[imaann]

I got this mail confirming the date and the venue-

Dear Graduate

First, congratulations on receiving your BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting.

We offer all our graduates an opportunity to attend one of our regional graduation ceremonies Students are invited to the nearest ceremony to your home address. It is not a requirement to attend a graduation ceremony, but students find it an enjoyable and memorable way to celebrate their achievement.

Based on the address you have provided, you will be invited to the next Dubai ceremony, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel – Saturday 22nd February 2020.

This email is to give you advance warning of the date. We have not began to make arrangements or register guests for this event. We will contact you again around 1 August with further details and a registration form.

Best wishes

[imaann]

I PASSED MY RAP TOOO !!
First attempt and phew got through it !!
THANKYOU Trephena and Gillian for your timely guidance and suggestions.

[imaann]

I’ve included two Excel Documents in the Report but I read in some other thread that the marker failed the student because he didn’t upload extracts of Financial Statements, his topic was T18.
How should I upload the extracts ? And is it really necessary because I also saw a comment saying for Topics 20,18 etc you dont need to upload extracts of FS.

[imaann]

Thankyou for your timely suggestion. I’ll trim the report to 7400 now. Leaving the words in graphs and the models will be okay then, right ? If the marker felt like adding those words I’ll still be within 7500. Or should I still count the words and add it to the Word count ?

[imaann]

Im doing T20 and my report is complete. My word count shown by MS Word is 7494 excluding the Smart Art. The models used such as Carroll’s pyramid, Three-Domain Model of CSR and Mendelow’s Matrix should I count those and add into the word count ? I will surely exceed the word limit then. These models make upto 60 words.
I have inserted two graphs copied it from excel and pasted in the report. From the above discussion I’ve understood that the words in graphs are often not considered by the markers ?

[imaann]

Thanks for the reply!!
The word count displayed in Word doesn’t include the words in the charts. I’ll count them myself and include it in the word count on the cover page ?
I’ve included charts for both the changes in PBT and revenue in my report. The calculations for these are in separate excel files. Should I include the other one in appendix 1 itself but with another tab ? And how will I reference it then if its the same doc but with different tab?

[imaann]

I’ve went through this whole thread and found it really useful !! I have one query which was discussed here but I’m still not clear.
Im doing T20 and for showing the use of excel I’ve calculated the % change in revenue and PBT of the company. The graph showing the changes in PBT was edited in Word although I calculated the change in an excel sheet. So, should I create the chart in excel and then paste it as an image in Word or just referencing to the Appendix is enough ?
Secondly, what should I name the tab and the excel file ? I’ve named the tab as % change in PBT over 5 years and the file as Appendix 1.

[imaann]

Apart from the charity ratios what can I do ? Showing the % change in revenue and PBT will be good ? As I’ve talked about this in the report.

[imaann]

I’m done with my RAP but the only thing I’m concerned with is that there is a requirement to submit at least one Spreadsheet as an Excel doc. As T20 is all theoretical how can I meet this requirement ?
And the charitable initiatives as a ratio to profits was really insignificant like 0.003% etc, so I decided not to add those in the report.
My mentor advised me to just prepare Financial Statements of the Company for 5 years in excel. But this doesn’t show the use of formulas. I’m confused, what should I do to show the use of formulas as stated in the OBU pack.

[imaann]

I tried posting this query in the referencing forum but it wasn’t submitting for some reason so I’m posting it here.
1. Going through the forum and the golden rules I have understood that with websites or articles with no author, the citation and reference should be the title of the page followed by the date. In reference list I’ll insert title, date then the URL and access date, right ?
2. What will be the in text citation for information collected from a company website but from different parts of the website. For example, section named About Us the citation will be (xyz, About Us) as there’s no date on the website shall I put n.d. ? And what will be the reference for this ?
3. Citation has just the Surname and the date whereas reference list will have surname followed by the initials. Am I right ?

