The last part of the RAP is where you list all the sources you have used during the preparation of the RAP, like links to all the websites used, the names of the books and their authors, list the newspapers or journals and titles of the used articles and the names of their authors.

The citing and using references is an important part in any academic work, as it acknowledges the ideas from other authors, helps avoid plagiarism and shows the depth and broadness of your research.

The citing is listing all the work from other authors that you have used in your own work; the names of the authors are gathered and listed in a suitable manner at the end of your report – the list is known as a reference list. The names can be listed alphabetically, according to the author’s name, or numerically, per the order of mentioning in your work.

There are many citing and referencing systems. OBU advises you to use Harvard Referencing System. This referencing system consists of two sections: (i) In text citing, and (ii) Reference list.

1. Section one – Citing in the text
2. Citing

When preparing a piece of written work, you will inevitably come across other peoples’ ideas, theories or data, and you will want to mention or refer to these in your own work. In referring to these authors, you will also need to create a list of who they are and where their published work is to be found.

This is placed at the end of your written work so that your readers can identify what is your work and what is that of other people, and so that they can get hold of those pieces of published work to read, should they wish to do so.

Making reference to other authors in your own written work is called citing. The names of the authors who are cited in your text are gathered together, and supplied as an alphabetical list at the end of your written work.  This is a reference list.

There is no one-best-way to lay out the reference list, and much of it is a matter of tradition or preference. Broadly speaking, the process of citing authors (and the associated reference list) can be done in one of two main styles – the Numeric, where the list of authors is numbered in the order of mention in the text, or the Alphabetical, where the authors’ names are listed in alphabetical order.

One of the ways, in which alphabetical referencing is done, has been given the name of  the

Name and Date System or the Harvard Referencing System.   There are a number of ways in which the Harvard Referencing System can be presented, and all of these are therefore ‘correct’. The Business Faculty has chosen one of these as the method that we recommend you to use. The reason for this is that if you do take this advice:

• The problem of choosing an appropriate referencing system has been solved for you,
• Your referencing layout will be consistent and always ‘correct’, and
• It will conform to the way referencing is done by most business and management researchers and journals.

(Another convention that we urge you to comply with is that the University has chosen Arial as the font that it wishes all documents to be written in – as this one is.)

1. The difference between the reference list and the bibliography

Within your piece of written work, you will have cited a number of books, journals, newspaper articles (or whatever), using the author’s name and the date of publication.  At the end of the piece, you provide a list of all those authors, giving full details of what their work is called, and where it was published. This list is headed References, and provides all the information about the published works you have mentioned in your text, ALPHABETICALLY by the names of the authors (or originators). This list can be subdivided by year and letter if necessary. (More about this later)

Also, during the course of your preparatory reading, you may use material that has been helpful for reading around the subject, but which you do not make specific reference to in your own work. It is important to acknowledge this material. Under the heading Bibliography, list all these items, again alphabetically by author, regardless of whether it  is a book or journal, and include this list separately after the reference list.

The Bibliography indicates to your reader or examiner that you have read more widely that was strictly necessary to produce the piece of written work, and that you therefore have a better grasp of the area or the topic than if you had only used the works cited in your text and your reference list. Everything you cite (i.e. mention) in your piece of written work will be listed once alphabetically by author and subdivided by year and letter, if necessary, in your References.

The Bibliography would look the same as the reference list does. See Section 2: Formats for conventions that apply to all the different types of media – books, journals, newspapers, conferences etc.

Some people mix the list of references from within the text (References) and the references to wider reading (Bibliography) together in one list, which they then call the Bibliography. This is not recommended, because it creates difficulties for your examiner, who has to sort out which is which, in order to be clear about the accuracy of your referencing.

(Please note that when you are writing a (business) report, then all that is required is a list of references. When it comes to dissertations or theses, however, then both a reference list and a bibliography are required

Note: In the examples given below, pay attention to the punctuation, and in your own work, copy it exactly as it is set out – put the full stop in where it is placed in the example, and leave it out, if it isn’t in the example.

• Citing in your text

Why is it important to cite references?

