BST970 Professional Practice Project MODULE GUIDE 2022-23
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MSc Accounting & Finance and MSc Finance
BST970 Professional Practice Project
MODULE GUIDE 2022-23
Welcome to the MSc Accounting & Finance and MSc Finance
Professional Practice module!
This module is an opportunity for you to build on the disciplines and skills that you have learned throughout your MSc programme so far and to undertake an extended piece of work putting that knowledge into practice in undertaking this company analysis. Throughout the taught part of the module you will undertake classes to help you to develop your professional and practical skills. You will also be provided with research skills to help you to undertake your professional practice project.
This document is intended to provide you with an overview of what is expected of you on this, the final ‘project’ module. So, everything you need to know about your MSc Project – including what you’ll need to ‘deliver’ – will be detailed in the pages that follow.
We hope you enjoy this part of your course and we wish you very well.
Contents
1. Key information
2. The aims of the project
3. Independent learning and your project supervisor
4. Resources to help you complete your project
5. What a project is and what it should look like
6. Ethics
7. Appendices
a. Appendix 1: Declaration
1. Key information
ASSIGNMENT TYPE: Research Project
WORD LIMIT: 10,000 words +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices)
VALUE: 80% of overall module mark
5% of the overall mark is for the reflective portfolio
15% of the overall mark is for the Personal Development
Plan
(Details of the Reflective Portfolio and the Personal Development Plan have been separately circulated)
DEADLINE: 11am Thursday 7th September, 2023
SUBMISSION: To be submitted as a PDF on Learning Central
NOTES:
- This module is worth 60 credits
- The university regulations advise against supervision when a student has resits, on the basis that if you fail the resit then you will not be able to submit your project. Students must have achieved 100 credits in the taught part of the programme before embarking on their dissertation.
- If you are in a position where you have resits please seek advice from either myself or your project supervisor, as you should not endanger successful completion of resits by undertaking your project prematurely. It is imperative that time you spend on your project does not detract from your ability to pass your resits. You MUST pass all taught modules on the 1st or 2nd attempt otherwise you will not be able to submit your project.
2. The Assessment Brief for the Professional Practice Report
You are writing as a respected financial analyst who specialises in advising clients who are interested in purchasing equities in a given industry sector. You are tasked with providing investment advice on a non-financial company. The company should be listed on a major stock exchange with significant information publicly available in English. It has also readily identifiable peers (competitors) who have available information as above.
You will be drawing on your learning so far in accounting and finance to analyse the company’s accounting, financial and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, its governance, its competitors, and the industry in which it operates. You should provide your analysis of the company over a five-year period.
Your company must be:
. Agreed with the module leader by Friday 2nd June 2023 . Listed on a major stock exchange
. A prominent company, with significant information that is publicly available in English (both financial and non-financial information).
. You should select a company from a mainstream industry where
there are readily identifiable peers (competitors). You will have good access to financial and non-financial information about these leading competitors too.
. You should select a company from a non-financial industry where you can gather good industry-wide information and also broader contextual information.
. Your selected company should not be the largest company in its sector or have monopoly power .
3. Key Learning Outcomes & Skills that you can develop:
The overall aim of this module is to develop and test your ability to undertake a substantial piece of independent research. Specifically, this module will give you an opportunity to develop:
. Your critical awareness of the problems associated with undertaking a piece of research.
. Knowledge of how a piece of research is formulated, organised, structured and written.
. Your application of knowledge, techniques and methodologies to analyse your chosen company.
. Your ability to choose appropriate tools and techniques to providing a contextual analysis of a company.
. Your ability to evaluate alternative sources of data and evidence.
. Your ability to apply methods, and your practical understanding of how
established techniques are used to create and interpret knowledge.
. Your ability to apply technical accounting and finance skills in an organisational context.
. Your ability to communicate ideas effectively.
. Your ability to exercise initiative, self-reliance and time management skills.
4. Independent learning and your project supervisor
Independent learning is at the heart of the project module, which you will undertake with the support and guidance of a designated supervisor. Although your project is an independent piece of work, your supervisor is there to mentor you. You are solely responsible for your project, but your supervisor will guide, help and support you.
To get the most out of the opportunity of having a personal supervisor, it is absolutely vital that you establish and maintain regular contact with them. If you fail to keep in touch or to heed your supervisor’s advice, then you could place the outcome of your studies in jeopardy. Your specific responsibilities include:
. Agreeing with your supervisor the topic for your project, its aims and objectives.
. Agreeing with your supervisor an overall work plan for the completion of the project.
. Agreeing with your supervisor a schedule of meetings.
. Maintaining regular contact with your supervisor (remember that the onus is on you to contact your supervisor. They will not ‘chase you’).
. Keeping appointments and/or meeting dates with your supervisor.
. Sending written work to your supervisor by the deadline you agree – do not send them work later, or at short notice.
. Discussing with your supervisor the type of guidance and feedback that would be most helpful.
. Maintaining records of dates of meetings with your supervisor.
. Alerting your supervisor to any factors that have disrupted the schedule or otherwise impeded your progress.
. Maintaining medical and other records in case of a need to apply for an extension to your period of candidature.
