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thanks a lot. If i use my own words to explain stuffs from annual report using the ratios provided in such report. Do I have to refer?
BTW can you give me the link for your referencing article
Hi Mjeeshan,
Yes you will still have to cite your sources. OBU wants to know that what you say can be supported by sources of evidence. This is crucial to pass.
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It should be without “inverted commas” right?
To cite refers to the practice of referencing, placing (author, year) at the end of your sentences where external information was utilised.
You should rephrase your information extracted. So yes, they should not have quotations marks, and should be rephrased in your own words.
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Thanks a lot LearningLuminarium 🙂
Hi,
Unfortunately I failed in few areas of the project. I am currently working on fixing the issues. However, I found one the marker’s comments confusing.1) Presentation of the project findings
“The presentation of the report appeared promising at first with attractive front and content pages; standardisation of fonts; smart headers and footers. Disappointingly, however, this impression was spoilt by blank line spacing (e.g. beginning of pages 6 & 7), partially missing section headers (e.g. Part 2, p9; Part 3, p19); headers at the end of a page and related information on the next (p28/29; p30/31).”Note: I couldn’t find the above mentioned mistakes in my version of the report. Is there a specific version of MS word to be used in writing the report? I used the 2013 version and the alignment and spacing might change if it is viewed from an older version of the software. Please guide me on how to fix this mistake.
@Rishi -Mmmm… that is puzzling sounds as though the problem may have been the marker’s end. I would mention it in your Resubmission statement and comment that the formatting seemed fine when you checked this but can only conclude that perhaps this was affected by the configuration of the marker’s PC and you are therefore not sure how you can correct it.
(Normally in my experience markers only fail Section 4 on its own if the presentation of the data is really bad e.g. all text and few graphs, lack of a proper structure and inadequate use of headings/ subheadings – so as long as you correct your other deficiencies in your work and mention the issue with the viewing and configuration as suggested just chill on this one 🙂 )
2. Application of accountancy/business models
Reasons for fail and advice for improvement:
PESTLE and SWOT Business Models are included at the start of the analysis with very little referencing. In order to meet the criteria for application of the business models the use of references is essential and these should include some references from sources that are relatively unbiased such as journals and electronic articles other than Company reports.So my application is ok? its just i do not use reference?
2)
Reasons for fail and advice for improvement:
One year of competitor data is provided which limits the usefulness of using a benchmark – you would find it more helpful I think if you did not limit your research in this way. Your comparator analysis and narrrative on page 28 is too brief and in many senses is quite superficial. For example on page 29 you state: ‘SBS’s total operating expense increase 11.8% while SMRT is only 4.5% (exclude amortize of government grant) prove that SMRT has better cost control strategy and operating efficiency.’ First of all try not to use the word ‘prove’ as you cannot prove that cost control is better from this limited piece of work, proving something is quite difficult. Secondly what is it about the cost control strategy that seems to be the reason for the difference in performance in the two companies? You need to explore the reasons for differences in performance between the two companies in a little more detail. Your referencing of data, facts and other information, particularly in the business analysis, is weak (see box 6) and so I am unable to confirm your findings and conclusions.
3)
As previously mentioned PESTLE and SWOT Business Models are included at the start of the analysis with very little referencing. Referencing is a key skill and you must demonstrate competence in using it. Your analysis in the business models is very readable and interesting – where for example you write ‘Parliament passed a bill increased maximum fine for rail disruption to 10% of an operator’s annual fare revenue from maximum cap S$1m’…………. did you read this in an article? If so, you should include a citation alongside this information to link to the details of the source in the appendices .This is just one example where your referencing is weak. You need to go through your whole report to confirm that the facts, data and other information you use is appropriately referenced. This includes information taken from annual reports e.g. page 22 and 23 – where does the data you use in the narrative come from? In going through the report systematically this may reveal to you that you have used a wider range of sources than is evident. The list of references is too brief – note that you are not required to produce a bibliography just a List of References.My understanding: so what i understand is if i use information from government website i should put according to 123.com.sg government 1m bill is under considered ?
As previously mentioned PESTLE and SWOT Business Models are included at the start of the analysis with very little referencing. Referencing is a key skill and you must demonstrate competence in using it. Your analysis in the business models is very readable and interesting – where for example you write ‘Parliament passed a bill increased maximum fine for rail disruption to 10% of an operator’s annual fare revenue from maximum cap S$1m’…………. did you read this in an article? If so, you should include a citation alongside this information to link to the details of the source in the appendices .This is just one example where your referencing is weak. You need to go through your whole report to confirm that the facts, data and other information you use is appropriately referenced. This includes information taken from annual reports e.g. page 22 and 23 – where does the data you use in the narrative come from? In going through the report systematically this may reveal to you that you have used a wider range of sources than is evident. The list of references is too brief – note that you are not required to produce a bibliography just a List of References.
