‘OBU Marker-Speak’ - What the Marker Feedback really meant…

Please what are the sort of things i am likely to read in the chairman statements to enable me to use my PEST and SWOT model.

@vatsalverma and @kedoskill - I suggest you read my article on Evaluation and Analysis on our homepage www.opentuition.com/obu Although I couldn't go into a great deal of detail I have tried to show how you you link strategies and factors from the business environment when evaluating performance. Work that is 'descriptive' tends to merely describe the movements in trends e.g. the net profit has increased by 3% in 2015.... the current ratio has gone down to 1.03. Such comments do not EXPLAIN anything the marker couldn't see for them selves from the graphs and other statements of 'the obvious' such as the gross profit margin has increased because sales have risen (or because costs have decreased) are likely to lead to a fai. Instead research a bit deeper -what plans have the management outlined in their reports or highlighted on the investor relations website presentations? Maybe they mentioned new models and products, entering new markets or targeted marketing -all of these may account for increased sales. Inflation, currency rates and economic factors may have influenced costs and strategic decisions (which products to drop, which to push) and which markets to focus on. Liquidity is often linked to repayment of loans and new share issues and in turn raising capital may be linked to expansion plans. Commenting on these types of factors so that the marker feels you have thought about what lies behind the numbers is more likely to be passed as it adds value.

Please where can I find the data to use for my pestle factors for topic 8

@kedoskill said: Please where can I find the data to use for my pestle factors for topic 8

research, this is the assignment. Just look around, what political, economic, social etc factors effects the company

My RAP is passed but failed SLS with the follow comments: Reasons for fail and advice for improvement: Your emphasis in the Skills and Learning Statement is too descriptive of events, and shows too little evaluation of your self-development during the course of constructing your Research Report. You should consider your Strengths and Weaknesses which became apparent during the Research Project. Which parts of the Project came naturally to you? Why did you find these easy to accomplish - prior learning, practice, advice from teachers, colleagues, friends, relatives etc? Which parts did you find difficult? How did you manage to overcome these difficulties - internet research, text books, advice from teachers, colleagues, friends, relatives etc? Discussion based around your strengths and weaknesses should allow you to demonstrate evidence of self-reflection. Do i need mentor again?

hi, can any1 please guide me what i need to do know, do i have to prepare whole report or just spread sheet, i have pass my all elements of rap except IT. marker comments Reasons for fail and advice for improvement. You have prepared a nicely written and well researched report. Well done for this. Please include a spreadsheet showing all your workings on resubmission and I am confident resubmission will be successful. Please note that you are currently over the word limit of 7,500. The word limit includes all words within the graphs and charts in your project. Please address this on resubmission as this could lead to another fail. Please also note that the annual report for 2015 is now available and you will need to update your report for these results on resubmission.

You have do precisely what the marker has highlighted. You will need to update your report to ensure that it complies with the rule on the latest financial statements and also ensure that your Conclusion falls within the 7,500 word limit as well as uploading a spreadsheet. I suspect from the marker comments you have a few diagrams / tables that have been embedded as images (which the MS word count does not pick up) and the marker is warning you here to edit your work. Although it would appear that you have only marginally failed, when you resubmit the next marker reads the previous feedback and if it has not been complied with fully, will be instructed to fail it again, so just do what they have told you to do if you want to pass!

thats mean i have to recalculate ratio and explain them again in my rap. new spread sheet with full explaination from start again. Is that right?

thats mean i have to recalculate ratio and explain them again in my rap. new spread sheet with full explaination from start again. Is that right? or just ratio calculation with working on spread sheet.

@Yulim have you submitted an excel sheet with financial statement extract and excel formulae? according to my knowledge for T18 appendices is really not required, but a submitted excel sheet is a must, as it is stated in the info pack

@trephena said: STUDENTS ARE ADVISED NOT TO SHARE WORK. You could find that someone else uses it, attempts to sell it, reproduces it and ultimately you could find yourself under investigation from the OBU Academic Conduct Office YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Is there any provision in the academic regulation of OBU that I can't give my work to a friend for reference purposes?

