MBA7060 Financial Management and Decision Making

MBA7060 Financial Management and Decision Making

Assessment Number 1

Assessment Type (and weighting) Oral Assessment (30% of final mark)

Assessment Name Presentation (20 Minutes)

Assessment Submission Date 21st July 2024 via Turnitin 23:59 hrs

Learning Outcomes Assessed:

Learning Outcomes

LO2: Interpret, critically evaluate, and synthesise information and data from appropriate sources, and use these to make informed judgments in critical business areas.

LO4: Communicate complex financial information and present arguments in a professional manner.

Financial Analysis of an Existing Company

Role

Assume you are the finance manager in an organisation, you have been directed by the finance director to make a presentation to a group of potential investors looking to invest in your organisation.

You are required to prepare a financial analysis using appropriate performance matrix and present your findings about the financial performance of the company on efficiency, liquidity, and profitability.

You are required to use the information provided in the companys annual accounts, including the market performance of the shares and dividend payments of the organisation, evaluating these for the benefit of the potential investors, who will be invited to attend a short presentation provided by you.

You have also been asked to critically assess the relevance of annual reports to stakeholders and use any other additional internal management information to support your financial analyses when speaking to potential investors.

Assignment Tasks:

You should select a company that trades on the stock market (Public limited company Plc). You will need to obtain a copy of their most recent annual report/accounts, alongside any other internal management information which will help you analyse the companys financial performance.

You must let your tutor know your chosen organisation. Prepare a presentation, based on the financial information in the annual report and internal management data. The presentation is to be made to an invited group of potential investors. The presentation will be for 20 minutes and will be followed by questions from the examiners.

You can consider the following in your structure:

Structure of the Business including size, products, and governance

Understanding financial analysis theory, methods and its usefulness in organisations

Implementation of relevant ratio analysis calculation or extraction from annual report financial statements.

Measuring the performance of the company interpretation of the ratio data

Market ratios calculating and interpreting share price, EPS, PE/ratio & dividends payout.

Relevance of annual reports to difference stakeholders.

Any additional internal management information, and their importance to potential investors.

You may wish to consider any two of the following as additional internal management information.

Strategic Planning and how they may help to attract investors

Change Management Issues if any, and how their handling can attract investors.

Global/International Competition your companys involvement in them.

Global Market and economic Challenges etc and how your organisation is tackling them.

Any other issue

Marking Criteria:

Background and structure of the company 20%

Financial analysis of the company - 50%

Research & Presentation-15%

Q&A (from both student and examiner) 15%

Important and helpful information

Please refer to the Module Guide for information regarding indicative reading, guidelines for the preparation and submission of assignments, and the assessment criteria.

Submission

Electronic copies of assignments should be submitted via Turnitin NO LATER THAN THE DEADLINE.

Please ensure you follow the instructions provided by your module tutor and on the assessment brief. Submission of assessments must be done by submission date. Assignments not available at this time will be considered late unless an extension has been previously agreed.

Students who fail to submit assessments by the specified date (without an extension being granted or without accepted Mitigating Circumstances) will be subject to the following penalties:

Up to 7 calendar days late = 10 marks subtracted but if the assignment would normally gain a pass mark, then the final mark to be no lower than the pass mark for the assignment.

More than 7 calendar days late = This will be counted as non-submission and no marks will be recorded.

Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that the assignment is submitted in the format/s specified in the Module Guide or on the Assessment Brief.

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ENSURE YOU KEEP A COPY OF ANY ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED.

In the case of exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, an extension of up to 14 days after the assessment deadline may be granted. This must be agreed by your Programme Leader, following a discussion the Module Tutor. You should complete an Extension Request Form available from Student Services and attach documentary evidence of your circumstances, prior to the published submission deadline.

Extensions over 14 calendar days should be requested using the Mitigating Circumstances procedure.

Some students with registered disabilities will be eligible for revised submission deadlines. Revised submission deadlines do not require the completion extension request paperwork.

Please see the Programme Handbook for further details.

References

Level HE7 - It is expected that the Reference List will contain between fifteen to twenty sources. As a MINIMUM the Reference List should include four refereed academic journals and five academic books.

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General Assessment Guidelines for Written Assessments Level HE7

% Relevance Knowledge Argument/Analysis Structure Presentation Written English Research/Referencing

DISTINCTION Exceptional Quality 85-100% Almost all parts of the report are directly relevant to title/brief.

The assumptions of the title and/or the requirement of the brief is expertly addressed in an exemplary manner.

Exemplary knowledge

of concepts, theory and practice is clearly demonstrated is all areas.

The interpretation of appropriate concepts and theoretical models with insight is visible.

There is exemplary display creativity in conceptual original thinking. Work produced is exceptional in analysing essential research materials. An exemplary level of evaluation is made based on an excellent theoretical understanding of work discussed and clear evidence of independent, informed judgement is made. An exemplary level of coherence and structure in framed the analysis. Work is articulated and logically structured and has shown complete compliant with recommended format.

Exemplary presentational style and format commensurate with the nature of work. Excellent use of figures, tables, and plates (where required). Exceptional level of language is used with no grammatical errors, excellent punctuation and usage of appropriate formal academic and industry language and terminology. Harvard referencing has been applied correctly with no errors throughout the work for in text and end of text referencing. A large variety of current, varied, and suitable sources have been used. Recognition of different perspectives is acknowledged and applied.

Excellent Quality 70-84% Most parts of the report are directly relevant to title/brief.