THIS IS COMMENT FROM MARKER he said bibliography is not needed just list of references
* for part 3) My naratives i did reference from appendix 4 and in appendix 4 i did reference from annual report 2014-2015-2016. I would like to post picture to show it. I am so confused right now! I did proper reference and follow what my mentor has advice me on preference style.
When it comes to Referencing please see the Open Tuition Ultimate Guide to Referencing your RAP on our homepage http://www.opentuition.com/obu
Regarding Application of models – referencing is only part of the application requirements ‘proof’ of applying the models is shown by linking the models to the Evaluation & Analysis section. I mention how important it is to show how the environmental factors (PESTLE) and management decisions (based on the SWOT analysis) in my article on Evaluation & Analysis (also on own homepage). I therefore suggest that you spend some time looking at these two articles to help you do a successful resubmission.
You should avoid making ‘sweeping statements’ e.g. the one about ‘proving’ that the marker has mentioned and instead stick to facts BUT explain what has caused the changes in the ratios particularly in relation to the strategic decisions based on the SWOT & PESTLE. This will then strengthen your evaluation & analyis (3) and also satisfy the requirements in (2) Application
When referencing remember every fact, all figures, statement of opinion or citation from another’s work MUST be referenced. As explained in the article on Referencing you must supply sufficient details so that the marker can see how you have arrived at your statements and that they are based on reliable and valid information. Also your reference list must be comprehensive enough for the marker to locate the source you are referring to. The appendices themselves should be referenced if you are relying on them. Referencing is not difficult if you follow our Golden Rules (although we accept it is tedious!) however it is mandatory for a pass so rather than rely on your mentor advice please consult ours as it is based on many many years of experience with the RAP and advice from the marking team 🙂
One final piece of advice – use our article ‘The Resubmission Statement – why a good one is your key to success on resubmission’ – right from the beginning before you actually start your resubmission not as an afterthought as it can really help you address all of your mistakes.
@johntran93 you’ll find how to reference different sources here.
2. Application of accountancy/business models
what the marker means is you need to use references from other sources than the annual report.some examples are newspaper reports,trade articles or other reports published by parties NOT related to the company you are analyzing.
as for the rest of your RAP, you need to refer and very clearly understand how to cite references according to the Harvard system.
on a side note,which is my personal opinion, SMRT and SBS are considered monopolies in singapore,each under the control of temasek holdings (a government owned investment company). As such,you might have some difficulties analyzing these companies as SWOT and PESTLE models have limited application.
SBS has historically been a bus operating entity while smrt is in the railway business.the comparison of these 2 public transport providers are vastly different in their own right.i am very surprised that your mentor did not highlight that fact to you.and also, you should keep in mind in order to provide perspective, most analysis involves 2 years worth of financial data (3 would be better) to provide a trend as to how a company have performed over the years.to only have 1 year comparison cannot provide any context,your mentor should also point that out to you!
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Dear Author
It is my pleasure to write you. I Md. Faysal Rahaman from Bangladesh. Firstly, i have to apologize for sending this mail to you instead of the formal communication which should have been more appropriate. However, this is due to urgency and importance of this information. I did submit my research report in last submission period 31 and unfortunately failed to achieve pass grade. I want to resubmit my project in period 32. However, The marker were highlights reason for fails and advice for improvement in two areas which are ”Presentation of project findings” (Technical and professional skills ) and ”Information gathering and referencing” (graduate skills).
Currently i am trying to understand the marker comments deeply but confused to make a decision in respect of area of section (research report) which i need to refine in conjunction with marker comment.
Can you please advise me in which area i need to refine and how? It is also relevant to quote that, as i did pass in below technical and professional skills and graduate skills
”Technical and professional Skills”
a. Understanding of accountancy/business model
b. Application of accountancy/business model
c. Evaluation of information analysis and conclusionGraduate Skill
a. CommunicationI can also share my research report and details of marker comments if you need. I will be great full if you allow me and give your valuable tips to pass in re submission.
Usually a fail for Criterion 4 ‘Presentation of the data’ means that you work was not well set out/ the marker had to search for things / the structure was bad e.g. the work did not flow properly / sometimes the meaning was not clear or the findings lacked clarity or were illogical (or a combination of these). In other words the marker struggled to read and make sense of your work so they felt it did not meet the assessment criteria (see Appendix 1 of the Information Pack)
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Dear Trephena
Thanks for your prompt reply. I post out below actual marker comments. Would be pleased if you find the same and advice for improvement in specific area.
