which an organisation needs to perform best if it is to achieve overall success. CSFs have frequently been used to help determine the requirements for executive information systems (EIS), supporting the ‘key indicator’ approach to […]

This article explains and illustrates key performance indicators and critical success factors. Introduction Objectives Critical success factors Performance indicators and key performance indicators Performance measures – a practical framework Use of performance indicators in the SBL and APM syllabi Introduction Both Strategic Business Leader (SBL) and Advanced Performance Management (APM) require candidates to be able to establish key performance indicators

This article focuses on complex business structures, where a core enterprise needs to manage the performance not only of its own activities, but also those of its partners to some extent. Businesses increasingly rely on relationships with external partners to perform critical business processes. Relationships such as outsourcing and collaboration allow business processes to be performed better or more cost

This article considers Toyota’s lean principles that have led to a new approach to management in many industries, with a focus on satisfying the needs of the customer, and not wasting time and money on activities that do not ultimately add value to the customer. History of Lean The term lean was first used by Womack, Jones and Roos to

The design of performance reports is regularly examined in the Advanced Performance Management (APM) exam. This article aims to provide guidance on how to tackle this type of question. Examples of recent exam questions: December 2018, Q1(a): Evaluate the performance reporting system as requested.  (13 marks) March/June 2018, Q1(i): Evaluate the performance report in Appendix 1 as requested.  (20 marks) September/December 2017

Integrated reporting is included in the syllabus of many Strategic Professional exams. This article aims to show how the idea of integrated reporting is relevant to the APM syllabus. Integrated reporting (IR) has been developed and promoted by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accounting profession and non-governmental organisations. IR

This article considers the following learning outcome of the Advanced Performance Management syllabus: ‘Advise on the common mistakes and misconceptions in the use of numerical data used for performance measurement’. The APM syllabus contains the learning outcome: ‘Advise on the common mistakes and misconceptions in the use of numerical data used for performance measurement’. The mistakes and misconceptions can be

This article describes performance metrics that are used by internet-based businesses and, in particular, looks at some of the metrics available in Google Analytics, the most widely used analytics tools for website traffic. We are living through the digital revolution where the traditional business landscape is being pushed aside by internet based companies. Large well established retail businesses are going

Big Data refers to the large collections of data that may be analysed to reveal patterns, trends and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions. This article will describe some real life examples of the use of Big Data for performance management and measurement purposes. Performance management involves managing the organisation in order to ensure that it meets its

Big data is now part of the Advanced Performance Management syllabus. But what exactly is big data? Discuss the development of big data and its impact on performance measurement and management, including the risks and challenges it presents. Development of big data There are many definitions of the term ‘big data’ but most suggest something like the following: ‘Extremely large