BEAM045J Self Audit

Module Convenor: Joanne Abraham

Strengths/New skills
Every person has strengths and weaknesses that define their individuality, and these
strengths and weaknesses help define who they are as people.

 I studied business administration as my major in undergraduate school, so I had a

good understanding of this subject. In spite of my basic skill set in the field of
accounting, this module on accounting for international managers from the University
of Exeter allowed me to improve my knowledge in accordance with international
corporate standards.

My initial experience was a bit challenging due to the unfamiliarity of the structure
and criteria of the module, since it was quite different from what I learned back home.
Because accounting differs from country to country, my knowledge in this subject
was not adequate based on the international standards. However, after attending the
coursework and participating in the group sessions, I have developed a number of
new skills and strengths.

 Being a management student in the past, I am very much familiar with teamwork and
I would describe myself as a cohesive team member. I have worked in a team
environment for most of my undergraduate study, and I believe that I have a lot to
contribute to a team environment. For example, I implemented a system to help
organize communication between my teammates to help boost our collective
productivity.
I have learned a lot from this group evaluation assessment in BEAM045J in regards
to group working. For example, I have gained insight into the importance of having a
meeting together to discuss the objectives and the way they can be achieved. Then,
assign jobs based on each member's strengths and wills. Moreover, I developed the
courage to ask for help from others if I am unable to handle a situation alone. As
compared to the way I used to be, I consider this to be one of the most valuable
abilities I have mastered. This will allow me to work more efficiently in my upcoming
group projects. 
 Prior to my study abroad experience, I knew little about accounting reports but a few
basic concepts such as the balance sheet and profit/loss account.
Having studied BEAM045J, I now have skills in comprehending and summarizing
financial data from corporations, like company financial statements and their past
performance. Utilizing these financial data, make recommendations to clients in more
professional language that are comprehensive so they can see the full picture of their
investment plans in one glance. Thus, I can evaluate and think about my investing
decisions in my later years. 
  For the group evaluation report, I contributed to the profitability and liquidity
evaluations of two different companies. Additionally, I contributed to the writing of the
conclusion and recommendation based on the results of the evaluation. I also
learned to analyse the financial position of a company, compare it to another, and
make recommendations for these companies based on the financial condition. As a
result, I may be better able to make smart decisions with my colleagues about
investment or development in my career. 

Challenges/Issues: faced
We faced a number of challenges during this group project, both academic and teamwork
related.

 As the group assignment was assigned at the beginning of the course and most
of the students were international students, it was a bit difficult to form a team
when students were not familiar with each other in class. Although the team was
formed, we didn't know each other and didn't communicate with each other. Due
to the fact that everybody in our group was busy working on their own stuff and
other assignments, no one had stepped up and started our group working on our
assigned task. Therefore, we end up with a situation where groups have already
done most of their work and we have not even begun. 
In spite of everything, once we got together, we were able to work efficiently,
helping each other, and submitted the assignment before the deadline.
 Obtaining accurate financial data for the companies from reliable sources was
another major challenge during this group evaluation report. Although there are a
number of sources and sites that provide financial data of the companies, we
found that most of them are not accurate or the timing of the financial data is
incorrect. 
As a result, rather than relying solely on the sources, we assessed the financial
statements from an independent source, then calculated all of the data we
needed based on the information.
 I was unable to fully comprehend the information I had been taught during the
class, and therefore was struggling to complete the tasks I had been given.
Nevertheless, I did not give up. Whenever I encountered a problem, I first looked
it up on the ELE website, read documents and watched videos uploaded by our
module leader. I would ask for recommendations from whom might be helpful, if it
were still in existence. Initially, I was unsure of how to begin the job I was
 assigned, which was to review profitability and liquid assets, so I read over the
module documents and asked my flatmate who is pursuing a master's degree in
finance. Eventually, I was able to overcome the obstacle and improve my self-
study technique.
     As a group, we also faced challenges related to communication and time
management. Since members of the group did not know each other, it was a bit
difficult to bring everyone together in the beginning. But I took the initiative by
calling everyone together for a group meeting. Additionally, we were overloaded
with assignments and everyone had their own schedules. Time management and
coordination became even more challenging. However, once we started coming
together and communicating, we learned that working together was actually more
efficient. This was One of the reasons we always worked on the report together
rather than dividing the duties and meeting at the end to coordinate them was
because of this.

Self-awareness/Impact of others
 Through this group project, I've discovered that I don't have a complete
understanding of this module's content; there is so much more that can be done, and
I believe I could perform better if I pushed harder. Many accounting concepts and
their consequences for analysing financial performance of firms have been taught to
me.
 In addition, I was able to strike a nice balance between leadership and mentoring
members of a group in a coordinated manner. We also had to operate under a time
constraint, which forced me to sharpen my skills in interacting with people who had
opposing viewpoints.
 I also realised that I need to continue practising, particularly in terms of my
professional knowledge and communication abilities. Second, my English abilities,
such as writing and speaking ability. I'm not supposed to be overseas to enjoy an
entirely different life; instead, I'm supposed to be working harder to improve my
talents, not just for myself, but also for others for whom I have duties.
 My entire group agreed that I have the most in-depth understanding of this module in
our group, which is why they didn't have to study as much as they did. But at time
They also believed I was inaccurate and irresponsible because I left out several
crucial details in my section, such as citations in tables. When my group members
discovered my errors just before the deadline, Person A had to take the time to repair
them and guarantee that our job was completed to a high degree. Because it was my
 part and I was supposed to perform it, person A was dissatisfied and advised me to
do things correctly and effectively whenever I do something. We all learnt that it was
critical to double-check everyone's work and, if required, to share the work because it
was a group assignment and a single error may lower our grade.
 One of the most significant parts of our endeavour was teamwork. We would not
have been able to achieve anything if we had not collaborated. Despite the fact that
the analysis process was perplexing, we frequently conferred with one another when
we ran into problems with our job. As a result, we were able to accomplish a strong
result, boosting our knowledge, competencies, and group empowerment.
 Working in such a group dynamic culture allowed me to develop new skills and gain
experience, which I believe was worthwhile.