Collusion. Every session about one in 10 students end up as ACO cases. OBU produces lots of advice in the Information Pack and if you register as a mentee on their mentoring website (which is free of charge) there are a lot of resources there (as well as advice on here of course) so there should be no need to share work. Not only is the student who uses the work of another student guilty of collusion so is the original student. I have heard of several retrospective investigations by the ACO - i.e. students who had passed previously can have the pass (and even the degree) withdrawn. So only a total fool would share their work.

hi, > can you please explain me what i need to do for my Rap re submission as i failed my information technology question only, now they saying to show spread sheet working etc. Do i need to complete my RAP from zero i.e. explaining ratio in details or just spread sheet recalculation of ratio and working on spread sheet etc will do. > > marker comments are; > You have prepared a nicely written and well researched report. Well done for this. Please include a spreadsheet showing all your workings on resubmission and I am confident resubmission will be successful. Please note that you are currently over the word limit of 7,500. The word limit includes all words within the graphs and charts in your project. Please address this on resubmission as this could lead to another fail. Please also note that the annual report for 2015 is now available and you will need to update your report for these results on resubmission. do i need to do whole rap again or just work sheet. please if any1 can help.

Why are you asking this again when I answered it previously? (please see above)

Sorry for leaving comment in wrong topic! I was seeking advice for this issue. but It seems that I was misguided by my mentor because I realised that the uploading excel spreadsheet is compulsory for all the topics....OMG Those are the only marker's feedback that I've got now. Can I prepare the excel spreadsheet only and upload same rap with no change? I passed all the elements except those two criteria. (i passed sls&ppt also) -Hi, I failed my first attempt :(…….I have passed all 4 criteria of techinical and professional skills as well as 1 of the graduate skills which is ‘communication’. I failed in IT skills and information gathering&reference criteria in graduation skills. The marker commented that “Please include extract of the financial statement in your appendices” as a feedback for info gathering&reference and also commented “You have not included a spreadsheet as required by the RAP guidelines. I would suggest that you take the financial information convert it into a spreadsheet and show the results and formulae used to calculate them” as the reason of failure in IT skills. However I chose topic 18 which is marketing related and also I was guided by mentor that no appendices will be required to this kind of topic. Besides, I also provided sufficient tables and graphs in my analysis itself with full reference….. Is it possible to appeal? If it is possible how can I appeal to obu? I’m seeking your kind advice. Thank you.

No you can't just load a spreadsheet unless you want another fail. You have failed information gathering and referencing so you need to ensure that you have referenced correctly. I can't tell from the feedback but either this is rushed marking and the marker needed to elaborate further but didn't, or the marker is being a nit-picker and instead of just failing you on IT decided to extend it. Either way you need to do everything you can to ensure you pass next time to avoid yet another resubmission fee (which will be GBP 250 for Period 34). I would have expected for T18 that you would need to have some up to date information about trends in market share and possibly marketing costs to revenue (or as a percentage of profit) in your report. So you could produce these as graphs and upload the spreadsheet. This might require a little updating in the RAP where you comment on the significance of the latest figures. Upload the relevant financial information as a separate file. As a separate exercise I would also check the referencing to be on the safe side. As well as checking plagiarism Turnitin also matches student work to the previous submission so a marker would be able to see immediately exactly how much new work you have added!!!

What about this comment: "Your research report was too good to fail!"

Hi Rizhawk, Did the examiner really say that? What was the context? Some markers are known to make wry comments. The Learning Luminarium

@learningluminarium said: Hi Rizhawk, Did the examiner really say that? What was the context? Some markers are known to make wry comments. The Learning Luminarium

Kind of that He mentioned my research was interesting and contained a range of high level of analysis but he couldn't understand because it was too difficult and it took much time to understand for him/her so he/she didn't bother to understand wasting his/her time. So he/she failed me.

Have anyone heard about successful academic appeal against failed grade in RAP?

Please also reply to my question.. I have passed SLS presentation but not the other part (Self reflection) i do not agree with examiner comments at all (i have posted on page number 7, please read) He said i have not mentioned my weakness, where i did mentioned like i was not aware about "reference, quantum of work,knowledge gather etc" I am not sure that what I am going to write again in my SLS report as it is perfect ( i know i failed it but its just perfect) My question is, do i need to pay mentor again and see him again when i will submit the new copy of SLS in November? I am also planning for appeal, do you think it will help like i will submit my SLS and highlight the area which examiner says have not reflected in my SLS?

@rizhawk- On our end, we have not heard of any. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. What you have said about the examiner comments does seem quirky. Unless he means that you have unnecessarily complicated the report.

