Corporate Financial Management - Australia Assignments

Assessment Brief – Postgraduate
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Module Code:	MN0491
Module Title:	Corporate Financial Management
Distributed on:	Immediate	Hand in Date:	To be announced on Black board site of this module

Further information about general assessment criteria, ARNA regulations, referencing and plagiarism
can be found on the module’s site on the e-Learning Portal. Students are advised to read and follow
this information.
Instructions on Assessment:
3,000 words
Select a multinational company of your choice from the FTSE 100 index. Use the
“Investor Relations” section of the website to download annual statements covering
the most recent 5 year period. The report structure should be as follows:

1. Evaluate and discuss the financial performance of the company over the period of analysis. As a minimum you must cover the following: a. General review of the income statements b. Working capital management policy c. Dividend policy d. Historical share price performance	(20 Marks)
2. Estimate the share price of the company by means of the Dividend Discount and the Capital Asset Pricing models. For this task use the sensitivity analysis in relation to the variables which are hard to predict and/or accurately estimate. Relate the obtained result to the market estimate of the share price and comment on the reasons behind possible differences citing relevant theories.	(40 Marks)
3. Discuss the capital structure of the company using the company’s balance sheet in the context of the Modigliani and Miller theories on capital structure and prepare a constructive critique of these theories. Your discussion should involve various balance sheet items such total equity, total debt, and other relevant information.	(40 marks)

Assessment Brief – Postgraduate
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(Total 100 Marks)
Word limits and penalties for assignments
If the assignment is within +10% of the stated word limit no penalty will apply.
The word count is to be declared on the front page of your assignment and the assignment cover
sheet. The word count does not include:

• Title and Contents page	• Reference list	• Appendices	• Appropriate tables, figures and illustrations
• Glossary	• Bibliography	• Quotes from interviews and focus groups.

Please note, in text citations [e.g. (Smith, 2011)] and direct secondary quotations [e.g. “dib-dab
nonsense analysis” (Smith, 2011 p.123)] are INCLUDED in the word count.
If this word count is falsified, students are reminded that under ARNA page 30 Section 3.4 this will be
regarded as academic misconduct.
If the word limit of the full assignment exceeds the +10% limit, 10% of the mark provisionally awarded
to the assignment will be deducted. For example: if the assignment is worth 70 marks but is above the
word limit by more than 10%, a penalty of 7 marks will be imposed, giving a final mark of 63.
Students are advised that they may be asked to submit an electronic version of their assignment.
Time limits and penalties for presentations
The time allocated for the presentation must be adhered to. At the end of this time, the presentation
will be stopped and will be marked based on what has been delivered within the time limit.
Submission of Assessment:
All assignments must be submitted via the Postgraduate Programme Office. Each assignment must
be accompanied by an Assessed Work Form which must be completed in full. The assignment will not
be accepted by the Postgraduate Programme Office unless the form is completed correctly.
Marked assignments will be returned to students. It is advisable to retain a copy of your assignment
for you own records. Your mark will be returned on the Assessed Work Form via the Postgraduate
Programme Office.
Assessment Brief – Postgraduate
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Mapping to Programme Goals and Objectives:
This assessment will contribute directly to the following Postgraduate programme goals and
objectives.
Goal One: Be independent, reflective critical thinkers

1.	Demonstrate awareness of their personal strengths and weaknesses through critical reflective practice.
2.	Understand and challenge personal patterns of thinking and behaving.

Goal Two: Be culturally and ethically aware

1.	Demonstrate their ability to work in diverse groups and teams.
2.	Reflect on their own ethical values.

Goal Three: Have developed leadership and management capability

1.	Demonstrate their personal contribution to team effectiveness.
3	2.	Communicate complex issues effectively.
3	3.	Demonstrate decision making and problem solving skills.
4.	Carry out presentations and lead discussions.

Goal Four: Have developed and applied knowledge of international business and management
theory

Acquire, interpret and apply knowledge of international business, management and
organisational functions.

Goal Five: Have developed a range of research skills and project capabilities

1.	Plan and complete a major individual piece of research on a contemporary business, management or leadership topic of their choice.
2.	Demonstrate skills of analysis and synthesis in the application of research methods to the exploration of contemporary business issues.

Goal Six: Have developed specialist knowledge about the theory and practice of your
programme of study

Demonstrate specialist functional knowledge in relation to your programme of study.

Assessment Brief – Postgraduate
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Assessment Criteria (NBS)
Module Specific Assessment Criteria

Trait	0 Fail	1 – 39 Fail	40 – 49 Fail	50 – 54 Pass	55 – 59 Pass	60 – 69 Commendation	70 – 100 Distinction
Critical Appraisal	Students work fails to demonstrate even the most basic levels of the ability to appraise.	Inarticulate and lacks coherence, students work lacks evidence of even a crude level of appraisal	Crude and lacking application to vignette, students work gives an overview of theory without demonstrating ability to appraise the issues in application.	Appraisal of the vignette demonstrates an ability to interpret the application of theory to a real world company, highlighting (in a perhaps superficial way) differences and divergences well.	Appraisal demonstrates a good ability to go beyond the obvious implications and conclusions.	Clear, coherent and importantly cohesive as an appraisal. Well structured demonstrating the ability to form a well-considered argument.	Demonstrates independent thought and reflection, thinking around the issues, and going beyond a simple application of theory.
Coming to rational judgments, logic and strength of reasoning	Students work lacks evidence of a basic ability to form evidence based judgments.	Judgments made, but evidence and reasoning not always clear and/or coherent.	Judgments are based on evidence and clear reasoning with student demonstrating a clear linkage between logical lines of thought to come to their conclusions.	Outstanding evidence of a well considered and weighted judgment with the students calibration of the evidence and reasoning being exceptional.

Note: For those assessments or partial assessments based on calculation, multiple choice etc. Marks will be gained on an accumulative basis. In
these cases, marks allocated to each section will be made clear.
Students must retain an electronic copy of this assignment and it must be made available within 24 hours of them requesting it be submitted.