I need a SWOT analysis formulated for the company Melbourne IT Limited in relation to the unit Contemporary management accounting (200108) for the Group case study assignment, below provided is the guide for the whole assignment (But I only need the SWOT analysis formulated) and the Harvard Western Sydney University referencing guide.

200108 Contemporary Management Accounting - Autumn 2017 GROUP CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT (GCSA) GUIDE This assignment is a group case study of an Australian company designed to develop your understanding and visualisation of the concepts and nature of strategic management accounting, develop your team, research and communication skills and prepare you for the demands placed on the modern accountant. It consists of a progress check, a full written report and an oral presentation. YOUR COMPANY: __________________________________________ YOUR TEAM MEMBERS AND CONTACT DETAILS: Name (please print) Phone Email Important: Assessment Timeline (1) The progress check (PC) on your assignment is due in Week 6. The PC is marked out of 2 marks, included in your practical mark, according to the criteria in the attached marking guide. One student member of the group is to submit online the requirements of the progress check in vUWS by 9:00am on Monday 27 March 2017 at the beginning of Week 6. The Word version of the progress check coversheet/marking guide, excluding signatures, is to be including in your submission with the agreed contribution percentages completed by the group. (2) The full written report must be submitted in one Microsoft Word document, by one student member of the group, to Turnitin via vUWS by midnight on Sunday, 30 April, 2017 at the end of Week 10. It will be marked out of 16 marks according to the criteria in the attached marking guide. The Microsoft Word version of the assignment coversheet, excluding signatures, is to be including in your submission. A hard copy of the signed coversheet is to be submitted in the tutorial in week 11. (3) An oral presentation is to be made in class in Weeks 13 or 14. It will be marked out of 4 marks according to the criteria in the attached marking guide. -1- -2- TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. 2. 3. ASSIGNMENT BRIEFING ...................................................................................................... 4 COMPANIES and GROUPS/TEAMS ...................................................................................... 5 WRITTEN REPORT ................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Report Writing: Structure and Format .................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Steps to completion of written report....................................................................................................................... 6 Step 1: Researching the external environment.................................................................................................. 6 Step 2: Researching the company/SBU .............................................................................................................. 6 Step 3: Researching potential contemporary accounting techniques .............................................................. 7 Step 4: Preparing the written report (Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4) .......................................................................... 7 Section 1. Introduction, approximately 250 words ............................................................................................ 8 Section 2. Research and investigation process, approximately 250 words ........................................................ 9 Section 3. Findings and recommendations, approximately 1,250 words ........................................................... 9 Part A: PEST Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Critical Success Factors (CSF), Balanced Scorecard (BSC) .............. 10 Decide upon and explain the CSFs ................................................................................................................... 10 Design a BSC .................................................................................................................................................... 11 Provide an explanation of your BSC design ..................................................................................................... 12 Part B: Contemporary Accounting Technique ..................................................................................................... 12 Recommend a technique and succinctly describe it .......................................................................................... 12 Provide the reasons for recommending the contemporary accounting technique ............................................. 12 Present and discuss potential issues .................................................................................................................. 13 Section 4. Conclusion, approximately 250 words .......................................................................................... 13 Reference List ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Appendices ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 Step 5: Reviewing and completing your report ............................................................................................... 14 Review appendices ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Review the logic and readability of the report ...................................................................................................... 14 Write the Executive summary (abstract), no more than 500 words ....................................................................... 