ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Performance Management · Technology and information systems
Kestrel Retail plc wants to forecast monthly demand for 2,000 products using five years of sales history, promotions and weather data. The finance director asks the analytics team to build a model that learns patterns from the historical data and improves its predictions as new data arrives, without being explicitly programmed with forecasting rules. Which technology is being described?
The technology described is machine learning. It builds models that learn patterns from historical data and improve predictions as new data arrives, without explicit rules. Robotic process automation merely follows programmed instructions, and blockchain is a ledger technology rather than a predictive tool.
- AMachine learningCorrect
- BRobotic process automation
- CDistributed ledger technology
- DRules-based spreadsheet modelling
Explanation
Machine learning uses algorithms that learn patterns from data and refine predictions as more data is supplied. Robotic process automation follows fixed programmed rules to perform repetitive tasks and does not learn. Blockchain is a shared ledger, not a forecasting method.
Did you get it right without looking?
One question tells you little. A timed set on Technology and information systems shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.
More Technology and information systems questions
- Zenara Retail plc wants its regional managers to see daily sales, stock availability and customer complaints on a single screen, with colour…
- Delmar Logistics is introducing a dashboard that uses machine-learning models on telematics data to estimate which delivery vehicles are lik…
- Marlow Insurance has introduced a machine learning model to set bonuses for claims handlers by scoring each handler's performance. The model…
- Zentrix Ltd's finance director wants a system that pulls data from the sales, production and HR systems into one central repository, structu…
- Kestrel Retail plc collects point-of-sale transactions, website click streams, social media comments and supplier sensor readings. The finan…
- Orlan Health plans to feed real-time data from patient-monitoring devices and booking systems into its performance reporting. The CFO warns …