• It is accepted practice in the academic world to acknowledge the words, ideas or work of others and not simply to use them as if they were your Failure to do this could be regarded as plagiarism – see http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/skill/plagiarism.html
• to enable other people to identify and trace your sources quickly and easily
• to support facts and claims you have made in your text There are 2 parts to a referencing system:
• an in-text citation
• an entry in the reference list/bibliography at the end of the assignment/work

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ACCA eligible students (click here to check eligibility criteria for availing BSc. Hons in Applied Accounting Degree based on ACCA) who wish to submit a Research and Analysis Project (RAP) to the Oxford Brookes University (OBU) are required to select one of the twenty proposed topics and base the RAP only one topic without changing the title of the topic.  All the topics are based on the ACCA syllabus and cover F1 to F9 papers, and the ACCA students are fairly familiar with all of them.

Click here for detailed guidance for each topic.

For a first time submission for topics 4, 5, 8 17, and 20, or a re-submission on a new topic or company, there are program requirements like (i) You must use the last 3 years’ accounts available 90 days before the start of the submission period and You may choose to use the last 3 years’ accounts and any other information that becomes available at a later date. This aspect is further elaborated on below table;

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As far as the presentation of the Research Report is concerned then it needs to be processed on size A4 pages. The text needs to be in black colour against white background. The student should avoid the use of graphics or pictures behind the text, also note that italic and heavy bold letters are harder to read.

The font should also be appropriate standard business font like Arial with font size of 11 or 12. A larger font size may be appropriate for section headings. The maximum line spacing should be 1.5 lines. If using a spelling and grammar checker, the student should be careful not to unintentionally change the meaning of the text.

OBU does not mean or wish to prescribe all the different aspects of the presentation of the Research Report, and the student should identify the best practice for writing a business report which is a part of the activities of gathering information.

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The Research Report needs to contain 7,500 words that are a product of the assessment of the gathered information and written according to a specific criteria, with a recommended structure and content. There are 20 OBU approved topics the students can choose from and base the RAP. All the topics are based on the ACCA Qualifications syllabus and cover F1 to F9 papers, and the ACCA students are fairly familiar with all of them.

After selecting a topic, the student needs to aim their choice on one company for basing the RAP upon. For topics 8 and 15, there are sector specific requirements for the selection of companies, that are based on the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB). All the industry sectors are outlined in this Information Pack and are published on the ACCA website in June each year.

The project research needs to be a business evaluation and analysis, and not only a financial analysis, and needs to covet the topic area issues of the selected company. The reached conclusions and recommendations need to provide answers to the specific research questions and meet the set project objectives. The student needs to take in all these constraints while performing the research and later when writing the Research Report. Here are some helpful suggestions:

1. Set realistic, achievable research questions and report objectives.

The student is not submitting a Masters or a Doctorate dissertation, which means that there can be some limits that arise from the word count, content and structure of the Research Report. Some students forget this, and usually make a long list of objectives or a very short list of objectives – both these actions lead to low grade project of even failing the project.

The criteria for effective objectives are sometimes defined as SMART objectives which is:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic and
• Time bound

The student needs to think over these objectives related to the project objectives that have been set. It is advisable that the student discusses the proposed objectives with their Mentor before the actual work begins.

2. There is a recommended structure and content which the student needs to follow and have in mind the suggested word count for every section of the project. There are benefits from the close following of the recommendations about the structure and content, and the most important one is that it serves as a checklist that pictures the assessment criteria that later apply. Some students select to ignore the recommendations about the structure and content, and use their won structure and content. This may not be a reason for failure on its own, but it can easily lead to forgetting of some important requirements which can lead to failure. The presentation of the information is very important, and the students need to check their report for style, language, expression, the proper use of tables, charts and diagrams and the correct structure of the appendices, and be in the limit of the proposed 7,500 word count.

3. The nature and type of information you need the student needs to gather is determined by the choice of topic and the set research questions and report objectives. Depends on the project objectives that have been set, many (if not all) of the approved topics can be completed using information from secondary sources. There is no unique requirement to use only primary sources, but the selection of the topic and company and the setup of the objectives may lead to the consideration that the student will have to use the primary sources of information.

Every student needs to go over many sources of information including the Internet. Many students make the mistake of relying only on one source of information, like for example only on the company’s annual reports, and not considering any additional sources of information like analysts’ reports, financial press articles, consumer journals and more, in order to get an alternative point of view.

The student should also consult important academic sources so they are able to make the correct decision regarding the business and accounting concepts, models, techniques and theories they will be using in their project. The student should also use the academic sources to understand the issues that are connected to the selected company, and in the analysis and evaluation of the gathered information.

