最新糖心Vlog

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. critically evaluate financial information provided by listed corporate entities
2. apply accounting and finance theories to build a reasoned argument for the investment of funds in a portfolio of assets
3. design an appropriate research plan that allows the sourcing, collation, analysis and reporting of data and information for a business report
4. determine appropriate courses of action to achieve desired objectives
5. utilise business software in the research analysis
6. communicate findings unambiguously to a diverse audience

Suggested readings will be provided, however extensive use of library facilities including texts and journal articles is necessary

• High quality accounting and finance journals
• High quality business articles
• Online databases
• Neuman, WL, “Social Research Methods, Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches”, Person Education, Inc., 2013
• Benninga S, “Financial Modeling”, The MIT Press, 2008

This course is run in seminar mode combining the elements of lecture and tutorial in the one class.
 
To facilitate a full understanding of any topic, students are encouraged to both ask questions and participate in in-class activities. If there is material that any student does not understand, asking of questions at any time during the seminar is encouraged. Concepts from previous courses will serve as foundation for many of the topics under consideration.
 
As this is a research based course there is a high expectation that students will

1. engage in additional readings, as well as the provided readings to gain a full appreciation of all aspects of the course
2. undertake their research activities prior to class to ensure that they have the ability to apply the topic under discussion to a number of possible scenarios.

The 最新糖心Vlog expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. As this course is a 6 unit course it is anticipated that you will be undertaking more study time for this course than you would have undertaken in your previous 3 unit courses.

Students in this course are expected to attend all classes

Week	Week beginning	Topic
		Preparatory
1	28 July 2016	Research methodologies
2	4 August 2016	Working in groups / Presentations
3	11 August 2016	Financial model building
4	18 August 2016	Financial model building
		Portfolio Construction
5	25 August 2016	Industry analysis
6	1 September 2016	No class – self-study preparation for assessment including meeting with Research Librarian
7	8 September 2016	Company analysis
8	15 September 2016	Assessment Assessment 1 presentations will occur this week
9	6 October 2016	Investment strategies
10	13 October 2016	Portfolio analysis
11	20 October 2016	Selection strategies
		Portfolio management
		Assessment
12	27 October 2016	Assessment 2 presentation
13	3 November 2016	Assessment 2 presentation

Assessment	Due date and time	Weighting	Related learning outcome
Interim report		30%	1, 3, 6
Research report (10,000 words)		70%	1 - 6
Total		100%

All assessment tasks are summative in nature, that is, all tasks form part of your overall grade for the course

The following additional conditions apply:

1. Group composition: Groups will consist of 4 people. (Exceptions to this number will only be considered by the lecturer-in-charge for exceptional and unavoidable circumstances). At least one group member from an alternative degree program, e.g. if the majority of the group are studying Master of Professional Accounting they require at least one from, say, Master of Applied Finance and vice versa. (Dual degrees require agreement of lecturer-in-charge.)
2. Industry selection: Each group will be offered 5 industries from which to select their area of investigation. Each group will select sufficient industries to ensure each group member will have their own unique industry to investigate.
3. Investigation restrictions: Each group will be assigned parameters that will impact on their selection decisions. That is, concepts of risk utility from the investor (tolerant; neutral; averse), style of portfolio (stable; growth, etc.) and trading type (long term, short term)

1. Interim report
a. Group component (10%)
i. An analysis of the investigation restrictions that will influence the final recommendations of the group. That is, if an investor group is deemed to be knowledgeable, risk tolerant and seeking high growth, what are the implications for the assessment of companies within the industries selected.
ii. Submission of a draft research plan outlining the approach to be undertaken in developing the final determination of a balanced portfolio of assets within the investigation restrictions imposed on the group. This plan must include the agreed duties of each group member, including which industry each member will investigate
  
b. Individual component (20%)
i. Each group member to provide a strategic evaluation of the industry under their purview utilising one of the major assessment methodologies (such as Porter’s, PEST, etc.) used within the industry

2. Research report
a. Individual component (50%)
i. Each member to focus on one industry and undertake the selection of one company for the portfolio. This detailed analysis contributes to the individual component of the assessment
ii. A confidential peer review undertaken by the other members of the group
  
b. Group component (20%)
i. The group component will encompass the quality of report, the quality of the analysis and the logical reasoning in developing the portfolio
ii. A fifteen minute group presentation of the report will comprise 25% of this component.

Notes on Assessment
1. All assignments must be provided by the due date and must be genuine attempts, to complete the course.
2. Presentation, and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. You may lose marks because of poor presentation and/or poor grammar.
3. Individual contributions to group submissions will be assessed via the use of peer assessment. This assessment must evaluate each group member and provide a ranking as to each group member’s contribution to the overall project. This ranking will be used when determining each student’s final grade for the course.
4. As this course is a research based course and designed to provide students an appreciation of business conditions extensions to assignment due dates are not available.
5. A component of the research report requires a group presentation. It is a requirement that all members of the group be present at the presentation. Failure to attend may result in a zero mark, for that component of the assessment, to those members not in attendance if they do not have a legitimate reason that is supported by evidence.
   
Presentation of Assignments
• Retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
• All written assignments must be submitted via the MyUni link provided. All team members are expected to contribute equitably to a group assignment as outlined in the research plan required as part of the interim report.
  
Assignments, not complying with the 最新糖心Vlog’s policy on plagiarism, will be forwarded to Academic Integrity for investigation.
  
Assignment Guidelines including Referencing Details
A copy of the Postgraduate Programs: Communication Skills Guide will have been given to you at the beginning of your program. This guide will assist you structure your assignments. A copy of the guide can also be downloaded from  /professions/hub/downloads/Communications-Skills-Guide.pdf
  
This publication also provides guidelines on a range of other important communication skills including writing essays and management reports, making oral presentations etc. In preparing any written piece of assessment for your postgraduate studies it is important to draw on the relevant ‘literature’ to support critical analysis. Also essential is to reference the literature used. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. (Further information on plagiarism is provided later in this course outline.)
  
The Harvard system is the preferred style of referencing for this course. Guidelines for the use of this style of referencing can be found in the Communication Skills Guide. Further assistance with referencing is available from the Faculty’s Learning Support Advisors.  
  
In addition we encourage you to utilise the resources available via online links in the Student Support Section of this outline
  
Return of Assignments
Every attempt is made to provide feedback on the mid-semester assessment to students within two (2) weeks of the due date. Assessment of the major component of assessment (the report) is anticipated to take longer than the nominal two (2) weeks.