Author: chris

My assessment involves creating a 50 minutes seminar lesson plan for ONE session (I will provide a sample for a different subject) aimed for an undergraduate year 2 mathematics students (The topic of that session can be anything related to what a second year undergraduate student would be taught e.g.. Complex analysis, Numerical methods etc).

Following this, I need to write a 2000 word piece which demonstrates consideration of the activities within the plan accompanied by appropriate rationale for their implementation. This aspect of the work must draw on relevant theory and literature, and demonstrate an appropriate level of criticality and analysis.

Assessment Criteria:

-Explain and justify the focus of your teaching plan with reference to your previous, current or future practice (10%)
-Comprehensive lesson plan clearly outlined (10%)
-Consideration of appropriate activities within your plan with rationale for their implementation (30%).
-Critical discussion throughout with appropriate application of theory/literature (30%).
-Clear, concise and logical development of the work with accurate referencing using a recognised referencing system (10%)
-Completion of a self assessment with marks and comments provided (10%)

Lastly, for the self-assessment criteria, I will attach a document that has to be completed,
to fulfil the last criteria. That is to consider how well you believe you have met each assessment criterion, and what mark you would give yourself for each. Also you should comment on what you have been able to do well and discuss whether there are areas you could develop further.

TO THE WRITER:
I THINK IT ALSO WORTHS MENTIONING THAT I HAD NO EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING A SEMINAR (ROUGHLY 20/30 STUDENTS).
PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME IF YOU NEED ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Introduction

In the Canadian history, there has been a long debate and a lack of consensus on the legal status of cannabis. Since 1997, public opinion polls have found an increasing percentage of citizens believe “smoking marijuana should not be a criminal offence”. The newly elected liberal party of Canada addressed the issue with cannabis by stating “We will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.” The Liberal Party removed the marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code. They promised to create stronger laws and focus on punishing more severely on those who provide marijuana to minors or sell it outside the new regulatory framework. New and appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes will also be applied on Marijuana. This is a huge leap from Canada’s traditional law of strictly prohibiting marijuana. The Liberal Party will face many obstacles when implementing this policy. In this paper, I will use normative and positive analysis to access the government intervention on legalizing marijuana. I will compare the new policy with the old one for fairness and effectiveness. I will also look into how the two policy affect different key stakeholders like special interest parties and consumers. Recommendation will be given after the analysis to either mitigate implementation risk or adjust policy.

Government Intervention

Normative Analysis

The Liberal Party believes Canada’s previous prohibition of marijuana did not prevent young people from using it, instead, it puts too many young Canadians into the criminal justice

system for minor offences. At the same time, it increased the cost of prosecuting those petty crimes. A normative comparison of the new policy with traditional policy will be made to access effectives. What should the government do to act in best interested of society. Under the traditional law, prohibit marijuana has led to a market failure. Some ineffectiveness comes from consuming marijuana led to impaired driving and car accidents and a large illegal market for selling marijuana. How much taxes has it gained and how much has it spend on prosecuting illegal marijuana’s? The new law aims to legalize and collect taxes on exercising marijuana, will that be sufficient to correct the negative externality? Will the taxes be low enough to turn people away from black markets? How will the pot industry change under the new relaxing policy? Another comparisons will be made for the fairness of the two policy. The tradition law punishes almost everyone who comes into contact with marijuana while the new law puts more focus on the ones that sell marijuana to the minors. By putting myself in different key stakeholders point of view, I will evaluate which one is for fair for young Canadians, marijuana consumers, sellers and the society. Colorado is one of the four cities in the United States that legalized marijuana. A brief comparison of Liberal’s policy and Colorado’s will be made to gather the effectiveness and fairness in an international standpoint.

Positive Analysis

It seems a majority of Canadians believe the government should relax the cannabis regulation. This section will focus on the public opinion poll to see what the government ought to do when dealing with marijuana. Legalized marijuana could change Canadian cities in different ways for the province has a say in determine how much tax they choose to exercise. Will the

new law be favored by majority of Canadians or will it cause public outrage.

This section will also discuss to what extent does the lobbyists have affected the liberal government’s decision. Bloc Pot, a Quebec pro-marijuana party also a major contributor to the Liberal Party, has seen their dreams of legalizing marijuana coming true. What are the strengths and weakness of this party and how will they benefit the society will be discussed in greater detail. There are also parties who strongly oppose to normalize marijuana. The Canadian chapter of Smart Approach to Marijuana is looking to push back on the pro-marijuana crowd. A detailed reasoning and their strengths and weakness will also be discussed in greater detail in this paper.