14 Review referencing ............................................................................................................................................... 15 Step 6: Proofreading the final report ............................................................................................................... 15 Step 7: Submitting the Report .......................................................................................................................... 15 COVER SHEET - FULL REPORT SUBMISSION ........................................................................................ 17 MARKING GUIDE - FULL REPORT SUBMISSION- {16 Marks} ............................................................. 18 ALSO SEE GCSA_MARKING RUBRICS IN TURNITIN........................................................................... 18 4. PROGRESS CHECK ............................................................................................................... 19 MARKING GUIDE/COVER SHEET - PROGRESS CHECK - {2 Marks} .................................................. 20 5. ORAL PRESENTATION ........................................................................................................ 21 Vocal:................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Visual: ............................................................................................................................................................... 21 Clarity of structure: ........................................................................................................................................... 21 Clarity of message ............................................................................................................................................ 21 Audience interest: ............................................................................................................................................. 22 Timing: ............................................................................................................................................................. 22 Non-reliance on reading from notes: ................................................................................................................ 22 Fit for purpose: ................................................................................................................................................. 22 MARKING GUIDE - ORAL PRESENTATION - {4 Marks} ......................................................................... 22 6. TEAM SKILLS ........................................................................................................................ 23 6.1 Team and individual responsibilities (joint and several responsibilities) ............................................... 23 6.2 Timeline and Minutes .................................................................................................................................. 23 6.3 Contribution Percentage Declaration ........................................................................................................ 24 6.4 What should I do if I am not happy about the contribution of a team member(s)? .............................. 24 7. RESEARCH SKILLS .............................................................................................................. 25 -3- 1. ASSIGNMENT BRIEFING For the purposes of this assignment you are assumed to be a management accountant within one of the ASX listed companies listed below. These companies may consist of Strategic Business Units (SBUs), as defined in your text (p. 536), such as subsidiary companies or divisions or business segments within the company. Management accountants can play a key role in an organisation's success, defined through its goals and objectives, often summarised in the form of a public mission statement. A team approach is common because the work of a management accountant can be timecritical and cross boundaries of specialisation. The top management (CEO, CFO, other managers and board members) of your company have requested that your team design a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to measure performance of the company or one of its SBUs (of your choice) and that it examine the potential of and recommend one other innovative contemporary accounting technique (CAT) to be incorporated into its Management Accounting System (MAS). Your team has been given specific dates to report to top management with a full written report, and to make an oral presentation to them about your recommendations. BRIEFING You need to address as follows, within a written report, these two interconnecting requests from management and submit your completed report in Week 10 16 MARKS Part A: Balanced Scorecard (BSC) PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, Critical Success Factors (CSFs), Balanced Scorecard (BSC) of the company/SBU Conduct Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) and Strength Weakness Opportunity and Threats (SWOT) research and analyses Decide upon, support and explain Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and translate as strategic objectives for inclusion in BSC Design a Balanced Scorecard Explain the Balanced Scorecard design with a strategy map Part B: Contemporary Accounting Technique (CAT) Identify an appropriate technique of Contemporary Management Accounting Recommend one particular CAT and concisely describe it Provide reasons (supported by research findings) for selecting the CAT, and how it will assist management and measurement of performance Present and discuss potential issues for implementation and integration with existing MAS Adherence