1. THE COURSEWORK QUESTION You are working for the company Combo Applications, a company specializing in software and hardware solutions for companies. You are the Finance Director of the company. The company publishes financial statements at the year end, which is on the 31st December. The company had the following transactions amongst others: 1. On 01st February 2017 they bought a building for £500,000 in the municipality of Tower Hamlets. On August 2017, the council announced that a rubbish dump will be created adjusted to the building just bought. The landfill will be ready on December 2017. Following the announcement of the council, the CEO of the company called an estate agent to value the building. The independent estate agent valued the building at £200,000. 2. The company has bought shares of the oil company Petroleum for £2,000,000 on the 25th September 2017. The fall in oil prices has led the shares of oil
companies to plunge. On the 31st December 2017 the shares had a value of £780,000 on London Stock Exchange. 3. The company has bought raw materials for the products it makes which keeps in the company’s warehouse in Birmingham. On the 01st October 2017 the
value of the stock of the raw materials was £120,000. On the 02nd of October 2017 extreme weather conditions led to the warehouse be flooded and 80% of the raw material was destroyed. The destroyed material has a scrap value of £20,000. The company had to replace the destroyed material by buying new one for the value of £130,000. Required: The CEO of the company is asking your opinion about the relevant accounting treatment that every transaction should receive. Choosing the appropriate accounting treatment should be based on your understanding to the accounting standards under which these business transactions fall. The CEO is asking from you to present a comprehensive report of the implications of each choice on the Statement of Financial Position and the Income Statement. The CEO is asking you to critically comment on the appropriateness of fair value and historical value reporting methods in each of the above mentioned transactions. Guideline: • You might check IAS 16 (Property, Plant and Equipment) and IAS 39 (Impairment of Assets) for the first transaction. • You might check IAS 28 (Investment in associates) and IAS 39 (Financial Instruments) for the second transaction.
• You might check IAS 2 (Inventories) for the third transaction. 1. Context Good reports need to include the following points: (but not be limited to) • The implications of each choice in the profitability of the business and its financial position • The advantages and disadvantages of each method • The importance of informing the relevant stakeholders of the true and fair view of the business
Good reports will be rewarded for not just describing the decisions made but analyzing their rationale. The word count for these assessment is 2,000 (this is the maximum limit). This does not include reference lists, bibliographies, tables, figures and captions.
2. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 3. HOW TO WRITE A REPORT 4. HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE REPORT • ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE • INTEGRATING EVIDENCE AND YOUR OWN IDEAS • CRITICAL ANALYSIS • EDITING 5. HOW TO READ AND USE ACADEMIC JOURNAL ARTICLES 6. MARKING SCHEME 7. A GUIDE TO HARVARD REFERENCING • AN EXAMPLE OF A FINAL LIST OF REFERENCES, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER 2. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Is the Report double-spaced with 2cm margins throughout? Is the Report presented in a sensible font and font size, e.g. the preferred Times New Roman point 12? Is the Report within the 2,000 word limit with a sensible stopping point? Is the spelling and typing clear throughout? 3. HOW TO WRITE A REPORT
Below are brief summaries of each of the ten steps to writing a report. 1. Research: Begin the report writing process by researching your topic, making yourself an expert. Utilize the internet, the academic databases, and the library. Take notes and immerse yourself in the words of great thinkers. 2. Analysis: Now that you have a good knowledge base, start analyzing the arguments of the essays you’re reading. Clearly define the claims, write out the reasons, the evidence. Look for weaknesses of logic, and also strengths. 3. Brainstorming: Your report will require insight of your own, genuine essaywriting brilliance. Ask yourself a dozen questions and answer them. Meditate with
a pen in your hand. Take walks and think and think until you come up with original insights to write about. 4. Thesis: Pick your best idea and pin it down in a clear assertion that you can write your entire essay around. Your thesis is your main point, summed up in a
concise sentence that lets the reader know where you’re going, and why. It’s practically impossible to write a good essay without a clear thesis. 5. Outline: Sketch out your report before straightway writing it out. Use one-line sentences to describe paragraphs, and bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain. Play with the essay’s order. Map out the structure of your argument, and make sure each paragraph is unified. 6. Introduction: Now sit down and write the report. The introduction should grab the reader’s attention, set up the issue, and lead in to your thesis. Your intro is merely a buildup of the issue, a stage of bringing your reader into the report’s argument.