@handsome 1) you can speak about other personal weaknesses like a lack of industry exposure, lack of work experience, lack of analytical skill set etc 2) no, you do not need to pay a mentor to see him again. But you do need him to sign off the report. Many do it for free for their students who submitted and failed. 3) yes, if you can, you should highlight in your appeal on the points that you would like to emphasize. All the best, The Learning Luminarium

I passed SLS but failed the RR in P32. Do I need to keep in touch with my mentor or seek his permission to resubmit? Is there anything I need to do besides remedy the deficiencies in order to ensure I can resubmit successfully?

@saberhagen- there is no need for you to be in touch with the same mentor again. You will need a mentor to sign off the resubmission though. And usually, we suggest you approach the same mentor as he is familiar with your work already and may sign off for free. Of course, if you are unhappy with your mentor and wish to change her/him, there's no problem with that. But the costs will likely be higher as the new mentor has to familiarize himself with your work. That is time consuming. Finally, to pass for your resubmission, OBU has been clear that you need to specifically address the feedback given. Things that were not commented by them can be assumed to be ok. Of course, if there are more recent financials, you should update them too. A good mentor will help you to interpret the comments and also give suggestions that improve the quality of your resubmission. All the best, The Learning Luminarium

@far123 said: Hi Trephena, Firstly I would like to thank you for all your help you are and have been offering to hundreds of clueless student like myself. Secondly, this was my first submission and unfortunately I failed in 3 parts as follows: 1. Application of accountancy/business models (FAIL) Your application of your Porters 5 forces model is weak. A lot more could have been made of Power of Customers and Threat of Substitutes given Tesco's problems within the UK. There is little sign of referenced research in this section. 2. Evaluation of information, analysis and conclusions (FAIL) Beyond your section on sales growth your financial analysis is little more than a description of ratio movement. This is not analysis, you need to be researching the way business decisions and strategies of the company have affected the results taking into account the effect of competitors, the market, the economy and government decisions. This research should provide your analysis and should be referenced on a consistent and regular basis throughout your RAP. 3. Information gathering and referencing (FAIL) I understood what marker meant under this area. Trephena, any ideas on how can I research on porters 5 forces analysis on parts mentioned by examiner are welcomed. And regarding failure no. 2 other than sales growth analysis I could not find anything else other than to compare ratios with comparator and concluding good or bad. Considering markers comments please outline what I should be looking for. Thank you again.

I can tell you if we could swap marker perhaps both of us would pass. My marker commented I have not used sufficient accounting ratios while I used six of them. :(

@far123 - First I assume you are doing Topic 8?? Secondly I suspect that your evaluation relied on talking about differences rather than researching what really lay behind them. Thirdly I am not a particular fan of using Porter's 5 F's as the main model as I think a good SWOT and PEST are far more useful for Topic 8. These models would also aid your evaluation and analysis section. Begin your Part 3 by spending time applying these models well. Here is some ACTUAL marker feedback which tends to sum up the approach and what is expected to pass the Assessment Criteria for 3: "The role of evaluation and analysis in the RAP is to research sufficiently from a variety of sources using trade and industry articles as well as the financial statements so that you can present a balanced view of the company performance. You need to discuss and explain rather than present descriptive statements and you must use supporting references to add validity. Start the findings section with the models and if you read the CEO/directors' reports for the 3 years of your study (or possibly also the year before your first year of the study too) you will probably be able to see how the factors from the models have influenced management decisions (how they have built on strategic advantages for example) and how these decisions and the environmental factors have impacted on the results. This will give you a much stronger basis on which to conduct appropriate analysis.Try to link your SWOT /PESTLE factors to the financial analysis as ratios on their own without proper explanations of what has actually driven the changes in the movements is insufficient to pass the evaluation and analysis assessment criteria. Use graphs to show the movements and your words to provide the detailed reasons and factors that lie behind them rather than just describing increases and decreases and making obvious comments about differences between the two companies." You will be expected to discuss the trends in revenue, gross and net / operating profit, liquidity (remembering that retail organisations have to carry significant stock on their shelves or there would be nothing for customers to buy!!), gearing and investor ratios. Don't make textbook type comments - research to find definite reasons. In relation to Tesco there has been a lot of commentary in the business press so you need to supplement your work with this not just rely on the annual reports to make obvious comments. Also read my article on Evaluation & Analysis on our homepage www.opentuition.com/obu Note: @rizhawk - it is not how many ratios it is how appropriate they are and how well they are evaluated. Rather than be embittered about your marker (it sounds as though you and your friend should both be ACO cases anyway) I suggest it would be far more constructive if you learned to move on! Do what I suggest above instead of trying to defend work that a marker and moderator both found weak.

