This assignment must be completed individually. The assignment aims to increase your understanding of the different techniques used in the evaluation of business sustainability and corporate bankruptcy. You are required to apply theoretical knowledge to actual company data.
Your task for this assignment is to evaluate the bankruptcy risk for Vodafone Plc based on the provided data, and your own research. Your memorandum should include the following:
1. A critical analysis of bankruptcy risk for the company using Beaver’s, Altman’s and Argenti’s approaches to support your assessment.
2. A critical evaluation of the likelihood of the company going into bankruptcy in the upcoming years.
Other requirements:
• The submission should be in the format of a memorandum addressed to an analyst who has asked you to make the evaluation.
• When calculating financial ratios for Beaver’s and Altman’s approaches: o You must follow the same approach as the one that was covered in the learning materials.
o You must only use the provided data and you should calculate financial ratios for all three years. Workings must be shown.
Criteria for Assessment – How you will be marked
The mark allocation is shown below:
Marks
Memorandum
Good marks are available for students who not only bring the evidence together convincingly and logically to arrive at an overall conclusion, but also discuss the credibility of the conclusion they arrive at. Higher marks will be available for a critical discussion of the theory and evidence presented.
The memorandum should include:
• Critical analysis using Beaver’s approach (20 marks)
• Critical analysis using Altman’s approach (20 marks)
• Critical analysis using Argenti’s approach (20 marks)
• Critical discussion and overall conclusion (20 marks)
Calculations for Beaver’s and Altman’s approach should be in the appendix, and the main figures referred to in the memorandum where needed. Workings must be shown. The scorecard for Argenti’s approach should be in the appendix with the main points summarised in the memorandum. 80
Referencing
Full marks are available for students correctly applying the Harvard referencing system, and displaying appropriate reading around the subject area. 10
Structure, style and overall professionalism
Full marks are available for students who produce a professional memorandum, which is well-structured and of an appropriate tone. 10
Total 100
Further information on University mark descriptors can be found here.
This assignment is designed to assess the following subject-specific learning outcomes:
• Systematic understanding of the theoretical and practical basis of financial modelling.
• Assess organisations’ reporting needs and deploy accurately a suitable financial model.
• Critically evaluate different financial scenarios and apply scenario management to facilitate informed decision-making.
• Apply presentation and visualisation methods for efficient and dynamic reporting.
Assessment Details
The word count is 500. The word limit includes tables, figures, quotations and citations, but excludes the references list and appendices. You can also exclude the in-text citations and the memo header from the word limit.
There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.
How to Submit your Assessment
The assessment must be submitted by 12:00pm noon (GMT/BST) on 15/02/24 using the link provided on LearningZone.
• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.
• Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader.
• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason will be subject to the University regulations on late submissions.
o If an assessment is submitted up to 24 hours late the mark for the work will be capped at the pass mark of 40 per cent for undergraduate modules or 50 per cent for postgraduate modules
o If an assessment is submitted beyond 24 hours late the work will receive a mark of zero per cent
o The above applies to a student’s first attempt at the assessment. If work submitted as a reassessment of a previously failed assessment task is submitted later than the deadline the work will immediately be given a mark of zero per cent
o If an assessment which is marked as pass/fail rather than given a percentage mark is submitted later than the deadline, the work will immediately be marked as a fail
• The University wants you to do your best. However, we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict. If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to five working days, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the re-sit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline for your assessment. You will find information about applying for extensions and deferrals here.
• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.
• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.
Return of Marked Work
You can expect to have feedback returned to you by 12:00pm (noon) on 07/03/24 (within 15 working days). If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online. It is important that you access the feedback you receive as this will help to make improvements to your later work, you can request a meeting with your Module Leader or Personal Tutor to discuss your feedback in more detail.
Marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed their review. More information on assessment and feedback can be found here.
Academic Integrity and Generative AI Use
In submitting a piece of work for assessment it is essential that you understand the University’s requirements for maintaining academic integrity and ensure that the work does not contravene University regulations. Some examples of behaviour that would not be considered acceptable include plagiarism, re-use of previously assessed work, collusion with others and purchasing your assignment from a third party. For more information on academic offences, bad academic practice, and academic penalties, please read chapter four of our academic regulations.
Generative AI tools cannot be used for this assessment. You must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to generate any materials or content in relation to your assessment.
For further information on Generative AI tools, please refer to the library guide here – https://library.dmu.ac.uk/genai.
Academic Support and Your Well-being
Referencing is the process of acknowledging other people’s work when you have used it in your assignment or research. It allows the reader to locate your source material as quickly and easily as possible so that they can read these sources themselves and verify the validity of your arguments. Referencing provides the link between what you write and the evidence on which it is based.
You identify the sources that you have used by citing them in the text of your assignment
(called citations or in-text citations) and referencing them at the end of your assignment (called the reference list or end-text citations). The reference list only includes the sources cited in your text. The main referencing guide can be found here and includes information on the basics of referencing and achieving good academic practice. It also has tabs for the specific referencing styles depending on whether you require Harvard style used in business or OSCOLA style used by the Law school.
The University has a wealth of support services available to students; further information can be obtained from Student Gateway, the Student Advice Centre, Library and Learning Services and, most importantly, your Personal Tutor. If you are struggling with your assessments and/or deadlines please do seek help as soon as possible so that appropriate support and guidance can be identified and put in place for you. More information can be found on the Healthy DMU pages.