MAJAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENT ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Module Name and Level Fundamentals of Finance Module Code FCO2-1 Assessment No. 1 Assessment Type & weighting: INDIVIDUAL (50%) STUDENT MCUC NUMBER: Please note that a grade will only be given to those whose student number is noted on this form. Please ensure that the student numbers from all group members are recorded accurately. Submission Date: 8th April 2017. MODULE TUTOR: Umar Farooq Awan DECLARATION • The work contained in this assignment is my own and that all materials and sources used have been acknowledged. • I/We have not copied or colluded in part or in whole, or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students. • This assignment has not been submitted for previous assessment in any other subject or to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other unit, module, degree or diploma of a university or any other institute, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text. • I/We confirm that I/we have read, understood and followed the guidelines for assignment submission and presentation provided by the lecturer. • I/We understand that this assignment may be retained on the database and used to make comparisons with other assignments in future. • I/We have made a copy of my assignment • This work may be photocopied and/or communicated for the purpose of identifying plagiarism. • I/We give permission for a copy of this marked assignment to be retained by the faculty of Business Management for the purpose of course reviews by external examiners and to be used as a resource by Majan College. • I/We understand that unauthorized late submission without a valid written extension will be marked as per the college policy mentioned in the students handbook ASSESSMENT 1 (50% Assignment) Financial requirements of business differ from firm to firm and the nature of the requirements may be long term and short-term financial requirements based on terms or period of financial requirement, Sources of finance are the means through which firms mobilize various terms of finance. Sources of finance state how companies are mobilizing finance for their requirements. Companies either existing or new, need finance to meet the long-term and short-term requirements that include purchasing of fixed assets, construction of office building, purchase of raw materials and day-to-day expenses. With reference to academic literature, write a report analysing the issues to be taken into account while managing Long-term sources of finance. The report should include the following: • Introduction covering the objectives and importance of Long-Term Sources of Finance including its elements, nature & purpose. • Critical discussion on existing academic literature which shows how decisions about Long-term sources of finance affect the company's growth/profitability. • Analysis of factors that have to be taken into account while managing different elements of Long-Term sources of Finance. • Table identifying the Long-term sources of Finance of any Five MSM listed companies from different sectors along with brief comments. • Appropriate conclusion. Your report will be assessed on the following criteria: Grading Criteria Max. Marks Structure:Logical flow, Cohesion, Completion and focus of task/s 10% Language 5% Information, Research & Referencing 15% Grasp / understanding of relevant concepts. 20% Argument / Analysis , detailed discussion on the tasks involved, Critical analysis / interpretation 35% Conclusion / Recommendations 15% INSTRUCTIONS Your work will be graded on the following aspects 1. This is an individual report. 2. The assignment MUST be submitted on-line (through MOVE) on or before the due date ________ 3. Your assignment shall reflect the depth and breadth of your original analyses in a clear and coherent manner. 4. Use of the relevant academic literature to support ideas and issues discussed. The range of academic sources such as texts and journals to support your arguments and comments. 5. Any reference to authors and other writers shall be quoted with due acknowledgement in your assignment report using the Harvard Referencing System. For details of Harvard referencing style refer the student’s hand book page 46-47 section7.2. 6. This is an individual assignment and carries a 50% weighting of the module grade. 7. This assignment follows an essay format(modify according to the requirement of your assignment) and must be original and creative. An analytical piece of work is required. The use of ‘cut and paste’ approach will be penalized. It must be presented in a structured manner, with appropriate cover page, content page, introduction, body (with appropriate heading / sub-headings), conclusion, references, page numbered and any required appendices. 8. Your assignment should be word processed and professionally presented. The length of your assignment should not exceed 1500 words (+/- 10%), presented in text of font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing. Please state the exact word count at the end of the assignment. 9. The cover page should be attached with the assignment and uploaded through MOVE (on-line). Name of the student, The Programme, Module Title, Assignment Title and number of words must be reflected on the cover sheet. 10. All assignments must be adhered strictly to the deadlines specified by Majan College. Failure to hand in the assignment for any reason and without prior approval and a valid written extension from the module tutor will not be marked and will be awarded a grade G (0) irrespective of the quality of the work. See Student handbook page 16-17section 4.4. 