[alfred]

Yes you can., I did mine , submitted in November, in December I attempted 3 exams and passed all

[alfred]

Congratulations to all those who passed. I know the feeling precisely having passed using this same platform in 2015

[alfred]

Hey , sure yes. Please ask

[alfred]

We shall always help . sure thing. though time may be a challenge

[alfred]

Latest News and Updates from OBU

“The Open Tuition team is delighted to announce that two of our students have confirmed that by using this Forum (T17) they not only managed to pass first time but they also achieved B grades: alfred in P29 and eminathsana in P30 (a Grade B was something awarded to only 12% of all P30 submissions). No only do we wish both of these students well for the future but hope that by using the T17 forum you too may be encouraged by their success and similarly be rewarded with a pass first time around when you submit.”

I saw this on the open tuition OBU face. This is amazing . Indeed my degree is all Open tuition, thanks @trephena

[alfred]

Hello @trephena and everyone working hard. I have been a bit quiet as working as auditor can really get to you during the busy season.

But am here now,. any help I will assist.

[alfred]

@ Eana. I think the idea of sub principles helps to tackle individual points in a more clear manner. I did split my principles which helped me to clearly bring out separate points more precisely

[alfred]

@Keith

I don’t know whether OT allows the review thing or if OBU would be comfortable with it as from my learning days with Trephena she stressed and actually also refused to review mine

However if I got you properly I submitted only one CG report

Alfred

[alfred]

@Trephena

Am so excited upto now. Actually I finished my ACCA and was in top ten in Uganda as well in top 100 globally

I will definately be interested in doing the online thing and helping out many other students not only Ugandans

Alfred

[alfred]

@Trephena,

Thank you, my heatfelt sincere thanks. I am so happy and really grateful for the support on this platform. I passsssssseeeeeeed with a B.

Guys submitting I keep my promise to OT, am here for you.

Trephena, thank you once again, OT thank you so much

@alfred

[alfred]

@trephena I wish I could contribute to this T17 platform but arrgg I don’t have the confidence till the results come in March

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena,

Thank you so much. I submitted my project. I felt chills as I submitted and especially on appendices when I were asked to reference my appendices like appendix 1- ratios, appendix 2- statements,, I really had only one appendix and i was not going to start changing at the final point

Before submission, I read your checklist and especially where you say why submit when you can defer to next period and submit a more better RAP- I just told my self- this is it -just submit

Otherwise thank you once again for your generous guidance. Hope all goes well

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena

I have observed my report has more kilo bytes than the recommended by OBU.

I think due to the many graphs (20) . How possible can I make it in the range for OBU

Thank you

[alfred]

@trephena

That was so timely

Thank you for your response, I badly needed it!

The final paragraph I was worried if am asking what I shoudn’t ask on the platform

Thank you

[alfred]

@trephena

I did get someone to review my work. However he is a general professional researcher, and he really tore my whole work into nothing. Am so low, actually he thinks better I redo most stuff if am to stand a chance.

I am thinking maybe our OBU research is a bit different from the conventional research many real researchers normally carry out.

Just a few of his observations which got me worried

1. Through out my report I quote the code provision, then I state what M&S is doing and put a graph where applicable then conclude in my own words e.g [age- what the code or eversheds report say on age, the age of MS board, and if MS age is young in line with the benchmark(evershed) , I conclude saying this is a sign of good governance, and I go on to Gender and I do the same thing and so on – till I make the general weighting against the code using all the items i have looked at aggregated under the four headings of the code

He thinks this is wrong as it doesn’t achieve the topic

2. He thinks I should have on every analysis I use two variables e.g board and stakeholders, especially I bring in stakeholders from the starting point of the analysis

3.Well I analysed governance in the first part of my report and then in the last part I looked into stakeholders ( Is this to worry me?)

4. Further he insists I should not have code quotations (instead I put like code section and I refer the marker to the appendix) e.g code (section A 1) without the quotation itself

5. All my graphs (about 14) use either Next or Debenham as comparator and FTSE100 , he really thinks that is not in order.
Instead I summarise the findings on the other companies and put them in a separate paragraph in information gathered. (Am I right by the way because I were arguing with him that in this report we dont have chapters, part 1 and part 2 has nothing to do with governance literature collected, I argued all the gathered information, the analysis and findings are presented through out the part 3, not specifically one section to contain gathered information and another part analysing – I really felt he is going to confuse me – actually because I had felt I had followed your guidance and most stuff is as you advised I took my work from him feeling may be research projects are different

6. My analysis parts are as per the code (Is it right to structure my analysis in Leadership and effectiveness, Accountability and audit, relations with shareholders)

5. The brookes website still say the submission is closed, any people who have submitted already

6. On a bright note had my presentation to my mentor whom I have had 3 meeting with though in all, meetings were brief and he didnt apart from listening to me do anything much for me like critcise.

Thank you so much

However in my queries above its more of what my report is, let me know if it is against platform rules as I want to be an ethical user of the platform otherwise am a bit confused with this review as it makes me appear as if I haven’t done any analysis.

Alfred

[alfred]

Hullo @trephena

Am feeling what I have now can be submitted, however as usual just a couple of things worrying me

1. I seem to have neglected the SLS, am now writing it up using the couple of meetings I had with my mentor( though he really never had time for this- i have pushed him so hard)

Am trying to use your checklist and am actually thinking of adding Tesco as one of the competitor comparative company in one of the areas to show how M&S is doing really well in addition of Next, Debenham and FTSE100 which I have all used as comparators

2. This from the information pack has really puzzled me ‘The slides should be designed to support the verbal presentation given by the student’ on the powerpoint slides. How do I do this. How best can one make the slides?

