DIPLOMA IN STRATEGIC FINANCE AND ANALYTICS (1) ASSIGNMENT (1)

Please read the following instructions carefully before starting your assignment:
Submission:


The submission date for Assignment 3 is on or before 5.30pm (Irish Standard
Time) Monday 14th December 2015.

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Candidates must submit typed answers electronically, in one document, (along with scanned copies of forms/ appendices, as relevant). Should more than one document be submitted, Chartered Accountants Ireland shall not be liable for the assignment being printed/ collated in the correct order but every attempt will be made to ensure assignments are correct and complete for examiner review.

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Your assignment must include a cover sheet, (template provided on Moodle) and except for the cover sheet, all pages should be numbered. Your name should only appear on your cover sheet – it should not appear anywhere else in your assignment. 

You must retain the question paper and a photocopy or electronic copy of your submitted answer and be able to produce this if requested to do so.



You will receive your marks and comments once all assignments have been marked, but your assessment script will not be returned to you.

Assignment Format:
ANY SUBMISSION WHICH DOES NOT ADHERE TO THE ASSIGNMENT
FORMAT RULES WILL BE PENALISED.
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Page Count: If specified in the assignment instructions, must be adhered to.

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Font: The font should be ‘Times New Roman’ and no less than font size 11

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Page margins: Should not be less than 2.5cm on each side

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The file must be printable on A4 paper, without the need to alter it.
Submissions in PDF format will meet these requirements; will reduce file size and help avoid email server errors. PDF will also ensure that your data and layout is secure and presented to the marker as you had intended. There are a number of online PDF generators available i.e. www.freepdfconvert.com/ which will convert your files to this format. Acknowledgement of receipt:
You will receive an automatic acknowledgement of receipt when you have successfully submitted your assignment to Moodle. Check your email spam / junk folder to ensure the automated Moodle email has not been treated as spam. This email should be retained as proof of submission, if an acknowledgement has not been received, it is your responsibility to contact the Specialist Qualification Department and request this confirmation email; contact 01 523 3918 or email kate.doyle@charteredaccountants.ie.
Late Submissions:


Assignments submitted after the official submission date, for which an extension has not been agreed in writing, will be deemed as late.



Assignments deemed late will attract the following penalties:
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Up to 3 days – 20% reduction in the mark awarded.

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Up to 4 days late – 30% reduction in the mark awarded.

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Up to 5 days late – 40% reduction in the mark awarded.

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Up to 6 days late – 50% reduction in the mark awarded.

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Up to 1 day late – 10% reduction in the mark awarded.

More than 6 days late – assignment will not be accepted.

If no submission or communication has been received seven days after the submission date and an extension has not been awarded, it will be assumed that no submission is being made and the candidate accepts that they will have to defer submitting their assignment until the next session of the course, resulting in a delay of the awarding of their qualification.

Extensions:
A maximum of one (1) extension may be permitted per course per participant.
1.

An extension request must be made, in writing, using the ‘Extension Request Form’ provided with your course materials, no later than five (5) working days before the due date for the assignment, for the attention of Kate Doyle, Exam and Assignment
Coordinator, explaining the reason the extension is being sought and must be accompanied by the necessary supporting documentation.
Extension requests will not be considered for the following circumstances:
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Holidays
Unexpected increase in workload/ other commitments
Weddings
Technical/ computer issues
Mistaking submission date as later than printed on assignment

2.

Extensions will usually be granted for no more than one (1) week beyond the due date and in exceptional circumstances only such as:



Certified illness
Other defined exceptional cases

Longer periods may be granted, in extreme cases, but in any event these may not exceed one (1) month. Requests will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and an extension is granted entirely at the discretion of the Learning and Development
Manager.
3.

Candidates will receive an email responding to the extension request within two (2) working days and this email should be retained as proof of the request. If an acknowledgement has not been received, candidates are responsible for contacting the
Specialist Qualification Department to requesting confirmation. This receipt will be the only acceptable evidence that an extension has been sought and granted.

4.

NB - All other regulations apply to those in receipt of an extension, including the penalties for late submission, based on the extended submission date.

5.

An extension arrangement will result in the delay of issuing a mark for the script.

Group work and collaboration:
Participants may collaborate in their initial non-written preparation of an assignment, but the written assignment itself must remain the work of the individual candidate.
Group submissions are not permitted and any evidence of this will be considered as plagiarism by candidates who may be subject to disciplinary action. If plagiarism or personation is suspected, this will be investigated by the Specialist Qualification
Department and if the instance is confirmed as plagiarism or personation the following penalties may be imposed:
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Awarding a reduced mark for the assignment; or
Awarding a mark of zero for the assignment; or
The participant may be required to re-submit the assignment; or
The participant may be required to re-submit the assignment with a prespecified maximum possible mark awarded.

Guidelines on plagiarism:
If you submit an assignment that contains work that is not your own, without indicating this to the marker (acknowledging your sources), you are committing ‘plagiarism’. This might occur in an assignment when you;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Present work authored by a third party, including friends, family, or work purchased through internet
Present work copied extensively with only minor changes from the internet, books, journals or any other source;
Use improper paraphrasing of a passage without due acknowledgement of the original source;
Fail to include citation of all original sources;
Represent collaborative work as one’s own;
Copy or download figures, photographs, pictures or diagrams without acknowledging your sources.
Copy from the notes or essays of a fellow course participants.

Plagiarism is a serious offence. While plagiarism may be easy to commit unintentionally or due to inexperience, it is defined by the act not the intention. All participants are responsible for being familiar with the Chartered Accountants Ireland’s policy statement on plagiarism and are encouraged, if in doubt, to seek guidance.
Although you are encouraged to show the results of your reading by referring to and quoting from works on your subject, copying from such sources without acknowledgement is deemed to be plagiarism and will not be accepted by the Institute. You are encouraged to collaborate with others in studying, but submitted work copied from or written jointly with others is not acceptable, unless collaboration is required in the particular assignment.
Submitting work that has been done by someone else and persistent borrowing of other people’s work without citation are obvious instances of plagiarism and are regarded as cheating. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in disciplinary procedures being pursued by the Chartered Accountants Ireland, which may lead to expulsion from the course and possible referral, where appropriate, to the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board
(CARB).
References:
The Open University. Plagiarism, What constitutes
(http://www.open.ac.uk/student-policies/objects/d3418.pdf)
[accessed 5th November 2008]

plagiarism

or

cheating?

University College Dublin. Plagiarism statement, Plagiarism Policy and Procedures
(http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/plag_pol_proc.pdf1)
[accessed 3rd November 2008]

Co-op Bank Case Study Assignment:
Harvard Business Co-op Bank case study is available to download on Moodle.
Prepare a report that answers the following questions:
1.

Describe what new issues arise when applying ABC costing to a service (as opposed to a manufacturing) organisation.

2.

Comment on the process used to develop cost and profitability information on
Personal Service Products. Should Co-Op Bank phase out the unprofitable
Independent Financial advice/Insurance, and Pathfinder Products?

3.

How should the bank deal with the large number of unprofitable customers? When should unprofitable customers be retained, and when should they be “de-marketed”?
How should David Falwell decide how to direct his limited marketing resources?

4.

Is the customer profitability and subsequent actions to concentrate on developing profitable customer relationships compatible with the bank’s Mission Statement
(exhibit 2) and Statement on Ethical Policy (exhibit 3)?

Marks will be awarded for quality of presentation, correct computation and clear analysis and expression. In cases of doubt, feel free to note and justify any assumptions you have made.