A “relevant” business model in the mentioned context is the presentation of the part that can be explained as a business system or a business process. This serves as a manner for facilitation of the understanding, analysis an assessment of the part of the business process or business system it is related to. There are several of these models – tools – that can be used, some shown below:

For example,

• A PEST model identifies those factors which shape and influence the business environment in which the organisation operates;
• A SWOT identifies the key issues emerging from an examination of the organisations internal strengths and weaknesses in the context of the opportunities and threats which its business environment presents;
• PORTER’S 5 FORCES identifies those factors which determine the level of competition in the industry in which the organisation exists, and thus key aspects of the competitive environment which an organisation faces;

The VALUE CHAIN model enables an organisation to analyse and assess its competitive strength.

Students can easily make a mistake of numbering several models without the appropriate discussion of their limitations or their application in the understanding of the important issues in the selected company and the business environment. None of these models are used for the analysis and evaluation of the gathered information and judging the level of the meeting of the proposed report objectives. The point of this is to use a limited number of important theories/models etc., and to know and show their limitations and correctly apply these theories/models…, in the evaluation of the company’s issues and for explaining the findings and the drawing of the conclusions that are important to the set report objectives.

A common student mistake that leads to failure is the failing to make a proper analysis/evaluation and mistakes in the information gathering process and referencing. This occurs when many information that is not correctly referenced in the text is included in Section 3 of the Report: Results, Analysis, Conclusions and Recommendations.

Example: a detailed SWOT analysis is listed, but without the correct referencing, there is a lack of sources that are related to the presented information. In many cases, parts of the company’s annual report have been extracted, or from some other source, but there is no proper reference in the text. If a student does this, they will probably fail in the professional and technical skills of the analysis/evaluation, on the point that there is no manner of knowing where the used information comes from and the lack of graduate skills in referencing.

The proper and adequate referencing is an important graduate skill. This points to the acknowledgement of the efforts and work used from others, and helps in avoiding plagiarism, providing evidence of the extent of the student’s research and reading material. It allows the examiners, if necessary,  to check the cited sources and evaluate the student’s interpretation. Every student is required to use proper references in their report, in the text and the appendix with a comprehensive list of references.

If the student selects to do primary research in the selected company, there are some important things to consider:

• The student needs to get permission from a relevant senior staff member of the company. Many student come to difficulties when trying to gain access to the require information from their selected company, and they need to clearly outline who they are and what they need so they can obtain permission for obtaining the necessary information. The student is required to supply a Letter of authorisation and approval for taking the primary research, and this letter needs to come from a senior member of the management of the company. It needs to be a part of the Appendix of the RAP submission.
• The student has to explain the used methods, the sample size and strategy, and give appropriate comments on the response rate they have gotten.
• The student should include a discussion of the ethical issues they’ve encountered while conducting the primary research and their manner of dealing and resolving of such issues.

The student must remember that if they use questionnaires or interviews, then a copy of these needs to be included in the Appendix of the Research report, a copy of the questionnaire, a summary of the responses, list of interview questions and a sum of the main responses and points.

The student needs to extract the important points they have encountered that will be the support for the analysis in the main part of the Report. The student also needs to be aware of the limits the gathered information bring. Considering the sample size used and the response rate, and the proposed word count limit of the Research Report, the student can likely use a tentative conclusion based on the primary research. This points that a comprehensive, complex statistical analysis is not possible or appropriate. This is again a point into the fact that a limited and realistic Research Report objectives need to be set at the start of the research process.

4. A very important fact to remember is that a major cause for failing the Research Report is the insufficient analysis and evaluation of gathered and presented information.

Many students show that they have problems when it comes to analysis and evaluation. The analysis points to the detailed study of the parts of a complex phenomenon so it can be interpreted and explained easily. For example, Topic Area 8 is related to “The Business and Financial Performance of an Organisation over a 3 year period”.

The “Business and Financial Performance” is a complex phenomenon. This contains many elements, like market share, market growth, revenue growth, profitability, liquidity, productivity and many other efficiency indicators. These indicators may be of a quantitative or qualitative nature. The studying of the business and financial performance over a three year period needs to consider the business environment or context in which the selected company operates. A situational analysis like a PEST of 5 C analysis can be very helpful, but only if properly applied to the selected company and the business context. The financial performance is best analysed via the ratio analysis. But the attempt in explaining the reason why these indicators have changed needs to be based on the business context that has to include the actions by the government, competition and the company itself.

The evaluation is the process of creating judgements about something, viewed form a point of significance, size, quality, or impact. This implies the process of measurement, appraisal, estimation and judgement. It is not sufficient to evaluate the company’s yearly performance by simply looking at the reports. That is why the use of a comparator companies. The “benchmarking” against the best in the industry, or using the industry norms is necessary for preparing an objective conclusion on the performance of a company. This is in terms of establishing a relation to the performance of others, and not considering if the performance of the studied company is determined as poor or good.

While making a consideration about the performance of a company, the students needs to recognize that the judgements of the different stakeholder groups are likely to be based on various different indicators or criteria, like:

• Shareholders will look at indicators related to capital growth and dividends;
• Customers will tend to focus on a price/quality dimension – such as “value for money”;
• Suppliers may be much more concerned with liquidity or longevity of a business relationship, and

Employees may be most concerned with those indicators related to increased security of employment and promotion opportunities, such as growth and liquidity etc.

That is why a point of view that considers all the different indicators and viewpoints, and has included the short and longer-term criteria will be helpful while making the evaluation of the performance of the company. The perspective that is taken in such case is determined by the specified objectives that were set at the beginning of the Research Report.

No matter the selection of topic, the need to ensure that the Research Report clearly outlines the necessary analytical and evaluative skills is very important.

Should the student select a topic on motivation, they will most likely evaluate the findings against the predictions originating from the organisational theories that have been reviewed. The most important point of this is that the Research Report demonstrates that the student has applied the correct and appropriate analytical and evaluative techniques to the gathered information, and this enables the student to reach their set report objectives and with that, they will easily meet the established RAP requirements.

The ACCA website offers advice on the approach to the RAP in their Information Pack. The students need to read this, and pay attention to the defined assessment criteria. The completion of the RAP is a significant learning experience, and knowing and respecting the above mentioned points will serve as great help in the student’s success.

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Students can get confused by the requirement to “explain the general research approach” that is outlined in the guideline for preparing the RAP. A proposed explanation that the research is the “framework… developed in order to meet the project objectives and provide answers to the research questions”, does not satisfy the student’s expectations. What is this, what does it mean, and why it’s importance?

A good explanation can be: the base structure which shapes and guides the student’s Research Report. This provides the link between the goal that the student is trying to find out and an outline to the methods the student has used to give the necessary answers. This sets a series of parts that are important to the research process, and the ones related to the RAP are noted below:

1. The original problem or issue that is defined by the topic the student  selects in the context of the selected company.
2. The specific research questions and report objectives which the student sets or proposes, to answer or meet.
3. Review of literature relevant to the concepts/theories/models in accounting and business in order to determine which the student will use, identification of their limitations, and develop the understanding of the issues in the context of the selected company.
4. Methods of gathering information the student will use including a discussion of the limitations of the information gathering process, and any ethical issues arising and how their resolution.
5. The analysis and evaluation the student conducts based on the business/accounting techniques etc. applied in providing answers to the proposed research questions and meeting the report objectives.
6. Conclusions and all (if any) relevant recommendations of practical benefit that have come out from the performed research.

Even though the above explanation makes the research process to look like an orderly and sequential, it is not so much in practice. In reality this process is tangled, disorganised and messy. It is still very helpful for the student to set a plan of action before proceeding with the actual research.

Every student should write a short statement that will outline the selected approach before the actual information gathering begins, or in the list above this is between stages c. and d. After this, the student should ask the following questions:

• Will this approach enable me to answer the research questions and meet the report objectives I have set?
• If not, do I need to gather more information from a wider range of secondary sources, or conduct some primary research, or both?
• Or do I need to review and revise my research questions or project report objectives?
• After the student has ensured themselves that they are familiar with all the important facts about research, only then they should proceed with the investigation and information gathering process. The clear way of consideration of the general research approach and the layout of a statement based on that act as guides during the whole research process, and influence on the structure of the student’s actions and deeds.

The layout of a clear statement about the general research approach enables the examiner to note that the student has in fact adopted a systematic approach that is appropriate and helpful for reaching the set objectives.

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A good first step is the demystification of the research process, as it is essential to the preparation of the RAP.

A simple definition of research means to investigate, enquire, look into, explore and find out. If considering  as an investigation, then a simple example: people conduct research when looking to buy a car. Certain decisions need to be made: size, economy, reliability, price range… A person will study all the reviews of the selected models in order to get in-depth help in evaluation of the possibilities. After a suitable test-drive, the person is able to make a selection of a car that best meets their specifications and by their judgment is the best “deal” for a car.

