SII-DUFE
BSc Accounting and Finance

MAN3116 Business Research Project

MODULE GUIDE 2022-23

Prof Liang Han

Email: L.Han@Surrey.ac.uk
Office: 228D Lijin Building
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Welcome to MAN3116 Business Research Project for BSc Accounting and Finance at SII-
DUFE
This module is an opportunity for you to build on the disciplines and skills that you have learned
throughout your BSc programme so far and to undertake an extended piece of work putting
that knowledge into practice in undertaking this company analysis. Throughout the taught part
of the module you should have undertaken classes to help you to develop your professional and
practical skills.

This guide is intended to provide you with an overview of what is expected of you on this ‘project’
module. So, everything you need to know about your project – including what you will need to
‘deliver’ – will be detailed in the pages that follow.

We hope you enjoy this part of your course and we wish you very well.
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Contents

1. Key information
2. The aims of the project
3. Independent learning and your project supervisor
4. Resources to help you complete your project
5. What a project is and what it should look like
6. Presentation and writing style
7. Quoting, referencing and avoiding plagiarism
8. Ethics
Appendices
Appendix 1: Declaration
Appendix 2: Marking criteria


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1. Key information

ASSIGNMENT TYPE: Research Project

NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 credits

WORD LIMIT: 10,000 words +/- 10% (excluding references and appendices)

VALUE: 100% of overall module mark

DEADLINE: 2pm Tuesday 16th May 2023 (To be confirmed)

SUBMISSION: To be submitted as a PDF on SurreyLearn

NOTES:

§ This is a team project and you are allowed to organise a team of 3 persons by yourselves. We
will allocate you to a team if you are not able to team up with others.
§ Each project team will be allocated a supervisor.
§ Proposed timeline is as follows:
- Team online registration: by Wednesday 18st January 2023
- Case company online registration: by Friday 3rd February 2023
- Supervisor allocation: by Friday 10th February 2023
- Supervision meeting 1: General guidance on BRP and Q&A by Friday 3rd March 2023
- Supervision meeting 2: Progress check in and Q&A by Friday 31st March 2023
- Supervision meeting 3: Feedback on draft by Friday 28th April 2023
- Submission deadline: 2pm Tuesday 16th May 2023 (To be confirmed)

2. Assessment Brief – topic and submission

The topic of the project is a critical analysis of Company X Plc’s shareholder wealth creation
in the five-year period from 2018/19 t0 2022/23 (or 2017/18 to 2021/22 if company information
in 2023 is not yet available publicly).
The project is intended to provide the opportunity for you to demonstrate your ability to
organise, manage and complete an independent team project connected to accounting
and/or finance. You are expected to demonstrate your ability to:

(a). Specify an aim and objectives
(b). Design, explain and justify the research approach adopted
(c). Identify and summarise the key issues of a topic
(d). Identify, summarise and critically appraise relevant academic, professional and/or
corporate literature (as appropriate)
(e). Identify, analyse, and evaluate collected data
(f). State, explain and justify your conclusions/chosen solutions
(g). Organise and present information clearly, succinctly and in the required format
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Your company must be:

§ Listed on a major stock exchange
§ A prominent company, with significant information that is publicly available (both
financial and non-financial information).
§ You should select a company from a mainstream industry where there are readily
identifiable peers (competitors). You will have good access to financial and non-financial
information about these leading competitors too.
§ You should select a company from a non-financial industry where you can gather good
industry-wide information and also broader contextual information.
§ Your selected company should not be any of the top three largest companies (as
measured by market capitalisation for the year 2021/22).
§ NO two teams are allowed to select the same company.

The submission date is 2pm Tuesday 16th May 2023.
There is a university-wide penalty for the late submission of dissertations and projects. You may
request an extension in advance and if necessary are advised to do so in good time. If an
extension is granted and the dissertation or project is submitted by the revised deadline, no
penalty will be applied. Extension will only be granted for good reasons. Extensions have to be
submitted on the Extenuating Circumstances Form available from the Blackboard PG Portal site

You are strongly advised to ensure that the project is submitted by the deadline. You must keep
all notebooks and all other background papers in a work file. These must be presented if
required in an oral examination.