to the Harvard Referencing style is mandatory. Exemplars for previous assignments are available on vUWS. See marking guides for criteria. Progress Check on your written report work is due at the start of Week 6. You need to make an Oral Presentation of your findings (in Week 13 or 14): 4 MARKS -4- 2. COMPANIES and GROUPS/TEAMS In Week 1 your class will be organised into groups or teams. Each team will include preferably five members. Your team is assumed to work for a particular company, from the Information Technology, Internet Software and Services Industry, as listed below. Team 1: Team 2: Team 3: Team 4: Team 5: Adslot Ltd (ADJ) (http://www.adslot.com/ ) Carsales.com Limited (CAR) (http://www.carsales.com.au) Freelancer Limited (FLN) (http://www.freelancer.com ) Grays eCommerce Group Limited (GEG) (http://www.graysecommercegroup.com/ ) Melbourne IT Limited (MLB) (http://www.melbourneit.info/ ) The letters immediately following the company's name above, represent that company's Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Code. The assignment should predominantly focus on the company's operations in Australia. After you have joined a group and exchanged contact details, your group should schedule a regular meeting day, time and venue, commencing no later than week 2. At the first meeting, groups should commence to take minutes of this meeting and all future meetings, review the requirements in this Guide and establish a project timeline of tasks, nominating responsible team members and specifying the due date. One of the tasks arising from the first meeting is to create a word document with an interactive table of contents of headings for parts, sections and appendices, as per Step 4 of this Guide, to record write up of the assignment progressively. Remember to complete the in-text citations and update the reference list in Harvard format progressively to minimise duplication of effort and ensure adhere to mandatory referencing requirements. Another task is to write up the vision, mission, strategies and goals of your company, whilst completing P1.37 of the homework due in week 2, as this will provide context for many other parts of the assignment. In most instances, this information can be sourced from the company's website. As explained in the Learning Guide and Section 6 of this Guide, all team members are fully responsible for the depth of research, quality of the presentation and timely submission of the assignment. It is not wise to entrust these matters entirely to an individual team member. The team must keep minutes of meetings held including those conducted electronically. A time-line of agreed tasks to be completed must be drawn up and progress monitored. Agreement should be reached by the team as to the responsibility of individual team members for ensuring particular tasks are completed according to plan. Such agreements must be recorded in the minutes of meetings. In the event of dispute between group members about proportionate contributions, academic staff will be strongly influenced by what is recorded in the minutes and approved by members of the group. 3. WRITTEN REPORT 3.1 Report Writing: Structure and Format Report writing is usually impersonal, and in passive voice. Instead of writing: "I/we have shown that a Balanced Scorecard.... write: "It has been shown that a Balanced Scorecard .......\" Do not use first person. -5- Reports have a particular structure with independent sections and headings that clearly address the Assignment Briefing (and in this case the Marking Guide). The text should be logically broken up to present a neat layout with section and sub-section headings. Graphics should be positioned logically to help your reader understand your argument. Headings if carefully crafted may provide a link between sections, without the need for a connecting sentence - but always consider whether including a connecting sentence would help your reader to follow the report. Paragraphs within sections o organise and group argument and evidence o each offer some unique analysis, argument, idea or example o usually start with a topic statement and then expand or explain o may signal a new topic. Format for this assignment is: o Page paper size: A4 o Font: 12- pitch Times New Roman or 10-pitch Arial; o Line spacing: one and a half; o Margin: 2.5 cm margin on left hand side of each page; o Length: 2,000 words for the main body of the report (see Step 4: Sections 1-4 of the report) including any tables, maps and diagrams. This word count excludes the executive summary, table of contents (TOC), reference list and appendices. o The executive summary is not to be more than 500 words. o Please note: the appendices will not be marked. The appendices are to be used to further support your analysis or explain your recommendations to management (and the marker), should a query arise from the concisely presented information in the main body of the report. Please note the summarised material in the main body of the report should also include in-text citations. o If the 2,000 word limit for the main body of the report is exceeded a penalty will be incurred. Please refer to the list of penalties in Step 7 - Submitting the Report. 