Final Assignment Instructions and Guidelines

•This final assignment must be done individually.

•This final assignment must be submitted online through EGSM LMS  

•You must include a cover page that lists your name, Student ID and the unit number and title.

•Number all pages sequentially.

•Any published material you refer to must be properly referenced (Harvard Referencing) and included in a reference list at the end of your assignment.

Note: The first page of each final assignment must include the following declaration:

I certify that this assignment is my own work, based on my personal study and/or research, and that I have acknowledged all material and sources used in the preparation of this assignment whether they be books, articles, reports, lecture notes, any other kind of document, electronic or personal communication.

The total word count of this assignment is (please write your assignment word count here).

I also certify that the assignment has not previously been submitted for assessment in any other course or at any other time in this Course, unless by negotiation, and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students and/or persons. I have read the policy on plagiarism and understand its implications.

Final assignments that do not include the above declaration will not be marked.

In submitting the assignment, learner’s must include the above-mentioned declaration confirming that the work submitted for all tasks is their own. The statement should also include the word count.

Your assignment will be run through PlagScan (plagiarism detection software) to ensure that the level of plagiarism is under 20%.

 
Plagiarism is a form of cheating, by representing someone else's work as your own or using someone else's work (another student or author) without acknowledging it with a reference. This is a serious breach of the Academic Regulations and will be dealt with accordingly.

Plagiarism occurs whenever you do any of the following things without acknowledging the original source:

•Copy information from any source (including the study guide, books, newspapers, the internet)

•Use another person's concepts or ideas

•Summarize or paraphrase another person's work.

To ensure you are not plagiarizing, you must acknowledge with a reference whenever you:

•use another person's ideas, opinions or theory

•include any statistics, graphs or images that have been compiled or created by another person or organization

•paraphrase another's written or spoken word

You may include appendices to support your work, however appendices must only contain additional supporting information, and must be clearly referenced in your assignment.

Presentation Of Final Assignment

You may also include tables, graphs, diagrams, Gantt chart and flowcharts that support the main report should be incorporated into the back of the assignment report that is submitted.

Any published secondary information such as annual reports and company literature, should be referenced in the main text of the assignment, in accordance of Harvard Style Referencing, and referenced at the end of the assignment.

Where a learner is using organisational information that deals with sensitive material or issues, they must seek the advice and permission from that organisation about its inclusion.

Where confidentiality is an issue, learners are advised to anonymise their assignment report so that it cannot be attributed to that particular organisation.

Learners must comply with the required word count, within a margin of +10%. These rules exclude the index, headings, tables, images, footnotes, appendices and information contained within references and bibliographies.

When an assessment task requires learners to produce presentation slides with supporting notes, the word count applies to the supporting notes only.

Qualifi uses a standard marking rubric for all assignments, and you can find the details at the end of this document. Unless stated elsewhere, learners must answer all questions in the Final Assignment Structure & Format file available on the EGSM LMS.

You are requested to strictly follow the sequence of the marking rubric.

Required content for each part of the rubric must be written under its relevant heading.

Content found in irrelevant headings will not be considered for grading.

Few headings and information are required to be written twice during the sequence of the rubric. If you have not written it twice, it will not be considered for marking.

Students will not be able to pass their course if they have attained an overall passing grade of 40% but less than 50% grade on their final assignment.

Students are required to score a minimum of 50% in their final assignment in order to successfully complete their course.

This section sets the context for the report and provides the (brief) background information required for the reader to understand the report.

NOTE: Detailed company background should not be included here. It is best discussed in the body of the report

This tells the reader what the aims/objectives of the report are. It indicates what key questions the report is trying to answer and what it is trying to achieve. Why was it written?

Late Assignment Submission Policy

Tell the reader exactly what areas/ideas are covered in the report. This also helps to explain how the report is organized. Look at your plan and consider your headings and sub-headings.

Learners may use their own employment context, or that of another organisation with which they are very familiar, to base their assignment. However, in the case that they are not able to do so, please use the below scenario:

You are a senior manager in a business unit of a medium sized enterprise, with functional management and organisational leadership responsibilities. You have responsibility for all aspects of the performance management of your team and its contribution towards the achievement of business goals.

Please select and research an organisation of your choice to identify its approach to performance management.

Select an organisation you have worked for or know well obtain the latest copy of their published financial accounts. These will normally contain three financial documents:

•A balance sheet

•A profit / loss statement

•A source and application of funds

1.1:Determine what financial information is needed and assess its validity. (200 Words)

1.2:Analyse different financial documents and information and formulate conclusions about financial performance levels and needs of stakeholders. (225 Words)

1.3:Conduct comparative analysis of financial information and data. (200 Words)

1.4:Critically review and question financial information and data. (225 Words)

In doing so, use a range of financial analysis techniques such as profitability ratios, efficiency ratios, liquidity ratios, stability ratios, investor ratios. In addressing criteria 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 note the relevance of the organisation’s decision action cycles and also explicitly differentiate between financial data used for decision making and financial information which can concluded from your analysis.

Note 1: There may be a difference in accounting terminology between UK, US, the EU and other countries.

Note 2: An organisation must follow the accounting rules and conventions of the country in which the accounts are prepared. The rules and conventions adhered to can usually be found in the notes and explanations published with the financial documents.

1.1:Determine what financial information is needed and assess its validity.

1.2:Analyse different financial documents and information and formulate conclusions about financial performance levels and needs of stakeholders.

1.3:Conduct comparative analysis of financial information and data.

1.4:Critically review and question financial information and data.

Chose an organisation or a department within an organisation you are familiar with and explicitly address each of the following:

2.1:Identify how a budget can be produced taking into account financial constraints and achievement of targets and accounting conventions. (250 Words)

2.2:Be able to assess a budget. (300 Words)

2.3:Identify how a budget for a complex organization can support organizational objectives and targets whilst taking into account financial constraints and accounting conventions. (250 Words)

In doing so, note the budget process used; the type of budget and management accounting practices adopted by the organisation.

Note 3: See Note 2 above.

2.1:Identify how a budget can be produced taking into account financial constraints and achievement of targets and accounting conventions.

2.2:Be able to assess a budget.

2.3:Identify how a budget for a complex organization can support organizational objectives and targets whilst taking into account financial constraints and accounting conventions.

Chose an organisation you are familiar with and research their approach to managing proposal and projects and explicitly address each of the following:

3.1:Identify criteria by which proposals can be judged. (200 Words)

3.2:Critically analyse the viability of a proposal for expenditure. (225 Words)

3.3:Identify the strengths and weaknesses of a proposal and give feedback on the financial proposal. (200 Words)

3.4:Analyse the viability of a proposal for expenditure. (225 Words)

In doing so make use of evaluation methods such as ROCE, ROI, NPV, IRR and payback also paying attention to types of risk, the treatment of risk, cash flows and the use of depreciation in choosing between project/proposal alternatives.

3.1:Identify criteria by which proposals can be judged.

3.2:Critically analyse the viability of a proposal for expenditure.

3.3:Identify the strengths and weaknesses of a proposal and give feedback on the financial proposal.

3.4:Analyse the viability of a proposal for expenditure.

Assignment Conclusion

i) Stating the aim/ context of the assignment again

ii) Followed by a very brief summary of the main points

iii) Final comments often considering the future (for e.g.: what can be done to improve the implementation of a strategy in the future)