(Note: The title and first paragraph are probably the most important elements in your report. This is a writing point that doesn’t always sink in within the context of the classroom. In the first paragraph you either hook the reader’s interest or lose it) 7. Paragraphs: Each individual paragraph should be focused on a single idea that supports your thesis. Begin paragraphs with topic sentences, support assertions with evidence, and expound your ideas in the clearest, most sensible way you can. Speak to your reader as if he or she were sitting in front of you. In other words, instead of writing the report, try talking the report. 8. Conclusion: Gracefully exit your report by making a quick wrap-up sentence, and then end on some memorable thought, perhaps a quotation, or an interesting twist of logic, or some call to action. Is there something you want the reader to walk away and do? Let him or her know exactly what. 9. Style: Format your report according to the correct guidelines for citation. All borrowed ideas and quotations should be correctly cited in the body of your text,
followed up with a Works Cited (references) page listing the details of your sources. 10. Language: You’re not done writing your report until you’ve polished your language by correcting the grammar, making sentences flow, incorporating rhythm, emphasis, adjusting the formality, giving it a level-headed tone, and making other intuitive edits. Proofread until it reads just how you want it to sound. Writing a
report can be tedious, but you don’t want to bungle the hours of conceptual work you’ve put into writing your report by leaving a few slippy misppallings and poorly wordedd phrazies (I know it is frustrating when you read a text full of mistakes). Tips: Use strong verbs and avoid modals to state your opinion. It is better to write: “The workplace has evolved” than “The workplace seems to have evolved” 4. HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE REPORT ◉ ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE ◉ INTEGRATING EVIDENCE AND YOUR OWN IDEAS
◉ CRITICAL ANALYSIS ◉ EDITING ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE Academic reports should be written in a formal style. Avoid: • clichés (“the flaws in this argument stand out like a sore thumb”) • contractions (“don’t”, “aren’t”, “it’s”) • phrases that sound like speech (“well, this bit is really fascinating”) • subjective descriptions (“this beautiful sculpture”) Use the first person “I” only where appropriate (e.g. when writing up your own experience or professional case study). Where possible use the third person, for example “It can be argued” instead of “I think” Use plain language – you do not have to search for a more “academic-sounding” word when a simple one will do. We are looking for clear and accurate expression of ideas, not confusing language. Shorter sentences are usually clearer than long complex ones, but make sure it is a whole sentence and not just a clause or phrase. INTEGRATING EVIDENCE AND YOUR OWN IDEAS
Your argument is your reasoned answer to the question, supported by evidence. The books, articles, and research material that you read for your essay provide this evidence to back up your points. The way in which you select and interpret the evidence, and explain why it answers the question, is where you demonstrate your own thinking. For each point that you make , you need to support it with evidence. There are many different kinds of evidence, and the type you use will depend on what is suitable for your subject and what the essay question is asking you to do. CRITICAL ANALYSIS Critical analysis is a key skill for writing reports at university and of course is
highly valued in the labour market; it allows you to assess the various ideas and information that you read, and decide whether you want to use them to support your points. It is something we do on daily basis when assessing the information around us and making reasoned decisions, for example whether to believe the claims made in TV adverts. Nor does it always mean disagreeing with something you also need to be able to explain why you agree with arguments. Critical analysis involves: Carefully considering an idea and weighing up the evidence supporting it to see if it is convincing. Then being able to explain why you find the evidence convincing or unconvincing.
It helps if you ask yourself a series of questions about the material you are reading. Try using these questions to help you think critically:
Who is the author and what is their viewpoint or bias? Who is the audience and how does that influence the way information is presented?
What is the main message of the text? What evidence has been used to support this main message? Is the evidence convincing; are there any counter-arguments? Do I agree with the text and why do I agree or disagree? EDITING Editing involves checking whether all your points are in the right order and that they are all relevant to the question. Be ruthless at this stage – if the information isn’t directly answering the question, cut it out! You will get many more marks for showing you can answer the question than you will for an unordered list of everything you know about a topic. Put yourself in the reader’s position – can they follow the points you are making clearly? You know what you are trying to say, but will your reader? Are there gaps in your reasoning to be explained or filled? 5. HOW TO READ AND USE ACADEMIC JOURNAL ARTICLES Key components of an article and what kind of information can we get out of each one of them.