There are a lot of similarities in this sample and the general view of the research seen as an investigative process that involves many stages and phases, and it is necessary for preparing the RAP.

The research for the RAP is an example of an applied business research that focuses in the business problems and issues that are set in a context of a single company. The applied business research has a purpose of contributing to the solution of the issues or even increasing the understanding of its significance. It may result in some recommendations that can be made to a concerned individual or the studied company. It brings a very practical aspect in problem solving, and in some ways can be similar to consultancy work.

There is also academic purpose that underlines the design of the RAP project, and this is in ensuring that the student masters some important transferable or graduate skills, that the student can show by passing the RAP.

These skills include the following:

• Completing an independent research based project;
• Information gathering and referencing appropriately;
• Effective written and oral presentation;
• Using information technology;
• Problem solving, analysis and evaluation; and
• Self-managed learning.

All of these are subjected to assessment in the Research Report, and the reflection on the learning experience achieved during the preparation of the project is assessed by completing the Skills and Learning Statement, both of these are parts of the RAP.

The applied business research requires the student uses a systematic investigative process.

The most important part is the word “systematic”, meaning that the research is planned, methodical and in compliance to the already established research methods, and also this takes account of the other published work by other authors in the relevant field.

There are some practical suggestions that the student should partake a systematic approach to the following:

• Information gathering;
• Interpretation and analysis of gathered information; and
• An overall evaluation that provides answers to, or allows understanding of the original problem or studied issue.

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Before commencing the work on the Research and Analysis Project – RAP (Research Report is part of RAP) of Oxford Brookes University (OBU) , the student should read all the information about the RAP outlined here. This is especially important for the proper understanding if the important matters related to the project and research work:

• What is expectation of the student in preparing the Research Report?
• How will it be assessed?
• Who will be the Mentor?
• How does the student ensure that the Research Report submission reflects their full abilities?
• What is the link between the Research Report and the Skills and Learning Statement?
• How do you ensure that the student has not breached the Oxford Brookes University regulations on cheating?

The purpose of the Research Report is to give the student a chance to show their Technical and Professional Skills in the following:

• Understanding of accountancy/business models
• Application of accountancy/business models
• Evaluation of information, analysis and conclusions
• Presentation of project findings

And show their Graduate Skills in the following:

• Communication
• Information gathering and referencing
• Information technology which includes the use of a spreadsheet.

All of the above outlined guides have an important contribution to the learning outcome of the BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting programme. The student will show their skills by the correct application of the previously learned ACCA skills by preparing a project in an approved topic area on a specific company. The Research Report has a word count limit of 7,500 words.

Here the student can find advice on proceeding in undertaking the project work. There are also recommendations about the structure of the Research Report and the student needs to be certain they have provided enough evidence to OBU so a positive outcome is reached in every assessment criteria for the Research Report (RR).

The OBU recommendations are not a unique manner for preparation of a good RR. It is up to the student to select the management of the project work and prepare a good RR. Again, the student needs to be aware of how the RR will be evaluated by OBU. The student needs to include all the contend relevant to one or more assessment criteria, in the other case, the student is at risk of not meeting the proposed standards. Also, by including irrelevant content, the student is again at risk by not providing sufficient evidence to OBU that will prove the student’s abilities.

The student needs to know and consider a lot of issues before starting the work on the RR. These issues may have some significant impact on the manner on which the student builds their project objectives, propose the research questions and conducts the research activities.

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The Research and Analysis Project is the requirement for obtaining the BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University (OBU).

The student has showed their undergraduate level abilities by passing all the ACCA exams. The successful completion of the Research and Analysis Project provides an opportunity to show at a graduate level that the student possesses all the necessary attributes to be awarded a BSc degree in Applied Accounting. The student should carefully read the Research and Analysis Project learning outcomes and assessment criteria before starting work on their Research and Analysis Project. This offers an explanation of what is expected of an ACCA student that wishes to submit a Research and Analysis Project to the Oxford Brookes University.

A Research and Analysis Project is significantly different from another ACCA written exam. The student should make many different choices that require them to prepare a good quality Research and Analysis Project. The choice of a company to study, the goals and objectives, the information sources to use and the presentation of the research findings. Every Research and Analysis Project project is different and there is no unique answer that will fit the project objectives. The research results greatly depend on the student’s manners of collecting and analysis of data and the student’s findings are not usually definitive. The conclusions that may arise may be unexpected or not anticipated, as this is the nature of every applied research.

