Page 1 of 6 MSc in Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) Module: PAM006 Strategic Financial Project (SFP) Final Individual Project (November 2016) Submission deadline: Monday 12th December 2016 by 1pm (1300 hours) GMT UOLIA regulations require all submissions to adhere to this deadline. There will be no further extensions granted. 1. Introduction This coursework assignment carries 70% of the total of 100% for this Module. It comprises TWO sections, each with their respective weightings. It is an individual not a group-based assignment. The tasks/requirements are detailed in point 5 on pages 5, 6 and 7. Please take careful note of the flowing points:  The submission deadline is Monday 12th December 2016 by 1pm (1300 hours) GMT.  Any work received after the submission deadline will receive a recorded mark of zero. There will be no extensions given.  The upper limit of the word count should not be exceeded – see point 3 below on page 2 – and it is essential that you state an accurate word count at the end of each of Section 1 and Section 2. If you do not state an accurate word count at the end of each Section you will receive a 5 mark penalty for each omission.  You should cite references using, preferably, the Harvard referencing system (https://accountancy.elearning.london.ac.uk/mod/lesson/view.php?id=3808) although other appropriate alternatives are acceptable. If you use another referencing system you should state the name at the start of your referencing list.  At the end of your response to each section you should state your word count, excluding your list of references.  Submitted coursework assignments are subject to a range of quality control and scrutiny checks including, as appropriate, double marking and/or moderation and/or scrutiny by the module's Internal and/or External Examiners. All submitted coursework assignments are subject to Turnitin checking for plagiarism (see point 2 below on page 2). All results when first published are provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board (held in January 2017).  Assessment criteria are referred to in point 4 on page 3/Appendix A on page 5. 2. PlagiarismPage 2 of 6 This is cheating. Do not be tempted and certainly do not succumb to temptation. Plagiarised copies are invariably rooted out and severe penalties apply. All assignment submissions are electronically tested for plagiarism. More information may be accessed via: https://accountancy.elearning.london.ac.uk/mod/lesson/view.php?id=3809 3. Penalties for exceeding the word count 1. There are penalties for exceeding the specified word count. 2. For section 1 your submission should be between 4,000 and 4,500 words. You may use less than 4,000 words but in so doing you may be penalizing yourself as it is likely to be challenging to respond to Section 1's requirement in less than 4,000 words. 3. You MUST state an accurate word count (excluding the list of references) at the end of Section 1. If you do not state an accurate word count you will receive a 5 mark penalty. 4. If you submit more than 4,500 words for Section 1, the following penalties apply: - up to 10% more than 4,500 words your mark for Section 1 will be reduced by 5 marks; - for more than 10% than 4,500 words you will receive zero marks for Section 1. 5. For Section 2 your submission should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words. You may use less than 1,000 words but in so doing you may be penalizing yourself as it is likely to be challenging to respond to Section 2's requirement in less than 1,000 words. 6. You MUST state an accurate word count (excluding the list of references) at the end of Section 2. If you do not state an accurate word count you will receive a 5 mark penalty. 7. If you submit more than 1,500 words, the following penalties apply: - up to 10% more than 1,500 words your mark for Section 2 will be reduced by 5 marks; - for more than 10% more than 1,500 words you will receive zero marks for Section 2.Page 3 of 6 4. Guidelines regarding criteria for achieving particular grade boundaries The grade standards represented by the mark ranges are: Mark range Grade standard 85 - 100 Outstanding Distinction 70 - 84 Distinction 60 - 69 Merit 50 - 59 Pass 40 - 49 Fail standard 0 - 39 Bad fail standard 5. Tasks and requirements To be submitted by Monday 12th December 2016 by 1pm (1300 hours) GMT There are 2 sections. Submit both sections within ONE (1) document. Section 1 (90% weighting) Your Individual chosen Case Study business plan report If you submit a business plan report that does not match the choice of case study made on Sunday 13th November or allocated to you, you will receive zero marks for Section 1. To complete this assignment you are required to produce a 4,000 - 4,500 word business plan report suitable for consideration by the management team of your chosen case study in the context of the strategic challenges facing the company. In producing this report you should: a) Identify, explore and evaluate alternative strategies for developing the business. b) In undertaking a) above research the relevant 'real world' industry, market and business environment the company is situated in. You should use a combination of relevant real world primary and/or secondary research to provide the basis upon which your strategic choices are made. c) Arising out of a) and b) above set out a compelling five year business plan report designed to enhance shareholder value. You may use your own definition of shareholder value but must explain and justify it. The plan may identify a range of strategies for consideration but should ultimately put forward your recommendation with evidenced justification.Page 4 of 6 d) Identify