TitoloFinance
presentazione
Accounting
and Control
sottotitolo
Project
Milano,Work
XX mese
Guidelines
20XX
4th October 2023
Prof. Michela Arnaboldi
Agenda
• Project work objective
• Project work output & structure
• Project work assessment
• Project work timing
• Project work vs individual essay
• Groups
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Overall Assessment
The exam is divided in three parts:
•
Project Work (group, 50% of the final grade)
•
Written Test (individual, 50% of the final grade)
•
Oral Assessment (±2 grades or FAILURE)
For further details, please refer to the slides of the two Introductory
lectures (September the 13th and 18th )
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Project Work: objective
The project work aims at challenging you on the financial analysis of a
real company.
The project work wants to enhance the following capability:
• Applying accounting-based indicators in a real context
• Applying the methodology and framework for financial statement
analysis
• Developing critical thinking
• Writing reports and summarysing results
• Working in groups
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: expected output
•
Final output: a written report for top levels of the organization
(CEO, CFO, first lines in the hierarchy) evaluating the company
performances:
•
Mainly based on financial statements
•
In comparison with other companies (your choice)
•
Integrated with other information available in open source
(that must be reported in references)
•
Contextualized in the strategy of the company and in the
industry context
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Project work: expected output
•
Structure of the written Report
•
The Report must be uploaded on WeBeep in .pdf format
•
MAX 4,000 words
•
Use "Arial 12" as font style (also for tables and figures)
•
Cover page, index and references are NOT included in the 4,000words count
•
Annexes are required and should include: the structure of financial
statement of the company object of analysis and of its competitors,
the methodology used for the analysis
•
References are required and should report all the data sources
used for financial statement analysis
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Project work: content
Content: the order, the structure and the detailed content of the report is up to
you. However, we expect to find these three parts
1. Context and competitive landscape of the company
•
•
What are the key features of the company?
What are the key features of the industry?
2. Financial analysis (i.e., segmental analysis, common size analysis,
reclassification, accounting based indicators ...); the analysis must be:
• Longitudinal. It is up to the group the choice of the number of years for
comparison;
• Benchmarked with competitors. It is up to the group the choice of the competitors
and the number of competitors
3. Critical discussion of results and qualitative outlook/forecast for the
next year
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Project work: Annex
Within the Annex, we ask you to provide a section called «Methodology»
that illustrates the steps you have followed to analyse but also to draft
the report.
More precisely, we ask from your side transparency on the use you
have done of ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for the
preparation of the report.
Indeed:
 You should be aware that AI-generated content can be inaccurate,
misleading, or entirely fabricated or may contain copyrighted
material.
 You should thus review, if used, all AI-generated content carefully,
 You must cite the use of these AI tools appropriately for correctness.
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: Pro and cons of ChatGPT use
Source: https://www.deviantart.com/imagenes-en-png/art/02-kent-brockman-674752031
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: Pro and cons of ChatGPT use
Source: https://www.deviantart.com/imagenes-en-png/art/02-kent-brockman-674752031
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: individual essay
•
Individual essay applies in two particular cases:
• Case 1_Students who will receive an evaluation ≤ 2 in the P2P
• Case 2_Students who are not in the proper condition to develop a projectbased activity (e.g., a student-worker). You have to contact directly the
professor if you fall in this situation.
•
The Individual essay has the same objective and structure of the group work:
• the professor will notify the student about the company to be
analysed. The company that is going to be shown in a while is valid only
for GROUPS.
• the structure of the report will be the same
• the workload and final grade will consider that the student has worked
alone (the 4,000-word limit still applies)
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Project work: steps
Today
THEORY
In class
COMPANY
SELECTION
In class
Lectures in September
and October on
financial accounting
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PREPARATION
SUPPORT
Project
Review
FINAL
DELIVERABLE
22nd
December
2023
PW Evaluation
by AFC teachers
(January 2024)
3 project reviews during the semester:
• 25th October
• 13th November
• 29th November
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Project work: learning goals & criteria for assessment
Learning goals of the course
Application to the PW
Elements included in the
assessment
Understand context,
functions, processes in a
business and industrial
environment and the impact
of those factors on business
performance
Understanding the complexity
of real financial statements
• Financial data are properly
selected
• Financial data calculated
coherently
• A critical interpretation to
results is provided
Design solutions applying a
scientific and engineering
approach to face problems
and opportunities in a
business and industrial
environment
Being able to synthesize
information for business (top)
manager
• Data are reorganized to
support decision makers
• Data are structured and
properly synthesized
Integrating different sources
• Data and analysis are
comprehensive
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Project work: grades
•
You can not reject the grade of the PW
•
If you do not pass the PW, you will have to re-take the course next
year (you cannot access to the written test and the oral exam)
•
The PW grade will last for three academic years meaning that it will
be valid for the ongoing academic year (2023-24) and for the
following two (2024-25 and 2025-26)
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Project work_Selection of the company
1.