Dear OBU mentors, I failed in my first attempt in P32 and I'm updating my RAP for resubmission on P33. I have some questions to be clarified. Please give advice to me. I choose T18, and here is my failed criteria and the marker's feedback. <Information gathering and referencing> -fail Please include extracts of the financial statements in your appendices <Information Technology> -fail You fail in this section as you have not included a spreadsheet as required by the RAP guidelines. I would suggest that you take the financial information convert it into a spreadsheet and show the results and formulae used to calculate them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seems that I failed because I didn't upload any excel spreadsheet and annual reports as appendices. So I'm trying to edit RAP based on marker's feedback. My question is: 1. Most of my RAP includes much more marketing related explanation rather than calculations and numbers. The only part that I used calculation is the increase/decrease of company's financial performance during certain period of time. So I made tables and graphs in excel by extracting financial information from published annual reports. I calculated the results by using excel function so that the formulae can be appear like [@2015-@2013]/@2013. Am I correct in following the marker's feedback which is given in IT part? 2. Can I rename the file of company's annual reports like 'my name_appendix 2,3,4..' and upload as appendices? 3. How can I reference annual report for the tables and graphs made in excel? Can I just write ' Source: Appendix 2' in one of any cells under the relevant table and graph? 4. In order to make my report up-to-date, I used additional annual report which is published in Feb 2016. Is it acceptable according to OBU's 90 days rule? 5. I'm going to upload 2 annual reports (pdf files) which were downloaded from company's website and each report has many pages around 60. Should I upload these in full and state relevant page number when I reference? Also, do I still need to reference annual report in reference list?

It is true that some topics have less scope for numerical content than others. However as you are supposed to be assessing the effectiveness of the company's marketing strategy I would expect some data on market share and also a few ratios related to marketing costs e.g. marketing costs as a percentage of revenue or as a percentage of operating profit. If you put these graphs in your report and have a spreadsheet that shows the calculations and the graphs constructed from these that will be sufficient. Uploading this in Excel with be adequate evidence - you don't need to upload the whole annual report- just reference the graphs to them and show the Income statement and balance sheets (you can copy and paste these financial statements into ithe Excel file or use a pdf file for JUST these statements - the whole annual reports would exceed the file limits so you won't be able to upload them anyway) The name of the file is irrelevant as long as it is in Excel format and within it shows some calculations and their formulas + graphs Data should be recent but the 90 day rule relates ONLY applies to T8 & T15

Hi, After I read the comments for failed SLS, to ensure I understand it correctly, I have three questions. Also, can you give me some comments? Thanks Skills & Learning Statement Graduate Skills 8. Self Reflection Fail Reasons for fail and advice for improvement: Q 1 is unfortunately largely descriptive of the events that transpired at the 3 mentor meetings. What you need to do is to look at these events and point out whether either before or after the process you were able to take advantage of strengths you already had or were able to erode possible weaknesses you might otherwise have had by having the 3 meetings. What did you learn? This needs to be the focus. Q 2 you should look at specifically the initial research objectives you outlined of which you had 4 and seek to assess whether you were able to fully meet them in the course of completing your report. This can be both positive and negative points of consideration. It isn't though enough just to relate what you did without any insights on your part. Here you spoke generally about them and not about the specifics of each of them. Q 3/4 were done to a level that you would pass. Questions 1: Does this mean that I do not need to change the content of Q3/4? Do I only need to focus on Q1 and Q2? 9. Communication Skills (inc Presentation) Fail Reasons for fail and advice for improvement: Your presentation starts with limited indication of what you are trying to investigate as there is no mention of your project objectives and you just launch straight into financial analysis. This means the audience would be confused at the start of the presentation as to what you were actually trying to do. You need to update the presentation to reflect this fact. Question 2: “You need to update the presentation to reflect this fact.” Does it mean I only need to update and improve the PPT presentation slides, or need to do presentation to mentor again? When I presented this last time, I have briefed my finding orally at the start but did not add it into the start of PPT slides, as I put all finding on conclusion at the end of PPT slides. I will fix the problem. Question 3: when I resubmit the SLS, I only need to summit the SLS, Presentation slides and resubmission statement, correct?