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Management Decision And Control Assignment

The aim of the individual assignment is to develop your skills in communicating how

organisations can define performance. You will prepare a report explaining and justifying how

you define ‘performance’ (or ‘success’) for one of the six organisations listed in this document.

In completing this assignment, you will engage in analysis and self-evaluation exercise, which

help you learn how to turn the rough ideas you have in your draft into a high-quality and

professional final report. This assignment assesses both the quality of your final report and your

process in producing it.

What does ‘performance’ mean for… ?

Prepare a report addressing this question, focusing on one of the following Australian

organisations/subsidiary, or a business unit within that organisation (i.e., focus on the

operations in Australia):

 Bunnings  Nuheara Ltd.

 Police Bank  The a2 Milk Co. Ltd.

 The Reject Shop  Xero Ltd.

Objectives:

This task relates to the following subject objectives:

 Critically analyse the institutional, organisational and individual influences on

management accounting systems

 Form professional judgments about the appropriateness of the design and operation of

management accounting systems

This assessment also enables the evaluation of the following program objectives:

 Convey information clearly and fluently in high quality written form appropriate for their audience (3.1)

Weighting and marks:

30% (30 marks) of total result for the subject:

 Draft report: 3 marks

 Final report: 20 marks

 Self-evaluation exercise: 7 marks

Individual assignment components

This assignment contains three components:

1) Draft report:

The draft report must have a minimum of two pages of writing and a minimum of three

references, preferably peer reviewed journal articles. This is to ensure that you have a decent

draft to work on for the self-evaluation exercise.

Penalty applied to draft reports that are shorter than two pages.

High similarity score will attract misconduct investigation conducted by the Academic

Service Unit.

2) Final report (20 marks in total for substantive content and structure):

Your report will be assessed against four (4) criteria, which are contained in the marking

rubric. It is up to you how you structure your report.

1. Organisational analysis. Your report should briefly introduce the organisation and then

provide a clear overview of the organisation’s objectives, strategies and key activities (i.e.,

corporate, competitive and operational strategies), and structure. Make sure you introduce

your organisation in your own words – do not merely copy what the organisation says on

its website.

2. Performance definition (i.e., key performance aspects). Your report should provide a

clear recommendation explaining the most important aspects of performance for your

chosen organisation or a business unit of the organisation. In other words, the report should

provide readers a clear understanding of what ‘success’ means for this organization or the

business unit. Keep in mind that the focus is to define performance, rather than measuring

performance. Make sure you include both the obvious aspects of performance related to the

key operations of the business as well as other aspects of performance that support these

operations. For example, if you believe financial performance is a key aspect of the

performance, you should also identify other key performance aspects leading to financial

performance, such as innovation, production efficiency, etc.

To identify the key performance aspects of the organisation, you need to interpret and

critically evaluate the information you have, that is, you need to judge whether the

information indicates the most important aspects of performance, or it is a marketing means

to legitimise the organisation’s operations (do not include it in your report). In many cases,

better assignments show in-depth analysis of the organisation and include aspects of

performance that are not mentioned on the website (and justify why it is included – see next

point).

3. Justification of performance aspects. You should persuade the readers that the

performance aspects that you identified are appropriate for the organisation/business unit.

In the justification you should refer to your organisational analysis, relevant academic

literature or other materials that support your definition of performance. A good

justification should show a strong connection with academic literature (i.e., journal

articles).

4. Written communication. Your report should be well written so that it is easy to read and

understand, well structured so that it is coherent, logical and well sequenced, and well

presented so that it is professional, polished and appropriate for its audience. It should

conform to the specified formatting requirements and the UTS Business referencing

conventions.

Remember, performance is shaped by what you define as an organisational unit. The

performance of a whole organisation is very different from the performance of a business

unit, an operational department, or a project team. Therefore, be sure to specify the level of

the organisation for which you define the performance, and ensure that the performance is

relevant to it.

Word limit:

The report is to be no more than 1200 words in length. Following the formatting requirements

below means you should carefully check the word limit if your report exceeds 3 pages. See the

table below for what is included in the word limit.

Report Structure:

Your report must be structured as a brief report. For instructions about writing reports, please

see The UTS Business School Writing Guide available in the assessment folder on Canvas.

Your report should include (or omit) the following sections:

Section Required? Included in

word limit?

Title Page Not required. Your report should have the ‘MDC Individual report final

submission cover sheet’ attached at the end of this document.

Short

Executive

Summary

Given the short length of the report we expect this section to be a few

sentences. Remember an Executive Summary is written in past tense and

summarises the findings of a report (which is different to an essay

introduction which introduces what the essay will cover).

Yes

Table of

contents

Not required. Don’t include

in report

Introduction One short paragraph where you introduce your organization. If you

choose to focus on a business unit of the organisation, then you should

also provide information on the business unit.

Yes

Body of the

report

The body of the report should include sections with headings, that is, use

headings to structure your report so that the main points covered in each

section is clear to the audience. The quantity of the headings is up to

you. Use the key point of each section to name your headings. There is

no requirement to have a Discussion and/or Recommendations sections.

Yes

Conclusion Not required. Given the report is only 1200 words, no conclusion

paragraph is necessary. Your executive summary will incorporate your

conclusion.

Don’t include

conclusion

paragraph

References All information sources must be acknowledged using the APA 7th

referencing style for both in-text citations and the reference list at the

end of the report. The reference list at the end of the report should only

include all in-text citations in your report.

Please refer to the library website to ensure you reference correctly:

https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing/apa-referencing-guide

An excellent quick tutorial with examples of referencing can be found

here: https://avoidingplagiarism.uts.edu.au/

Submissions that contravene the referencing policy may draw severe

penalties or be referred to the Student Misconduct Committee.

Reference list

not included

in word limit

Appendices Not required. All content must be in the body of the report. Don’t include

in report

Formatting of report body:

 Font: Times New Roman, 12pt

 Line spacing: 1.5 line spacing

 Margins: At least 2cm for top, bottom, left and right margins

 Include page numbers in your report

Research

You are expected to undertake independent research, reading a variety of sources to learn

about your chosen organisation/business unit as well as techniques for how we could define

performance. The materials we cover in lectures are a useful starting point; however, you are

expected to find other sources relevant to your report. Think carefully about what sources you

would like to use in your report. We prefer that you engage with a smaller set of relevant peer-

reviewed academic sources in a meaningful way, rather than superficially referring to a larger

group of sources. The following website has some great information about the types of

academic sources of information that you are expected to use in your report:

https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/current-students-information-uts-business-

school/study-and-assessment-resources-1

3) Self-evaluation exercise report (7 marks):

The self-evaluation exercise (SEE) is designed to help you think about ways in which you can

improve your report so that you produce a polished, professional, persuasive final report. You

will focus mainly on your written communication. Through improving how you communicate

https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/help/referencing/apa-referencing-guide
https://avoidingplagiarism.uts.edu.au/
https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/current-students-information-uts-business-school/study-and-assessment-resources-1
https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/current-students-information-uts-business-school/study-and-assessment-resources-1
© UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY 5

your ideas, you will also improve, refine and develop the ideas.

Between the submission of your draft report in Week 4 and the submission of the final report

in Week 6, we expect you to conduct a self-evaluation of your draft report. We encourage you

to perform the following steps multiple times during the writing process so to improve the

quality of your report. Additional to the three steps, we also encourage you to utilize a writing

tool to assist you, such as AcaWriter (developed by UTS Connected Intelligence Centre),

Grammarly, and the like.

1. Referencing review

2. Formatting checklist

3. Peer feedback

In Week 6 you will need to submit the filled SEE report together with the relevant

supporting materials attached, including the annotated similarity report, the draft report

with peer’s comments.

The template for the SEE report is available on Canvas.