11. Unacknowledged use of work of others (plagiarism) is regarded as a dishonest practice and will be will be penalized. See the penalties in the student’s handbook page 35-36 section 5.8. Additional Guidelines • The Assignment Submission link on MOVE will be open, a week ahead of the submission date. • You can submit your assignment multiple times, till the submission deadline. Note that Turnitin could take upto 24 hours to produce similarity reports for submissions. • The last submission, within the deadline, will be considered as your final submission. • Assignments should be submitted by 6pm on the day of the deadline. There is a grace period until midnight to allow for any technical difficulties, but anyassignments submitted after this will be counted as late. Technical problems will not be accepted as an excuse for submitting after the day of the deadline. • You are required to tick to confirm the statement: “I confirm that this assignment is my own and all sources have been acknowledged. I understand that the use of other people’s work or ideas without acknowledgement is plagiarism and could result in failing the assignment”. You will not be able to submit the assignment without ticking this box. • In a case of group work, it is recommended that the group should identify a leader who can be responsible for uploading the assignment on Turnitin and to share the feedback received from lecturers with the group members. • The similarity percentage of your final submission will be one of the factors considered, for assessing the originality of your assignment. However, the decision to report an assignment for plagiarism is taken by the Lecturers, who mark your assignment. • The Lecturers will consider a number of factors such as Assignment type, Part of the assignment where similarity occurs, Nature of similarity etc., along with the similarity percentage of your assignment, to assess the originality of your assignment. Therefore, similarity percentage would not be accepted as a basis for disputing academic judgments regarding plagiarism. • Note that the similarity percentage of your submission can change till the submission deadline, if the submissions of other students have similarity to your assignment. Therefore, the similarity percentages are not final, till the assignment submission is closed. GRADING SYSTEM Although grades may be awarded on the basis of marks in some assessments, students should note that both marks and grades will be awarded on the basis of the assessment criteria for each grade. Old grading System (Before Feb 2015) GRADE GRADE POINT DESCRIPTION GENERAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA A+ 16 Excellent • An outstanding piece of work. • Shows evidence of wider reading and originality • Strongly analytical. All important points are covered. • Arguments should be supported by examples and evidence, objectively presented and evaluated, • Well-structured and well written, without noticeable grammatical or other errors. • Correctly referenced A 15 A- 14 B+ 13 Very Good • Very good work. • All main points will have been covered, though minor issues may have been omitted. • The work will be analytical, balanced and soundly based. • Examples and supporting evidence should have been included. • The writing should be essentially correct, without major grammatical or other errors. • Generally referenced correctly. B 12 B- 11 C+ 10 Good • Generally good work. • Most points will have been covered, but many finer points will generally have been missed. • Shows limited reading. • Arguments/analysis should be basically well structured and balanced with relevant examples, but with errors and gaps. • The writing is clear, but has errors that nevertheless do not obscure the meaning. • Referencing will be present but may at times be inaccurate or insufficient. C 9 C- 8 D+ 7 Pass • Satisfactory. • Shows sufficient grasp of the subject to be acceptable. • Tends to be descriptive. • Examples and evidence is likely to be weak and limited. • Shows limited reading. • Referencing is likely to be absent or very poorly carried out. D 6 D- 5 E 4 Refer • Unsatisfactory/ Compensatable fail. • Serious errors and omissions. • Very little analysis F 2 Fail • Work of a very poor standard with little relevant information and/or serious errors. F- 1 • Work containing little of merit G 0 • No work submitted New Grading System (Starting Feb. 2015) Grade Letter Mark Band % Grade Descriptor GENERAL Assessment Criteria A+ 80-100 Outstanding P A S S • An outstanding piece of work. • Shows evidence of wider reading and originality • Strongly analytical. All important points are covered. • Arguments should be supported by examples and evidence, objectively presented and evaluated, • Well-structured and well written, without noticeable grammatical or other errors. • Correctly referenced A 75-79 Excellent A- 70-74 B+ 67-69 Commendable • Very good work. • All main points will have been covered, though minor issues may have been omitted. • The work will be analytical, balanced and soundly based. • Examples and supporting evidence should have been included. • The writing should be essentially correct, without major grammatical or other errors. • Generally referenced correctly B 64-66 B- 60-63 C+ 57-59 Good • Generally good work. • Most points will have been covered, but many finer points will generally have been missed. • Shows limited reading. • Arguments/analysis should be basically well structured and balanced with relevant examples, but with errors and gaps. • The writing is clear, but has errors that nevertheless do not obscure the meaning. • Referencing will be present but may at times be inaccurate or insufficient. C 54-56 C- 50-53 D+ 47-49 Satisfactory • Satisfactory. • Shows sufficient grasp of the subject to be acceptable. • Tends to be descriptive. • Examples and evidence is likely to be weak and limited. • Shows limited reading. • Referencing is likely to be absent or very poorly carried out. D 44-46 D- 40-43 E 35-39 Marginal Fail F A I L • Unsatisfactory/ Compensatable fail. • Serious errors and omissions. • Very little analysis F 25-34 Fail • Work of a very poor standard with little relevant information and/or serious errors. F- 01-24 Fail • Work containing little of merit G 0 Non-Submission • No work submitted Marking Criteria for the Written Report AUDITING ASSGNMNT. Substandard 0 pts Poor 40pts Fair 60pts Good 80pts Exceptional 100pts STRUCTURE & CLARITY OF PRESENATION 15% Understanding of relevant concepts Does not show any grasp of the subject