Your final assessment is worth 100% of your
final mark for this unit.
Step 1
Work collaboratively in your group to plan and write your group assignment.
Step 2
Once you are all satisfied with the work, submit your group answer through the Turnitin link by accessing the page called ‘Final Assessment group submission’.
Copy and paste your group task into Turnitin
Step 2 (group assignment) will count for 75% of your final mark
Step 3
Submit your individual submission on the page called ‘Final Assessment individual submission’.
Step 3 (individual assignment) will count for 25% of your final mark
Your assignment
The objective of the assignment is to assess your understanding of corporate financial strategy and your ability to apply this to an organisation of your choosing. The assignment task is for you to initially pick an organisation that has interested you as a group and spend some time researching and understanding its financial performance in more detail. You should then apply your researched learning to developing a focused financial strategy in a 3,000-word report. This group assignment is worth 75% of the overall unit mark while 25% will be achieved by an individual 500-word critical reflection on your contribution and others to the Group Assignment.
You won’t be alone in this endeavour. Students are offered an opportunity prior to starting their research to submit an assignment approach document detailing your draft SMART objectives and approach for formative discussion and feedback. This is done at the end of Session 4. You are strongly recommended to take this opportunity. This Assignment Approach slide-set examines the marking criteria and report requirements in more detail. Additionally, we also recommend these good practices for working within groups.
Specifically, in the report, you should demonstrate the possible effect of the financial strategy on key performance ratios over an appropriate time period. Thus, the effect of improving working capital might be demonstrated over a 12-month period with the effect of any strategic investment/divestment/merger/acquisition component over a five-year period. You are also required to develop an appropriate financing strategy, demonstrating how funds will be raised and dispersed to finance the plan to achieve the objectives. Finally, you will critically assess the weaknesses and strengths of your overall financial plan and suggest how identified risk elements can be managed and mitigated.
Submit your 3,000-word report via the Turnitin submission link. The paragraphs should be justified, double spaced in Times New Roman, size 12 font. Relevant back-up data should be contained in an appendix section which should not exceed ten pages. You are reminded of the Manchester Metropolitan University policy with regard to plagiarism and referencing. The relative weighting and importance of the different assessment criteria are laid out clearly in the marking matrix which will be used to provide feedback on your assignment.
Working collaboratively
This Final Assessment requires you to work collaboratively in a group. As a student of Manchester Metropolitan University you have access to Office 365, which will enable you to work together and share documents using OneDrive and discuss your work using Teams. You may use other collaborative working and messaging tools, however please note that they are not supported by the University and your tutors will not have access to them.
Make sure that you take time to plan your task together carefully. Everyone in the group should have a clear role and everyone should contribute equally. If you need help with your task, you can e-mail your tutor at any time.
Final Assessment mark
Please note that all marks are provisional, subject to external moderation and ratification by the Assessment Board.
Provisional mark reflects the academic quality of your assessment and is provided to assist you in understanding your feedback. However, provisional marks do not take into account any penalties (e.g. for late submission) that may be applied in accordance with the Taught Postgraduate Assessment Regulations.
Provisional mark have not yet been externally moderated and so may be subject to change. Your final mark will be confirmed once this has been ratified by the Assessment Board. You will be informed of any re-assessments following the Assessment Board.
Good luck with your assignment and remember that we are here to help you succeed.