ACCA Performance Management (F5) Certification Practice Exam

What characteristic must information possess to be deemed useful?

1. It must be precise

2. It must be accurate

3. It must be unique

4. It must be comprehensive

The correct answer is: It must be accurate

For information to be deemed useful, it fundamentally needs to be accurate. Accuracy ensures that the data correctly reflects the reality it is intended to represent. If the information is not accurate, it can lead to erroneous conclusions and poor decision-making. In the context of performance management, having precise estimates or representations is critical for analyzing performance metrics, making forecasts, and ultimately guiding strategic decisions based on reliable data. While precision, uniqueness, and comprehensiveness have their own importance in certain contexts, they do not replace the necessity of accuracy. For instance, information can be comprehensive but still inaccurate. Similarly, unique information might be interesting but won't be useful if it does not reflect true conditions. Precision can enhance the clarity of data, but if the underlying information is incorrect, even the clearest figures won't lead to good decisions. Accuracy is foundational to ensuring that information can be reliably trusted and utilized in meaningful ways.