Assessment Brief 3
Course Bachelor of Business / Bachelor of Accounting
Unit Cost Accounting
Unit Code COAC216
Type of Assessment Assessment 3 – Group Report (3-4 students in a group)
Length 2,000 words (excluding executive summary, table of content, heading & sub-heading, references, appendix & tables)
Learning outcomes addressed a) Discuss various approaches to performance evaluation and control in various types of organisations
b) Devise and evaluate simple indicators of performance.
c) Critically evaluate the uses of managerial accounting information for strategic decision making in various business contexts
Submission Date Week 9 (online submission)
Assessment purpose The assignment is designed to enhance learners’ understanding of the roles of managerial accounting in a manufacturing/service company.
Total Mark 100 marks
Weighting 20%
Students are advised that any submissions past the due date incur a 5% penalty per day, calculated from the total mark e.g. a task marked out of 100 will incur a 5-mark penalty per day.
More information, please refer to View Doc Student Policies and Forms by visiting the following link https://kent.rtomanager.com.au/
Assessment Description:
Students are required to work in a group of 2 – 4 students in the performance of this written report. Students must register for their group with the lecturer during the first three weeks of the trimester and are not allowed to change group members afterward.
Every group for this assignment is required to select a MANUFACTURING/SERVICE SECTOR COMPANY and then write a report to evaluate the roles of managerial accounting in its business operation, by using their latest financial statements (annual reports), company website information, and relevant research materials if necessary. The prescribed textbook for this unit should also be utilized.
• Hint: The selected company can be from Australia, USA, UK, EU, China, Japan or others. The scope and focus of its operation can be local, national or multi-national.
• You have to be clever and pragmatic in selecting the company. It has to be large, substantial and must have the available information for desk research. You are required to explore and collect information on the company to complete this assignment. Additional research is also required for this report.
It is highly expected from you to purport the following perspective of the report:
a) Introduce the selected company:
1. Company’s name 4. Managerial Highlights
2. Establishment year 5. Products/Services
3. Vision & mission 6. Key Performance Information
b) Identify and describe the value chain of the company
c) Describe the process of Planning, Controlling and Decision Making in the company.
d) Summarise and present the various types of management accounting information and tools that the company use in their business.
e) Provide recommendation of at least 2 management accounting tools that you believe will be useful for the company and explain the reasons for your recommendation.
Note: The assignment marking guide is provided below to guide students on this group report.
Assessment Submission:
This assessment is a group activity and students are required to work with their respective groups. No individual submission will be accepted.
You will not receive any marks for this assignment if your group members collectively report against you for non-participation or non-cooperation. You have to nominate someone as your group leader to coordinate the assignment submission.
The assignment must be submitted online in Moodle and Turnitin. All materials MUST be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. Other formats may not be readable by markers. Please be aware that any assessments submitted in other formats will be considered LATE and will lose marks until it is presented in MS Word. No paper based or hardcopy submission will be accepted.
Our Academic Learning Support (ALS) team would be happy to help you with understanding the task and all other assessment-related matters. For assistance and to book one-on-one meeting please email one of our ALS coordinators (Sydney ALS_SYD@kent.edu.au; Melbourne ALS_MELB@kent.edu.au ). For online help and support please click the following link and navigate Academic Learning Support in Moodle.
http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437
General notes for assignments
Assignments should usually incorporate a formal introduction, main points and conclusion, and will be fully referenced including a reference list.
The work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We strongly recommend you to refer to the Academic Learning Skills materials available in the Moodle. For details please click the link http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437 and download the file “Harvard Referencing Workbook”. Appropriate academic writing and referencing are inevitable academic skills that you must develop and demonstrate.
We recommend a minimum of FIVE references, unless instructed differently by your lecturer. Unless specifically instructed otherwise by your lecturer, any paper with less than FIVE references may be failed. Work that includes sources that are not properly referenced according to the “Harvard Referencing Workbook” will be penalised.
Marks will be deducted for failure to adhere to the word count – as a general rule you may go over or under by 10% than the stated length.
General Notes for Referencing
High quality work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We recommend you work with your Academic Learning Skills site
(http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437) available in Moodle to ensure that you reference correctly.
References are assessed for their quality. You should draw on quality academic sources, such as books, chapters from edited books, journals etc. Your textbook can be used as a reference, but not the lecturer notes. We want to see evidence that you are capable of conducting your own research. Also, in order to help markers determine students’ understanding of the work they cite, all in-text references (not just direct quotes) must include the specific page number/s if shown in the original. Before preparing your assignment or own contribution, please review this YouTube video by clicking on the following link:
Plagiarism: How to avoid it
You can search for peer-reviewed journal articles, which you can find in the online journal databases and which can be accessed from the library homepage. Wikipedia, online dictionaries and online encyclopedias are acceptable as a starting point to gain knowledge about a topic, but should not be overused – these should constitute no more than 10% of your total list of references/sources. Additional information and literature can be used where these are produced by legitimate sources, such as government departments, research institutes such as the NHMRC, or international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Legitimate organisations and government departments produce peer reviewed reports and articles and are therefore very useful and mostly very current. The content of the following link explains why it is not acceptable to use nonpeer reviewed websites: Why can't I just Google? (thanks to La Trobe University for this video).
ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E National Code: 90458 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051
The assignment marking guide:
Part Expectation of Content Possible
maximum mark
a Clear introduction of the selected manufacturing/service sector company which covers all of the following: Company’s name; Establishment year; Vision & mission; Managerial Highlights; Products/Services; Key Performance Information. 10
b Identify all components of the value chain of the company and describe them in detail. 20
c Describe the process of Planning, Controlling and Decision Making in the company. 10
d Summarise and present the various types of management accounting information and tools that the company use in their business. 20
e Provide recommendation of at least 2 management accounting tools that you believe will be useful for the company and explain the reasons for your recommendation. Clearly explain and analyse each tool relating it back to why it is relevant for the company. 20
Report format Report format is followed with the establishment of an executive summary and a table of content at the start of the report. Sub-heading for each topic/issue is expected. An assignment cover page is also required. 10
Referencing Harvard referencing is strictly followed. A minimum of 5 different academic reference sources were used. Students are advised to use EBSCO Research. (Remember that Wikipedia, Investopedia and other similar websites are not academic sources and must not be used.) 10
Word limit The word limit is 2,000 for the main part of your report (It excludes executive summary, table of content, heading & sub-heading, references, appendix & tables). The acceptable range for the assignment word count is based on +/- 10%. Possible mark deduction may result if students fail to comply with this requirement.
Plagiarism Approved Overall Similarity Index is Less Than 25%, otherwise the assignment is considered “Not Be Submitted”.
Total 100
ABN 49 003 577 302 CRICOS Code: 00161E National Code: 90458 TEQSA Provider Number: PRV12051