ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology

Technological factors: formula sheet

Key formulas

PESTEL factors: Political + Economic + Social + Technological + Environmental + Legal; Use it as a checklist of external factors. You must be able to name all six and place an example under the right heading.
Impact structure for technological factors: Technological change → effect on business → opportunity or threat; Always complete all three parts in a scenario answer.
Four areas of impact: Products | Processes | Markets | Competitive advantage; A quick list to check which effect a scenario describes.
E-business vs e-commerce: E-commerce ⊂ E-business; E-commerce is online buying and selling only. E-business covers all internet-enabled business activity, including internal processes.
Benefit-risk answer pattern: Process → Technology → Benefit → Cost or risk; Use this chain to structure any answer on technology in operations.
Suitability for automation: Repetitive + rule-based + high volume = good candidate; Tasks needing judgement, creativity or personal contact are poor candidates.

Technology is an external factor in PESTEL: it creates both opportunities and threats.
Technological change can lower entry barriers and increase competition in an industry.
New technology can create new products and services or make existing ones obsolete.
Technology can improve a product's quality, features and delivery to customers.
Technology can change how a business reaches customers, for example through online channels.
In processes, technology often brings speed, accuracy and lower unit costs, but needs investment.
Automation can reduce routine manual work and change the skills a business needs.
Staff training and change management help people accept new technology.
Risks include cyber attacks, system failure, data loss and the cost of getting technology wrong.
A business can lead, follow or wait on new technology, and each choice has a different risk.
In every answer, link the technology to a clear business effect.
Read the question type first: multiple choice, multiple response or number entry.

Classing a legal or economic change as technological because it mentions technology. Fix: Ask what the change is. A new tool or system is technological. A new rule about its use is legal. A fall in its price may be economic.
Treating technology only as a threat or only as an opportunity. Fix: Judge it for the specific firm. The same development can help an early adopter and harm a slow competitor.
Treating technology only as a benefit Fix: For every effect, ask what the downside is: investment cost, security risk, staff retraining or faster obsolescence.
Confusing a longer life cycle with a shorter one Fix: Remember that quick copying and rapid innovation shorten the time a product stays competitive in the market.
Treating e-commerce and e-business as the same thing. Fix: Remember that e-commerce is only online buying and selling. E-business includes that plus internal and partner processes.
Saying automation always removes errors. Fix: Say automation reduces human error in routine tasks. Wrong inputs or poor rules still produce wrong outputs.
Treating technology only as a threat. Fix: Always check whether the question asks for opportunities too. Cost savings, new markets and better information are benefits.
Confusing cyber security with data protection. Fix: Cyber security is protecting systems from attack. Data protection is lawful handling of personal data. A hack can cause both, but the responses differ.

Name the factor first, then the effect. Marks sit in the link between them.
Read words like most likely and best. Several options may be partly true.
In multiple response questions, select exactly the stated number of options.
Use scenario clues such as online, automated, app or data to spot technology, but check that the change is not legal or economic.
In multi-task questions, expect a mix of question types about one scenario. Keep your answers consistent across the parts.
Always tie the effect to the scenario's industry and customers. Marks go to relevant points, not general lists.
In multiple response questions, read the number to select first and choose exactly that many options.
Use the four labels: new products, service delivery, life cycle and customer expectations. They cover most question types.