[imaann]

I’ve searched through all the Annual Reports but couldn’t find any monetary amount for charities or donations. They have just specified what they did, no mention of expenditure etc. Plus, Sports Direct doesn’t pay out dividends. So the ratios you suggested is not possible to compute.
And for impact on stakeholders, I’ve mapped the stakeholders using Mendelow’s Matrix. Im done analyzing it too but am a bit confused. If you could give an example on how I’ll analyse impact on the stakeholders would be helpful.
Thankyou for your timely responses. So grateful !!

[imaann]

Using TBL the Profit heading is limited to the internal profit only ? Sports Direct uses deceiving marketing and advertising tactics to attract customers, the huge discounts it offers were questioned too. So talking about their profit maximization techniques under ‘Profit’ is okay ? Shall I talk about its contribution towards the society out of its huge profits ?

[imaann]

So, do I have to talk about all the weaknesses one by one or just a general analysis of their practices ? Weaknesses primarily pertain to the employees of the org, so I’ll talk about the weak corporate culture and its impact i.e increased staff turnover, fines and penalties, drop in EPS and PBT, decline in share price and loss of customers as well as reputation.
Am I on the right track ? Plus, using TBL shall i use headings and talk about their practices ? Like their responsibility towards People, Planet & Profit.

[imaann]

I am done with my research part and have gathered all the facts I need to for the project. I’m on to start my analysis part, I just need some idea as to what exactly am I supposed to do although my mentor has guided me through this still I’m a bit lost ! Like, one of the key weaknesses of Sports Direct (the org I selected) is that it effectively paid less than the minimum wage to workers for which they were heavily fined, faced reputational damage and had to pay back wages to the employees. Now these are just facts, my mentor said that I need to analyze this.
This may sound silly but this is my first ever project ? if you could give me an example or a suggestion how to tackle my analysis part would be really great .

[imaann]

@trephena said:
Well done for making a decision on this. Usually the problem with the RAP is exceeding the word count. Although a comparator as such isn’t necessary comparisons with best practice are advisable.

You have some good ideas and there is also some advice above about the General Reporting Initiative and OECD definitions of CSR.

You now need to formulate some report objectives and research questions. There is some general advice in the Information Pack but you really need a mentor to help direct your work (and a good one will take most of the stress away for you by removing the ‘guesswork’ and by monitoring your progress keep you on track. Remember your work has to be signed off by a mentor when you submit).

Can you please guide me what constitutes of best practice ? I went through GRI standards but can’t really understand what to do. What shall i use as a comparator ?

[imaann]

I’ll be having my first mentor meeting in a day or two. Atleast now im relieved that the topic and Organisation i chose are fine. Thankyou for your timely response, you’re the BEST !!

[imaann]

Im about to start my RAP and for T20 i have chosen Sports Direct as the organisation. In my opinion issues regarding Sports Direct such as appalling workplace conditions, minimum wage level, health and safety issues, six strikes policy etc all relate to CSR. Correct me if im wrong.
Secondly, im concerned whether i’ll be able to produce a report of 7500 words by just discussing the above mentioned issues.
I’ll use a comparator or compare Sports Direct against best practice. Models i am planning to use in my analysis are Corrall’s Model, Stakeholders Theory and Triple Bottom Line Model.
Im too stressed out and dont know how to start with all the research i have done.
Your suggestions and guidance would be appreciated.

[imaann]

Is Sports Direct more relevant to Corporate Governance or Corporate Social Responsibility Issues ?
Im getting confused in Topic 17 and 20.
This is silly, i know. Please help me through this

[imaann]

Out of all the 3 industry sectors, I’m thinking to go for Electronic and Electrical Equipment.
Will Apple and Samsung be suitable companies for this sector ? Apple as Primary and Samsung being the comparator as they are in direct competition too.
I know you don’t recommend companies, but a suggestion from your side would be appreciated.

[Author]

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