Recommendation

After the two analysis, I will gain a better understanding of whether legalizing marijuana will have more benefit or costs on society. If greater benefits are added to society, I will give out recommendations to the Liberal party on how to mitigate public outrage on those who are opposing to the law. If the analysis favors the traditional law, I will give out recommendations on what specific measures the Liberal Party can input on marijuana to exercise a stricter law.

Unit IV Mini Project

Write a report discussing the sampling design for the proposal.
Describe the sampling procedures (convenience, quota, simple random) that will yield the best results for your research objective and justify your rationale for choosing the procedure(s). Include the following information:
1. Research the objective.
2. Description of the population: Process for identifying the target population and selecting the sampling frame.
3. Identify the different types of biases that are likely to occur, and explain what steps you will take to minimize them.
4. Conclusion: Highlight the major points discussed in the previous sections. Be sure to relate the information back to the purpose and relevance of the research.

You must use correct APA formatting when writing your paper. All references used, including the textbook, must be cited.

Please follow the subject done by orders numbers# Unit I 81543635 and Unit II 81543635.

Qusestions:
1. Discuss the changes made in the area of communication within COS – what benefits have these brought and how have they done so? What can be gained from conducting an organisational climate or employee opinion survey?
2. What impacts could Dom’s childhood experiences and background have had on his business? Speculate on the impact of two such different national cultures coming together. What aspects of culture should Dom be aware of and respond to as his company continues to grow?

Read case study attached below ( only need question 1 and 2 )

Case study: Complete Office Supplies (COS)