3. How does the project mentor approve my work, does he have to be with me at the point am submitting. Kindly let me know what he has to do in the process and what I ought to obtain from him in line with him confirming the RAP as mine ( he is clueless about the whole RAP process but he is a qualifying person I could get)

I have read the information pack about this but am avoiding chances, I need to hear from a your thought and advice on this

4. I have around 20 graphs, and 40 references though many of the references are online sources, how safe is it

Thanks so much

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena

Am getting a bit nervous as the submission period nears plus my last exams in Dec

I was going through ” what the marker’s comment mean” on the platform,have to say am pretty scared . it seems all sorts of little things make students fail.

I really failed to get some one to review my work. (my mentor is horribly busy) it sometimes gets tricky being in Uganda

However a few things

1. Most code citations in my report are direct from the code and they are many. do I put them all in quotation marks. I saw a student failed because he had too many direct quotes. am I in the same trouble

2.I have a graph of of share price movements copied and pasted direct from a source as a picture. can I worry about it.(its referenced)

3. I have a couple of tables analysing the code provisions and the company. Now they really were making my word count too big. so I removed them , anlysed the information in them into graphs and I intend to put them in the appendix.

I read in the pack and somewhere they say ‘in the appendix if the marker feels the information in there should have been in the body hence word count ‘ he will add it up to the body.

Am I safe with my tables in the appendix that form part of the information in the body.

4. Finally you talk of the the city code. what is it ? is it the UK code’s other name

Thanks so much

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena Thanks

Am doing final touches on my M&S report

It is becoming tougher than the actual writing.

Atleast am out of the basket of Tesco and Morrisons

By the way I know I asked this before but I didnt get it clearly. I have been using the UK corporate governance code 2012., Any thing wrong with that year as most references I have met have the code as 2010

Thanks once again , are you back from holiday?

[alfred]

Just a quick one before I internalise your response

Will you be in touch while in Italy??

During winter you can consider a holiday in Uganda

Alfred

[alfred]

@Trephena

Hope you are doing well

I am close to finishing however a few issues

I seem not to have a lot of writing on limitations in part 2 and conclusions in part 3.\
I actually have 2 to 3 lines on both. Is it dangerous?

I have a mentor with whom we have met twice, Is there anything I have to do like sending his CV and so on.

He has done ACCA himself and is a tutor at my college which is an ACCA approved learning centre

I told him that he will only need to confirm that it is my work when am submitting . Did I mislead him ? Do I have to send anything to OBU concerning my mentor prior to November?

I feel much as I have read the information pack my referencing might let me down.

Kindly guide me

I have used mainly pdf downloads for books , reports and items i have referenced

One monster is I was not recording the URLs I got them from

secondly I have been citing them not as online materials but as reports, or books i actually have

Is it really necessary f I download a book and cite it as a book I have read with out citing it as a website source.

e.g I downloaded Grant thornton report and I cite as (Grant Thornton, 2011) in text

in the references list I REFERENCE IT AS- Grant Thornton;,2011.corporate governance review 2011, London: Grant Thornton.

But I have a PDF softcopy of the Thornton report. Am I safe with this or strictly I look for the website and URL’s

I downloaded the UK corporate governance code by FRC though its 2012. Is it the correct publish year e.g all code citations are referenced as (Financial Reporting Council, 2012) or there is another year because i have seen some with 2010

Is it ok

Thanks so much

Alfred

[alfred]

@Trephena Finally it appears am not the only one doing topic 17

I have a couple of issues

1. In the pack on page 41, ‘you should include sample spread sheets as an appendix of formulae or data base queries’

How do I go about this

2. I had a strong arguement wit a coleague insisting I have to put a literature review. Really do I need it. I didnt see it in the Information pack and as far as I have worked on my RAP I dont have it . Is it necessary?

3. Is it ok to use I , me and my through out the report. e.g I carried out my research using…, MY evaluation was based…, Despite the report disclosing….. to ME its not satisfactory.

Thanks so much

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena

Thanks so much

Let me get down to adjusting what I have done

Goodday

[alfred]

Thanks so much Trephena;

My worries now grow. on top of doing this all alone -not sure if am doing it rightly first of all- now am going to trim for the word count huh! but let me try to get back to 7000 words atleast

one more small one, how many references do I need to produce a good report. I have about 15 with majority annual reports of MS and Next plc . would it show that i didnt research enough??

and i have used only 2013 and 2012 annual reports for analysis,. am i doomed!?? well with alittle 2014

Thanks so much

Oh yes its been rainy here in kampala too, but ofcourse in the tropics areas it rains and shines , so really it doesnt affect us so much, though in the rural poor it rains and sometimes landslides,, but this time we havent had acase

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena

Longtime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. How is the UK. Now am over 8000 words now, that is the MS word count.

Do I use this count or there is another way of counting words I have to do.

Regards

Alfred

[alfred]

@trephena

I have been a bit busy writing. My word count is around 3000 now.

However a few things worrying me.

If am referencing from let say the UK corporate governance code in text , do I put the whole name of the author e.g (Financial Reporting Council, 2012) or I can as well say (FRC, 2012)

In addition can I refer Marks and Spencer as M&S in my report. Its looking ridiculous writing marks and spencer now and again.

on the same line , can I refer the UK corporate governance code as The code to simplify over writing a long name.

2. When referencing books got in soft copy online as PDFs do I cite them normally as I would cite from a hard copy version or I cite the website I got it from?

this applies to journals and others which I obtain in pdf but they are soft copy

3.Debenham is an FTSE 250 and it is my comparator company, but I have just found out its FTSE 250. wont an FTSE 100 be a better and more suitable comparator than Debenham , say Next plc. can I change besides am struggling to bring in the comparator component in my evaluation.

Thank you and I passed all my papers for June 2014

Alfred

[Author]

Posts