specific KPIs to assist in measuring to what degree shareholder value is being enhanced. e) Review your proposed plan, and identify and assess the key risks within it. You should include graphs, tables and figures within the main body of the report. You may also wish to include extracts of your planning model results within your business plan report as part of your justifications and evidence. If you carry out any primary research you should include relevant exerts within an appendices as part of the evidence of carrying out that primary research. Where you carry out secondary research you should ensure you reference appropriately. Note: Appendices should not contain any materials central to the core thrust of the assignment and should not be used to contain information that is meant for the main body. As such, appendices content will not be considered within the mark scheme formally. Section 2 (10% weighting) Your Individual Reflective piece This relates to two main areas: the Icarus activity and your final business case study. The total maximum word count for Section 2 is 1,000 – 1,500 words. The final reflective piece itself will be between 1,000 – 1,500 words. It will comprise two main parts, based upon the departure points:  Part A will be minimum 500 words: a specific allocation for your reflections regarding your chosen case study business plan report.  Part B will be the remaining 500 – 1,000 words: allocated to your reflections on the Icarus rounds. That said the above two-part structure, is a guide. the total allocation of 1,500 words is for you to accommodate your own reflections on each of these two parts however, we will permit the use of the total maximum 1,500 words to encompass a reflection piece that covers both the case study business plan report and the Icarus activity together. If you wish to follow the two-part structure then for Part B you may wish to use around 200 words per Icarus round x 5 rounds but you may if you wish vary this, using more or fewer words for each round (up to a maximum of 1,000 words) or, if you wish, submit a longerPage 5 of 6 reflective summary that can encompass all rounds, again up to a maximum of 1,000 words. The choice is yours to accommodate your own reflections. Ensure that your response to Section 1 is not just descriptive but also reflects analysis, evaluation, conclusions, and plans. There are a number of sources freely available concerning the art and science of reflection. Feel free to draw upon such sources. Alternatively you may wish to read Appendix A below (previously circulated on Sunday 23rd October via the VLE). Appendix A Reflections guide To help you frame your thinking around being 'reflective' one particular model that may be of use is Gibbs' Reflective Cycle or Model of Reflection (1988)i. This is depicted on the right and contains six categories. You can use these six categories as a departure point as you embark on thinking and writing reflectively for each round of Icarus and indeed, for the final project when the time comes: Description  What happened during the round? Who was involved/not involved?  What was the actual process that was applied as you embarked upon the activity?  What were the aims of the round and of your team within Icarus compared to your own aims?  Relay the account to the reader but do not spend too much of your word count on providing an account that is just simply descriptive. Feelings  What did you feel? How did you react or respond?  Why did you respond in such a way? Did your feelings affect your actions?  Identify and examine your reactions, feelings and thoughts at the time.  It is important to be honest.Page 6 of 6 Evaluation  Look at the judgements and choices you made at the time about how things were going.  What was positive? Negative? What made you think this?  Try to stand back from the event/round/experience and be objective in your evaluations.  What made you think something was good or bad?  Examine your own judgements and what contributed to them. How do you feel about them now? Analysis  Examine the experience/event/round in depth and identify an overarching key aspect of the experience/event/round that affected it greatly and as such needs addressing next time. For example, an aspect of communication or time management or organisation or commitment that might have played a central part in the outcome.  How was it flawed this time? In what way? Why? How should it have worked in this situation?  What ideas or theories are you aware of which look at this? Does theory about this aspect help you make more sense of what happened?  Could you use theory to improve this aspect in the future? In this section, you need to fully examine and make sense of factors affecting the situation, and exploring ways to change and develop these. Conclusion  What have you learned from each experience/event/round?  What would you change for next time?  Would such a change be possible?  You should also identify what to improve. These may be specific skills, or identifying new knowledge. Action plan  What could you do differently next time and how could you prepare for this?  What areas need developing or planning for? What resources do you need, and where would they be found?  What steps will be taken first? Do remember that your reflections on an event/experience/round can change over time as you reflect more and acquire more knowledge. Refine your reflections, perhaps by writing a longer, more descriptive account but focusing on key events/moments. Reflective writing is useful as a positive method to help identify and develop yourself and your skills. Often, we do not get a chance. i Gibbs, G (1988). Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic