Managing Financial
Resources
Assignment
The use of specific cultural references and gender
markers in these course materials does not imply
bias or criticism.
The copying, storage in any retrieval system,
transmission, reproduction in any form or resale
of the course materials or any part thereof
without the prior written permission of Henley
Business School is an infringement of copyright
and will result in legal proceedings.
Henley Business School reserves the right to
change course content, structure and all terms and
conditions related to the programmes at its sole
discretion.
henley.ac.uk
© Henley Business School, April 2020
Item code: MFR-AQ-8A
ii
Henley Business School, April 2020
MFR-AQ-8A
Introduction
The assessment of Managing Financial Resources (MFR) is by both assignment and
examination. Managing Financial Resources covers accounting, finance and economics
– these areas have at their heart the key issue of the efficient allocation and
management of resources, and this assignment is focused on techniques that can be
used to measure this efficiency. It provides you with the opportunity to research and
reflect on the application of the concepts and techniques you have studied in the
module by relating them to the practice you find in your organisation. In some
situations, it may not be possible for you to focus on your own organisation, in which
case you are able to select another organisation upon which to review and reflect on
the application of the theory you have studied.
Details of the module-specific requirements follow. Please ensure that you carefully
read the assignment brief and the assignment preparation guidelines so that you
understand what is required.
Purpose of the assignment
The assignment is designed to allow you to demonstrate your ability to:
•
show your understanding of the underpinning ‘theory’ and its application in
your organisation and its managerial environment
•
utilise theoretical approaches and apply frameworks, models, techniques and
concepts to real-world managerial environments
•
select appropriate data/information and apply techniques that illustrate the
use of theory in order to provide a view, opinion or expression of advice on
how to proceed
•
apply the theoretical approaches in analysing managerial environments
•
comment on, provide insights about and critically evaluate the use of
theoretical approaches and techniques in managerial environments
•
reflect on where improvements could be made and create value
You are required to assess the current financial performance of an organisation within
the context of its markets and its economic performance, providing indications of
future market trends. Additionally, you are asked to reflect on how the work you have
undertaken in the assignment has informed your appreciation of the financial position
and performance of your organisation.
© Henley Business School, April 2020
1
Managing Financial Resources: Assignment
Assignment brief
The following are the elements of the assignment.
Introduction (5% marks)
To provide a context for your assignment, you should provide a short introduction to
your organisation (its key features), its current financial position (key metrics), and
your role, (duties, responsibility and accountability). Then identify the key resources in
your organisation, before providing a brief comment on its management issues and
the challenges it faces in meeting its objectives in its markets.
Part A (30% marks)
You should select one of the following economic issues and discuss how it impacts on
your organisation in relation to managing financial resources and decision-making:
•
Demand – an analysis of the nature of demand, its components, the factors
that influence its determination and how changes in demand impact on the
microeconomic market model (MEMM).
•
Supply and cost analysis – an analysis of the nature of supply and its suppliers,
the factors that influence the costs of their supply provision and how changes
in supply impact on the microeconomic market model.
•
Pricing – what approaches organisations can use to determine pricing and how
changes in pricing impact on the microeconomic market model.
•
Market structure – include a description of the nature and composition of the
market in relation to how this may impact on competitive conditions,
profitability of the market and economic behaviour.
•
Economic regulation – include a discussion of the role of regulation, the goal of
market efficacy in the selected market and how this may influence the
microeconomic market model.
Part B (40% marks)
You are required to discuss how the following are used (or could be used, if not
already done so) and the value they add to the financial management of your
organisation:
1. Ratio analysis
2. Decision-making techniques, either short or long term, and how they assist
managerial behaviour and how the process impacts on the creation of value.
(See also point 3 of ‘Assignment preparation guidance’.)
2
© Henley Business School, April 2020
MFR-AQ-8A
Part C (20 % marks)
You are required to discuss the benefits of budgeting and planning in organisations,
relating this to your experience of the budgeting process and budgetary control in your
organisation and its management. You should consider current thinking and any
limitations in budgeting practice, before making recommendations for improvements
in the process.
Conclusion (5% marks)
You should finish your assignment with a reflective conclusion in which you record
how the work you have undertaken in your assignment has helped in your
appreciation of the financial position and performance of your organisation, and in
your current role.
Assignment word limit
The assignment word limit is 4,000 (+20%/–10%) words (excluding appendices and
bibliography/references); the suggested breakdown between the elements is:
Introduction
200 words
Part A
1,200 words
Part B
1,600 words
Part C
800 words
Conclusion
200 words
Total
4,000 words
Assignment grading
The individual report forms 100% of the mark for the assignment component of the
MFR module. The assessment criteria are shown at Appendix 1.
Assignment preparation guidance
In preparing your assignment you should keep the following points in mind. It is
expected that you demonstrate:
•
Your understanding of the underpinning theory and can show the application
of the course material to your organisation’s financial management.
Don’t be concerned if your organisation does not use or make full use of the
theory you have studied, or if the approaches are different. For example, if you
work in a small organisation you may find that some of the techniques are not
yet used – but you can discuss and evaluate the value of their use to the
financial management of the organisation as it develops. Profit may not be the
objective of your organisation, but in the not-for-profit sector financial
© Henley Business School, April 2020
3
Managing Financial Resources: Assignment
resources have to be managed: planning, controlling and decision-making are
still key aspects of management. Decision-making techniques and performance
measurement may be viewed differently but are still used. You are likely to
find, for example when considering the ratio analysis section, that the issues of
efficiency and productivity are more meaningful than profitability and your
discussion and evaluation should demonstrate that you appreciate the scope
and value of the performance metrics used while indicating briefly why some of
those studied are not used. In such situations you should consider why your
organisation does not use the theory, what it does use, what value these add to
the financial management of the organisation, and whether the use of the
techniques and concepts you have studied could be used and what value they
would add to the financial management of the organisation. Financial
calculations to demonstrate the techniques will be expected.
•
Your ability to select appropriate data to illustrate the use of the techniques.
The previous point indicated that financial calculations/illustrations are an
important part of your assignment. It will be helpful to you if you are able to
access actual data from your organisation to illustrate the points you make. If
you are not able to do so, this should not prevent you from providing some
‘illustrative financial data’ with an explanation of any difficulties you may have
found in providing organisational information.
•
Your ability to discuss and evaluate critically the techniques and their use.
To pass this assignment well your work must be significantly more than a
description of your organisation’s processes. You should review the techniques
and their use such that you provide a critical evaluation of the relevance of the
concepts and techniques as well as their value to the management of your
organisation.
•
Your understanding of the key areas where improvements could be made,
providing a summary prioritising these.
This applies to Parts B and C.
(1) In your discussion of your chosen economic issue you should particularly
explain the effects it has on revenues and profits, costs and efficiency, and the
way your organisation makes decisions about its ability to compete. The
emphasis of these elements will depend upon which economic issue you select.
(2) You may select either the types of financial management decisions that
need to be made for the short term, e.g. the use of contribution and marginal
costing, or the types of financial management decisions that need to be made
for the long term, e.g. long-term investment decisions. You should state clearly
which you have chosen.
4
© Henley Business School, April 2020
MFR-AQ-8A
(3) Although the assignment brief identifies that your analysis and discussion
should be related to your organisation, you may, if you wish, select another
organisation, but if for some reason you are not using your own organisation
you should state why you have made a different choice.
(4) In Part B and C you may choose the level at which you conduct your
analysis, and this can be different for each section if you wish, but you should
state the choices you have made. This means that you could choose your own
department for one area but the total organisation for another or a suitable
nominated alternative organisation with which you have a relationship or hold
a stakeholder interest.
Production of this assignment provides a substantial opportunity to develop cognitive,
intellectual and behavioural skills from individual activity in relation to:
•
critical analysis of financial techniques and economic issues
•
evaluation and discussion of alternative concepts
•
challenging the use and relevance of accepted tools
•
communication of the analysis and recommendations
•
managing the research process in gathering the required information and data
•
reflection on their analysis and research
General guidance
Do not simply write a descriptive or narrative account. Instead, your assignment must
show your critical understanding of what you have studied in the module. You will be
expected to demonstrate this through the selection and application of appropriate
module concepts, models and analysis techniques to a ‘real-world’ issue, supported by
appropriate sources of evidence.
Remember that a model or framework is not an island; it should not simply be
reproduced or included in your assignment without critical discussion of its relevance
and contribution to your analysis. Be selective: a smaller number of well-chosen
models, supported by appropriate evidence, will carry more weight than using lots of
models with little relevance to the situation.
Ensure you develop a coherent, logical overall argument through your report, with
clear linkages between components. Remember also that you are working to a word
limit. The outline structure given in this assignment brief provides a clear, step-by-step
approach to structuring the assignment and indicative word-count allocation. You
should follow this overall structure when planning and writing your assignment.
© Henley Business School, April 2020
5
Managing Financial Resources: Assignment
Make appropriate use of tables and graphics to support your analysis. All tables and
graphics should be captioned, including any relevant source citation, and referred to in
the main body of the text. Referencing should use the Harvard (author–date)
referencing system.
Submitting your assignment
When you are ready to submit your assignment, please do so via the Submissions
button on the module home page. Detailed guidance on how to do so can be found in
the ‘Exams and Assignments’ area of the Flexible Executive MBA, in Canvas.
Submission date
Please refer either to the study schedule for your cohort or to the Calendar in Canvas
for the assignment submission deadline for this module. If you have an assignment
deadline and you are concerned that you will not be ready to submit, you may request
to extend your assignment submission date. The circumstances under which it is
permissible to request an extension, as well as penalties for late submission, are
detailed in the ‘Key policies’ section, under ‘Exams and assignments’, in the
programme area.
Word count
Your assignment should be 4,000 words in length.
Word count will comprise all text including:
•
executive summary (if required)
•
footnotes/endnotes
•
all text in tables, diagrams etc
The word count should not include:
•
the text on the cover page (the cover page should include your name, student
ID number, the title of the report, the title of the module and word-count
statement)
•
table of contents (if required)
•
reference list and any appendices
Assignments may not exceed the specified word count by more than 20% or fall short
of it by more than 10%. A student should not benefit from submitting a piece of work
that greatly exceeds the specified length (over 20% of the specified limit). A marker is
not obliged to read beyond the word limit, and a mark based on the work up to the
word limit will be awarded. Assignments that fall short of the specified word count by
more than 10% will be marked as submitted, sustaining any potential limitations due
to shorter content.
6
© Henley Business School, April 2020
MFR-AQ-8A
Use of appendices
You are advised to be cautious when including appendices in assignments. There are
no specific criteria for marking or mark allocation available for appendices, so the
assessment process focuses on the appropriate use of appendices.
When deciding whether or not to include appendices, consider the following points:
•
Appendices should add value or detail to the discussion and analysis
undertaken in the main body of the assignment.
•
They offer programme members the opportunity to give greater relevant and
appropriate detail to support the main analysis and discussion.
•
Models, theory and discussion that demonstrate critical evaluation and analysis
of issues related to the module being assessed should always be presented
within the main body of the text. This discussion should make sense without
referring to the appendices. Using a bullet point summary in the text (which
does not constitute analysis) and putting the detailed analysis in the
appendices is not acceptable practice and could result in failure.
•
The inclusion of appendices should not be viewed as an opportunity to include
anything that cannot fit in the word count.
•
Assignments that make excessive use of appendices suggest inappropriate use.
As a guide, we would not normally expect appendices to exceed one third of
the length of the assignment.
•
Appendices should always be referenced at the appropriate point within the
discussion in the main body of the text.
© Henley Business School, April 2020
7
Managing Financial Resources: Assignment
Appendix 1 Assessment criteria
Please refer to your Programme Handbook for further information on the marking categories shown in the table.
