Assessment 2 Guide and Instructions

Subject Code: MBA403

Subject Name: Financial and Economic Interpretation and Communication
Assessment Title: Analyst Report and Video
Assessment Type: Written report and video
Word Count: 1200 Words (+/-10%)
Video Length: 5 Minutes
Weighting: 40% (25% analyst report, 15% video)
Total Marks: 40
Submission: Turnitin and Kaltura
Due Date: Weeks 4, 9 and 11

Assessment Instructions

Submission 1 (Week 4, 200 words): Company Background and Stakeholder

• Students will introduce their selected ASX listed company, including a description of the
business’ operations / activities.
• To select your ASX listed company, https://www.listcorp.com/asx/sectors/ and
https://www.asx200list.com/ are useful resources. The following guidance is provided.
➢ Consider choosing a company you have worked for or would like to work for, or a company you have
followed or been a customer of.
➢ Avoid banks and insurance companies.
➢ Large companies tend to have more publicly available research and news coverage.
➢ Do not select companies that are studied in the Workshops (Harvey Norman, Woolworths).

• Describe the stakeholder you will be reporting to and the purpose of the report. Examples
include the following.
➢ Management (CEO, CFO, Chair of the Board) and operational or strategic changes the company should
consider.
➢ An investor / lender and whether to invest in the company’s shares / bonds.
➢ A bank and whether it should lend to the company.
➢ A supplier and whether it should supply to the company, based on its financial and/or non-financial situation.
➢ An employee and whether they should work for the company.

• Students are required to correctly reference all information sources. More detail on
referencing is provided later in this document.
• Submission will be via a dedicated Submission 1 Turnitin link.

Page 1 Kaplan Business School Assessment Outline

 Submission 2 (Week 9, 1000 words): Financial and Non-Financial Analysis

• Your company’s Annual Report, Financial Statements and Sustainability Report (where
available) will be important resources for this section. However, students are also expected to
utilise resources independent of the company.
• Students are required to correctly reference all information sources. More detail on
referencing is provided later in this document.
• Submission 2 should be presented as a separate document from Submission 1 and submitted
via the dedicated Submission 2 Turnitin link.

Financial Analysis
• Present and discuss key financial results and trends. This may include trends in sales,
expenses and profitability.
• Discuss the company’s financial performance. This will require understanding and describing
the fundamental drivers of the business.
• Calculate and present relevant financial ratios. If the stakeholder is an equity investor, include
share market ratios. If the stakeholder is a lender, include financial stability ratios. You may
include ratios not included in the Workshop slides (but should define these when doing so).
• Interpret your financial ratios and reach insights on which to base your recommendation.
• The key financial data should be presented in summary tables. Charts can also be a useful
visual tool. Your data will typically involve horizontal analysis (minimum of 3 years) but may
also involve vertical analysis.

Non-Financial Analysis
• Discuss non-financial aspects of the company’s performance.
• Students are expected to present relevant non-financial and sustainability measures.
• The key data series should be presented in summary tables. Charts can also be a useful
visual tool.
• In addition to analysing non-financial and sustainability data, students may wish to concisely
consider one or more of the following aspects of the business.
➢ Ethical aspects of the company’s activities.
➢ Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
➢ The company’s business strategy, competitors and outlook.

• Reach insights on which to base your recommendation.

Page 2 Kaplan Business School Assessment Outline

 Submission 3 (Week 11): Conclusion and Recommendation (5 minute video)
• Record a 5 minute video in which you present your conclusion(s) and recommendation.
• Your video should:
➢ provide a brief introduction, including stakeholder and purpose,
➢ present the key findings of your company analysis (as undertaken in Submission 2),
➢ based on the conclusions of your analysis, clearly state an actionable recommendation for your stakeholder,
➢ be clear and of high quality,
➢ show yourself as the presenter, and
➢ be creative, including the use of visual aids.

• Submission 3 is submitted via Kaltura. Please refer and adhere to the Help with Kaltura video
upload link regarding how to record and submit the video.

