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Hi JC, I am reading this and thanks for the kind words! It was a huge pleasure having you under my care. Your hard work paid off and now, I believe you have the confidence to tackle bigger analytical milestones in your career.
May this success further catalyze your career!
Hi Jerry, nice to see you hear and thanks for the kind words!
Actually, if not for the fact that it’s a resubmission (where the maximum grade is C), I think you would have scored higher as you had poured in much work in research and analysis.
Do hope you celebrate your success!Irwin
@pejz
@momot89
@lingling2000
@vasupuri
@acstaffordHello there,
Thank you so much for the kind words! It was our privilege to have been able to support your academic pursuits. We hope this degree will be a stepping stone to a fruitful career.
Congratulations also to Gillian for the great results! With your contribution to the industry, we can maintain the high standards that students deserve.
Greetings to all, from the friendly folks at The Learning Luminarium!
https://learningluminarium.com
Footnote from Gillian- Thank you TLL for your good wishes – I think we all need to thank OpenTuition too on behalf of our past students for giving us this platform so that future students can find quality mentorship. All the best to you!
@seerat
@meimeiheyear
@duttajoydipHello my friends,
Fantastic news to hear that you passed and thank you for the very kind words! To be awarded the degree is no mean feat, I could see the intensity and devotion you had so that your report is of the highest quality.Congratulations again and I trust that more than the degree, you also acquired mindsets and skills that prove integral for your future endeavours!
Thanks for sharing your experiences and being living examples of the firm’s motto to “Pass first time. Pass well.”Wishing you the very best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Ava,
Thanks for your pre-results testimonial (Its a delight to see a student so happy, even before the results are out!) It was a joy to mentor an earnest and hardworking student like you – our guidance and suggestions would not mean anything if you did not put in the hard work to act on them!All the best to your submission and do keep me posted on the results!
Wishing you the very best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Gabriella,
Thanks for the very kind review. I will remember you for a long time because I had rarely met someone who works full time, and had the discipline to dedicate so much time and effort to the project. The brilliant research you uncovered on Tesla and your analysis – it was a joy to be your mentor.
May the skills you picked up in this successful project, lead to greater success in the future!
Wishing you the very best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Lindatsai,
We occasionally chip into the forum here and will be glad to share what we know. Trephena has a lot of experience in this and she may add on further later.
Regarding Apple, general brand advertising will be used when you analyse the 4Ps of Apple (i.e. Promotion)
We have had many students who did Apple for the RAP. Usually, they select a product that can represent Apple. The product choice can be further justified by looking at the % of revenue derived from that product.
E.g. Choosing iPhone is fine. Choosing iPod is not so good.Thereafter the 4Ps will be mainly focused on the product itself, with occasional analysis on the general marketing etc
We hope this helps!
Best wishes,
Irwin
The Learning Luminarium@Reshma
@brandyzhang
@aklodas
@Rumbidzai
@leewenHello dear students! Thank you for the kind testimonials that you have provided. Coincidentally, all of you share the same profile of not being a full-time student. We clearly remember how tight your schedule is and how some of you had young kids to care for as well!
Regardless of the grades you got, we must compliment you for an amazing job in passing this project. All we did give our best in mentoring, as you rightly pointed out – the hard work is done by you 🙂
We trust this achievement sharpened your skills and brings you to closer to your goals! All the very best and thank you again.
Best wishes,
Irwin (and on behalf of Adrian too)
The Learning Luminarium@jusyeb
@kelvinb
@imaan
@simplehasanThank you so much for the kind words towards The Learning Luminarium. We are glad to have a small part in your academic success!
Kudos to you for all the hard work you placed within the program – you reap what you sow!May this degree bring you further towards your goals!
Wishing you the very best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Will,
This is a straightforward question – OBU expects students to generate their own ratios. Getting ratios from annual reports or platforms like Bloomberg is severely frowned upon as it gives no evidence that students are competent in calculating ratios.
Hope this helps!
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Imaan
Yes, this is a sticky situation indeed. OBU does not give a specific instruction on this and expects students to try to figure the best way forward.
There are a few possibilities
1) Just keep the periods as given by the annual reports and state clearly that it is a limitation. You should explore and explain how strong this limitation is though. Will the 9 months period be badly affected by seasonal effects (e.g. missing out the high-sales season?) Since we work on ratios, it could jolly well be that the time periods do not affect the ratios too much. (except sales growth ratio and it’s kind)
2) You could re-construct the financial report so that each year has 12 months. This would require using the quarterly reports though.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t wish to be excessively stressed over this because for topic 19, a large part of your analysis will be dedicated to the POST-MERGER. The pre-merger years are just to set the scene and have a benchmark on what the merger was to improve/accomplish.