Due dates and submission timetable:

What Where When

1) Draft

report

submission

Complete a 2-page draft report

and a reference list (cover

sheet not required)

Online (Turnitin)

“Individual report draft”

on Canvas

By 5:00pm Thursday

26 August 2021

(week

2) Final

report

submission

Complete final report (with

cover sheet)

Online (Turnitin)

“Individual report final”

on Canvas

By 5:00pm Thursday

9 September 2021

(week

3) SEE

report

submission

Self-evaluation exercise report

(with supporting documents)

Online

“Self-evaluation exercise

report” on Canvas

By 5:00pm Thursday

9 September 2021

(week

Further instructions:

 The assignment submission is Turnitin-enabled. Similarity check will be conducted for

both your draft report and final report.

 You must complete this assessment independently. Students who are found copying or

submitting work that is not their original work will be referred to the student misconduct

committee and subject to harsh penalties.

 You should avoid sharing your draft and final report with other students to minimise

the risk of engaging illegitimate cooperation.

 For more information on academic misconducts, please visit Rule 16.2 via

https://www.gsu.uts.edu.au/rules/student/section-16.

Late submission penalties:

The Accounting Discipline Group enforces the following assignment late submission policy:

Take-home assignments submitted after the due date without approval from the subject

coordinator or an approved special consideration application will be penalised 10% of the

total assignment mark for each calendar day in which the assignment is late. A calendar day

is defined as 24-hour period or part thereof following the published due date and time of the

assignment. This rule applies until the 5th calendar day in which the assignment is awarded

a zero mark (to a minimum mark of zero).

For example, if the assignment is worth 30 marks and it is submitted 2 days late without an

approved special consideration. The student will have 6 marks deducted from their

assignment score. If they score 26/30, then their adjusted mark will be 20/30.

Specifically, students who do not conform to the submission timeline will incur the following

penalties:

1) Draft report submission in Week 4: Zero will be awarded to late submission (after 5pm

26 August). The submission time is the time Turnitin records once the document has

uploaded. During peak assessment periods, upload time can take a while. You are

therefore advised to submit your assignment well in advance of the time due.

2) Final report submission in Week 6: 3-mark (10%) penalty for every day late will be

applied to final report mark.

3) SEE report submission in Week 6: 3-mark (10%) penalty for every day late will be applied to self-evaluation exercise mark with a maximum of 7 marks.

Feedback and Marking

You will receive different types of feedback relating to your report, including Turnitin reports

(about similarities), peer feedback, completed marking rubrics and grades from your tutor.

Pre-submission

The self-evaluation exercise encourages you to make use of other sources of feedback on your

earlier drafts (e.g., peers and self-review, writing tools). Since this process is central to the

assessment exercise (you will be receiving marks for doing this), you are expected to complete

your report without substantive input from MDC teaching staff before the final submission.

If you have general questions about the assessment requirements, please ask your subject

coordinator at weekly lectures or on the dedicated forum – Discussion Board on Canvas.

https://www.gsu.uts.edu.au/rules/student/section-16
© UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SYDNEY 7

Final submission marking

Your tutor will mark both your final report and SEE report according to the criteria specified

in the marking rubric. We strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the

marking rubric well in advance, and develop your report to address the criteria. The teaching

staff will moderate the marking in an effort to ensure consistency in marking across the classes.

Final submission feedback

You will receive feedback on your report in Week 8, which includes a grade, as well as a

completed rubric showing how your submission is assessed according to the marking criteria.

Marking queries, reviews and appeal process

If you have any questions concerning the feedback or marking, you need to discuss this with

your tutor within 2 weeks after receiving the feedback. Your tutor will advise you of the next

steps in the review process. The two-week timeframe applies to the entire MDC cohort.

NOTE: one of the requirements of the review process is that students review and reflect on the

feedback provided (i.e., highlight how your self-assessment differs from your tutor’s assessment

using a separate marking rubric).

Exemplar assignments

To give you a sense of what makes a ‘good’ assignment, we provide examples of past students’

work on Canvas under the Assignments tab. Please note that assignment requirements, the list

of organisations, and components do change over time. The examples show how previous

students had done well in meeting the previous requirements but may not be equally relevant

to the current assignment.

