General Queries Topic 8

This has been discussed dozens of times on our forum – a three month difference is not an issue at all for the current Topic 8 business sectors (and only potentially affects industries where the operations are affected by seasonal fluctuations e.g. airlines, hotels etc.)

Any one here Pls help me out?
“i have been following this platform, its been great here ,the way questions are answered.
i am working on my Rap , on topic 8 ICB classification 2730( electrica goods ). i am from Pakistan, and really facing trouble in choosing competitor. My main company is Siemens Pakistan. i was working on Johnson&Philips as a competitor but problem is this company is in loss since last 5 years, and some one told me that comparison will not be fair.
it will be really helpful if some can tell me which company i can use as competitor of Siemens Pakistan.
waiting for the reply as deadline is getting near.
any one doing Rap on the same sector in Pakistan ?”
thanks

Hello Trephena!

For topic 8:
1- My mentor has told me to do the following: Profitability ratios (revenue growth, GP margin, NP margin and Return on Equity), Liquidity ratios (current and quick ratios) and Investor ratios (EPS and Price/earnings ratio). I wanted to do gearing ratios as well but that would be 10 ratios then and he says that would be too many ratios for the words. What do you suggest?

2- Some ratios I’ve copied from Financial Statements in the appendices sheets (e.g company given EPS). Some I’ve calculated myself from the figures (e.g gross profit margin). For P/E ratio I’ve taken figures from internet as well as financial statements (e.g closing stock price of company at a certain date taken from yahoofinance). How do I give reference for these sources? In excel sheet by making a column named “sources” next to the ratios calculated? and I will have to reference manually (unlike in RAP where MS.Word’s own “insert citation” function takes all details and then generates reference list automatically when you want) so how do I provide references in the external reference list for the citation sI’ve given in MS.Excel sheet (do I make a new heading in reference list for the seperate document or what) It will be great if you please refer me to a sample/example for this (in-text and external citation for ms. excel).

abidaca1 – first thank you for giving some advice to another student – these forums are not intended to be just for moderators answering questions – the spirit is that anyone who can offer good advice and help other students is most welcome to respond.

Regarding your ratios I think you should have some commentary on gearing. It is not always particularly relevant to do both the current and quick ratio unless there is a lot of stock, so you could do just the current ratio if you feel 10 is enough. (It is not a case of how many ratios should be in the report but more their relevance and having good explanations).

When it comes to referencing your ratios: Many companies often summarise about the last 5 years worth of signficant ratios in one table if you have taken some straight from the annual report like this you could write Source: Annual report XYZ 20XX and give a page number. Alternatively you could also copy and paste the table have it as an Appendix and refer the reader to the appropriate appendix. Investor ratios involving share prices are normally taken from the local stock exchange so you could show the source under the graph in the report, or perhaps as a separate subheading in your spreadsheet if you include this information at the bottom of the spreadsheet. (Web addresses in the report text are not acceptable however immediately under a graph introduced by the word ‘Source’ would be permitted),

With referencing the marker is trying to ascertain that you know the basic rules on referencing. Normally just referencing to the Annual report in the report for most ratios will be sufficient as if you have calculated these from figures in the financial statements your formulae should show this in the spreadsheet. (Remember you are expected to have a spreadsheet that shows you have used formulae)

hey thank u , but i asked obu about PEL they said it doesnt fall in 2730 sector.

You obviously have word count issues so your words are better used elsewhere as you note. Recommendations are only really appropriate for topics where you work for the organisation and have usually collected primary data.

Your conclusion should summarise how your findings met the research objectives.

Another good place to start cutting words is Part 1 -as a former marker I can tell you we are not really bothered why you chose the topic (in spite of whatever it might say in the info pack) so you do not need to elaborate much -save all the deliberation and discussion about how it met your skill set for the SLS instead!

Hi Katie

You ask some interesting questions. It is a business and financial analysis and for that reason I think private hospitals would be more appropriate than NHS ones (for example how are you proposing to calculate the gearing ratio?) or perhaps you have selected two private organisations?? Or if of course, you have connections to the particular Trust you are looking at, it might be possible to find detailed information relating directly to it. Otherwise although you have some good ideas I think you might find it rather challenging to obtain sufficient information.

Another fear here is that although your proposal to look at the impact on the economy, which in principle is commendable, as this probably really needs an in depth look at NHS funding, whether part way you might find through that you may have bitten off more than you can chew for a 7,500 word RAP.