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2.
3.
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Project work: the groups
Groups have been autonomously formed by students.
Students that were not assigned to a group have been instead assigned by the
Professor and Assistants.
– 11 students have been assigned by tutors in Group 26 and 27
Overall:
– There are 27 groups, of which 26 are made of 6 components and one of 5
components.
– It is up to the groups to self-organize the meetings so that everyone feels
part of the group.
Finally, there are 3 individual essay, further clarifications will be separately
provided with also the selection of the company.
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Project work: the groups
The group composition is uploaded on Webeep:
Folder “Project Work”  “AFC23_Group
Composition”
We recommend to :
1. Verify that your personal code is reported in the file
2. Get in touch with your teammates through the email address
(given by : personalcode@polimi.it)
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Project work: the groups
Troubleshooting
– I forgot to enrol for the Project Work, what do I do?
• If you forgot to enrol, please send an email to
romain.lerouge@polimi.it and laura.porta@polimi.it by tomorrow
morning
– I want to switch place with someone else, what can I do?
• The group composition is definitive and it won’t be changed
– My assigned professor for this course is not professor Arnaboldi
• The results of the project work will be valid only if your assigned
professor is professor Arnaboldi. If you are assigned to a
different professor, please contact us.
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Project work: tutor
The groups are so split among the tutors:
Assistant ROMAIN LEROUGE
• From 1 to 14
Assistant LAURA PORTA
• From to 15 to 27
PLEASE CHECK YOUR TUTOR AND REFER ONLY TO
HIM/HER FOR QUESTIONS.
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: instructions for review
Each Group will have 10 minutes to discuss with the Tutor.
• Since the time is limited, we recommend to groups to arrive having clear in
mind the questions they need to ask.
• We thus invite groups to submit in advance their questions to the Tutor so to
be more efficient while answering.
• We will remind you to submit your questions through an announcement on
Webeep.
To book your slot, we will use an Excel Spreadsheet (we will provide it some
days before the review).
• The review is expected to be in presence, but groups can attend also online
if strictly necessary. If you want to participate online, please take note on it in the
Excel.
• If you don’t book your slot, we assume you are not doing the review.
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: instructions for review
Groups can attend the project reviews both in presence and online.
• If attending in presence, the class is the one assigned for the day of
lecture.
• If attending online, the group should notify it in advance to the
Tutor and the project review will be held in the Webex room of the tutor.
The Project Review of the 25th of October is so organized:
• GROUPS with Romain Lerouge as Tutor  reviews will be held in
presence (BL27.04 or L.09)
• GROUPS with Laura Porta as Tutor  reviews will be held in
presence (BL27.04)
•
Day, time and modality of the reviews for Individual Essays are
agreed contacting directly your tutor via email
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Schedule of first project reviews
The first project review (25th of October) will take place
exceptionally in the afternoon!
Tutor: Lerouge
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Tutor: Porta
Project work: final remarks
To check the groups’ composition:
• Read carefully the PDF file uploaded on Webeep (Folder «Project
Work»)
• If you have some organizational issues, please send an email to
Tutor Romain Lerouge and Laura Porta with Professor in copy
To book your slot for the review of the 25 th of October:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OOQXgZPneeJxNDDBcqD9L4Bkmf_ftkS6MTS9Ntj1k4/edit?usp=sharing
To send your questions for the review of the 25th of October:
• Please send an email to your assigned tutor with your question, by
the 24 th of October at 1 P.M:
AFC – Deborah Agostino
Project work: the company for the Groupworks
Some links to start:
Area Financial Investors
https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/financial-reports-volkswagengroup-15928
Annual Report of 2022
https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/publications/more/annual-report2022-1677
Sustainability section with the related report
https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/reporting-15808
AFC – Deborah Agostino