For the purpose of producing a quality Research and Analysis Project, the student will have to evaluate and analyse information from various sources. This means that the student needs to create some meaning to the results they have found, or make a judgement before the conclusion is reached. A simple report of the information that has been gathered is not enough for passing the Research and Analysis Project. An important graduate level attribute is the ability to evaluate and analyse gathered information. This also has a prime influence on the final grade the student will get on their RAP, as the RAP shows the abilities and skills for gathering, analysis and presentation of information.

Any ACCA student may find themselves in a situation where the final class of a BSc degree is not directly affected by the grade on their Research and Analysis Project. But, a proper performance of the Research and Analysis Project demonstrates to the family, friends, colleagues, tutors and employees that the student (now graduated ACCA accountant) is able to perform a high-quality research. If the average ACCA mark has put the student in a position to be able to reach a high grade for their RAP and get a higher class of degree, then the student must strive to reach their highest potential and pass their project on the first submission. The student cannot resubmit a passed RAP and RAP grade will get curbed if a Research Report that has previously failed has been submitted again.

The student’s RAP needs to be aimed on accounting and business issues that are within the range of a company. The student needs to remember that the financial performance of the organisation, whether within private or public sector, is an outcome of the company’s business activities. A company in a private sector competes against companies in selling goods and services and the success is seen in the financial statements and financial performance indicators. That is why, for explaining the reasons behind the change of a company’s financial performance, the student needs to look at the business environment and correctly identify the actions the company, the competition, the government, etc., have taken, and which have led to the change in the business performance of the selected company. For truly understanding the change, the student may need to look on the outside on the selected company.

The other sections of the RAP Preparation Guide give guidance on preparing the Research Report and the Skills and Learning Statement. There are some important issues the student needs to think over before starting preparing their RAP:

The student is urged to read all the important RAP information of the OBU website before they start preparing for their RAP. It is always easier to make significant changes to the proposed project work or outline before collecting all the necessary information. It is much difficult and less productive to have to make significant changes later in the work, while writing the final Research Report and the Skills and Learning Statement.

In the Student Accountant, there are several articles that provide useful information and guidance help for the submission of a successful RAP.

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ACCA eligible students (click here to check eligibility criteria for availing BSc. Hons in Applied Accounting Degree based on ACCA) who wishes to submit a Research and Analysis Project (RAP) to the Oxford Brookes University (OBU) is required to select one of the twenty proposed topics and base the RAP only one topic without changing title of the topic.

Click here for detailed guidance for each topic.

Students should choose topic keeping in consideration of their interest for respective area. Broad categories of all twenty topics are as follows;

Financial Report (topic 3, 4,5,7,8,12)

3. An assessment of the potential impact of an aspect of impending legislation on the operations and financial position of an organisation.

4. Analyse and evaluate the business and financial performance of an organisation which has performed exceptionally poorly over a three-year period with a critical analysis of the reasons for its difficulties.

5. Analyse and evaluate the business and financial performance of an organisation which has performed exceptionally well over a three-year period with a critical analysis of the reasons for its success.

7. A critical evaluation of the restructuring of an organisation’s operational activities and the effect on the organisation’s financial performance.

8. Analyse and evaluate the business and financial performance over a three year period of an organisation operating in a sector that has faced strategic and operational challenges with an emphasis on how management have addressed these challenges.

12. An investigation into the possible effects of a proposed accounting standard on the financial statements and business activities of an organisation.

Data Analystics (topic 15)

15. Analyse and evaluate the business and financial performance over a three year period of an organisation operating in a sector that has faced strategic and operational challenges with an emphasis on how management have addressed these challenges.

Information System (topic 2,9)

2. An evaluation of how the introduction of a new technology can assist an organisation in achieving its business objectives.

9. A critical evaluation of the planning and implementation of an information system in an organisation.

Human Resource (HR) (topic 6,13)

6. A critical review of key factors or indicators in the motivation of employees in an organisation.

13. An evaluation of the contribution made by human resource activities to the attainment of business and financial objectives.

Management Accounting (topic 1, 10)

1. An analysis and evaluation of an organisation’s budgetary control system and its links with performance management and decision making.

