Social impact — practice
Attempt the original activity before opening the worked answers.
Read the handout text
Accounting Ahead | Original study resource | accountingahead.com.au
Interpret before you act
Question 1 - interpret a measure before acting on it
Imagine a community service called Coastline Advice. It helps residents resolve benefit-application problems.
Managers assess two teams mainly using completed cases per staff hour. Both teams use the same definition of
a completed case and keep accurate records. One handles mainly straightforward applications; the other handles
complex applications involving several agencies. The headline measure has no accompanying information about
complexity or lasting resolution.
1A
Identify one potentially misleading conclusion a manager could draw from this measure alone. Explain why.
1B
Identify one possible incentive the measure could create for staff. Explain the behaviour it could encourage.
1C
Suggest two useful additional pieces of information and explain how each would help interpretation.
Pause playback to attempt Question 1. Resume for the explanation, then use the separate worked answers.
Original imagined activity. Concept: Module1 >1.11 Social impact of accounting >pp35-37.
PART 6 | PRACTICE
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