LSBF notes ACCA F1

149 Pages·2012·0.43 MB·English

by  Laz Mahmud

ACCA Paper F1

Accountant in
Business

Class Notes

June 2011

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© The Accountancy College Ltd, January 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of The Accountancy College Limited.

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Contents

PAGE

INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPER
5

CHAPTER 1:
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
7

CHAPTER 2:
DIVERSITY
15

CHAPTER 3:
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
19

CHAPTER 4:
PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
25

CHAPTER 5:
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
37

CHAPTER 6:
LEADING PEOPLE
41

CHAPTER 7:
INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS
57

CHAPTER 8:
MOTIVATING PEOPLE
63

CHAPTER 9:
THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTING
71

CHAPTER 10:
THE MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
91

CHAPTER 11:
THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
97

CHAPTER 12:
BUSINESS ORGANISATION
105

CHAPTER 13:
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
115

CHAPTER 14:
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
121

CHAPTER 15:
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
125

CHAPTER 16:
IT AND SYSTEMS
131

CHAPTER 17:
CONTROL AND SECURITY
137

CHAPTER 18:
FRAUD
145

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Introduction to the
paper

INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPER

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AIM OF THE PAPER

The aim of the paper is to introduce knowledge and understanding of the business
and its environment and the influence this has on how organisations are structured
and on the role of the accounting and other key business functions in contributing
to the efficient, effective and ethical management and development of an
organisation and its people and systems.

OUTLINE OF THE SYLLABUS

1.
Business organisation structure, governance and management

2.
Key environmental influences and constraints on business and accounting

3.
History and role of accounting in business

4.
Specific functions of accounting and internal financial control

5.
Leading and managing individuals and teams

6.
Recruiting and developing effective employees.

FORMAT OF THE EXAM PAPER

The syllabus is assessed by a two hour computer-based examination.

The examination consists of a mixture of 2 mark and 1 mark questions.

FAQS

How do I get the most from my course?

●
Try and be seated and pick up your handout by the start of the lecture. This
will ensure we have the maximum lecture time. Your course notes will be in
divided into chapters, please make sure you bring the relevant chapters with
you to class.

●
Manage your time effectively. If you have a busy work schedule use your
study planner to catch up. Do not allow yourself to fall behind.

●
If you have any difficulties or questions please do not hesitate to contact me
either before the lecture or during the break as most students are in a
desperate hurry to leave at the end of the lecture. Alternatively, you can
always email me or phone me through our helpline.

●
In the event of an emergency you can come for the same lecture on a
corresponding part-time course as all the courses run parallel to each other.
It is crucially important that you attend the full course of lectures.

●
Try to read the business section of a decent newspaper at least once a week
to get an idea of what is going on in the business world.

●
Practice as many questions as you can. You should aim to have attempted
every question in the revision kit at least twice before the exam.

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Chapter 1

Recruitment and
selection

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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CHAPTER CONTENTS

THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS ------------------------- 9

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
9

STAGES IN THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS
9

DETAILED RECRUITMENT STAGES
10

DETAILED SELECTION STAGES
10

POSSIBLE METHODS OF RECRUITMENT ------------------------------- 11

JOB ADVERTISEMENTS
11

RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
11

POSSIBLE METHODS OF SELECTION ----------------------------------- 12

INTERVIEWS
12

ASSESSMENT CENTRES
13

REFERENCES
13

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS

No organisation will be successful without the correct staff.

Choosing incorrect staff can result in:

●
Poor quality work

●
Poor morale

●
High staff turnover

●
Wasted time and money in recruiting more staff.

There are a number of ways to obtain the correct staff:

●
Promote from inside the organisation

●
Recruit from outside the organisation.

The difference between recruitment and selection

Recruitment is the process of establishing that vacancies exist and communicating
these vacancies to an appropriate pool of candidates. (Recruit or promote?)

Selection is the process of filtering candidates in order to select the individual best
suited to a particular vacancy.

Stages in the recruitment and selection process

The first consideration is the type of job to be offered.

●
If the job already exists then it will be important to start with a job analysis

●
If the job requires getting specific tasks done then again a job analysis would
be a sensible place to start

●
If the role of the job is likely to change then a person specification may be
more appropriate

●
A job analysis will mean looking for someone with particular skills and
experience

●
A person specification will mean looking for someone with a particular
personality.

Rodgers’ 7 point person specification

Rodgers gives a list of 7 qualities that might be important:

●
Physical make-up

●
Attainments

●
General intelligence

●
Special aptitudes

●
Interests

●
Disposition

●
Circumstances.

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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Detailed recruitment stages

●
Gap analysis (if the job does not already exist)

●
Identify vacancies

●
Make decision to recruit

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Job analysis (if the job is new)

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Advertise.

Detailed selection stages

●
CVs reviewed

●
Interviews / Assessment centres carried out

●
Selection of candidate

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Offer letter to candidate

●
Induction.

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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POSSIBLE METHODS OF RECRUITMENT

The main two methods of recruitment are either:

●
The organisation doing its own recruitment by placing job adverts

●
The organisation using a recruitment agent to carry out the recruitment.

Job advertisements

Jobs should be advertised in an appropriate way. Possible places include:

●
Internet

●
Specialist journals

●
Local press

●
National press.

Job advertisements normally contain the following:

●
Job description

●
Brief overview of the organisation

●
Salary

●
Person specification

●
Contact information.

A variation on this is where the organisation ‘advertises’ at a recruitment fair (this
is often used for graduate recruitment).

Recruitment agencies

There are two main approaches to using recruitment agencies:

●
Potential candidates go to the agency.

The agency then tries to place them in a job.

●
The organisation goes to the agency with a high level role.

The agency then tries to find a person to fill that role.

This is often referred to as ‘headhunting’.

The advantages of using an agency include:

●
It is less distracting for managers

●
It may be faster

●
Gaining access to all the people on the agency’s books

●
The agency has knowledge of how to recruit staff

●
The agency has knowledge of salaries expected.

Disadvantages of using an agency include:

●
The agency will not know what the organisation is like

●
The agency may recommend people so it can meet its own targets

●
It can be expensive.

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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POSSIBLE METHODS OF SELECTION

The main methods of selecting staff are:

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Application forms / CVs

●
Interviews

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Aptitude tests

●
Assessment centres.

Whichever method is chosen it is normal to ask the candidate to supply references.

Interviews

Interviews are still used as part of the main selection process in most jobs. The
reasons for this include:

●
They are flexible enough to allow for different approaches

●
They allow the interviewer to ask questions

●
They allow the interviewer to assess interpersonal skills.

There are a number of difficulties with interviews

●
They are artificial

●
They require the interviewer to be skilled and well-prepared

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They can lead to the halo effect and cloning

●
They are time consuming.

Types of Interviews:

●
Individual

●
Panel

●
Selection Boards.

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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Assessment centres

An assessment centre is NOT a place. An assessment centre is where a variety of
selection methods are used to select candidates.

These methods include:

●
Interviews

●
Group exercises

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Role playing

●
Practical tests.

The advantages of using assessment centres instead of just interviews include:

●
They can be used to see how candidates deal with others

●
The candidates can be observed over a longer period of time

●
The candidates can be given practical tasks that reflect the job.

The disadvantages of using assessment centres include:

●
Candidates will do well in some areas and not others

●
It is possible to coach candidates to perform well at practical tests

●
May be expensive.

References

There are a number of problems with using references as part of the section
process. These include:

●
They may be unsuitable

●
They may be biased

●
They may be too brief.

CHAPTER 1 – RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

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Chapter 2

Diversity