10. A review of the effectiveness of the use of costing techniques within an organisation.

Financial Management (topic 14.15,16,19)

14. An appraisal of the business and financial objectives of a strategic investment decision made by an organisation and its impact on key stakeholders.

16. A critical evaluation of the financial and operational risk management within an organisation.

19. An analysis and evaluation of the financial and operational consequences of a merger between two organisations or of the acquisition of one organisation by another.

Marketing (topic 18)

18. A review of the marketing strategy of an organisation and its effectiveness.

Audit (topic 11)

11. An investigation into the financial and operational costs and benefits of the internal audit / internal review activities within an organisation.

Corporate Governance and Law (topic 3, 17,20)

3. An assessment of the potential impact of an aspect of impending legislation on the operations and financial position of an organisation.

17. Select an organisation that has been identified as having weak corporate governance structures within the past 5 years. Critically evaluate their corporate governance practices including an assessment of the origins of the corporate governance issue(s) and the organisation’s response.

20. Select an organisation that has been identified as having weak social responsibility practices within the past 5 years. Critically evaluate their social responsibility practices, including an assessment of the origins of the problem(s) and the organisation’s response and the impact of this on the organisation’s key stakeholders.

If the student selects topic 4,5 or 8, they need to be certain that they use the latest 3 years financial statements available at the start of the submission period (for a first time submission or a re-submission of a RAP on a new topic).

In the case of re-submission, it is not required to use the latest financial statement , only in the case of re-submission within the next four submission periods starting from the original submission date. This applies only in the chance of re-submission of the same topic and company. If the student has selected to change the topic and company, then the latest financial statements need to be used.

For all the other topics , the student needs to base the work on the most recent activities instead of some historical events. (For this purpose, the term “historical” refers to activities that occurred full three calendar years before the start of the current submission period.)

For ensuring the success in RAP, there are two critical aspects:

• The RAP needs to be aimed at a single company.
• The analysis needs to be a business analysis instead of just a financial analysis.

Click here for detail about complete guidance of Research and Analysis Project

Important Links

• Our Services
• Overview of each topic
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• BSC Degree (ACCA Web Link)
• Role of Project Mentor
• RAP Submission Dates
• OBU Rules and Regulations
• OBU Website
• RAP Submission Link

Click here to access Registration Form.

The post Overview of all 20 topics for RAP of OBU appeared first on "VM" Virtual Mentoring.

Any student can easily find examples and advice on how to prepare a good-quality and effective presentation, and it is advisable that the following of this advice is a helpful and good practice.

The Mentor may give some comments on the quality of the presentation and may even give suggestions on some improvements. If is possible and acceptable for the student to revise it after their final meeting with their Mentor. If this is done, it should be included as a reference in the answer to the first SLS question, along with the learned points from this.

The SLS consists of two parts – the reflective statement that contains the answers to the four SLS questions. The second part is the fifteen minute presentation that should contain from 10 to 20 slides, given to the Mentor, and a copy needs to be provided in the submission.

The Mentor will be asked to confirm that they have effectively witnessed the presentation and OBU also requires a copy be submitted along with the RAP. the evidence necessary are copies of the slides used in the presentation and it needs to be in a PowerPoint (.ppt) format.

Content and presentation of the slides

• Slides need to be interesting, clear and easy to read and understand;
• Graphs, pictures and charts may be included in addition to necessary text;
• The first slide of the presentation needs to contain the title and the student’s ACCA number.

The slides should be made to support the verbal presentation and need to summarise the Research Report (including the conclusions and possible recommendations).

OBU markers and moderators have a vast experience concerning receiving presentations and are able to easily judge its quality and the possibility of it being presented within the prescribed fifteen minute duration. It should be noted that it is not only the number of slides, but also the content of the slides themselves.

SO REMEMBER –

• The presentation needs to last 15 minutes;
• It needs to be about the topic, and not the writing process of the Research Report;
• The presentation should be a sum of the Research Report (including its conclusions and recommendations);
• The slides need to SUPPORT the presentation;
• The slides should be interesting, engaging and clear.

Click here for detail about complete guidance of Research and Analysis Project

Important Links

• Our Services
• Overview of each topic
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• BSC Degree (ACCA Web Link)
• Role of Project Mentor
• RAP Submission Dates
• OBU Rules and Regulations
• OBU Website
• RAP Submission Link

Click here to access Registration Form.

The post Guidance for Presentation Slides (Research and Analysis Project) appeared first on "VM" Virtual Mentoring.