▪ Title Shows what the article is about. ▪ Abstract: Abstract or Executive Summary is a paragraph that briefly summarizes the whole
article. Most articles start with an abstract / executive summary. ▪ Introduction: This part introduces the subject of the article and presents what the article contributes to existing knowledge on the topic. ▪ Literature review: Shows what is already known about this topic and what is left to discover. It includes a review of the existing research and theory on the topic and relates them to the research presented in the rest of the article. ▪ Methods and data: Shows how the author did the research and discusses the relevant research methods.
▪ Analysis and Results: Shows what was found by the author and how did he/she find it. It presents the kind of analysis that was done on the data and the results of this analysis. ▪ Discussion and Conclusion: This is the final part of an article which is explaining the importance of the research, discusses whether and how the research questions are answered, and indicates topics for future research. How to, “efficiently”, use academic articles. Whilst doing research for a project or a coursework you may find yourself in front of vast amounts of related information which you may not have the time to thoroughly study. However, a sufficient number of, well selected articles, has to be read in order for you to get sufficient background knowledge on the topic. Here are some suggestions on how to filter through multiple articles, avoid articles that are not very helpful, and identify potentially important sources of information. ▪ Read the abstract first: The abstract will give you sufficient information about the “take home messages” of the article. From this you will know whether you should read on or look somewhere else for your project. ▪ Then read the introduction and the conclusion: These sections will present you the main topics of the article, which will be helpful in identifying its relevance to your project. You will also get an idea of the findings
of the research. ▪ Read about the methodology next: If you have found out that the article is relevant to your project then you need to
know how the research was done. Is it based on qualitative or quantitative data; where, when and how the data where collected.
▪ Finally, read about the analysis and the results: This will help you to evaluate the importance and validity of the article. 6. MARKING SCHEME Successful students will produce essays that meet the following broad criteria: • demonstrate the research undertaken by the use of suitable references; • apply his/her knowledge to the question actually set; • present the work in a well-structured manner;
• attach a suitable bibliography and reference the work appropriately; • attach any appropriate, appendices; • present the work in an appropriate style, with good spelling, grammar and use of the available word count. It must be noted that simple regurgitation of lecture notes will result in a low or fail grade, as will the inclusion of excess material that is not relevant to the question. If you do not have any part of the information, you will have to leave it out or indicate you do not have it with ‘date unknown’ for example. Very rarely is the
‘author unknown’ although it may be a ‘corporate’ author. You can reference ANY sources using Harvard – the rule is keep the same order of information as above. WHO WROTE THE WORK? WHEN DID THEY WRITE IT? WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE WORK? WHERE CAN IT BE FOUND? References and Bibliography References are NOT the same as a Bibliography. Your lecturer may ask you to put
either one of these, or both at the end of your assignment. Whichever you use, the Harvard style is the same and it must be arranged alphabetically. Here are the differences: References References contain a list of all the sources you actually used and ‘cited’ in the text.
Bibliography A Bibliography contains all the sources of information that you used as ‘background’ reading for the assignment but you did not actually cite these sources in the text. A Bibliography should not only include books, but any background sources that you think should be mentioned. Do not make a long Bibliography to impress. Only include items that you think provide useful information for the reader. Remember: 1. References / Bibliography must be arranged alphabetically, according to author. 2. A Reference list must contain an entry for each in-text citation. 3. Other sources, not cited in the text, should go in a separate Bibliography. 4. Always note the full details of your references and quotes as you read and write, so that you do not forget your sources. It will then be easier to make the final list of References. 5. Include a page number if your citation is a direct quotation from your source. 6. Make a final check when editing your work that each in-text citation also appears in the References. 7. Do not mix Harvard with other referencing systems (i.e. do not use ‘ibid’,