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 Important Study Information

Academic Integrity and Conduct Policy

KBS values academic integrity. All students must understand the meaning and consequences of
cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Academic Integrity and Conduct
Policy.
What is academic integrity and misconduct?
What are the penalties for academic misconduct?
What are the late penalties?
How can I appeal my grade?
Click here for answers to these questions:
https://www.kbs.edu.au/admissions/forms-and-policies
More information on Academic Integrity is available at the MyKBS Academic Success Centre.

Assessment Marking Guide

The rubric on the following page will be applied.

Referencing
The Academic Integrity and Conduct Policy requires the appropriate use of in-text citations and a
Bibliography. Harvard referencing should be adopted.
For instructions in relation to referencing, a Harvard Referencing Guide and video is available via
the Academic Success Centre page on MyKBS.

The KBS Library

The KBS library is an essential resource for Assessment 2. Sources such as IBISWorld or
Morningstar reports and the Australian Financial Review can provide valuable information on
your selected company.
A short video is available to show you general library search features. Please see here:
https://library.kaplan.edu.au/usingthelibrary (click on the Discovery Search image to watch the
video). Other information may be posted in Subject Announcements during the course of the
subject.
We encourage MBA403 students to become familiar with the KBS Library. With any questions,
please contact the library at library@kaplan.edu.au

Study Assistance
Students may seek study assistance from their local Academic Learning Advisor or refer to the
resources on the MyKBS Academic Success Centre page.

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 Assessment Marking Guide

MBA403 Assessment 2 Rubric

Submission 1

0-2 3-5 /5

• Company not currently ASX listed
• Business activity of the company not
described or not clearly described
• Stakeholder not identified or not clearly
identified
• Purpose of report to the stakeholder not
described or not clearly described
• Current ASX listed company identified
• Business activity of the company clearly
described
• Stakeholder clearly identified
• Purpose of report to the stakeholder clearly
described

Submission 2

0-10 11-20 /20

Financial Analysis

• Data tables contain insufficient data (less
than 3 years) or excessive data (includes
copying and pasting from Annual Report)
• Financial ratios incorrectly calculated or not
relevant to the stakeholder
• Financial performance not clearly and
accurately described
• Fundamental drivers of the business not
identified
• No financial ratio insights
• 3 years of selected data from the financial
statements tabled and effectively presented
• Relevant financial ratios calculated
10
• Financial performance clearly and accurately
discussed
• Fundamental drivers of the business
identified
• Insights derived from the financial ratios

Non-Financial Analysis

• Insufficient non-financial and sustainability • Non-financial and sustainability data tabled

data and/or unclear presentation of data
• No or little discussion of non-financial
aspects of the company’s performance
• No or little discussion of ethics, SWOT,
business strategy, competitors or outlook
and effectively presented
• Non-financial aspects of the company’s
performance discussed 7
• Informative discussion of ethics, SWOT,
business strategy, competitors or outlook

Report Writing

• Word guidance not adhered to • Length is approximately 1000w

• Writing is unclear or grammatically incorrect • Writing is clear and grammatically correct 3
• Incorrect referencing • Correct use of Harvard referencing

Note that students are not required to arrive at recommendations for Submission 2
(see Submission 3)

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 Submission 3
0-7
• No or limited introduction
• The outcomes of the company analysis are
not clearly stated
• No recommendation or recommendation is
unclear or unable to be actioned
• Video presentation is not clear or of high
quality
• Video generally lacks creativity and interest,
with visual aids absent
• Student does not appear as presenter
• 5 minute guidance not adhered to
Page 6
8-15 /15
• Introduction presented, including stakeholder
and purpose
• Video clearly states the significant outcomes
of the company analysis
• Actionable recommendation clearly stated,
based on the outcomes of the analysis
• Video presentation is clear and of high
quality 15
• Video is interesting and creative, including
the use of visual aids
• Student appears as presenter
• Video is 5 minutes
Kaplan Business School Assessment Outline