Specifically, this semester’s assignment is structured as a report, whereas some of the exemplar

assignments were required to be structured as an essay. While the exemplars are not perfect,

they have demonstrated convincing justification of their arguments, which is one of the main

criteria of a good quality assignment.

Each semester we try to update this collection by including new examples of students’ work.

We do this by reviewing and selecting outstanding, creative or innovative examples from the

most recent submissions, de-identifying and making minor changes to the work (if necessary),

then publishing it online. We will contact the author of the work to ask their permission for use

before making it available online.

MDC Individual Report Cover Sheet

Student name:

Student number:

Student email:

Tutor name:

Tutorial time:

Date submitted:

Report word count:

Report

organisation:

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST (please read, tick and sign)

Final report structure and content

 Report has short Executive Summary, introduction and body paragraphs with headings

 Large blocks of text have been broken up into paragraphs

 All statements of fact have been referenced

 Minimal use of direct quotes – ideas should be paraphrased in your own words Format

 Times new roman 12 pt font, Line spacing 1.5, Margins: at least 2 cm for top, bottom, left and right margins, page numbers.

Referencing – APA 7th

 Number of academic journal articles in reference list

 Number of other sources in reference list

 All direct quotes have page or paragraph numbers in their in-text citations

 All and only in-text citations have been included in the final reference list

 Final reference list is in alphabetical order by author/year/2020a, 2020b etc SEE report

 SEE report is submitted to Canvas

 Supporting evidence for SEE is attached to the SEE report

I hereby certify that this assignment is my own work, based on my personal study and/or

research and that I have acknowledged all material and sources used in the preparation of this

assignment. I also certify that the assignment has not previously been submitted for

assessment and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of

other students or authors

Signed:

22421 Management Decisions and Control – Spring 2021

Student Name:

Marking Rubric – Individual Report Grade: /20

Marking component Exceeds criteria Meets criteria Criteria not yet met

Organisational analysis Report provides a clear, comprehensive, succinct

analysis of the organisation’s/business unit’s

objectives, strategies, structure and activities.

Report provides an overview but needs a clearer

analysis of the organisation’s/business unit’s

objectives, strategies, structure and activities.

Report does not provide a clear analysis of the

organisation’s/business unit’s objectives, strategy,

structure and activities. This may be because the

objectives/strategies have been copied from the

organisation without critical analysis.

Defining

performance for your

organisation

Provides a valid, clear, insightful explanation of

the most important aspects of performance that

have been tailored specifically for the

organisation.

Provides a valid general explanation of some

aspects of performance that are relevant to the

organisation.

Does not provide a convincing explanation of aspects

of performance, and/or the aspects of performance are

vague, unclear, generic or irrelevant to the

organisation.

Justification of your definition of performance

Provides a clear, persuasive justification of each

aspect of performance that is appropriate for the

chosen organisation. Convincingly links the

justification of each performance aspect to the

organisational analysis. Demonstrates deep

engagement with relevant academic sources to support discussion.

Provides a justification for most aspects of

performance that is appropriate for the

organisation. Provides some link between the

justification of performance and the organisational

analysis. Uses relevant academic sources to

support main points of discussion.

Does not provide a clear, persuasive justification of

each aspect of performance that is appropriate for the

chosen organisation. Does not convincingly link the

justification of each performance aspect to the

organisational analysis. Does not use or uses minimal

relevant academic sources, or engages with them

superficially.

Written communication Communication is concise and precise. Report is

very well written, structured, and presented in a

professional and coherent manner. Minimal

grammatical/ spelling/ punctuation errors.

Rich and reliable sources are used to inform the

analysis. The APA 7th referencing style is applied consistently with no errors. The formatting and word count are strictly adhered to (does not exceed the word limit).

Communication is generally clear, making it easy

for the reader to understand. Report is written,

structured, and presented in a neat and appropriate

manner. Some grammatical/ spelling/ punctuation

errors.

A few reliable sources are used to inform the

analysis. The APA 7th referencing style is applied

consistently, with a few errors. The formatting

and word count is mostly adhered to (up to 10%

over the word limit).

Communication of report is unclear making it difficult

for the reader to understand the ideas being presented.