‘op.cit’, etc.) 8. Only reference the sources you actually use (see primary and secondary sources below). 9. Take careful note of the different use of italics, inverted commas, etc. between different types of sources (e.g. books and journals). Generally, the titles of books, journals and newspapers are put in italics. The titles of articles in journals are put in inverted commas. 10.If your source is an electronic version, rather than a paper copy of a journal, book, newspaper or report, then you need to state [Online] to show that you read it online instead of hard copy. 11.Use ‘Available at’ for URL (uniform resource locator) to identify a web address. 12.Always include the date (day, month and year) that you ‘accessed’ your web reference source. Primary and secondary sources Primary sources are the ‘original’ sources. Secondary sources are the primary sources referred to by other authors. This guide gives examples of both types of sources. Remember that wherever possible, you should always consult the primary source. However, whatever type of source you use, the golden rule is to only cite and reference the source that you actually use. Attribution tense As a general rule, use the present tense. For example, “Brown (1987) suggests…”. You are stating that Brown held this opinion in 1987 and implies he still does so today. Final list of References Consistent punctuation and spacing are necessary in the References. Some general rules apply: • Authors’ names: • Use only the initials of the authors’ given names. • No full stops and no spaces are used between initials. • Titles of works: • Use minimal capitalisation for the titles of books, book chapters and journal articles. • In the titles of journals, magazines and newspapers, capital letters should be used as they appear normally. • Use italics for the titles of books, journals, and newspapers. • Enclose titles of book chapters and journal articles in inverted commas (single quotation marks). • Page numbering: • Books: page numbers are not usually needed in the References. • Journal articles: page numbers appear as the final item of the citation, followed by a full stop. • Use the abbreviations p. for a single page, and pp. for a page range, e.g. pp.11-12 • Whole citation: • The different details, or elements, of each citation are separated by full stops. • The whole citation finishes with a full stop. Books 1 One author In-text citation As Barro (2008) suggests the terms micro and macro economics are to a large extent misnomers. References Barro, R.J. (2008) Macroeconomics. 5th edn. London: MIT. 2 Two authors In-text citation
Mahoney & Cripps (2001) have examined a number of related issues in this field. References Mahoney, D. & Cripps, M. (2001) International business: a managerial perspective. 2nd edn. Hong Kong: Pearson. 3 Several authors (use ‘et al’ for more than two authors)
In-text citation A “boundaryless” organisation is one “Whose design is not defined, or limited to, the horizontal, vertical or external boundaries imposed by a predefined structure” (Robbins et al, 2003: 292). References Robbins, S.P., Bergmann, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. (2003) Management. 3rd edn. Sydney: Prentice Hall. 4 Edited book In-text citation Current levels of competition demand that companies consider new ways of organising their accounting systems (Javier et al, 2005, in Poole et al, 2006). References
Javier, M., Mathews, P. & Corcoran, G. (2005) ‘Management accounting for global growth’. Financial Management. 12(2) pp. 18-26. In Poole, A.M., Brown, R., Lauchan, L. & Roose, W. (eds.) (2006) Accounting innovation and organisation. Adelaide: Shouson Press.
Note: If the author of the chapter/idea cites another source, refer to No.9, e.g. Smith (2004, cited in Javier et al, 2005, in Poole et al, 2006) and the reference list will contain details of all sources. 5 More than one book by the same author in the same year In-text citation
As Stevens suggests (2001a & 2001b) e-commerce business models must realise that initially, transaction security is more important than market exposure. References Stevens, J. (2001a) E-commerce – the future of selling. London: Sage. Stevens, J. (2001b) The online market place. New York: Randall. Journals Only the title of the journal is put in italics. The title of the article is put in inverted commas. 6 Author unknown In text citation A recent British Medical Association (BMA) article (2007) highlights the economic impact of the problem of obesity References BMA (2007) ‘The impact of obesity on UK health care funding’. British Medical Journal. No. 10057. 28th June. p.13. 7 Journal article – one author In text citation As O’Hara’s survey (2007) shows marketing microstructures are not well understood.