3. Key Learning Outcomes & Skills that you can develop:

The overall aim of this module is to develop and test your ability to undertake a substantial
piece of independent research. Specifically, this module will give you an opportunity to develop:

§ Your critical awareness of the problems associated with undertaking a piece of research.
§ Knowledge of how a piece of research is formulated, organised, structured and written.
§ Your application of knowledge, techniques and methodologies to analyse your chosen
company.
§ Your ability to choose appropriate tools and techniques to providing a contextual analysis
of a company.
§ Your ability to evaluate alternative sources of data and evidence.
§ Your ability to apply methods, and your practical understanding of how established
techniques are used to create and interpret knowledge.
§ Your ability to apply technical accounting and finance skills in an organisational context.
§ Your ability to communicate ideas effectively.
§ Your ability to exercise initiative, self-reliance and time management skills.

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4. Independent learning and your project supervisor

Independent learning is at the heart of the project module, which you will undertake with the
support and guidance of a designated supervisor. Although your project is an independent piece
of work, your supervisor is there to mentor you. You are solely responsible for your project, but
your supervisor will guide, help and support you.

To get the most out of the opportunity of having a personal supervisor, it is absolutely vital that
you establish and maintain regular contact with them. If you fail to keep in touch or to heed
your supervisor’s advice, then you could place the outcome of your studies in jeopardy. Your
specific responsibilities include:

§ Agreeing with your supervisor the topic for your project, its aims and objectives.
§ Agreeing with your supervisor an overall work plan for the completion of the project.
§ Agreeing with your supervisor a schedule of meetings.
§ Maintaining regular contact with your supervisor (remember that the onus is on you to
contact your supervisor. They will not ‘chase you’).
§ Keeping appointments and/or meeting dates with your supervisor.
§ Sending written work to your supervisor by the deadline you agree – do not send them
work later, or at short notice.
§ Discussing with your supervisor the type of guidance and feedback that would be most
helpful.
§ Maintaining records of dates of meetings with your supervisor.
§ Alerting your supervisor to any factors that have disrupted the schedule or otherwise
impeded your progress.
§ Maintaining medical and other records in case of a need to apply for an extension to your
period of candidature.

In return for your dedication and commitment to your project, your supervisors will be available
to discuss your project with you regularly. The actual number and frequency of meetings is not
stipulated, but is normally in the region of about 2-4 meetings. How often you meet, and for
how long, is something that you should discuss with your supervisor at your first meeting.

When planning your schedule, please remember that your supervisors are extremely busy
people with a great many other commitments, it is important to discuss, recognise and
incorporate your supervisor’s constraints into the plans you make. When you make these plans,
you can assume that your supervisors will work with you to:

§ Agree a title and approach.
§ Agree an overall work plan for the completion of the project.
§ Agree a schedule of meetings (students are advised not to leave a meeting without
agreeing a date for the next).
§ Keep appointments and/or meetings by which they will return work to you (by
agreement).
§ Agree the type of guidance and feedback which would be most helpful to you.
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§ Advise you on issues and ideas relevant for the project.
§ Advise you on appropriate analytical methods.
§ Advise you on the standard of work required.
§ Advise you on writing and presentation of the project.
§ Advise you making amendments to written draft of your work.

5. What is a project and what should it look like?

To demonstrate you have met the Project Module’s learning outcomes you need to produce a
written document that is 10,000 words long (+/- 10%, excluding references and appendices).
In very general terms your project needs to:

§ Outline and provide background context to the company
§ Engage with relevant academic and professional literature to contextualise any debates.
§ Explain the tools, techniques and methodologies you use to analyse the company.
§ Present and explain your analyses and findings.
§ Contextualise your analysis, over a 5-year period, and in relation to key competitors.
§ Consider the broader factors affecting the performance of your chosen company.
§ Consider the future performance of the company.
§ Provide recommendations and advice based on your analysis.

The report may include the following sections:

Title Page

ABSTRACT
Table of contents
List of tables (only if tables are used)
List of figures (only if figures are used)
List of Abbreviations (only if abbreviations are used)
Acknowledgements (Optional)

Chapter 1: Introduction

This section is expected to cover Statement of the problem, Research questions, Purpose or
significance of study, Conceptual framework, and Review of relevant terms.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

This section can be organised with subheadings and include a summary and implications of the
literature you have reviewed.

Chapter 3: Methodology

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This section is expected to cover the research questions, research design/model, overall and
sample, data collection and data analysis methodologies.

Chapter 4: Findings

This section is expected to start with describing data and carrying out a descriptive analysis when
appropriate. Its main aim is to report the results and your answers to the research questions.

Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Implications

This section can be used to discuss your findings, implications of your research and the
implications of your key findings for future practice in local context and future research.

Reference

Appendices (Optional)

Exactly what goes into each of these sections depends on how you focus your project and your
own interests, and is something you should discuss in detail with your supervisors.

When you come to write your project, be aware that the University has very specific regulations
concerning the presentation of projects. You need to submit your project digitally (via
SurreyLearn), and the document you submit should comply with the following requirements:

§ Abstract should not exceed the word limit of 350 to summarise the project (not
introduction) and to indicate the nature and scope of the work, outlining the research
problem, key issues, findings and your conclusion/recommendations.
§ Table of contents is an outline of the entire final year project, setting out the sequence
of the sections with page numbers. It is conventional to number the preliminary pages
(abstract, table of contents) with lower case Roman numerals (i.e., i, ii, iii, and etc.) and
the main text pages (starting with the first chapter) in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 and etc.).
§ References should be presented by following Harvard reference system.
§ An appendix should only be used to include supplementary (but non-essential) material
which, if included, would disrupt the flow of the text. Appendixes do not contribute to
the overall word limit.
§ A4 paper size must be used.
§ All type should be in Black and for the body of the text, use an Arial font of 12 pt.
§ Use one and half (1.5) line spacing
§ Indented quotations should be single line spaced.
§ All page margins should be 2 cm on both left and right, top and bottom.
§ Text should be left or fully justified. Use a new paragraph for each substantive point
you make and leave a blank line between paragraphs.
§ Include page numbers on every page and ensure they correspond with the relevant
entry in the table of contents.
§ All tables should be numbered sequentially and be given suitable heading.
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§ All drawings, graphs and charts should be given a figure number, together with a
suitable heading.
§ On opening the report, the first page should contain the title, your name, the name of
the University and a declaration (see Appendix 1).
§ You are responsible for proofreading your completed report. Do check carefully that
every reference in the text is present in the references and vice versa (and that the
spelling is correct in all cases).
§ You must adhere to the word limit of 10,000 (excluding appendices and references).
You may be penalised for word counts outside the 10% range of the official word limit.

Your project will be assessed using formal assessment criteria, which you will find in Appendix
2.

6. Presentation and Writing Style

The project is a formal academic study. It must be written in an appropriate style and organised
in a way that highlights the problem, the process and the conclusion.
If you are going to use quotes, use them sparingly to illustrate important or salient points in
your text. You should not let the quote make the point for you, but make your point and then
use the quote to highlight or expand on the point.

Make appropriate use of tables and figures. A well-constructed table can save several paragraphs
of written information. Remember to give all tables and figures a unique reference number and
a descriptive title. Quote the source as appropriate – each table requires a narrative, which
describes its contents. When presenting any results or figures do not assume that the examiner
will be able to work out what the figures mean. ALWAYS explain the meaning and implication
of your results in full. This also applies to any tables or charts you may include from other studies.

Finally try to write concisely, summarising arguments and evidence rather than re-presenting.

7. Quoting, Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism

Referencing or sourcing is the technique of referring the reader to the source of the material
being discussed. For example, you might be writing an outline of basic theory which must be
sourced to a text book or an article; drawing a diagram or chart which should be sourced to the
author/s of a book, article, newspaper, or data source; or just utilising an idea which must be
sourced to the author/s of a book, article, broadcast or newspaper. Such sourcing is good
academic practice and allows the reader to assess the scope and depth of your material. If there
are no sources, the marker cannot assess this aspect of your work.

NEVER THINK YOU WILL GET BETTER MARKS IF YOU OMIT YOUR SOURCES. YOU CAN
ONLY IMPROVE YOUR MARKS BY THOROUGH AND RIGOROUS SOURCING (see also
guidelines on plagiarism below).

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It is most important that you should acknowledge every source of information – including the
result of your own observation and experience. Never express an unsubstantiated opinion;
always give a reason for holding that opinion. Quotations should always be identified as such
and you should give the details of the source, including the page number of the work from which
the quotation is taken. It is advisable, however, to keep such literal quotations to an absolute
minimum. It is far better to express the ideas of research findings of others in your own words
rather than to resort to lengthy extracts from their work.