As a former experienced OBU RAP marker I have to say that personally I think the current prescribed industry sectors for Topic 8 (and 15) are rather dire and generally not very inspirational and did wonder why you had landed on Topic 8. You are obviously a diligent student and thought about what is involved in the report but I can’t help thinking you would find it easier (and probably more satisfying) doing an alternative topic that would offer you more scope to get a good grade more readily and develop your thinking skills.

Good luck though!
Gillian

Hi, looking for a little advice!

Basically I was really enthusiastic about doing topic 2 and my tutor seemed really supportive of it at my first meeting – I had lots of ideas but needed some guidance on whether they addressed the topic but apparently she cant actually give me any help just point me in the direction of ‘helpful advice’. As such when I voiced my concerns I was greeted with ‘Fill in the template for topic 8 and see if you have any gaps or issues’ so basically she’s told me to do topic 8.

My employer also agreed to fund my course for doing topic 2 (or one considered useful to the business) so now doing topic 8 means I’m self funding.

Okay I took that on the chin given that I do not want to fail and I work full time with 2 young children under 5 so I have my hands full.

I have literally spent about 2 hours a night looking for companies and suitable competitors etc and I think I have found two but have the following issues.

The subject company is listed and the competitor is not – is this an issue given I wont be able to therefore compare the share price.

The competitor has a different year end (which I gather is not an issue) however the last set of accounts is for a longer period! – Is this a major issue given that ratio’s on the balance sheet show a point in time? Are profitability ratios still okay as they should average out still?

I have my second meeting on 15th March so I need to have made some decisions and put pen to paper in the next 6 days to supply my drafts of section 1 and 2 to my tutor 48 hours before.

I’m aware that the topic probably isn’t right for me but I’m worried it’s too late in the day to switch again given I put in lots of hours on topic 2 before it was rejected.

How did anyone who previously submitted do in the end? From the thread I understand people are having the same issues.

I’m also struggling with which research questions to choose given that I’m not really interested in the industries! – I know they limit the industries to make it more difficult but I do feel that it isn’t a good idea because there would probably be more enthusiastic students out there if they could choose something they were interested in. I love the topic area just not the sectors! I would much rather use players in the industry that I’m involved in for interest and development.

Thanks

Oh dear Rebecca! This is such a shame you should be semi-enjoying producing your RAP not hating it right from the start. As a former marker I know that very few students submit on Topic 2 and unfortunately when it comes to choosing a topic, if your RAP is going to be successful, sometimes you have to stand back and consider not just what interests you but also what information is available.

I think the current industry sectors for Topic 8 are dire and because I believe that a mentor and the student are in this together and both should derive a sense of achievement personally I have refused to mentor for T8. I really don’t know what to advise at this stage – is there any possibility that you could defer to Period 39 and you choose a better topic – Topics 17,18 and 20 are all far more exciting than dull and boring Topic 8 (or would the mentor then want to charge you for deferring?)

I am a bit appalled that you shelled out GBP 575 before you had actually settled on the topic and organisation as it is vital that you should have been happy about the topic before parting with your money (and a reputable mentor should have talked this through with you BEFORE expecting you to hand over your hard earned cash*).

If I were having to do Topic 8 I would go for Canadian company Barrick Mining and their US rival Newmont Mining – both are in gold mining and I suppose that and diamond mining are about as exciting as it gets for this current lot of prescribed industry sectors. Good luck!

*(PS I am not touting for business here as I have actually closed my list for new students for P38 as I already have sufficient)

This is a nuisance and there is no hard and fast rule. It depends to a point on why they were restated and what was restated. You will need to work round it and point out any significant differences working with the latest figures. Any no, by way of example if doing 2016 – 2018 and 2017 were restated you would use the comparative figures in the 2018 annual report

Hi Trephena (and fellow OBU students!) – I have selected HCA health as my main co and UHS Inc as my comparator, both are holding cos and own and operate hospitals through their subsidiaries and as such will need to conduct my analysis on the consolidated statements. However, HCA is a lot larger in terms of the number of hospitals they own and operate and they also have other services which UHS does not. Further, UHS has more behavioural health hospitals than acute care hospitals unlike HCA. Would it be ok to compare these two orgs in this situation.
Please please please help me with this. I would be immensely grateful! thank you in advance!

No you don’t have to use the 2018 financial statements