4. Presentation of project findings Fail
Reasons for fail and advice for improvement:
Your work is difficult to read and does not engage the reader. As one example, on Page 12 you discuss Gross Profit Margins by showing a chart showing the GPMs of your chosen company and its comparator over the three year period. You then write ‘ From the above chart, it is found that there was an increasing gross profit trend of SPL. In 2014-2015 SPL net revenue increased by 45.96% compared to 2012-2013. Concurrently gross profit increase by 51.32%, which are staggering in line with net revenue growth. Although the GP ratio of SPL was 45.18%, 43.91% and 43.57% in 2014-2015, 2013-2014, 2012-2013 respectively. On the other hand BPL GP ratio was 47.25% in 2012 and it had dropped to 46.12% in 2013 and 45.55% in 2014.’ The reader is confused by the appearence of the figure ‘51.32%’ given that your graph/chart does not show this figure. The reader is misled by the scale you use for your diagram which seems to indicate big changes in GPM when in reality they are slight. You should make a decision on the way you will present the order of years (2013, 2014, 2015, or 2015, 2014,2013, not both). When discussing NPM of BPL you write ‘In contrast, the BPL net profit margin was 14.20% in 2012, and declined to 13.39% in 2012 and further improve to 13.64% at 2014.’ You should carefully review your work before final submission in order to check for errors and omissions and then to make any necessary corrections.
[Faysal] According to me i think i need to refine all the areas (Section-3 analysis part) including graph/chart/table along with presentation of analysis part. But can you please advice me whether it is good enough to refine presentation in section 3 in conjunction with marker comments. Or , whether i need to refine section 1 (introduction) section 2 (information source and methodology) and section 3 (Analysis) for pass in “presentation of project findings”.
6. Information gathering and Referencing Fail
Reasons for fail and advice for improvement:
In your too brief conclusion you mention ‘the SPL market prospect ratio’ but have not explained this in any detail.This topic should be introduced earlier in your work and not in your conclusion. You have not identified the use of extracts of the financial accounts sufficiently. You should make an in-text reference/citation when using external information at the point of use, and a fuller entry in a Reference list at the end of your work. This includes use in the form of words, graphs, charts, and diagrams. Referencing appendices would be sufficient if you identify the source of the extracts that you use as the Annual Reports of the companies.
[Faysal] Marker already gave me pass in ”Evaluation of information analysis and conclusion” but make comment ”in your too brief conclusion” which seems to be negative impression on conclusion and recommendation part of my work. My question Can you please tell me whether i need to change the recommendation and conclusion in large extent?
Marker then write ……you mention ‘the SPL market prospect ratio’ but have not explained this in any detail.This topic should be introduced earlier in your work and not in your conclusion. Kindly note that, i did mention in section 2 investor ratio which is also a market prospect ratio but in analysis i analyse the topic under “Investor ratio” which may be difficult for reader to understand the term. Can you please confirm my understanding?
Last but not least ” marker make comments of my references skills. In first submission i did use the Microsoft word to generate reference list (Harvard APA). According to me i need to change my appendices. Now i want to include graph, chart in appendices as well in re submission work to find out the source easily for marker and will submit revised Research report,Reference list (automated reference list) and Appendices only.Please confirm my understanding.
Can you please clarify the below comments of marker?
You should make an in-text reference/citation when using external information at the point of use, and a fuller entry in a Reference list at the end of your work. This includes use in the form of words, graphs, charts, and diagrams.Referencing appendices would be sufficient if you identify the source of the extracts that you use as the Annual Reports of the companies.
Regards
FaysalI assume that your Evaluation & Analysis contained more than just commentary on increases and decreases in the ratios that are cited in the feedback and actually mentioned more detailed reasons for the movements in the trends? I mention this because it seems you presented the marker with far too many numbers in the text. The whole purpose of good CLEAR graphs is that the reader can see the movements for themselves so you do not need to repeat them at all but merely comment on any important significance of a particular figure and what lies behind it.
When it comes to graphs it is worth remembering that your marker’s 1st language is English and the English language is read from left to right and therefore you should present graphs whose trends can be read from left to right (as opposed from right to left). This means graphs and bar charts should have the earliest year on the left and the last year on the right (otherwise if you talk about an increasing trend and your graph is constructed from right to left, the natural English reader’s brain being conditioned to read from left to right, sees a decreasing trend so is instantly confused).
