- This topic has 5 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years ago by
.
- Posts
Has anyone had experience of topic 4, environmental costs? I’m currently not working so thinking about doing the project before job hunting. Is it possible to do without an employer/company to investigate personally?
Otherwise topic 18, marketing strategy as it would be good to learn about something outside of accounting.
This is not a very popular topic and therefore there is not much guidance available on it. Trying to do the the analysis and evaluation without detailed financial information would be difficult and I am not sure what model you could use here [great emphasis is put on the understanding, application and evaluation of a model for all topics – see Appendix 1 of the Information Pack – The Assessment Criteria].
I don’t want to put a downer on this but I would suggest that you would be better off thinking about Topic 20 if the environment is an area of interest as this can be brought in as part of the evaluation of the company’s sustainability when assessing its CSR.
Otherwise as you say, Topic 18 as there are models that fit the assessment criteria that can be used for both T18 and T20.
Hi, thanks for the response.
Do you get more guidance on topics once you sign up?
I was surprised how dry the topics were. It’s a shame you can’t propose your own, like a typical uni dissertation. I won’t really benefit from having a second degree so it’s more for fun/learning.
I’ll have another look after my last F paper next week.
Years ago you could choose but the failure rate for the ‘off piste’ topic choice was much higher so it was dropped.
Yes, I agree some of the topics are dry (which is why I refuse to mentor for Topic 8 as IMO it is deadly boring)! I am therefore trying to promote Topic 19 (merger/acquisition) as a substitute/alternative for it. I have a personal bias towards Topic 17 (corporate governance) which , once you get away from the way CG is taught in the Kaplan manuals, can be quite interesting as you are focusing on scandals and directors’ misdemeanours.
As mentioned in my previous post you might find it appropriate to do Topic 20 CSR which if the ‘right’ company is chosen could be interesting.
In respect of further guidance t is worth all students registering as a mentee on the latest OBU mentee/mentoring website https://www.brookes.ac.uk/acca/
as there are many useful and free resources there and you won’t be committing yourself to anything.The other guidance will depend on who you appoint as your mentor.
Good luck with your exam!
Hi Gillian. Thanks for your response. I’ve been thinking about this more since the exam, alongside completing the ethics module. I had the mergers and acquisitions question on a shortlist. Social responsibility could be a good option too – there’s a local employer (PLC) working with schools and I’m sure other things. Corporate governance seemed really dry in the exam so interesting that’s it’s a good topic, the scandal side would be more appealing.
Does the marketing option require you to work in the company?
If I aim for the May deadline what’s the earliest you’d have a first chat and start the mentoring process? I’m thinking of doing most work over October to February due to being off work and applying for new roles in the New Year. I’ll sit SBR in December and AFM or SBL in March.
Hi Tom85
Topics 8, 15 through to 20 can all be done using secondary data. That is information already in the public domain, which means you do not need to work for or have any specific connection with the company you choose for these topics.
Of course if you want to use the local organisation you mention for Topic 20 then you may, but the key thing is it must have been performing badly in terms of CSR. Normally you would use something like Carroll’s Pyramid as your framework so you are looking for an organisation that has questionable ethical/ legal practices (and possibly also may have financial problems), a poor record on environmental issues and sustainability and the like – in short it is in the headlines for the all the wrong reasons!
I can’t speak for all mentors but I expect most, like me, will be busy in October with their Period 41 students – the last month or so can be manic as unfortunately often students suddenly realise time is running out! However the first few weeks are usually spent doing research so once you decide on your topic and organisation you could start on that.
Most students have to work around exams so if you need to break off for December and March exams then provided you manage to do most of your report between December and February, you could finish off the skills and learning statement and presentation after your Match exams. So as you can see planning and time management are key.
Some exams and topics are complementary to a certain extent e.g. Topics 8, 15 and 19 include financial analysis and SBL and Topic 17 as poor strategies and poor leadership often go hand in hand with weak governance. BTW Marketing which you mentioned can be very interesting too -it depends on choosing a good company that has really been innovative and doing well and for which there is fair amount of information in the public domain (this might be both its website and financial information and articles in the business press)
All the best
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.