The assumptions of the title and/or the requirement of the brief is excellently addressed Excellent knowledge

of concepts, theory and practice is clearly demonstrated is all areas.

The interpretation of appropriate concepts and theoretical models with insight is visible.

There is excellent display of creativity in conceptual original thinking. Work produced is excellent in analysing essential research materials. An excellent level of evaluation is made based on an excellent theoretical understanding of work discussed and clear evidence of independent, informed judgement being given. An excellent level of coherence and structure in framing the analysis. Work is articulated and logically structured and has shown excellent level of compliant with recommended format. Excellent presentational style and format, commensurate with the nature of work. Excellent use of figures, tables, and plates (where required). Excellent level of English language is used with no grammatical errors. Excellent punctuation, usage of appropriate formal academic and industry language and terminology. Harvard referencing has been applied correctly with no errors throughout the essay for in text and end of text referencing. A large variety of current, varied, and suitable sources have been used. Recognition of different perspectives is acknowledged and applied.

MERIT Good Quality 60-69% Major parts of the work produced is directly relevant to title/brief.

The assumptions of the title and/or the requirement of the brief is addressed very well. There is very good understanding of theory and practice at this level.

Explanation of relevant conceptual material shows very good grasp of the themes, questions, and issues therein. Presents a coherent analysis of significant research materials that leads to distinct and original conclusions.

Work produced is very good and able to contributes to the expansion of subject-area knowledge and understanding. Major parts of the work is coherently articulated and logically constructed.

A very good level of compliant with suggested format can be seen. Very good presentational style & layout, appropriate to the type of assignment.

Very good use of figures, tables, and plates with good levels of explanations Well written, with standard spelling and grammar, in a readable style and acceptable format Good level of appraisal of up-to-date and/or appropriate literature. Recognition of different perspectives. Knowledgeable use of source material. Uses a range of sources. Harvard referenced with minor mistakes.

PASS Satisfactory Quality 50-59% Substantial amount of work produced generally addresses the assumptions of the title and/or the requirements of the brief. Work may contain some minor irrelevances in places. Demonstrates a good and adequate knowledge of theory and practice for this level.

Good attempt in interpreting some appropriate concepts and theoretical models.

Shows good level of originality in explaining concepts Some analytical treatment, but may be prone to description, or to narrative, which lacks clear analytical purpose.

Some attempt to construct a coherent argument, but may suffer loss of focus and consistency, with issues at stake stated only vaguely, or theoretical mode(s) couched in simplistic terms. Adequate attempt at articulation and logical structure.

A good level of compliant with acceptable format is present. The presentational style & layout is largely correct for the type of assignment.

Substantial use tables, figures and plates but may lack required explanation Written, with only minor lapses from standard grammar, with acceptable format Uses a variety of literature which includes some recent texts and/or appropriate literature, though not necessarily including a substantive amount beyond library texts. Competent use of source material. Used Harvard referencing in most places with majority cited correctly

FAIL Borderline Fail 45-49% Basic understanding of the subject and addressing a limited range of materials.

Contains a lot of irrelevant materials.

There are certain gaps in knowledge of theory and practice at this level.

Inadequate knowledge of relevant concepts and theoretical models.

In areas, demonstrates only some conceptual grasp. Largely descriptive or narrative, with little evidence of analysis and evaluation.

A basic argument is evident, but mainly supported by assertion.

There may be a lack of clarity and coherence and limited attempt at articulation and problems with structure.

Some formatting errors are also visible. Some weaknesses in the presentational style & layout. Only limited sections are presented logically.

Some inappropriate use of figures, tables and plates, and most are largely irrelevant. A simple basic style but with significant deficiencies in expression or format that may pose obstacles for the reader Limited number of contemporary and relevant sources cited. Work is dominated by material supplied by tutor. Attempted to use Harvard referencing but majority are wrongly cited.

Fail 30-44%

Materials have little or no relevance to the title and/or brief.

Issues are addressed at a superficial level and in unchallenging terms. Heavy dependence on description, and/or on paraphrase, is common.

Lacks development and may be repetitive or thin Limited understanding and application of concepts. Little evidence of coherent argument. Almost wholly derivative: the writers contribution rarely goes beyond simplifying paraphrase.

Mostly devoid of originality and creativity.

Clear conclusions are not stated. Very poorly structured work. Lack of articulation and coherence in concepts and context.

Format deficiency is clear Work is wholly lacking the presentational style &/or layout required.

Figures, tables, and plates are ignored in text or not used where clearly needed. Numerous deficiencies in expression the writer may achieve clarity (if at all) only by using a simplistic or repetitious style Barely adequate use of literature. Over reliance on basic material provided by the tutor. Little or no attempt to Harvard reference.

<30%

Relevance to the title and/or brief is intermittent or completely missing.

The topic is reduced to its vaguest and least challenging terms. Clearly shows a lack of basic knowledge of either theory or practice for this level. There is very little or no evidence of conceptual understanding. Severely limited arguments. Descriptive or narrative in style with no evidence of critique and originality or creativity.

Conclusions are sparse or not in line with context. Wholly lacking structured.

No visible attempt to articulate or coherently provide concepts and context.

Format deficiency is clear. Work is completely devoid of the presentational style &/or layout.

Figures, tables, and plates are ignored in text or not used where clearly needed. Poorly written with numerous deficiencies in grammar, spelling, expression, and style. Very limited evidence of required reading and no attempt at Harvard referencing. Clear absence of academic sources.