AAT Mock Assessments Flashcards
Span of control
refers to number of subordinates that each manager has under there control
Scalar chain
refers to the chain of command from top of the organisation to bottom
Features of tall organisation
More managers with narrow span of control
expensive to run
decisions can take a long time to reach the bottom of the organisation
Good opportunities for promotion
Features of a flat organisation
Relatively few managers with a wide a span of control
Quicker decision
More susceptible to fraud
Advantages of wide span of control
Fewer layers of management, message reaches employees faster
Costs less money to run as don’t need to employ as many managers
Managers tend to delegate more
Advantages of narrow span of control
Managers can communicate quickly with the employees under them as there are fewer subordinates
Controlling staff is easier
Feedback of ideas from workers will be more effective as small groups encourage participation
Less management skills required
Systemic Weakness
lack of controls - no controls
poor implementation of controls - controls don’t work
lack of monitoring - controls work no one checking
lack of leadership - management override
Reducing risk
risk matrix
simple grading - low,medium,high
numerical grading - 1-10
ensuring compliance
certain procedures that need to be in place to meet legal and regulatory requirements
four types of data
descriptive - what has happened
diagnostic - why?
predictive - what will happen?
prescriptive - what will we do about it?
Risks to data
Cyber attacks - hacking into a system
phising - pretending to be someone else
malware - malicious software, such as viruses, ransomware and spyware
Denial of service attacks - system unavailable to the intended users by disrupting the service
unauthorised access
physical loss
data issued in error
fraud triangle
Opportunity
rationalization
motive / pressure
Managing change
Testing - demo version should be made available to as many people as possible
Piloting - new system replaces old one on small scale, for example in one branch of the company
Direct changeover - old system switched ‘off’, advantages is the time/costs saved
Dual/parallel running - old and new system run simultaneously
phased implementation - system consists of a number of distinct modules which may be phased in one by one
triple bottom line
financial (profit)
Social (people)
Environmental (planet)
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
is the extent to which a company makes a positive, beneficial impact on community and environment in which it operates in
advocacy
speak up on behalf of someone else and seen to be promoting them
PESTLE
Political - changes in government policy, taxation, government grants, imports and exports, public spending
Economic - Interest rates, exchange rates, disposable income, business cycle-boom or recession
Social - Demographics, health-consciousness to population, changing fashion trends, unemployment
Technological - changes in technology, new products, speed of obsolescence
Legal - Employment law, health and safety law, competition law, data protection law
Environmental - climate change, natural disasters, sustainability and CSR
organisational culture
Power - small group or one central figure
role - highly defined structure, control is made by procedures
Task - teams are formed to solve tasks
Person - all individuals believe themselves superior to the organisation
application controls v general controls
Application - manual or automated procedures that relate to processing of transactions, specific to each application
General - relating to the overall system and covers application
Monitor, review and report (IGNORE NO LONGER RELEVANT)
Monitoring is necessary to check that procedures are being followed,
review is needed to check that procedures are being followed.
Report - issues identified should be reported to the top levels of management
