Instructions to students
You should take note of the following instructions on the submission of your Coursework
Assessment 3 on Topic 6 to Topic 8
Answer ALL Objective Test Questions, True or False Questions and A Quiz
Section A: 12 questions each worth 0.5%, total marks 6%
1. In a system of budgetary planning and control, the control processes that form the key elements
are:
A Developing plans to achieve objectives
B Communicating information about proposed plans
C Motivating people to build budgetary slack
D Reporting the actual performance against budget
Which of the above statement is incorrect?
2. The budgetary control report is very useful in budgetary control system. Which of the following
statement is incorrect?
A The control report covers both operating and cash budgets.
B The report shows the variances of actual results against budget plan.
C The report handles significant variances by highlighting those areas that need to be addressed
to.
D The content of report should be comprehensive so that it could include all areas that the
recipients of the report can take action without delay.
3. Zero-base budgeting is an approach to planning and decision-making, which reverses the
working process of traditional budgeting. Which of the following statement is incorrect?
A Every line item of the budget under zero-base budget will be scrutinized, rather than only
changes.
B Zero-base budgeting does not reject the traditional view of annual budget as an incremental
process that takes into account current expenditure plus an estimate of next year’s
expenditure to arrive at the next budget.
C The major problem of zero-base budgeting is that it is very time-consuming if an
organization fully applies in its annual budget exercise.
D The application of zero-base budgeting in NPO depends on management’s attitudes towards
the service and funding sources.
4. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a set of performance measures constructed for four dimensions
of performance. Which of the following statement is correct?
A The BSC is a management tool that addresses the perspective of customer, financial, internal
business process and life-long learning.
B The BSC is a tool for strategy description and execution: it helps describe a strategy, focuses
planning on what matters, and execute the plan finally.
C The BSC reinforces the idea of balance: it promotes to use the lagging and leading indicators
and performance measures both externally and internally.
D The BSC is a tool that not only provides performance measurements, but also helps NPO
identify its weaknesses.
5. There are several stages of the implementation of the BSC in an NPO. Which of the following
statements are correct?
(i) A revisit of both the mission and vision of the NPO is to get a basis for developing
strategies.
(ii) Conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis helps
the NPO have knowledge about internal operations and external influences.
(iii) A strategy map is used and captures ‘buckets’ of ideas called strategic themes.
A (i) and (ii) only
B (ii) and (iii) only
C (i) and (iii) only
D (i), (ii) and (iii)
6. To enable the BSC into practice, an NPO has to do the following:
(i) Requiring to invest substantial time, energy, and talent up-front to make it work well
(ii) Requiring the NPO board and management to have a firm commitment to the effort on it
(iii) Appointing someone who is willing to be in charge of creating and maintaining BSC
(iv) Building the scorecard categories to match what is in the performance indicators
A (i) and (ii) only
B (i), (ii) and (iv) only
C (ii), (iii) and (iv) only
D All of the above
7. There are many approaches to the use of non-financial performance measures. Which of the
following statement is incorrect for “3Es”?
A The 3Es is always used in conjunction with “Value for Money” to assess the performance of
NPOs.
B NPOs operate with restricted resources and must be able to achieve their goals effectively
with a limited budget.
C The effectiveness is concerned with the achievement of outcomes and focusing upon the
organization’s goals.
D Efficiency measures look at the amount of resources used to achieve inputs.
8. The basic principles of fund development are very important in fund development. Which of the
following statements are correct?
(i) It is the job of NPO to nurture a culture of philanthropy in its organization
(ii) Building a donor-centered organization is a fundamental block of fund development
(iii) NPO needs to engage volunteers as they are donors as well
(iv) We need to solicit everyone no matter whether he/she knows our organization well
A (i), (ii) and (iii)
B (ii), (iii) and (iv)
C (i), (ii) and (iv)
D All of the above
9. We need to develop and foster the four relationships in fund development. Which of the
following statement is incorrect?
A. NPO needs to build an infrastructure that produces a healthy and smart organization
B. NPO helps volunteers engage in projects that meet their personal aspirations and needs
C. NPO uses strategic planning to ensure goals and objectives meeting community needs
D. NPO develops and strengthens connections with individuals and groups to product loyalty
10. NPO needs to carry out the following actions to build an effective fund development in the
organization. Which of the following is incorrect?
A Help the NPO board and staff to see the links between fund development and other functions
B Make sure the staff who involve in fund-raising understand the objectives of fund-raising
programmes
C Ignore the staff thoughts about programme quality and community perception
D Show all staff who involve in fund development and the roles that they play for
11. The use of fund sources of public or statutory body has certain disadvantages. Which statement is
incorrect?
A The fund grant normally has a clear objective to NPO and requires the latter to observe
strictly
B NPO is unable to provide its budget in advance because it cannot follow the matching
concept exactly according to the defined timeframe
C NPO may have to find alternative fund source to top-up the unexpected cost increase during
the project’s interval period
D NPO needs to submit the periodical progress reports and the annual audited financial
statements for monitoring of its finances and performance
12. Foundation or Endowment fund provides a reliable source of fund support to NPO particularly
when it is unable to obtain government funds for its projects. Which statement is correct?
A NPO does not need to find out what exactly the fund sources that it looks for
B There is no need for NPO to figure out what would be the arrangements if the fund grant
comes to the projects end
C If NPO’s project could create the societal impact; it is better to apply for fund grant that
favours its application
D NPO does not require having a proven track record of serving the target clients for projects in
which it applies for fund grant with Foundation or Endowment fund
Section B: 8 questions each worth 0.5%, total marks 4%
Write (T) for True or (F) for False for each question
13. Small variances under budgetary control system are obviously to be expected and do not require
special attention unless they fall out of the defined control bands.
14. Budgetary slack is a common human behaviour not to build an allowance in the budget to
achieve the particular goals.
15. The relationship of philanthropy and fund development is that fund development helps engage
people in philanthropy and is the essential partner of philanthropy.
16. The future change in fund development is that the corporate entity’s “charity giving” would be
history.
17. NPOs who substantially receive government grants from HKSAR Government do not need to
rethink their position strategically and develop appropriate fund development because the latter
always supports NPOs’ services without the change of its policy and attitude.
f18. In the organizational performance and measurement, donors always tend to use value for money
concept measure the funds/grants given to the NPO.
19. In any practical application on the BSC, NPO aims at collecting absolute figure or percentage
for analysis, as it does not need to define the trend of what it is doing or to find out the success
of lying on the same pace or trend.
20. The BSC is not a difficult management tool for NPO to master and the benefits are substantial
and demonstrable, but the major obstacle lies in people’s attitude or behaviour of how to
practice the tool correctly.
Section C: A Quiz: 4%
A Quiz (Word limit: 150)
Define what do you understand of non-financial performance measures (NFPM). Do you think
NFPM is useful to supplement financial performance measures in the organizational performance?
(In your answer, you can agree, disagree or neutral to the argument set for the quiz.)