All the best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumDear Vicky,
Covering for Trephena while she is away.
Out of respect for your relationship with your mentor, we will not be directly addressing all your research objectives/ question. Do allow us to give you general points that will still be very helpful.
During such moments of confusion, it is always clarifying to go back to the title of your report. The title will clearly show what PART 3 must accomplish.
The title of 17 is – Select an organisation that has been identified as having weak corporate governance structures within the past 5 years. Critically evaluate their corporate governance practices including an assessment of the origins of the corporate governance issue(s) and the organisation’s response.
Let’s dissect this
a) Critically evaluate their corporate governance practices
– You evaluate this by the use of a benchmark (e.g. UK or OECD code). You can also occasionally bring in a competitor to give a more localized perspective.b) an assessment of the origins of the corporate governance issue(s)
– How and why did the issues arise? Usually, this refers to deep rooted beginnings and some historical analysis has to be done here.
– Look at bigger picture issues such as culture, shareholder pressure etc
– Usually, the more significant the origins, the harder it is to solve the problem (e.g. it is hard to change a culture of corruption that existed for 10 years)
– Do not pin superficial blame on someone (e.g. the greedy, wicked CEO) because usually, the origins is more complicated than that. (e.g. why was the CEO allowed to make such decisions without being challenged?)c) assessment of ….. the organisation’s response.
– How did the organization respond? Was it sufficient? How can you tell if it is sufficient (e.g. did stakeholders approve of the measures? Did share price recover?)Do use these points to consider your Part 3. To reiterate, the examiner, after reading your part 3, must feel that you have fulfilled the needs of the TITLE of topic 17.
We hope this helps!
All the best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Shamshir
Sorry to hear this.
Yes, do submit your medical certificate to show cerebral palsy. Also, the email thread is useful.
You may wish to find past drafts of your report that shows you refining them along the way.There is not much real preparation that we suggest. Because when one has done his own work, he naturally will be able to answer any questions about it. Being overly prepared can make a person sound artificial and suspicious.
Just be yourself and explain your academic journey to them (assuming they have a video call with you)All the best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariesHi mygenoa,
That is a rare situation indeed.
To my understanding, as long as you resubmit, a resub statement is needed. The reason is that for the SLS, the examiner would have given reasons for failure. The statement would explain how you addressed the critical points the examiner raised.
All the best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Scarlet,
No, use the focus company’s most recent set of audited annual accounts (31/03/17) and you will be fine. They will not penalize you for ignoring 2017.
All the best,
Irwin
The Learning Luminarium@kotesh – Thank you for the kind testimonial! I remember the nights that you burned through just to get the report up to the desired quality. I also enjoyed the cut and thrust as we debated certain points 🙂
It was my privilege to have been your mentor. Congrats on the A.
@Jennyj – For a young, full time student, I am immensely proud of the academic maturity that you had. And how you did not give up despite the challenges you faced in addressing the inexperience you had.
You fully deserved the A grade. Do have a great celebration!Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Nhongo,
1) different year ends are fine. Just recognize it as a limitation of your report.
2) The information pack discusses whether you should use the annual reports and when is the cut off date that OBU uses (ie after this date, you can ignore the annual report releases)
Best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Malikazzam,
Let me try to see if we can help.
1) Currency issues are considered quite secondary within the report. The ratios used will be fine. There are some rare occasions where analysis of the currency itself is meaningful – eg a devaluation of the currency or a surging of the currency. You could then examine how competitiveness and profitability was impacted.
2) yes, to find a good competitor for Nestle is difficult. In fact, it may be argued that you have to just find the closest fit (ie the best of the worst). If you can isolate Unilever’s food division, that would be good. If not, have you thought of other companies like Mondelez?
3) limitation of information available usually refer to the inherent limitations from doing secondary research. They include things like objectivity of sources, reliability of facts etc
We hope this helps!
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi @sonimaina
1.Use the models discussed in Part 2 to analyse your results in Part 3
2. From the quote given, I can deduce at least two possible problems:
1) Your claims are not backed up by any information collected
2) You failed to analyse sufficiently the problems you have presented. Ask yourself: does this apply to ALL employees? Are there differences in motivation for different groups of employees?3.There is no need for an ‘Abstract’ or ‘Literature Review’; these are a waste of word count. – I think this is fairly self-explanatory.
4. Avoid direct quotations as far as possible. All interviews conducted should be presented in the appendix and cited in your RR as you make reference to them.