3.2 Steps to completion of written report Step 1: Researching the external environment See \"Research Skills\" in Section 7 of this Guide. Your team needs to establish a clear picture of the current situation of the organisation in relation to the larger economy, its industry, competition and markets and its position within the industry value chain. You may find that a PEST analysis is helpful (especially in establishing the opportunities and threats (OT) of the SWOT analysis in Step 2). Ensure awareness of current economic and political circumstances and the potential ramifications of expected or foreshadowed changes. (Detail of such background research should be included in appendices and referred to in the body of the report where relevant.) Step 2: Researching the company/SBU See \"Research Skills\" in Section 7 of this Guide. Following your research findings of Step 1 the more specific aims of this research are to: -6- (1) clarify and expound upon the vision, mission, objectives and strategic goals of your organisation; (2) build an understanding of its specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT); (3) facilitate determination of its critical success factors (CSFs) and translation of them into specific objectives, (4) facilitate the design of a BSC to manage and measure performance associated with the objectives; and (5) help direct your research towards consideration of potential contemporary accounting techniques that would particularly enhance information available to management to manage and measure performance associated with the objectives as set out in the BSC. Also see Step 3. Step 3: Researching potential contemporary accounting techniques See \"Research Skills\" in Section 7 of this Guide. In addition to the BSC examples, these techniques include: Benchmarking, Activity based costing (ABC), Activity based management (ABM), Business process re-engineering (BPR), Just-in-time (JIT), Time Based Management (TBM) Throughput accounting, theory of constraints (TOC), Total quality management (TQM), Supplier costing and performance indexing, Supply chain management (SCM), Sustainability accounting, Environmental management accounting (EMA), Customer cost analysis, customer profitability analysis, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Reward and incentive systems, Target costing, target pricing, Life cycle cost management Research on potential techniques under consideration, as per Step 2 item (5), should include authoritative journals as well as textbooks. Step 4: Preparing the written report (Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4) The above research and analyses of Steps 1, 2 and 3 are to be written up and integrated into the report. Ideally this should be completed progressively with detailed research incorporated into appendices and then summarised in the main body of the report. Your written report should link research findings with the management and measurement of performance objectives (associated with critical success factors) in the BSC and with the specific ways the contemporary technique advocated could support the organisation's strategy and enhance the management and measurement of performance (as represented in the BSC). -7- Although you must stay close to the assignment requirements and bear in mind the marking guide, how you set out the main text is up to you. BUT the report should be divided into logical sections with appropriate and informative headings and perhaps numbered sections as suggested below. For instance a suitable structure for the main body of the report, comprising introduction; research and investigation process; findings and recommendations, Parts A and B; and conclusion, that you may employ is described below. Section 1. Introduction, approximately 250 words The introduction establishes what the report is about and should include Scope of report: o the management briefing/problem(s)/research goals to be addressed (design a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to manage and measure performance of a business area and examine the potential of one other innovative contemporary accounting technique (CAT) to be incorporated into its management accounting system (MAS)) and o why (enhance information available to management to manage and measure performance associated with the objectives as set out in the BSC) and o background you consider relevant to the scope of the report. How the content of report is to proceed: Concisely set out the sequence that the report follows, according to the headings you have decided upon. (E.g. This report begins with an explanation of the research process undertaken to establish the internal situation and external environment of ... . Research findings are presented in a SWOT format, which is then analysed further to determine the critical success factors (CSFs) and establish specific objectives. These objectives underpin the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) design and direct further research into a choice of contemporary technique. The recommendations for the design of the BSC and implementation of a contemporary technique, and their connections, are explained. Potential issues associated with implementation of the recommended technique are highlighted. In conclusion the findings and reasons for the recommendations of changes to the MAS are summarised.) This introduction, having explained the scope and how the content of the report is to be structured and presented, should lead smoothly to Sections 2 and 3, or the main text between the introduction and conclusion. The main text should: provide a concise description of your research process (with references to appendices as appropriate). present your findings and recommendations with references to appendices as appropriate, preferably under two headings (Parts A and B). The findings of your investigations should lead into clear arguments for your recommendations. -8- Section 2. Research and investigation process, approximately 250 words This section describes how you went about researching Steps 1, 2 and 3 described previously, and should assure readers that your findings and recommendations are based on adequate research. Make the reader aware of the breadth and depth of your research