In return for your dedication and commitment to your project, your supervisors will be available to discuss your project with you regularly. The actual number and frequency of meetings is not stipulated, but is normally in the region of about 5-7 meetings. How often you meet, and for how long, is something that you should discuss with your supervisor at your first meeting.
When planning your schedule, please remember that your supervisors are extremely busy people with a great many other commitments, it is important to discuss, recognise and incorporate your supervisor’s constraints into the plans you make. When you make these plans, you can assume that your supervisors will work with you to:
. Agree a title and approach.
. Agree an overall work plan for the completion of the project.
. Agree a schedule of meetings (students are advised not to leave a meeting without agreeing a date for the next).
. Keep appointments and/or meetings by which they will return work to you (by agreement).
. Agree the type of guidance and feedback which would be most helpful to you.
. Advise you on issues and ideas relevant for the project. . Advise you on appropriate analytical methods.
. Advise you on the standard of work required.
. Advise you on writing and presentation of the project.
. Advise you making amendments to written draft of your work.
5. What is a project and what should it look like?
To demonstrate you have met the Project Module’s learning outcomes you need to produce a written document that is 10,000 words long (+/- 10%, excluding references and appendices). In very general terms your project needs to:
. Outline and provide background context to the company.
. Engage with relevant academic and professional literature to contextualise any debates.
. Explain the tools, techniques and methodologies you use to analyse the company.
. Present and explain your analyses and findings.
. Contextualise your analysis, over a 5-year period, and in relation to key competitors.
. Consider the broader factors affecting the performance of your chosen company.
. Consider the future performance of the company.
. Provide recommendations and advice based on your analysis.
You may structure your report as you feel appropriate and it may include analyses that you think best help you to evaluate the performance of your chosen company. That said, presented below is an indicative structure to help you deliver on these requirements. You can exercise flexibility where appropriate and subject to discussion with your supervisor.
The report may include the following sections:
. Executive Summary
. Chapter One – An introduction, background and overview of the company
. Chapter Two – Financial Analysis & Industry Comparisons, trends and performance
This might include:
a. Analysis of the company’s financial statements
b. Financial ratio analysis, trend analysis, comparison with industry ratios, the identification and computation of
customised industry ratios
c. Industry analysis – might use Porter’s five forces, discussion of business model and strategy
d. Please provide context to the techniques you use and your analysis
. Chapter Three – Investment/Stock Market Analysis & Analysis of key macroeconomic factors
This might include:
a. Company valuations and stock performance (e.g., stock returns, Sharpe ratio and alpha)
b. Risk assessments, including risk measurement based on stock returns (e.g., return volatility, beta and crash risk)
c. PESTLE analysis
d. Please provide context to the techniques you use and your analysis
. Chapter Four – Analysis in the context of wider stakeholders, governance issues, CSR issues
This might include:
a. Analysing the company in relation to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors
b. Considering ESG risks
. Conclusion and Recommendations – Advising investors, making recommendations, mapping the future performance and outlook for
the company
. References
. Appendix
Exactly what goes into each of these sections depends on how you focus your project and your own interests, and is something you should discuss in detail with your supervisors.
When you come to write your project, be aware that the University has very specific regulations concerning the presentation of projects. You need to submit your project digitally (via Turnitin), and the document you submit should comply with the following requirements:
. A4 paper size must be used.
. All type should be in black.
. Use double line spacing or one and a half (1.5.) line spacing. . Indented quotations should be single line spaced.
. The left-hand margin should not be less than 3.8cm.
. The right-hand margin should not be less then 2cm.
. All tables should be numbered sequentially and be given a suitable heading.
. All drawings, graphs and charts should be given a figure number, together with a suitable heading.
. On opening the report, the first page should contain the title, your name, the name of the University and a declaration (see Appendix 1).
. Next acknowledgements, a contents page, a list of appendices together with lists of tables and figures.
. An Executive Summary
. Page one is the first page of chapter one. All pages before should be numbered.
. You are responsible for proofreading your completed report. Do check carefully that every reference in the text is present in the references and vice versa (and that the spelling is correct in all cases).
. You must adhere to the word limit of 10,000 (excluding appendices and references). You may be penalised for word counts outside the 10% range of the official word limit.
Your project will be assessed using a formal assessment criteria, which you will find on Learning Central.
6. Ethics
As your project only involves secondary data research or publicly available data, ethical review is not needed. Instead, for your project this is the process you must follow:
(1)You must Complete the Research Integrity Online Training programme and save your certificate of completion, which you must provide to your supervisor prior to your first supervisory meeting.
(2)Once you have completed the training you will be issued with a Certificate of Completion within Learning Central. The easiest way to access your Certificate is to re-enter the training in Learning Central and select the ‘Achievements’ menu option on the left-hand side of the page. If you wish to print or save your Certificate please select the printer icon (‘Print Certificate’ option) that appears next to your completion of training achievement. This will allow you to print your Certificate and/or save it as a PDF file.
(3)This certificate should be attached and submitted with your final report.
Appendix 1: Declaration
DECLARATION
This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being currently submitted in candidature for any degree.
Signed………………………………………(Candidate)
Date … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
STATEMENT 1
This work is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s).
Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended.
Signed………………………………………(Candidate)
Date … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
STATEMENT 2
I hereby give consent for my work, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations.
Signed………………………………………(Candidate)
Date … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
2023-08-12