There are several systems of referencing your sources, but the one approved by University of
Surrey and Dongbei University of Finance and Economics is the HARVARD STYLE. Each use of
the ideas or words of another must be individually acknowledged in the text. In addition each
work consulted must be listed in the bibliography. The mere presence of a work in the
bibliography does not override the need for acknowledging each individual use of that work in
the text and, though necessary, is by itself insufficient.

If you do not have access to the original source of a quotation, but have found it quoted in the
work of someone else, you should give the original source (which the author you have found
should have quoted) and the reference where you found it. For example, a reference might read
like this:
Sproggett (1954: 21), quoted by Fresnais (1984: 5)
If you are not using the exact words of another, but are making use of one of his/her ideas, this
should be acknowledged with a full reference in the bibliography and a page reference in the
body of the essay:
As Professor Entwhistle has argued (Entwhistle 1981: 670), etc.
It must be possible to trace where you acquired this line of thought.

Every student should include a full bibliography of all texts which have been sourced in the text
of the dissertation. The bibliography should be produced in alphabetical order and must give
all the details of the source, i.e., the name of the author(s), the title, the publisher, the date, and
where it was published if a book, and the number, volume and page number of an article. The
title of a published article or the title of a published book should be highlighted in a consistent
manner, either by underlining, using italics, using bold type, etc.

There is no need to provide a reference list of books or articles which have been read or
consulted but not used. If you have used ideas from references, they should be sourced in the
text and therefore should appear in the bibliography. The bibliography should appear at the end
of your dissertation in alphabetical order. Make sure that all the references in your text are
included in the bibliography.

Plagiarism – This occurs when work that is submitted for assessment contains the words and
ideas of others without the original source being properly attributed or acknowledged. It
includes attempts to pass off work that has been produced by fellow students as your own, or
words or ideas that are found in textbooks, in articles, on the Web, or in any other format. It
includes both work that is directly copied from another source and work that has been slightly
changed or paraphrased to make it look like it is different from the original.
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Please see more details from https://www.surrey.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2021-07/regulations-
for-academic-integrity-2021-22.pdf

Plagiarism is a form of theft. However, heavy use of particular sources, obtaining help and
reliance on others is possible without plagiarism. Plagiarism can be completely avoided by
means of reworking material and acknowledging sources

8. Ethics

As your project only involves secondary data research or publicly available data, ethical review
is not needed.

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Appendix 1: Declaration


DECLARATION

This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being
currently submitted in candidature for any degree.

Signed………………………………………(Candidate)
Date …………………………………………

STATEMENT 1

This work is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where
correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in
a footnote(s).

Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is
appended.

Signed………………………………………(Candidate)
Date …………………………………………


STATEMENT 2

I hereby give consent for my work, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-
library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations.

Signed………………………………………(Candidate)
Date …………………………………………
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Appendix 2 Business Research Project Marking Criteria

Knowledge:
Can you tell the reader something about the topic? Have you mastered the subject matter? Your
knowledge is evidenced by the depth and breadth of the source material that you identify and
use. Sources are evidenced by your bibliography and its appropriate referencing in the text. Poor
referencing fundamentally undermines the reader’s ability to identify the quality of your
knowledge and immediately limits the mark that the project can obtain. The depth and breadth
of your knowledge will directly impact on the quality of any analysis of the topic that you offer.
Understanding:
Can you explain that knowledge to the reader? Can you show that you have grasped the meaning
of that knowledge? Your understanding of the topic is evidenced by expressing your knowledge
clearly in a suitably structured manner and in your own words. Poor academic practices such as
minimal referencing and/or ‘cut and paste’ of referenced work fundamentally undermine the
reader’s ability to identify the quality of your understanding and limits the mark that the project
can obtain. Plagiarism is considered as academic misconduct. If you do not know what
constitutes plagiarism by the time you undertake your project then discuss with your supervisor,
or contact the Project module convenor or a study advisor.
Application:
Is the knowledge relevant to the particular aim/objectives of your project? Have you applied
your knowledge to your project aim and objectives? Application is evidenced by the selection of
appropriate knowledge from that which might be available and the differing emphasis that you
give to that chosen knowledge.
Analysis:
Are the key themes/ideas that you cover made clear to the reader? Is it clear to the reader how
these all relate? Analysis involves identifying the key components of any debate – realising the
significant compared to the trivial. When comparing data from the financial statements, have
you selected the numbers relevant to the issue you wish to discuss? Good analysis is clearly
evidenced by an ability to break down the project into smaller relevant chapters and to break
those chapters down into smaller relevant themes or ideas while at the same time ensuring that
the relationship between these smaller parts and the project as a whole is also clearly identified.
Besides the depth and breadth of your relevant knowledge and understanding, the structure of
the project and its individual chapters is often key to the quality of your analysis.
Synthesis:
Are the key arguments and conclusions that you wish to make made clear to the reader? Is it
clear to the reader how these relate to the project aim and objectives? Synthesis involves
building up from the knowledge, understanding, application and analysis that have gone before
of a new ‘picture’ or way of looking at the topic and of addressing the project aims and objectives.
The depth and breadth of your relevant knowledge and understanding and the quality of your
analysis will all influence the quality of synthesis that you will be able to offer.
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Evaluation:
Can the reader identify reasoned judgements on the work of others and of you within the
project? Do you critically appraise the work of others and your own work/conclusions?
Evaluation involves making judgements based on the evidence that you have provided in your
project and recognising the limitations of those judgements and the evidence that they are built upon.

