Finance final report

Finance Fundamentals (Code: FINC 221)

Re-sit Project

Submission Deadline: July 20th, 2020 at 10 am

Assessment Criteria:

- Individual Project: 100%

Project Assessment Components

Part I (60%)

Part-I will test understanding of material covered in the course with numerical illustration for

application purposes. Presented project will be a combination of short essay and self-developed

problem; as such allowing outcome to be in the form of integrative case developed by the student.

Compare & Contrast with the help of numerical examples TWO of the following topics:

1. Time value of money: present value and future value of single cash flows, with applications

VERSUS Time value of money: present value and future value of multiple cash flows, with

applications.

2. Financial Statements Analysis Ratios.

3. Alternative Capital Budgeting Techniques (criteria) for investment decision in competitive

markets

4. The term structure of interest rates and Bonds Valuation VERSUS Stocks Valuation

Part II (40%)

Research project (paper) aims to ensuring full-fledged understanding for one of the below listed

topics.

1. Agency issues and Introduction to ethical issues in finance

2. The meaning and measurement of risk in financial markets

3. Return, Risk and the Security Market Line

4. The CAPM

5. Risk, Cost of Capital and Capital Budgeting

Project has a strict word limit of 2,500 – 3,000 words, Double space, Times New Roman and font 12

Academic Integrity Policy (PLAGIARISM)

The purpose of the written work/project is to develop each student writing and analytical skills.

The main emphasis of any presented work should be based on each student understanding of the

discussed issues. A work which contains material “borrowed” from other sources without proper

acknowledgement cannot be marked as student’s own work. Using any passage from a source

without clear acknowledgment is considered an illegitimate practice, even if specific works have

been changed in the passage.

If any student engages in such unacknowledged “borrowing”, a grade of 0% will be awarded if

plagiarism exceeds 20%. This is independent of any penalties that may be applied by the

University Academic Integrity Policy. To avoid this outcome each student must abide to below;

• Acknowledge every source from which student has drawn information or ideas for his/her written work.

• Place every direct quote from a source between quotation marks, and give a citation for the source. (Footnotes, Endnotes).

• Any words not in quotations must be student’s own work.

Proposed Criteria for the Research Paper (Project)

Weight Marks

1. The Title: It can be a phrase or a question. It should be short, specific and point to the

study and field of application 5%

2. Introduction (each point = 3 marks) 2.1 Justification ( importance of the research for the selected field of

application supported with secondary data, if applicable), 2.2 Research problem, 2.3 Research objectives, 2.4 Supporting this part with at least 3 appropriate and relevant references

using secondary information about field of application.

20%

5% 5% 5%

5%

3. Literature Review (each point = 5 marks) Critical review (critical evaluation of what has been done) not just descriptive. Update; thorough; organize in themes; arranged chronologically within each theme; and coherent as a whole. A good review should lead to the following:

3.1 Theoretical definition and components of the research concepts and variable, if available.

3.2 An analysis of the literature regarding the research concepts and the relationship between variables, if available.

3.3 Research question(s), 3.4 Identify both independent and dependent variables, if applicable. 3.5 Research hypotheses if needed (if not needed, hypotheses grade should

be distributed on other components),

50%

10%

10% 10% 10%

10%

4. Conclusion (each point = 5 marks): The student will be judged by:

5.1 Appropriateness of the used statistical techniques, 5.2 The ability to interpret the results, 5.3 Stating the results implications to theory (linked to your literature

review) and practice.

10%

5% 5%

5%

5. References: (each point = 2 marks)

6.1 At least 20 journal articles and few textbooks if highly related, 6.2 Quality of the references (periodicals), 6.3 Recent & updated (few old if they are significant), 6.4 Relevance to the topic, 6.5 Apply APA style in both in-text citation and references.

10% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2%

6. Overall quality of the report. The student will be judged according to: organization; layout; style; order; language; quality of tables and diagram; and using appendices appropriately.

5%

Guideline for writing the Research Paper (Project)

1. The Title:

1.1 Initiating the research process

1.2 Being a basis on which to develop your research

1.3 Indicate accurately the subject and scope of the study.

Characteristics of an Effective Title

• Avoid using abbreviations,

• Use words that create a positive impression and stimulate reader interest,

• Use current terminology from the field of study,

• Identify key variables, both dependent and independent,

• Suggest a relation between variables which supports the major hypothesis,

• Identify the field of application,

• Is limited to 10-15 substantive words,

• Does not include “study of”, “analysis of” or similar words,

• Titles are usually in the form of a phrase,

• A title can also be in the form of a question,

• Use correct grammar and capitalization.

2. The Introduction:-

2.1 A good formula for the introduction is to put the issue in context as concisely as possible

and answer the question: why do this study? Why now? Why here? Why me? State the aims

of the study.

2.2 The following is a list of questions: Is there a problem? Why does it exist? Why does it need

to be solved?

2.3 Who will benefit from the study? In what sense will they benefit? How will it contribute to

what is already known?

2.4 An important part of introduction is where you state the objectives.

Elements Covered in the Introduction:

• State the research problem,

• Provide the context and set the stage for research objectives and show its necessity and importance,

• Present the rationale of your study,

• Briefly describe the major issues to be addressed,

• Set the boundaries of the research and its focus.

3. The Literature Review:

3.1 A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers.

3.2 The purpose of the literature review is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

3.3 As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g. your research objective, the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis)

3.4 Literature review is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.

Elements of Literature Review Approach:

• An overview of the subject, issue, concept or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review,

• Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely),

• Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others,

• Conclusions as which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research.

Characteristics of an Effective Literature Review: 1. Defines research variables (concepts / constructs),

2. Explains how research concepts/variables are connected,

3. Outlines important research trends,

4. Assesses the strengths and weaknesses of existing research,

5. Identifies potential gaps in knowledge,

6. Establishes a need for current and/or future research projects.

4. Conclusion, should include:

4.1 Topic sentence. Fresh rephrasing of thesis statement.

4.2 Supporting sentences. Summarize or wrap up the main points in the body of the project.

Explain how ideas fit together.

4.3 Closing sentence. Final words. Connects back to the introduction. Provides a sense of closure.

5. Initial reference list:

5.1 At least 20 references from relevant Journals:

• 50% of the relevant references should be recently published papers within the last 3 years,

• 30% of the relevant references are published within the last 10 years,

• 20% of the references could be older than 10 years to trace the theory or the topic in published paper, textbook, or/and internet sources.

5.2 Use APA referencing style.

Title (Times New Roman 16 Bold)

Prepared by: (Student Name) (Times New Roman 14 Bold)

Supervised by: (supervisor Name) (Times New Roman 14 Bold)

Date (Times New Roman 12 Bold)

Table of Content

Content Page

1. Introduction ...........

2. Literature Review ...........

3. Conclusion ...........

4. References ...........