Business Financial Markets
Assessment Brief
Due Date 28 June 15
Viva 29th June 15
Feedback given within BREO (rubric format) by Friday 17th July 2015
Tutors:
Mallika Devi
Unit Leader: Dr Syamarlah Rasaratnam
Assessment 2: Case study
Introduction
Your second assessment point requires you to write a case study. You need to choose a business entity for your case study. You are required to keep your topic in the area of Corporate Control (Mergers & Acquisition).
Part A: Case Study: Due Date 28 June 2015
By the time of your second assessment, you will have had completed the first assessment concentrating on your choice of topic within Business Financial Markets. You may continue on the same topic. Here you are required to choose a NEWS (from CITYAM newspaper) that you think might have an impact on choice of topic. You will be required to write a case study that relates to the specific news possibly related to a company in the area that is being studied. A sample case study is given in Appendix One for your reference. Please upload your choice of company and topic in FAQ. Please ensure that your choice of company is different from your classmates. This will prevent high similarity level.
Part B: VIVA: Due Date 29th June
The Viva
Your viva should be based around the following scenario. You have reviewed on a topic in Business Financial Markets in a business capacity. As managers in your organisation you then have 5-10 minutes to convince your chosen business organisation team. In it you need to present the case study you have done (part A) and state your recommendations. Remember it is not only the recommendation that is important but also explaining the criteria you chose and how you reached your conclusions.
Case Study Writing - A Step-By-Step Guide
Step 1 - Why Write A Case Study?
To begin with, I would suggest that you take a step back from your studies and consider what exactly a case study is and why they are written. A case study is a puzzle that has to be solved. The first thing to remember about writing a case study is that the case should have a problem for the readers to solve (you would be given newspapers to identify a problem!). The case should have enough information in it that readers can understand what the problem is and, after thinking about it and analyzing the information, the readers should be able to come up with a proposed solution. Writing an interesting case study is a bit like writing a detective story. You want to keep your readers very interested in the situation. A good case is more than just a description. It is information arranged in such a way that the reader is put in the same position as the case writer was at the beginning when he or she was faced with a new situation and asked to figure out what was going on. A description, on the other hand, arranges all the information, comes to conclusions, tells the reader everything, and the reader really does not have to work very hard in understanding the situation or the circumstances.
So, we can ascertain from the above that there should be some puzzle that has to be solved. From the in-class activities you are expected to identify a problem and provide proposals on how this can be solved.
Step 2 - Access Sample Case Studies
Now let us look at some sample case studies to ascertain what constitutes the layout and framework of a case study. To do this, you are required to download a file that contains 5 sample case studies. You will find two copies of these case studies – one is in the original format and one is with some comments from a tutor.
To view these files go to the Case Study link on your BREO Business Financial Markets Unit website.
Step 3 - Deciding on a Specific Format
Our next step is to decide on a specific format for the case study that you are going to write. I would like to suggest a guide for writing a case study and this can be seen as follows:
Recommended Structure
Your case study will cover a specific topic in Finance. You are required to write a case study that fits with the title that you are supplied with. The case study should must include the following:
• Context Of The Company
• Current Problem/Scenario
• Justification Of The Study
• Importance of This Analysis
• Some Financial Summary Indicators
• Different Approaches To Dealing With The Problem
• Academic Studies Supporting The Article
• Application Of Data To Models
• What Has Been Learnt
• References
Finally…….
Your word limit is 2500 words . This excludes references that are at the end of the case study. You tables and graphs should be included within the main text and should be simple and easy to read and follow. If they have been taken from another source, then they should be appropriately referenced. The quality of the language that you use should be excellent. Poor use of language will be penalised. For inspiration regards the writing style, please ensure that you have read the sample case studies.
Suggested layout
% allocation
Abstract/Executive Summary
Main contribution of the study
5%
Introduction
Aims & objectives – identify the main problem for the company (identified from the news)
5%
Literature Review
Company background. The underlying theory addressing the identified problem – 5-10 journal articles to be referenced. (Ask the librarian to teach you to get the journal articles.)
15%
Methodology
How and where you obtain the data for this case study
20%
Case Analysis
Analysis of the problem and suggested solutions
30%
Limitations
Limitation of the case study
10%
Recommendations
What would you suggest for the company
5%
Conclusion Not a summary BUT your own conclusion about your research 5%
Weekly Report Weekly report on the Case Study 5%
The case study should be in an academic journal publication level. Remember to provide all your evidence (snap shot) in your appendix.
If you have any queries then please upload in FAQ – assessment query section. We will aim to reply to your queries within 2-3 working days.
Good Luck
Feedback: Rubric Format
An Outstanding pass (80%-100%): In addition to the criteria for a good pass (below), an excellent essay will demonstrate:
• comprehensive and accurate coverage of the area;
• critical, balanced and well-informed evaluation;
• clarity of argument and expression;
• the introduction of new ideas, creativity, and independent thought;
• transfer and integration of models, ideas and information from a range of sources;
• depth of insight into theoretical issues;
• originality of exposition or treatment.
An Excellent pass (70% -79%): A good pass essay will:
• be generally accurate and well-informed;
• show some evidence of a wide range of reading utilising primary sources;
• show clear understanding of the material;
• show an ability to evaluate the material, although this may be derivative;
• demonstrate the ability to analyse;
• be reasonably comprehensive;
• directly address the question;
• be clearly presented in a concise manner;
• be well organised and logically structured ;
A Commendable pass (60% - 69%): A clear pass essay may demonstrate:
• generally sound work but with a number of notable errors or omissions;
• general accuracy, although with some omissions and errors;
• an adequate answer to the question, although with less evidence of wide-ranging reading;
• a strong answer to a related question, but not the one set;
• only limited development of arguments;
• only limited analysis and interpretation of presented material;
• clear presentation.
A good/satisfactory pass (40%-59%): A bare pass is likely to include a number of significant errors and/or omissions. A bare pass essay may:
• fail to answer the question directly;
• miss key points of information;
• contain important inaccuracies;
• show only sparse coverage and analysis of relevant material;
• fail to support arguments with adequate evidence/meaning unclear.
A marginal fail (35%-39%): This is unsatisfactory work with serious errors or omissions. Specifically it may:
• contain very little appropriate material;
• show some evidence of relevant reading but provide only cursory coverage with numerous errors, omissions or irrelevancies;
• be disorganised;
• contain much inappropriate material;
• lack any real argument.
A clear fail (less than 35%): Work of a very poor standard with little relevant information constitutes an F (2) fail and “nothing of merit” constitutes a G (0). A clear fail essay is likely to:
• show a profound misunderstanding of basic material;
• show a complete failure to understand the question or anything related to it;
• provide totally inadequate information;
• be an incoherent or inappropriate submission.
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