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ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Performance Management · Technology and information systems

Brightwell Utilities wants to use robotic process automation (RPA) to speed up its monthly management reporting. Which task is MOST suitable for RPA rather than for a machine learning or human judgement approach?

Extracting data from systems with fixed formats and loading it into a standard monthly report template is the best fit. RPA handles repetitive, rule-based, structured tasks. Strategic and ethical judgements need people, and discovering unknown customer segments in unstructured data calls for machine learning.

  1. AExtracting figures from several systems with fixed formats and loading them into a standard report template every monthCorrect
  2. BDeciding whether a one-off acquisition fits the long-term strategy
  3. CIdentifying previously unknown customer segments in unstructured social media data
  4. DAssessing the ethical implications of a proposed change to the bonus scheme

Explanation

RPA suits rule-based, repetitive, structured, high-volume tasks, such as extracting and loading data into a template. Strategic fit and ethics need human judgement. Finding unknown segments in unstructured data is a machine learning (unsupervised) task, not simple rule-based automation.

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