Content
Well above expected
standard
8
Above expected
standard
Meets expected
standard
Below expected
standard
Suitable topic,
adequately defined
Weak or unsuitable
topic and/or poorly
defined
1. Defining an appropriate
topic for the subject matter
Topic exceptionally well- Topic well-chosen and
chosen and defined
clearly defined
2. Demonstrating knowledge
and understanding of the
module content
Shows excellent
knowledge and depth
of understanding of
module tools and
concepts
Shows good knowledge
and understanding of
module tools and
concepts
Shows an adequate level
of knowledge and
understanding of key
module tools and
concepts
Shows insufficient
knowledge and
understanding of
module tools and
concepts
3. Displaying understanding
of how core concepts and
frameworks are interlinked,
where applicable
Strongly demonstrates
how core concepts and
models/frameworks are
related and logically
integrated
Demonstrates how core
concepts and
models/frameworks
are related and logically
integrated
Partially demonstrates
how core concepts and
models/frameworks are
related and integrated
Poor or no
demonstration of how
core concepts and
models/frameworks
are related and/or
integrated
© Henley Business School, April 2020
Content
MFR-AQ-8A
Well above expected
standard
Above expected
standard
Meets expected
standard
Below expected
standard
4. Selecting and correctly
applying appropriate
concepts, models and
frameworks (to a real-world
context, where applicable),
effectively integrating theory
and practice
Excellent selection and
application of a range of
appropriate module
tools and concepts to
develop an in-depth and
critical practically
relevant analysis
Good selection and
application of
appropriate module
tools and concepts to
develop a good and
practically relevant
analysis
Competent selection
and application of
appropriate module
tools and concepts to
develop an analysis with
some practical
relevance
Inappropriate, poor or
no use of module tools
and concepts, or lack of
any effective integration
of theory and practice
5. Using qualitative and
quantitative data and
evidence to conduct a
rigorous, selective, in-depth,
critical analysis
Excellent use of
qualitative and
quantitative evidence to
support analysis and
discussion
Good use of qualitative
and quantitative
evidence to support
analysis and discussion
Adequate use of
qualitative and/or
quantitative evidence to
support analysis and
discussion
Limited or inappropriate
use of evidence to
support analysis and
discussion
6. Drawing substantive
insights from analysis leading
to well-founded conclusions
and, where applicable,
recommendations
Draws insightful
conclusions thoroughly
grounded in in-depth
analysis of practical
situation
Draws appropriate
conclusions wellgrounded in analysis of
practical situation
Draws conclusions that
are reasonably
grounded in analysis of
practical situation
Fails to draw
conclusions and/or
draws conclusions not
grounded in analysis
7. Evidence of personal
reflection to demonstrate
greater insight and
understanding
Excellent personal
reflection
demonstrating greater
insight and
understanding
Good and appropriate
personal reflection
demonstrating insight
and understanding
Reasonable personal
reflection that could be
developed in greater
depth and/or in more
appropriate areas
Limited or no personal
reflection or of little
relevance to the
development of further
insight and understanding
© Henley Business School, April 2020
9
Managing Financial Resources: Assignment
Above expected
standard
Meets expected
standard
Below expected
standard
8. Clear, coherent structure
and logical flow of
argumentation, including a
clear introduction and
conclusion
Excellent clarity,
structure, and linkages
between components,
with a strong and logical
flow from the
introduction to the
conclusion
Good clarity and overall
organisation/structure,
with good linkages
between components
and a clear flow from
the introduction to the
conclusion
Adequate clarity and
overall organisation/
structure, with some
linkages between
components and a
reasonable flow from
the introduction to the
conclusion
Incoherent and/or
unclear overall
organisation/structure,
with poor or no linkages
between components
9. Clarity of writing and
presentation (including
graphics/charts/dataset,
tables and appendices) to
professional standard
Excellent presentation
to a high professional
standard, including
graphical and tabular
presentations
Good professional
presentation, including
graphical and tabular
presentations
Adequate presentation
with reasonable use of
graphical and tabular
presentations
Poor presentation with
limited or no use of
appropriate
presentation formats
10. Accurate and complete
referencing using Harvard
referencing system
Excellent referencing
using the Harvard
referencing system
Good and appropriate
referencing using the
Harvard referencing
system
Reasonable referencing
mostly following the
Harvard referencing
system
Limited or no
referencing, or no
attempt to follow the
Harvard referencing
system, or showing
failure to understand
the concept of
referencing
Presentation
Structure
Well above expected
standard
10
© Henley Business School, April 2020