References O’Hara, M. (2007) ‘Making Market Microstructure Matter’. Financial Management. 28(2) Summer. pp. 83-91. 8 Journal article – two authors In-text citation Differing perceptions of organisational fairness provide grounds for resistant behaviour (Folger and Starbuck, 2002). References Folger, R. & Starbuck, D. (2002) ‘Constraints on Change’. Journal of Organisational Change Management. 12(1) pp. 34-45. 9 Author citing another author In-text citation Despite the popularity of phased transitional models of organisational change (McCauley, 2006, cited in Bryant, 2006) many companies still tend to undervalue their human resources. References McCauley, M. (2006) HRM and Change Management. London: Business Matters. In Bryant, T. (2006) ‘Resistance to organisational change’. Journal of Management. 16(3) pp.121-134. 10 Electronic book In-text citation Bowell & Kemp (2005) stresses the importance of developing critical thinking in academic writing. References Bowell, T. & Kemp, G. (2005) Critical Thinking – a concise guide. 2nd edn. New York: Routledge 11 Electronic journal In-text citation Watson (2007) argues that management accounting systems can be much more cost effective in relation to outsourcing. References Watson, M. (2007) ‘Management accounting and budgetary control’. Public Finance Quarterly. 32(2) March. pp. 234-7 [Online] Available at: http://search.global.epnet.com [Accessed: 21 March, 2008]. 12 Internet page – author known
In-text citation Yau (2008) is critical of the excessive regulatory structure applied to joint ventures in China. References Yau, W. (2008) Comlaw Hong Kong. Available at: http://www.geocities.com/comlaw/hk/ [Accessed: 10 May, 2008]. 13 Organisation website
In-text citation External verifiers routinely visit Shell locations and businesses to ensure compliance with the ISO 14001 standard. All the main manufacturing sites have successfully maintained external certification to the standard (Shell, 2008). References Shell (2008) Environmental performance 2007. Available at: http//shell.com/home/framework?siteID=UK [Accessed: 2 March, 2008]. 14 Information database: citing a journal article, e.g. from Emerald; Ebsco, etc. In-text citation Macedo (2004) discusses new ways of designing the structure and working procedures of a manufacturing system. References Macedo, J. (2004) ‘Unified structural procedural approach for designing integrated manufacturing systems’. International Journal of Production Research. 42(17) pp. 356-378. Business Source Complete [Online] Available at: http://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/results?vid=2&hid=113&sid=5c0a86c6-ece7-48cd-8a61-f24bce43b9f0%40sessionmgr103 [Accessed: 11 May, 2008]. 15 Information database: citing a report – author unknown In-text citation
The Mintel Report (2007) states that Venezuela’s oil revenues have allowed President Chávez to finance his “Bolivarian revolution” and to establish programmes to help the poor, at home and abroad. References Mintel (2007) ‘Travel and Tourism – Venezuela – August 2007’ [Online] Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/my_reports/display/id=237192&anchor=atom#atom0 [Accessed: 25 September, 2007]. 16 Discussion group/Bulletin board In-text citation Customers appear very satisfied with this approach to refunds (Consumer Action, 2008). References Consumer Action (2008) Available by e-mail: conact@btinfonet [Accessed: 11 March, 2008]. 17 Reference to a website using an acronym In text citation Recent studies estimate that the total asset base of the United States’ not-forprofit sector would make it the sixth largest economy in the world (FASB, 2007). References FASB (2007) News Release. 11 September, 2007. Available at: http//www.fasb.org/news/nr100906.shtml [Accessed: 14 September, 2007]. AN EXAMPLE OF A FINAL LIST OF REFERENCES, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER: References Bessant, J. (2001) ‘The question of public trust and stock markets’. Journal of Investment. 45(2) pp. 207-226. Bessant, J. & Webber, R. (2001) ‘Policy and standards: the case for liberalisation’.
Accounting Studies. 20(1) pp. 43-47. Marieb, E. (2000) Essential Management Theory: Management in Action. 6th edn.
San Francisco: Berkeley [Online] Available at: http://occ.berkeley.com/bookbind/pubbooks/marieb-essentials/ [Accessed: 4 July, 2008].
Nott, A.J. (2006) ‘Integrated pathways’. Organisational Journal. 4(10) pp.102-113 [Online] Available at: http://www.orgjourn.ac.uk/lists/pathways.html [Accessed: 5 July, 2008]. Robbins, S.P. (2004) Organizational behaviour. 11th edn. Upper Saddle River. NJ.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Robbins, S.P. & De Cenzo, D.A. (2006) Fundamentals of management: essential
concepts and applications. 4th edn. Upper Saddle River. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Snyder, M. (2001) ‘Research methods for Business Studies’. Journal of Research. 6(2) May. pp.45-56 [Online] Available at: http://www.research/Business/15/tpc15ntr.htm [Accessed: 4 July, 2008]. University of Reading (2006) A brief guide to internet resources. Reading: Reading University. [Online] Available at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/libweb/Lib/Subj/Ir/ireduc.html [Accessed: 6 October, 2008]
