Assessment 2
Discussion Questions and Practical Exercises Weightage 35%
Student Guidelines
Student should investigate financial strength of an
organization or a concept and calculate the most
effective solution using formulas. Answers should
be written in appropriate business language so that
your analysis and discussion have an objective tone.
Your writing should be clear and concise and be in
your own words. If needed, use headings to guide the
reader and include tables or diagrams that make the
case clearer.
This assessment will be measuring following unit
learning outcomes:
Explain and utilise concepts associated with the time
value of money, extended to an understanding of
interest rates, bond and stock valuation
Correctly model discounted cash flow techniques for
investment evaluation, extending to capital budget-
ing, project analysis and multi-faceted finance
criteria.
Critically analyze key financial statements, with a
view to identifying the financial health of an organi-
sation, including how that has changed over time,
and from a leadership perspective
Expectations
This assignment consists of a number of practical
exercises and discussion questions, which are covering
various topics included in this unit. As the exercises /
questions are not related, there is no need for students to prepare an introduction or executive summary for either of the assignments. There is no necessity
to waste time in submitting the actual assignment
questions provided to you with your assignment all
that is required for this unit is for students to respond
to the assignment questions, not merely rewrite them!
Please note that students are expected to be able to
prepare and submit all parts of each assignment by
the due date regardless whether or not there are
topics scheduled in the unit booklet to be covered
after the relevant assignment is due.
Word Limit (1,500 words)
The word limit indicated for questions included in the
assignments excludes any calculations that may be
made and has been included to ensure that students
address each question fully but do not include irrelevant information. The emphasis undertaken by students should be on answering the specific assignment
question given, not including everything the student
can find on a particular issue. This word limit represents the maximum word count per question within
a tolerance of 20%. That is, it is possible to include a
slightly greater number of words than the specified
limit if it is considered necessary to enhance the
relevant discussion.
The word limit should be seen as a guide to the depth
to which students are expected to answer the selected questions. It should also be recognised that it is
certainly possible to adequately answer many of the
questions in less than the specified word limit. The
focus on each of the assignments however, should be
on the accuracy and completeness of the content
provided and this should, to a large extent, override
any concerns about the word limit.
Note: Please do not include a word count when submitting the assignmentsthis would detract from the
markers assessment of the assignment submissions.
Submission Formatting Style Guide
Each submitted assignment should be presented in a
professional manner, that is, word processed or equivalent, in a format appropriate to its purpose, audience
and setting. The emphasis on the allocation of marks
in the assignments will be on the content and
processes provided by students for each question.
Please note that there is a specified allocation of
marks for the layout and presentation for each
assignment.
Student solutions to practical questions should be
developed on a logical and complete basis and discussion-based questions require students to respond
in a manner that is focused on the given question and
includes sentences that build on each other, rather
than repeat the same type of information.
For all major assignments, both formative and summative, the preferred layout is in 12-point Calibri, with
1.5 line spacing, 2.5 centimetres left-hand margins and
Bold headings. All assignments must be submitted
with a completed and signed cover sheet. Whenever
you use the ideas and arguments of other writers, you
must make reference to the writers and their work. By
MBA 6002 Corporate Finance
7
acknowledging the work of others, you avoid plagia
–
rism. The APA style requires a reference list at the end
of your assignment. It is arranged in alphabetical order
by author surname.
Assessment and Marking Criteria
The marksheet prepared for the assignments for this
unit allocates marks based on the processes adopted
by students in order to solve the practical problems
given, or the development of their answer for discus
–
sion questions. It is thus important to be clear in your
approach and be specific with your answer wherever
possible.
The most common error that students make when
responding to discussion questions is not answering
the specific question given. Instead, unfortunately
many students often write down everything they can
find about a particular topic, regardless as to whether
it is relevant to the actual question given. Where this
occurs, the student is generally only allocated a small
percentage of the total marks for the question (less
than 30% of the available marks).
Assessment and marking of your assignments will take
into account the:
correctness of your answer to the question or task
set;
clarity of detailing the processes by which you
arrived at your answer. Note that for each problem,
exercise or question, the majority of marks are
awarded where the correct process / analysis is
detailed, even if the final answer is not in accordance
with the co-ordinators suggested solutions;
overall presentation, including correct grammar,
spelling and punctuation;
comprehensive coverage reflecting engagement with
set readings, text(s) and other relevant unit materials;
and
appropriate referencing and acknowledgement of
sources.