My advice is therefore cut out unnecessary repetition of figures in the text and always order both your text and graphs so that you discussion starts with the earliest year and the graph reads from left to right. Secondly don’t jump about say what you have to say about one time period and move on to the next. Also when you do mention a year and figure (which as I have stressed should be for a specific reason rather than just a routine statement) check you have the correct year and amount as if the marker is citing from your text: “14.20% in 2012, and declined to 13.39% in 2012 and further improve to 13.64% at 2014,’ then I can see why they were confused as you have 2 different figures for 2012!. If you had a graph then this bit of commentary is not required anyway as the marker could have seen it from a good well presented graph (by that I mean from left to right). If I am honest I think the marker was drowning in a sea of unnecessary and confusing numbers and they couldn’t make sense of it all.
Your main reason for failing (6) is inadequate and inappropriate referencing -every fact, opinion of other’s or use of a source must be referenced -so read our Referencing guide -the Open Tuition Ultimate Guide to referencing your RAP – see our homepage http://www.opentuition.com/obu
The bit about the SPL market prospect I suspect was a minor detail but another example of the marker being confused -IF you had said … ‘market prospect as demonstrated by the results in the investor ratio section’ it would have been clearer to them what you meant. Advice for improvement is just that – it is either something that was insufficient to fail on but was weak or additional advice added by the moderator who reviewed your fail grade.
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Thanks alot. Now currently i am refining my work. As far i understand i need to resubmit RR, reference list, Appendices, and re submission statement.Can you please let me know whether my earlier reference list need to change. For instances, i made automated reference list using microsoft word (Harvard APA). Cuurently i am editing my work on this reasearch work. So if i need to refine my work whether i need to edit my reference source details (accessed date)?
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My analyis (submitted)
OPM:
I did mention in my analysis that ……”It is expected that operating profit growth will be same in line with gross profit growth but company A OPM growth is staggering in line with gross profit growth. The reason behind this, company A maintained good operating cost control in line with their net revenue growth.
Evidence to support the findings (Reason for stag erring OPM growth in line with net profit growth:)
In 2012-2013 company A operating cost represents 21.55% of net revenue, which had dropped to 19.96% in 2013-2014 and gradually decreased to 17.31% in 2014-2015.
Question: Marker did not make any comments about my findings and evidence to support the findings. However, can you please tell me whether i need to change this evidence. Can you see any problem (change of analyis) if i compare…company A net revenue growth with operating cost trend over the three years to support my findings instead earlier evidence?
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how to mention both companies annual report in single text referencing. in addition, can you please tell me how to mention also ACCA student technical article (both author or without author) in text referencing.
@faysairahanan – please post your query to the correct forum topic as this one is about understanding what the feedback comments from marker meant. You will probably find that the one that encompasses Harvard Referencing is the appropriate topic. You cannot usually put two different sources in one single reference unless they both deal with EXACTLY the same idea – I discuss this in my article on referencing available on our homepage http://www.opentuition.com/OBU -see example 1 of the Golden Rules.
hello trephena, i would like to get some advice from you on markers feedback of my sls.
It stated ” Your sls I think attempts to demonstrate self reflection but your use of English and the vocabulary you have adopted make it very difficult to understand e.g. while closing all the corners being the nail in the coffin. Your written English is poor you must have someone review your work to ensure it is comprehensible. I would like to see you expand your response to Q2 which is currently very short, and in the main descriptive and I would prefer to see more about the generic skills etc. that you have learnt from the mentor meetings, again you are more descriptive of what occurred rather than how you benefitted. ”
now my question is, i have to just re-write question 2 or whole of my sls?
regards,
ahmed.@armedshariq – you marker is asking you to ensure that your English is understandable so that means that you really need to edit most of your SLS. If your marker cannot understand the points you are making then they are not going to be able to pass it.
Rather then just list out what you or mentor did or said the marker wants you to evaluate the usefulness of the things learned. In Q2 you need to address anything that impeded or helped you in achieving your project objectives – what were your personal weaknesses? what particular strengths helped you? what new skills did you acquire and how did they help you with producing your work? A good approach is to think back to how you were at the start i.e. an ACCA student just used to studying for exams – what new techniques and skills were required to be able to produce an academic piece of work and reflect on how your learning and experience developed from just exam skills to constructing an 7,500 word project
Thank you trephena for the feedback.
There is another thing i would like to ask, regarding my business analysis. my topic was 8.
marker said ” On a positive note your business models are better (except again you rely on annual report, so the analysis is narrowly based) and your conclusion is also good.”this means i just have to look for third party sources for referencing ? no need to amend my business analysis. right ?
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