SELECTING A COMPETITOR

The companies need to be similar in terms of:

1. Revenue size (at least 75% similarity)

2. Asset base (capital employed)

3. Similarity in the product portfolio.

4. Possible it will be if the country of origin or the country of headquarters is the same.

5. SAME ACCOUNTING YEAR END

RR structure format

- Word doc
- Good spellings and grammar needed
- Professional appeal and style acceptable to business audience, with absolute neatness.

Declaration

To be included before the table of contents.

I declare that I have written and submitted all elements of the Research and Analysis Project myself.

ACCA number (Not your name)

Date

PART 1 – PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND OVERALL RESEARCH APPROACH – 1000 WORDS

Video to watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-cwISCqh8U

A) 500-600 WORDS

1. Reasons for choosing the topic – Be honest. Justify in 1st person style

2. Reasons for choosing the company – Again you can be honest and justify in 1st person style – JUSTIFY

NOTE: If you have selected topic 4,5, 8 it is necessary to strongly justify why the selected company
matches the topic selection criteria. You can use sector data to support your argument.

3. Introduction to the company and the background of the company – move to 3rd person style
hereinafter.

- The final para of this area should be the justification of who your competitor is and why you
selected that particular competitor
4. Industry Overview

NOTE FOR TOPIC 8: Justify the choice of sector, detail strategic and operational challenges (sources will
need to be here)

FOR TOPIC 14/13:

- Explain about the industry globally

b) REMAINING OF THE 1000 WORDS

1. Research questions (max 4)

2. Research objectives (an objective to match each question)

To assess/discuss/evaluate/analyse/recommend

3. Overall research approach – Leave about 150 words to write this at the end of your research.

HARVARD REFERENCING

Throughout the RR all information that you obtain from secondary sources needs to be referenced
according to the Harvard Style.
PART 2 - INFORMATION GATHERING AND ACCOUNTING / BUSINESS TECHNIQUES – APPROX. 2,000 WORDS

Section 1 - Information gathering (700 - 800 words)

- Definition of primary and secondary info (referenced)

- Explain why you are using only secondary info (this is applicable only if you are using secondary info only)

- List and explain the secondary sources used and the reasons for using the sources.

- List and explain the primary sources used. (Applicable if you are using Primary Sources of Information)

For EACH PRIMARY SOURCE mention the following information:

1. Who the information will be collected from (the population)

2. The sample size and the sampling technique (Justify the sampling technique)

3. Mention in what Appendix the QUESTIONNAIRE and the ANALYSED RESULTS are presented.

- Limitation of the information gathered in the context of your research (Limitation of primary and secondary
information) – Limitations of Primary sources are NOT needed if you are using ONLY secondary information in your
report.

- Ethical conflicts and their resolution

Section 2 - Accounting and business techniques (remaining words)

Decide on a MAXIMUM OF 3 BUSINESS MODELS RELEVANT TO THE TOPIC

For each business model follow the below structure

1. Explanation of the business model. – REFERENCED.

2. How was the model be used in the study and the research questions that was be answered using the model?

3. Limitations of the model in your research context – 3-4 limitations per model referenced (Do not copy paste the
limitations from any source)

Must watch before writing part 2

RESULTS, ANALYSIS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS – APPROX. 4,500

Divide the words between the 2 business models.

1. Ensure you are speaking of the impact caused from each factor on the past 3 year’s business
performance.

2. Find external sources for the information and do not rely on the annual report.

3. the factors selected need to affect the business in the 3 years you are evaluating

EXAMPLE

SWOT MODEL

Strenghts

1. Strong brand reputation

- The reason why your company has a strong brand reputation.

- Impact caused on the business performance of your company due to the strong brand reputation

Financial Analysis – 2200 words approximately

Divide the words more or less equally among each of the ratios.

Paste the graphs from the excel appendix of yours and cross-reference where the graph can be found in
the appendix.

Evaluate the performance for EACH ratio for EACH of the past 3 years.

Evaluate your competitor’s performance for each of the past 3 years. (for the competitor, you can go for
an overall explanation in case you run out of words)

Connect the BA to the FA wherever possible. You can use hyperlinks to show connections.

Conclusion and Recommendation – 500 words approximately

Make sure you are answering each of the research questions you have set in the conclusion.

A brief answer to each of the questions you have set in a summarised form will work.

TOPIC 17
Corporate Governance Code – 1800 words approximately.
1. Present a summary chart for your company and the competitor indicating if the CG code
guideline was met or not,
For each selected guideline in the code:
1. Go through the annual report of the year with the problem, and then see if this guideline was met in
that year or not, and mention in your report if it was met or not.

2. Evaluate the cause of the problem, if the guideline was not met.

3. Assess the current situation now (in the latest annual report) and see if the guideline has NOW BEEN
SATISFIED, or is it not satisfied yet. Also if the guideline has NOW BEEN satisfied, try your best to
mention what steps were followed by the company in responding to the problem and satisfying the
guideline.

4. Take your competitor’s annual report for year of the problem and check whether they met the
guideline at that point, and also check if they are continuing to meet/ not meet the guideline right now
also. (EVALUATION)

Agency Theory – 500 words approximately

TOPIC 18
Divide the word count equally between the 3 business models – 4000 words approximately

The 4Ps/7Ps Model

For each aspect of the model

1. Your company’s characteristics

2. Your competitor’s characteristics

3. Comparison/evaluation against each other

The ratios

1. Excel with ratio calculation (past 3 years)

2. Evaluation of ratio results -> explain the CAUSE of the change in the ratio, based on marketing related
points.

3. Use the ratio results to show whether the marketing strategy was effective or not

Conclusion and Recommendation – 500 words approximately

Make sure you are answering each of the research questions you have set in the conclusion.

A brief answer to each of the questions you have set in a summarised form will work.

TOPIC 20
Carroll’s Pyramid – 1500 words approximately.
For each selected guideline in the pyramid.
1. Go through the annual report of the year with the problem, and then see if this guideline was met in
that year or not, and mention in your report if it was met or not.

2. Evaluate the cause of the problem, if the guideline was not met.

3. Assess the current situation now (in the latest annual report) and see if the guideline has NOW BEEN
SATISFIED, or is it not satisfied yet. Also if the guideline has NOW BEEN satisfied, try your best to
mention what steps were followed by the company in responding to the problem and satisfying the
guideline.

4. Take your competitor’s annual report for year of the problem and check whether they met the
guideline at that point, and also check if they are continuing to meet/ not meet the guideline right now
also. (EVALUATION)