ACF6006 – Credit Management Theory and Practise Individual Coursework – 2021/2022 Academic Year The Coursework should be submitted via the DLE by the deadline shown below. Assessment Due Date % of Coursework Coursework – Case Study 15:00 on Thursday 31st March 2022 Submit Coursework on the DLE site for ACF6006 70% Case Study Marks & Spencer How to complete the assignment 1) The Company Marks & Spencer Group Plc, better known as “M&S” is a major UK multinational retailer with its headquarters in London. The company is a leading player in its market with an established reputation for efficiency and expertise. M&S’s core brand has consistently remained the cornerstones of the company. M&S has numerous stores the UK and a presence in many other countries. However, like all retail businesses, the company has experienced an adverse economic climate affected by factors such as lock-downs due to COVID-19 and Brexit. 2) Your role You have been on placement as a Credit Analyst at ScoreRite, a credit rating agency. As you have been performing well there is the possibility of a job offer after your graduation. For your last assignment, you have been asked to assess the creditworthiness of M&S and to present your findings to the management team by 15:00, on 31st March 2022. Required: Your line manager has asked you to download M&S’s financial statements for at least the last five years and, using credit-related ratios, prepare a business report that should cover the following: 1. Analysis of the trends of major credit-related ratios; comparison with competitors and industry norms, with any industry-specific requirements appropriately considered; discussion of any major events which have affected the company’s operations/status/ existence, which should include appropriate macro-economic and industry-specific considerations in the context of your analysis and not independently. (70 marks) 2. Production and discussion of a credit rating for M&S; recommendation of a credit line/credit limit for the company, based on the information given in the accounts and your calculations. (20 marks) 3. Additional marks will be awarded for correct business report format, appropriate use of appendices, proper referencing, correct grammar/English, and clarity and consistency. (10 marks) (Total: 100 marks) Note: Feel free to use diagrams and any other tools that might enhance your work. All such tables, diagrams, and calculations have to be included in appendices but analysed in the main body of the report. Arguments put forward in the report SHOULD BE SUPPORTED BY FIGURES from your appendices. Financial databases will be useful for comparisons with competitors. Such databases can give you considerable insight into the industry and the macro-economy. 3) Learning outcomes tested by the report Extract and collect credit data from different sources and produce relevant credit information for use by management. Make use of different credit assessment methodologies and classify companies into risk categories using appropriate conventional techniques. Interpret and analyse financial data using appropriate tools. Create basic models for use within credit management and identify the underlying assumptions of conventional techniques and processes. Think critically, examine problems and issues from a number of perspectives, challenge viewpoints, ideas and concepts, and present good arguments. Present written information in business report format to professional standards of organisation, clarity and logical coherence. Extract, process and present numerical information for a given purpose. Use appropriate IT packages to aid efficient searching, communication and presentation of information (general IT skills, including use of standard word processing packages, Internet, spreadsheets etc.). 4) Assessment criteria The assessment criteria for this assignment closely reflect the points you are asked to cover in your business report. The marking/ feedback sheet, provided in the appendix included, gives you an idea of what the markers are looking for in this assignment. 5) Individual assignment with the use of ‘study- groups’ In this assignment, you will work with a ‘study-group’ to come up with the required data that helps you produce the company’s credit rating. From then on you are required to prepare an individual business report that should cover the assignment requirements. 6) Weighting of the assignment Please remember that this coursework for this module counts for 70%. 7) Word limit, referencing and appendices The word limit for the report is 3,000 words (+/-10%) and the word count must be stated clearly on the cover page of the report. Exceeding the word limit will be considered as evidence of low concision (part of the assessment criteria). Given that a number of parameters are incorporated in the respective criterion, the penalty for submissions that exceed the word limit will be treated on a one-to-one basis; so we will not reply to questions such as “how much will I be penalized with if I reach 3,100 words” as this will be decided when we will carefully mark your work. However, as a rule of thumb you should expect that you will be penalized if you either (i) fail to include the word count, or (ii) you exceed the word limit by more than 10% of the word count. The word count for this coursework does not include: i. Cover page, list of contents, list of tables and figures. ii. List of references (in-text references are included in the word count though) iii. Appendices (be careful on their use – see below) iv. In-text tables that exhibit numerical data v. Executive summary Referencing should be done according to the Harvard referencing system. This guide to referencing should aid you. Please make sure that you reference your work appropriately and that you fully understand the consequences of plagiarism (see academic offences section in the last page of this document). 8) Writing Style The submitted coursework is expected to be of a professional standard in terms of presentation and language. We advise you to write in a style as if you were a consultant hired by a firm to perform this study. You will benefit from visiting the Learning Development team who will be able to assist you in a number of issues including language, report writing, critical thinking and other writing skills necessary to write an excellent report. It is strongly recommended to take up this opportunity even if you feel confident about your skills. The university also offers English language support for international students. Note that you need to self-enrol for this service and the DLE site, which contains instructions and more information, can be found here. You will find a wealth of resources including one-to-one tutorials, workshops in English for academic purposes, drop-in zones, and the Writing Café to name a few. 9) Academic Offences The academic community treats plagiarism and all forms of cheating as a very serious matter. Please be very sure that you are familiar with the university’s regulations on academic cheating and plagiarism. In particular, beware of copying other people’s work and copying out of books and articles. If you do want to reproduce a quotation from a text or article, make absolutely sure that you have clearly attributed the work. The unacknowledged copying of another person’s work will result in you receiving a zero mark for your assignment and could result in expulsion from the university altogether. Additional considerations apply to group work. Occasionally, an individual student will find material and inadvertently use it without proper or sufficient acknowledgement of the source. This is plagiarism which is detailed clearly as an academic offence under the Plymouth University Assessment Regulations. Where plagiarism occurs in group work, the whole group will suffer a penalty (usually a zero mark for the work in question). It is, therefore, in the interest of every member of a group to check each other’s work as carefully as the student’s own, in order to avoid any possibility of plagiarism. The group, therefore, has a ‘corporate responsibility’ to ensure that all work is thoroughly and adequately acknowledged and referenced. Some useful guidance on how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism can be found here: http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/referencing/ PLEASE NOTE THE DEADLINE TIME FOR SUBMISSION OF THE COURSEWORK IS 15:00 ON THURSDAY 31st MARCH 2022. WORK MAY BE SUBMITTED ON ANY DAY PRIOR TO THE DEADLINE. ALL COURSEWORK MUST BE BY E- SUBMISSION. Assessment Criteria Students are required to produce: Percentage Mark 1. Analysis of the trends of major credit-related ratios; comparison with competitors and industry norms. Only credit-related ratios should be calculated, and any industry-specific requirements should be taken into account. Discussion of any major events which have affected the company’s operations/status/ existence. These should include appropriate macro-economic and industry-specific considerations which should be discussed in the context of your analysis and not independently /70 2. Production and discussion of a credit rating for the Marks and Spencer and recommendation of a credit line/credit /20 limit for the company, based on the information given in the accounts and your calculation 3. Correct business report format, appropriate use of appendices, proper referencing, correct grammar and English and clarity, consistency. /10 Total score: /100 Below is the summary feedback. Detailed comment is made, as appropriate, in the margins of your assignment. First Marker’s summarised feedback and mark: Second Marker’s mark: Comments from 2nd Marker if mark is different: Agreed mark:
