Rationale:
The effectiveness of case studies in enhancing management skills and generating valuable business
insights is well-established. In the context of ACCT5906, it is important that students both grasp theoretical
concepts and apply these in real-world scenarios, fostering the continuing development of their practical
understanding. It is for this reason that case studies and real-world scenarios are an essential part of the
weekly content for the seminar.
The purpose of this group assignment is to support the development of applied financial literacy, while also
providing students with the opportunity to hear diverse perspectives, have healthy disagreements, face
challenges, and through this process develop more robust insights than would be possible working
individually.
The use of the presentation format is designed to cultivate students' public communication skills, essential
for their professional work environments, where they will be expected to both understand applied financial
concepts and effectively convey these to stakeholders.
Instructions:
The Group Case Study and Presentation are worth 30% of the total assessment for this course. In the Week
2 Seminar, you will be randomly allocated into groups of (preferably) 3 or (maximum) 4 students. This is to
ensure all students have sufficient time to work together and prepare high-quality presentations.
Presentations will take place during the Week 10 Seminar on Zoom.
Each group member must submit a Group Assignment Cover Sheet individually on Moodle before the Week
10 Seminar commences. This should have the Student ID numbers, Student Names and Student
Signatures of all other participating group members on it.
Note: Marks will be deducted for submissions exceeding 5 minutes.
Assignment:
The core of decision-making in commercial contexts is the capacity to mitigate risks and respond to
opportunities. This in turn requires applied financial literacy – that is, the capacity to understand and
respond to financial information.
The news cycle in the business world is perpetually abuzz with stories of success and failure. Both success
and failure are important to understand, and play a central role in informing future decision-making and
strategy. As part of your preparation for this assignment, you are strongly encouraged to read The Australian
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Financial Review (available online at UNSW through the Library) to develop your understanding of corporate
failure and success.
Working together as a team, you must select one company and prepare a 10-minute presentation that:
1. Briefly describes the business and the nature of its operations. This should focus on providing a short
explanation of the business’s history, how it generates revenue, and who forms its customer base,
2. Explains the particular risks and/or opportunities that it has faced, with reference to any of the financial
concepts taught and applied in Weeks 1 to 9.
3. Assesses the success (or failure) of the company in addressing these risks and/or opportunities,
providing evidence-based reasons for conclusions.
The presentation should address all topics/questions outlined above and include financial statement
analysis to support arguments advanced (e.g. appropriate ratios or reference to financial reports).
Your 10-minute presentation will be followed by a 5 -minute Question and Answer session, in which
further questions will be asked to test your understanding of the content delivered (both by the lecturer
and students).
The presentation can either be pre-recorded or presented live. All group members must speak during the
10-minute presentation but may choose among themselves which members respond to the 5-minute
Question and Answer session.
You are required to prepare presentation slides as visual aids to support your communication. Neither
these, nor any pre-recorded presentations need to be submitted on Moodle.
Other information:
1. The presentation should cover content and concepts discussed in seminars from Week 1 to Week 9
inclusive. You should be able to begin considering the questions of risk and opportunity from Week
4 onwards (ie. financial statement analysis).
2. You must choose a different company to any company considered as a case study during class.
3. A marking rubric is not provided. You should apply what you learn across seminars to prepare this
presentation. This task is one you could be asked to complete in a graduate role in business. Often,
for these tasks in the real world, there is no template for you to work from; your manager simply
gives you the task, and you must respond! The idea of this task is to prepare you for such a
scenario that you will encounter in the future.
4. If you have questions about the assignment, please post them on Moodle so that all students can
benefit from the question and the answer provided.
5. Do not overload your presentation slides with information; less is often more. You must consider
how much information a person can reasonably process both visually and aurally at the same time.
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6. We have a formal policy in place should a student feel that workload is not fairly allocated across all
members of the group. The below steps only need to be completed if you believe member(s) of your
group have not contributed to the assignment. If a member of a group believes that one or more
members of their group have not contributed to the assignment, the following steps need to be
taken:
a. One group member needs to email all group members and state that they want to submit a
‘workload breakdown’ to the Lecturer in Charge before the Week 10 seminar.
b. Following the presentation, each group member needs to confidentially email their tutor the
following information:
i. Your name:
ii. The name of all other group members:
iii. You must allocate 100 points (total) for your group across your group members
based on each members contribution to the assignment. For example, if your group
has five students, and you allege a member did not contribute anything to the
assignment, you would send the following:
1. Member One: 25
2. Member Two: 25
3. Member Three: 25
4. Member Four: 25
5. Member Five: 0
iv. If your group has four students, and you allege a member contributed significantly
less than others, you would send the following:
1. Member One: 30
2. Member Two: 30
3. Member Three: 30
4. Member Four: 10
v. You should also include a list of tasks that you completed in the assignment in the
email.

7. The names of all students in the group should be included on the Group Cover Sheet when
submitting the assignment. The Lecturer-in-Charge will review the student submissions, and
students found not to contribute to the group assignment may receive a reduced grade. Depending
on the impact of the non-contributing group member, the grades of other students in the group may
also be adjusted/increased in recognition of their efforts.
Breakdown of Marks:
Understanding of Financial Concepts 5
Relevance of Chosen Case Study 5
Explanation of Business Risks and Opportunities 5
Presentation Skills 7
Group Collaboration 4
Timing 2
Visual Aids 2
TOTAL 30