Category: Uncategorized

Assignment Marking Criteria     

Criteria	%
Presentation Well written answer in legible English with appropriate sentence construction and use of grammar. Clear logical structure and progression of argument. Conclusion and recommendations clarified.	10%
Quality of Analysis & Evaluation Application of relevant theories and models to the development of evidence-based argument. Appropriate use of academic referencing to support key assertions.	40%
Knowledge and Understanding Demonstrate clear and deep knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and its application to management practice as applicable	40%
Independence of thought Ability to synthesise and critically appraise information and apply it in a logical manner to the answer.	10%

Assessment Submission Instructions:

Please see the ‘Assessment Guidelines’ section in the main MA Business & Management Minerva site for general information on assessment submission (eg. what is included in the word length, recommended font size/margins, requests for deadline extensions, Turnitin and monitoring Unfair Practice, reassessment policy and processes, etc.).

By the due date, submit an electronic copy of your assignment through the Turnitin link below in the Assessments section of this module’s Minerva site.

You do NOT need to submit a paper copy of your assignment.

PLEASE NOTE: submission through TURNITIN constitutes your agreement to abide by the University’s Plagiarism and Unfair Practice Policy.

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To complete Part 1, you must obtain the full annual reports (not interim reports) of a listed company. It is recommended to choose a company from the manufacturing or retail sectors, while avoiding banks, investment firms (such as investment trusts and pension funds), and financial services companies. The reports can usually be downloaded in PDF format from the company’s website.

To analyse the chosen company, you should select another company of similar size and turnover within the same sector to serve as a comparator for the results you have calculated.

Use consolidated figures where applicable, as these represent the entire group of companies, not just the individual parent company. You should aim to calculate several ratios in each category over a period of at least three years.

Report length- Max 2,000 words excluding appendices, including everything such as headings, in-text references and in-text tables and figures from the start of your introduction to the end of your conclusion.

As a guide I have provided some ideas on writing the report. These are suggestions but are not prescriptive.

WRITING REPORTS – Part A

You may not have prepared a ‘professional’ style report before, so here are a few pointers. The report should contain the following:

1. Title page (title of report, date, possibly the author)
2. Contents page (headings of the following sections, with page references)
3. Executive summary (brief summary of scope of report and main findings, imagine you are writing for a busy chief executive so make it no more than 200 words). The executive summary is NOT included in word count.
4. Introduction (could contain background information on the company analyzed, and anything that you think is relevant to an understanding of the analysis e.g. the company makes copper cables and the price of copper has risen dramatically recently)
5. Several separate sections for e.g. overview of financial performance and position (e.g. the company’s profits have grown at a rate of 5% over the past 5 years but the company has been losing cash, 50% of sales are made in Europe, etc.), discussion of profitability, efficiency, etc. ratios. Refer to calculated ratio figures where appropriate, BUT DO NOT INCLUDE ACTUAL CALCULATIONS HERE.
6. Conclusion (of main findings – do NOT put anything new in your conclusion)
7. References
8. Appendices (containing your ratio – and any other – calculations)

You should aim to calculate a couple of ratios in each category, but you need not be limited to this. ALWAYS CALCULATE RATIOS FOR at least 3 years to get a trend – it is important to be able to compare ratios against something.

Please use sources like the Financial Times, journal articles, government and industry reports or the internet should be used to find out background information on the company.

Make sure you have a good read of the whole set of financial statements including the directors’ reports which often gives you useful background information.

Citations and references should be provided using the Harvard style. Charts, figures and other media may all be used wherever appropriate.

Based on past experience I have put a list of FAQs here:

FAQs

Q1: What do you want me to do?

A1: Choose a company and, applying some of the techniques we have covered, give your opinion on the financial health of the company. What I want are your opinions supported by some evidence using some analytical techniques.

Q2: I am comparing 2 companies and they have different year end dates – does this matter?

A2: No. Year end dates vary so it is unlikely that you will find a comparator company with a similar year end date. If there are a few months difference it does not matter – this is just an exercise.

Q3: Is there a “right answer” for an analysis?

A3: No. I’m looking for your ideas and how you review how the company is doing. You might care to suggest an opinion on how the company might do in the future, but this is not strictly required.

Q4: Are there any companies I should avoid?

A4: Stay away from banks, investment companies (investment trusts & pension funds) and financial services companies. Their rules vary somewhat and can be difficult to call.

Q5: Can I go over the word limit?

A5: No.

Q6: I can’t find a comparator company that does exactly what my chosen company does – what can I do?A6: Choose a company in the same industry sector. You won’t find companies that do exactly the same thing. The companies in the same sector will be pretty varied but this is a “broad brush” activity

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Things to consider:

 Did they display the individual characteristics commonly associated with effective entrepreneurs? If not, did they develop them? How did they do that?

What approach did the company take? Was it a ‘lean start-up’ or something else?

What is their ‘value proposition’? Was that always clear to them?

What barriers did they face, and how did they overcome them?

 Tools to analyse your chosen business you could include the Business Model Canvas and a SWOT analysisor other tools you are familiar which you feel explain more about the business or the entrepreneur.

 Think of this more as a business report, this frees you to include a wider range of materials that will help analyse your entrepreneur – screenshots or links to social media, logos and/or marketing materials or pictures of people and business premises have been used in the past.

FAQs

Can I speak to a friend for this?

Yes, but be aware that friends don’t always give the best interviews!

Can I use a business from overseas?

Yes, but please provide evidence of the business (such as a website link) and the full interview in the appendices.

How do I include an interview in my report?

The easiest method is to prepare some questions, record your interview on Zoom, transcribe it and include the full transcription in the appendices along with a link to your recording. You can then reference the relevant parts of the interview in the main body of the report.

Assessment Marking Criteria:

Criteria	Mark %
Presentation Well written answer in legible English with appropriate sentence construction and use of grammar. Clear logical structure and progression of argument. Conclusion and recommendations clarified.	10%
Quality of Analysis & Evaluation Application of relevant theories and models to the development of evidence based argument. Appropriate use of academic referencing to support key assertions.	40%
Knowledge and Understanding Demonstrate clear and deep knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and its application to academic theory and/or management practice as applicable	40%
Independence of thought Ability to synthesis and critically appraise information and apply it in a logical manner to the answer.	10%

Word Count

 3500 words maximum. The word count excludes the cover page, any appendices, and the reference list.

Referencing

Use the Harvard referencing style (ie. in-text citation and separate reference list).

Support

 This summative assessment will be supported by formative class-based exercises: in particular, each student must deliver a short (5 minute) presentation outlining their proposals for the case study prior to final submission.

Additional guidance will be available from the module tutor during teaching sessions.

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