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Student No: Supervisor/1st marker Companies:
Assessment factor
distinction merit pass A fail B fail
Introduction (10%) Gives you an excellent overview of
what the project will be about.
Aims and objectives are clear
and some rationale is offered.
Insufficiently rounded to be a
distinction.
May include most of the elements
you expect to see in an introduction
but lacks cohesion. Aims and
objectives may not have a rationale.
May be poorly expressed/
muddled and show a poor
understanding of purpose.
Aims and objectives may
be absent. You are left
with very little indication
of what the project will be
about.
Theoretical aspects
of financial
management
issue(s): literature
review/current
knowledge (20%)
High level of scholarship
demonstrated. Literature is
critically evaluated.
Good knowledge and
understanding with some
critical evaluation of current
thinking/theory on aspect(s) of
accounting and finance.
Has used relevant
textbooks/literature to identify key
advantages and problems associated
with the aspect(s) of A&F.
Knowledge is adequate.
Very limited. Poor
knowledge and
understanding of the
literature reviewed.
Absent or very poorly
done.
Overview of the
companies and
sector (10%)
Evidence of excellent synthesis of
material to summarise key
elements of the companies and
their strategies.
Demonstrates good research
and knowledge of the
companies and their strategies.
Project demonstrates that the
student has a sound understanding of
the companies and their strategies in
this period.
Poor understanding of the
companies and/or their
strategy over the 5 year
period.
Evidence that the student
does not understand what
the strategies were.
Data selection and
analysis (40%)
Excellent use of appropriate data;
good data analysis. Excellent
presentation of data. Excellent
selection of data and analysis.
Demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the data and its
relevance to the area(s) of A&F
chosen.
Good selection of data and
techniques of analysis. May be
limited. Good use of data and
evidence of a comprehensive
understanding of the evidence.
good/excellent presentation of
data.
Uses share price charts/ financial
statement or any relevant data to
describe how the companies have
performed over the 5 year period.
Generally accurate and presented
well.
Relevance of some of the data
selected and analysed may be
unclear. May lack focus/clarity.
Generally, accurate.
Selects inappropriate data
and/or badly misunderstands
the data. Limited data used
to support any comment on
the performance of the
companies. Too many
errors. Poor presentation.
Selection of evidence is
poor. Comments
unsupported by evidence.
Absent or very limited.
Discussion and
evaluation (10%)
Appraises the evidence in light of
the critical review of current
thinking/theory. Provides
interesting and convincing answers
to the project aims.
A coherent argument is
presented, linking the practices
to theory. Addresses the
project aims well.
Reasonable appreciation of the
relationship between theory and
application in practice. May not
make best use of the data analysis
and evidence presented.
Flawed. May repeat points
made elsewhere without
adding insight. No clear
links made to preceding
parts of the project.
Absent /very weak. Has
not understood the title or
purpose of the project.
Overall structure,
conclusions and
presentation. (10%)
Evidence that the student has an
excellent command of the material
and has been able to organise and
present this to good effect.
Referencing is good.
Clear structure with a logical
flow. Reasonably well written.
Referencing is generally good.
Evidence that the material has been
organised but the relationships
between sections (and with the
project aims) may be weak.
Referencing acceptable.
Student has not appreciated
the importance of structure.
May be poorly written.
Inadequate referencing.
Badly written, poorly
referenced and insufficient
care taken over a major
piece of work.
Additional comment:
Mark: