ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Consequences of ineffectiveness at work
A finance team member regularly submits month-end reconciliations late, makes frequent avoidable errors and shows little interest in team meetings. Her manager discovers that she was never given clear instructions about priorities and has received no feedback for a year. Which of the following is the MOST likely underlying cause of her ineffectiveness?
The most likely cause is poor management: unclear objectives and a lack of feedback leave the employee unsure of priorities and unsupported. This produces late work, errors and disengagement. Nothing in the facts suggests fraud or over-motivation from rewards.
- APoor management, with unclear objectives and no feedback or supportCorrect
- BA deliberate attempt to commit fraud against the organisation
- COver-motivation caused by excessive monetary rewards
Explanation
Missing priorities and no feedback point to a management and communication failure, which commonly causes poor performance, errors and disengagement. Fraud is not indicated by the facts, and there is no mention of excessive rewards. Ineffectiveness symptoms such as lateness and errors often have causes within the work environment rather than in the individual's intent.
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