matter; demonstrating inadequate understanding of the topic/s and issue/s. Shows a limited grasp of the subject matter demonstrating limited but acceptable understanding of topic/s and issue/s. Shows the required level of grasp of the subject matter demonstrating an average understanding of topic/s and issue/s. Shows a good grasp of the subject matter demonstrating an accomplished understanding of topic/s and issue/s. Shows a comprehensive grasp of the subject matter demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of topic/s and issue/s. Argument/Analysis and Computations: (40%) Development of Argument / Analysis , Detailed discussion on the tasks involved, Critical awareness / interpretation Lack of analysis of information. No discussion is evident. The discussed tasks are completely out of focus. Little or no evidence of critical evaluation of material. Poor analysis of information. Although there is evidence for some discussion, they are discrete and lacking focus. It does not reflect critical application of the concepts to the task. Evidence of limited critical evaluation in some areas, with some lost opportunities or misunderstandings The information from various sources although relevant is not properly applied to the task. There is some evidence for critical analysis and reasoning. Evidence of a general critical stance, although some material not evaluated Good application of the information to the task. There is evidence of in-depth analysis of data. But, all the tasks are not consistent in the analytical rigor. The inferences drawn could have been more meaningful. Evidence of good critical appreciation and evaluation of relevant theory and research and a systematic attempt to relate it to the topic Excellent analysis of the information and precise application to the task. Critical reasoning is evident in the discussion of all tasks. Evidence of thorough critical appreciation and evaluation of relevant theory and Research and a systematic and creative attempt to relate it to the topic. Conclusion & Recommendations: (20%) Conclusions are not supported with any reasons or evidence; no evidence of any interpretations Presents hardly any recommendations, realistic, appropriate or otherwise. Conclusions are supported with very weak reasoning and little evidence; Interpretations are one –sided and not objective. Presents recommendations but these not realistic or appropriate and with little, if any, support from the analysis and concepts discussed. Conclusions are supported with limited reasoning and evidence; presents a somewhat one-sided interpretation. Presents recommendations which are somewhat realistic and appropriate but not very specific; there is some support from the analysis and concepts discussed. Conclusions are supported with reasons and evidence; presents a fairly balanced view; interpretation is both reasonable and objective. Presents specific, realistic and appropriate recommendations supported by the analysis and concepts discussed. Conclusions are supported with strong arguments and evidence; presents a fairly balanced and critical view; interpretation is both reasonable and objective. Presents detailed, specific, realistic and appropriate recommendations clearly supported by the analysis and concepts discussed Structure: (10%) Logical flow, Cohesion, Completion and focus of task/s The report is unorganized to the point of being virtually unreadable. Lacks cohesion and orderly flow. The assignment has unacceptable failings in structuring and/or clarity of written Expression. Tasks are incomplete and unfocussed. Incomplete in all respects; does not reflect any requirements The report is unorganized, but can be read. Poor flow of the report structure. The assignment has failings in structuring and/or clarity of written expression, Which impair its capacity to communicate. All the tasks lack proper focus in discussion. Incomplete in most respects; barely reflects requirements The report is somewhat organized. The flow is not coherent and needs improvement. While the assignment Has some failings in structuring and/or clarity of written expression, these do not impair its capacity to communicate. All the tasks are addressed and discussed but one/two lack focus/clarity. Incomplete in many respects; reflects few requirements The report is fairly well organized. There is order, cohesion and coherence, but there is still scope for improvement. A generally well- structured assignment, which manages clear communication of ideas. All the tasks are addressed and discussed with the required focus Complete in most respects; reflects most requirements . The report is very well organized with a cohesive discussion lending coherence to the content. The structure is exemplary. An assignment with excellent clarity of expression which significantly enhances communication of ideas. All the tasks are discussed astutely with proper focus. Complete in all respects; reflects all requirements fully. Language (5%) The report is difficult to read due to overwhelming errors or misspellings Frequent compositional errors or misspellings, but the report can be read. More than occasional errors or misspellings, but that does not take away significantly from the quality. Well executed. Few grammar or writing errors. Reads easily. Execution is excellent. No grammar or writing errors. Reads easily. Information, Research & Referencing: (10 %) Variety of sources used, relevance of sources used There is no evidence for information search Information search is not adequate. Limited and uncritical use of a restricted range of sources Relevant information search is evident, but not adequate. Use of a range of appropriate sources. Good usage of variety information from various sources. Use of a wide range of appropriate sources with some critical awareness of their status and relevance Excellent compilation of the relevant information from variety of sources. Excellent usage of the information to support the discussion. Use of a wide range of appropriate sources, indicating personal research and with full critical awareness of their status and relevance. .