7024AFE Financial Decision Making CW1 Assignment Brief | MID-Semester Assessment

7024AFE Assignment Task

IMPORTANT

This assignment is a group presentation (four people from the same assessment and feedback class) using PowerPoint (maximum 20 slides) based on a company selected from the list provided below.

The tutor will provide a list of companies and students will select a group they wish to join. Students should not add their names to a group that already has four students in it unless they agree this with their tutor. A group will not be allowed to present if the company’s name does not agree with that on the list. Please refer to the Group Assessment Policy and Guide to gain more understanding about group-working experiences.

Your approach to this task must reflect your ability to carry out research, analyse and interpret the results of your calculations, understand key principles in financial and performance management and apply these to your chosen company.

7024AFE Assignment Detail:

• Based on the information from the published annual reports of your group’s chosen company, analyse the results of the company for a period of five years:

• Compute the five key categories of ratios, which include (1) profitability ratios, (2) liquidity ratios, (3) efficiency ratios, (4) capital gearing (leverage) ratios and (5) investors’ ratios. The computation must clearly show your working, which should be in the appendices at the end of your slides. Begin your profitability ratios with return on capital employed (ROCE) and tabulate your final answers for each category.
• Clearly demonstrate your ability to interpret and analyse your findings.
• Perform a vertical and horizontal analysis of the statement of profit or loss and the statement of financial position over the same five-year period used in the ratio analysis.

• Design a balanced scorecard to measure both its financial and non-financial performance, which should enable management of the chosen company to meet its strategic objectives. You should analyse the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard and evaluate the techniques used under the headings of Strategic objectives, Key performance indicators, Target performance level, and Summary action plan.
• Construct a strategy map, which shows the links to the four identified perspectives.
• Make recommendations to improve the company’s performance.

List of the companies you can choose from is provided below:

(1) Admiral Group plc; (2) Diploma plc; (3) Informa plc; (4) Mondi plc; (5) NatWest Group plc; (6) Next plc; (7) Phoenix Group Holdings plc; (8) Sage Group plc; (9) Severn Trent plc; (10) Whitbread plc.

7024AFE Submission Instructions:

• Prepare and deliver a group presentation (four people from the same assessment and feedback class) using PowerPoint (maximum 20 slides) on a company selected from the list provided above. You should include citations using APA referencing style for any research materials referred to and full workings of your financial analysis.
• Each member of the group MUST write a personal reflection (1 slide) on how they engaged with the group and with technology during the presentation preparation. The slide on individual reflection must then be followed by your references and appendices.
• Each member of the group MUST upload a copy of the same PowerPoint slides to the submission link in Aula before the due date, which you will find in Aula. The only difference in a group member’s submission is the personal reflection slide.
• Each member of the group MUST attend the presentation as well as submit a PowerPoint presentation to the submission link in Aula (or a mark of 0 will be awarded).
• You must dress smartly on the day of the presentation. Ensure you arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled time slot and wait quietly in the room until you are invited to present.

Assessed Module Learning Outcomes of 7024AFE 

MLO1 Critically discuss the functions and aims of financial management and the nature of financial decision-making within organisations.
MLO2 Evaluate the financial performance and position of a business using appropriate performance measures.

7024AFE Assignment Rubric

Below is the abridged rubric. The detailed rubric has been uploaded to the rubric repository.