5. A spreadsheet must be submitted, demonstrating the formulae used. (to collect your findings. Please read the latest infopack)
6.The results of the work should be shown on the slides: please summarize your findings more effectively. The process of completing the report is not required. (You are only required to present your analysis found in Part 3. Again, please read the infopack. This would have been avoided if you had referred carefully to the latest infopack. Do also read the resubmission guide released by OBU).
I hope this helps!
Adrian
The Learning LuminariumHi @Hieund
Trephena is on her break, and we are helping her answer as many queries as we can:
1. Yes, the non-financial analysis should generally come first before the financial analysis. That would mean moving SWOT and PESTEL up front before your ratio analysis.
2. There is no need to make any changes to your SLS. Please see 5.b of the infopack.
3. Even though other areas are not explicitly stated, you should look through to see if you can improve. We know of a student who failed his second submission after adjusting his project only for the problems pointed out in his first mark sheet.
4. A close benchmark is usually good practice. The ratios of a milk company would compare best with another company that makes only milk.
5. If you are submitting within 4 periods of your original submission, there is no need to update your financial statements. Please see 5.b of the infopack.
I would consult the infopack and the resubmission information package before working on your project. These are essential readings. Remember to diversify your sources of information – relying largely on the financial statements of the company is a very common reason for failure. For SWOT and PESTLE, showing how the company reacted to the different factors you have identified, and quantifying the impact (wherever possible) would help a lot. For example, if you could show that environmental concerns have led to the company using a larger proportion of renewable energy, which saved them $Xm dollars a year in operating expenses, that would be an attempt for you to link PESTLE with your financial analysis.
All the best!
Hi @00kingduem
If you have not used any formulae in your spreadsheet, that is a reason for failure. That means that you have not shown that you are capable of using the basic functions of a spreadsheet.
You could seek a clarification on why the mark sheet refers to your “lack of a spreadsheet” by emailing them. I don’t think your result would be overturned on appeal due to the reason I have mentioned earlier though. Hope this helps!
Adrian
The Learning Luminarium3. No, the portions that you leave unchanged, it will not be penalized by OBU. In fact, if the examiner did not criticize them, it means that they generally are fine and can be left as such. Of course, as earlier mentioned, after you made the needed changes based on the examiners comments, you would want to read through the report again and see that it is still consistent in logic. Any big flaws in earlier writings should also be addressed.
4. To use an unlisted firm as a competitor is not encouraged. A milk company will work best as it has the same business model and margins. If one really can’t be found, then a food company (which sells some milk) will have to be a substitute.
Cheers,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Kernowkid
For Strategy readings, we suggest going straight to the original authors, where possible. For example, why quote from other sources on Porter’s 5 Forces, when the student should be reading Porter himself?
As for ratio analysis, you could just search for a reputable source that could come from consultancies (like McKinsey or Deloitte), banks or universities.
All said, we do hope you have selected a well-known company such that there is an abundance of information on it’s business. Some lesser known companies have very little public information, making it difficult to conduct analysis such as a SWOT.
It is better to look beyond your ACCA textbooks as over-reliance on the ACCA textbooks may signal to the examiner that the student is not comfortable and familiar with research skills.
All the best,
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumHi Dave,
Sorry to hear the bad news. I do hope that your next attempt is successful!
Actually, this extensive thread has a lot of information based on the experiences of others. We would suggest that you look through it, it will be helpful for sure.
If an issue isn’t addressed in this thread, feel free to raise it up, just like how the others did!
We will then do our best to give an answer!
Irwin
The Learning LuminariumOBU has clearly stated that we only need to work on areas that received a FAIL grade.
As such, you can keep the report as it is and only make changes that effect:
1) the showing of IT Skills
– a spreadsheet has to be done. As you are tackling Topic 20, it is understandable that there isn’t a lot of opportunities to use a spreadsheet.
– However, for this topic, you can still use the spreadsheet to show changes in profits, stock price, % of CSR expenditure / Sales etc
– do remember to use excel formulas as you do the spreadsheet. Do not calculate them manually in a calculator and then key it into the spreadsheet.
– creating graphs based on numbers in your spreadsheet also is counted as IT skills.
– finally, if you have to add more numbers/ratios so as to better show your IT skills, you then have to make the corresponding changes/analysis in the RAP as well.2) the showing of Communication skills
– this is simpler. Based on your research findings, you would have had conclusions within your RAP.
– place the conclusions in your RAP, in your presentation as well.We hope this answers your questions!
Your friendly mentors,
Irwin
The Learning Luminarium