and analysis process by referring to appropriate appendices. (You can refer to any appendix as many times as you like throughout your report, but each appendix must be referred to at least once.) Cover the methods you used to collect and analyse (secondary) data for addressing the research goals (assignment briefing) of designing a balanced scorecard and examining potential contemporary accounting techniques. For instance: Describe concisely the secondary research undertaken into the external environment, the business of the company in question and its competition to date and potential contemporary techniques, i.e., for example examination of ASX announcements, media releases, other news and business articles and internet sources etc and journal articles and case studies on the use of various contemporary techniques. Describe concisely the methods of secondary research analyses undertaken, i.e., for example that you employed the techniques of PEST and SWOT analyses to establish the CSFs of the business area and that the CSFs were further investigated to establish strategic objectives for the business area that the strategic objectives were considered in terms of o performance management and measurement o how various potential contemporary techniques could provide information useful for their achievement This section should lead neatly into the next section on Findings and Recommendations. Section 3. Findings and recommendations, approximately 1,250 words You must judiciously decide what to include in the body of the report and what research and or analyses to include in the appendices. This judgment requires considerable thought and will have a significant impact on the quality of the final report. Think about the information flow, understandability and readability of your report. Ensure the message to your readers is unambiguous and logically argued. -9- Part A: PEST Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Critical Success Factors (CSF), Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Refer to the Marking Guide. Consider headings for instance: Part A: Performance management and measurement 3.1 PEST Analysis 3.2 SWOT Analysis 3.3 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and strategic objectives 3.4 Balanced Scorecard (BSC) design recommendation 3.5 Explanation of BSC design and Strategy Map Firstly establish your company's vision, mission, objectives and strategies. Then undertake a Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological (PEST) analysis to help establish the big picture of external factors that it faces. The PEST analysis assists in determining the opportunities and threats, i.e. the OT of SWOT analysis. Next, take your research further and establish specific items, both internal and external to your company that are strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). In particular it is important to provide evidence for each PEST and SWOT item, preferably in a logical table format that shows each PEST and SWOT item with its corresponding reference(s), both cited in-text and included in the reference list. Be careful to ensure that your reference sources are reliable and recognised and that your PEST and SWOT items are fully substantiated. It is good practice to access the same information from more than one source. Remember that the websites of companies are also marketing tools which should not be overly relied upon for a truly balanced perspective of their situations. The detail of supporting evidence for your PEST and SWOT analyses should be included in appendices and referred to in Part A. In the main body of the report, summarise these analyses in table format, including the in-text citations. This initial research provides the foundation for your assignment and you should refer to it often throughout your report, especially in support of the BSC design and choice of CAT. You may also undertake other forms of analyses, such as \"Porters Five Forces\HARVARD UWS REFERENCING STYLE GUIDE REFERENCING ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM ABOUT THE HARVARD UWS STYLE IN-TEXT CITATION: REFERENCING SOURCES WITHIN THE TEXT REFERENCE LIST ELECTRONIC ITEMS REFERENCING SECONDARY SOURCES WORKS BY MULTIPLE AUTHORS IN TEXT CITATIONS REFERENCE LIST DIFFERENT WORKS OF THE SAME AUTHOR AND SAME YEAR BOOKS, BOOK CHAPTERS AND BROCHURES SINGLE AUTHOR TWO OR THREE AUTHORS FOUR TO SIX AUTHORS SEVEN OR MORE AUTHORS NO AUTHOR (INCL. DICTIONARY OR ENCYCLOPAEDIA) CORPORATE AUTHOR / AUTHORING BODY EDITED BOOK CHAPTER OR ARTICLE IN BOOK CHAPTER OR ARTICLE IN AN EDITED BOOK E-BOOK JOURNAL ARTICLES, NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND CONFERENCE PAPERS . JOURNAL ARTICLE (PRINT VERSION) JOURNAL ARTICLE (FULL-TEXT FROM ELECTRONIC DATABASE) NEWSPAPER ARTICLE (AVAILABLE IN PRINT) NEWSPAPER ARTICLE (FROM ELECTRONIC DATABASE) ARTICLE (FROM THE INTERNET, NOT AVAILABLE IN PRINT VERSION) NON-ENGLISH JOURNAL ARTICLE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROCEEDINGS OF MEETINGS AND SYMPOSIUMS, CONFERENCE PAPERS CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS (FROM ELECTRONIC DATABASE) SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS OTHER MATERIALS ACTS OF PARLIAMENT (INCLUDES BILLS) AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS BROCHURE GOVERNMENT REPORT GOVERNMENT REPORT (ONLINE) IMAGE ON THE INTERNET LECTURE (UNPUBLISHED) / PERSONAL COMMUNICATION LEGAL AUTHORITIES (CASES) MICROFICHE / MICROFILM DOCUMENT PATENT/ TRADEMARK (ELECTRONIC DATABASE) PODCAST (FROM THE INTERNET) STANDARD STUDY GUIDE THESIS / DISSERTATION TUTORIAL / LECTURE HANDOUT VIDEO RECORDING, TELEVISION PROGRAM OR AUDIO RECORDING VIDEO OR AUDIO (FROM THE INTERNET) WEB PAGE / DOCUMENT ON THE INTERNET