The Industry
The stationery industry is competitive, with thin margins. The small number of major suppliers and large number of small suppliers have rationalised in the past few years. Complete Office Supplies (COS) is one of just four major players in the contract channel. As aggregators they buy stationery products from many local and overseas sources and sell to other businesses. ‘We store the supplies for the shortest amount of time and despatch them to our customers as quickly as possible. In the door then out the door.’
COS in the Industry
COS’s customer base is corporate and government. Much of their business is under contract, as the sole or preferred stationery supplier for a business for an 18- or 24-month period. However, most customers are casual and can be snatched away at any time by a competitor. To gain and retain customers, COS must offer flexible solutions to reduce customers’ costs. Analysing customers’ end-to-end stationery needs from needing stationery to paying the bill is core to keeping corporate clients. In the quest to tighten supply chains, corporate clients are increasingly demanding the fewer but more meaningful single sourcing relationships. Services never previously thought to be the domain of stationery suppliers, such as forms and print management, toner refill management, office furniture and design consultation, and management of promotional products, are provided. COS boasts ‘smart, flexible solutions for ordering systems, billing methods, reporting structures, logistics and product choice to ensure [clients] receive maximum cost reduction and efficiency’. COS has been recognised for its IT innovations and industry-leading website uptake by being named as a finalist in the 2003 Western Sydney Industry Award for Excellence and Innovation.
The Founding of COS
Complete Office Supplies was founded in 1976 by Dominique Lyone, the son of an Egyptian immigrant to Australia. Dom’s father had run a typewriter repair business in Egypt, and fled that country after the 1967 Six Day War threatened the lives of his family. Dom started learning English on arrival in Australia at age 13. He finished school at age 15 to become a telegram delivery boy, then followed his father’s footsteps into the typewriter repair business as a mechanic. Attracted to the sales environment, he was soon selling consumables in that business. After a few years he started out on his own, selling a wider range than just the typewriter consumables to which he had previously been restricted.
Growth
The business grew so well in the first ten years until expansion into retail took the business to the brink of liquidation in the mid 1980s. Dom recalls, ‘The business was overstretched, I took my eye off the ball, and we had few reporting systems’. Doing a deal with creditors to repay outstanding debts, it took four years to trade through. Many employees from that time have stayed with the company.
In the early 1990s, COS began a national expansion program, and now the company has a presence in every Australian state. It distributes more than 8500 SKUs (individual stock items) from six distribution centres and has more than 120 employees. The business is structured along functional lines with managers of Sales and Marketing, Finance and Administration, Procurement, Logistics and IT. In 2002 COS joined the global strategic alliances of American Office Products Distribution Inc., with multiple dealers linked for global customers. The AOPD group’s combined turnover is in excess of $3 billion a year. Dom and the management team plan to continue the current rate of growth – to double the business every three years.
Leadership
While Dom retained full ownership and control of the business, many members of his immediate and extended family were employed in the business. In the past, these intimate loyal contacts in the organisation have supported Dom’s leadership and strengthened his ability to stay in touch with employees. However, he realised he was not in touch with employees when the business started national expansion. ‘Suddenly I wasn’t there. I wasn’t seeing everything that was happening every minute of the day. I had to rely on others to run my business in my absence. It was no longer a small business operation.’
Since that expansion, Dom has realised the value of training and developing managers and employees. COS supports employees through performance review outcomes and recognition awards. Induction programmes, self-study support, national conferences and on- or off-site training are some of the professional development opportunities now available.
Employee Characteristics and Culture
The culture at COS could be described as conservative and autocratic. A classic example of Dom’s past style is when he initiated a major IT change. Employees found out about it when they powered up their computers one morning. Dom was used to seeing what needed to be
done, and going ahead and doing it. He hadn’t needed change management principles or communications programmes when the company was small. But now his impact is wider. Employees must still wait and depend on him, as Dom’s approval is required for most decisions. This causes a potential motivation problem among senior management – others don’t see any possibility of being able to lead the organisation. The answer to the question ‘Can someone get from the bottom to the top of the organisation?’ is simply ‘Not while Dom’s in charge’. While his sales approach is professional and innovative, Dom’s management approach is conservative, with low risk taking. For example, he wants to ensure the last recruits are paying for themselves before recruiting more. He has lost his family home before, and he’s not going to lose it again.
Cultural rites and rituals within COS include personal as well as business events. Respecting high family values, all employees are given the day off for their birthday, family social BBQs are held on site, ‘show where you work’ family days are held each year, and special days such as Melbourne Cup and Halloween are celebrated throughout the organisation. Employees’ partners are invited to the staff Christmas parties, where a thoughtful exchange of gifts reflects the family culture.
The workforce is stable, with key people working in the same role for many years. There is low staff turnover; however, few return from maternity leave. Multiculturalism is taken for granted at COS. There are very low levels of intergroup conflict, reflecting COS’s history of diversity.
An Opportunity for Employee Opinion Surveying
When planning for growth in 2002, Dom wanted to ensure his employees were prepared. He had always assumed he knew how they felt, and had never really asked them what they thought of their jobs, their teams and the organisation. He knew large organisations regularly surveyed their employees, but he hadn’t thought to do it himself before.
He contracted Macquarie University’s Voice Project (from their Psychology Department) to conduct an organisational climate survey – often known as an employee opinion survey. This was his opportunity to professionally evaluate how the organisation was performing, and to compare their results with those of other organisations. The survey consisted of 115 questions in the broad categories of Leadership, Direction, Relationships, Human Resource Management, Non-Financial Outcomes, and Financial Outcomes. Three open-ended questions were asked of employees to canvas opinions in their own words. The survey was designed to capture a comprehensive snapshot of employee opinions. The survey was sent to each employee and the responses were analysed when more than 70 per cent were completed and returned, anonymously, to the consultants.
At the beginning of the consultants’ feedback of the results to Dom and his management team, the team was asked to rate how they thought the organisation might have responded on a number of the scales. The true surveys were, not surprisingly, different to the ‘gut reaction’ of those managers. Although simplified for the purpose of this case study, the issues that COS needed to address were Communications, Processes and Structure, Resources, and Training and Development. Employees confirmed their attitude that COS is a very successful company, with satisfied customers and a promising future.
Although a great deal more information came from the survey, Dom and the team prioritised their efforts on a few manageable areas, including improving their communications and processes. The action plans became their ‘to do’ list, which they have worked through in the year since the survey.
Improving Communications
Specific results in the area of the company’s communications efforts were first evident in the way the survey results were fed back to the employees, a key component to encourage future participation. A four-page newsletter with a summary of the full company results was sent to every employee.
As a direct result of the survey, the decision was made to develop the company’s intranet site. From now on it was to be used to post internal communications and communicate policy changes, for example. Within a year the intranet has become integral to COS staff accessing company information. While developing the site had been planned for a few years, the survey highlighted its urgency. The full survey report was placed on the intranet site.
A third major communications outcome of the survey is the monthly ‘company meeting’. The entire head office – 50 to 60 people – attends the warehouse lunchtime talk with Dom and the management team. Dom presents information on where the company is headed and other relevant news. Employees are free to ask questions of him and the team. The sessions usually last around one to two hours. Is it worthwhile? ‘You’d have to ask them that’, says Dom. Anecdotally the results are positive, with staff now seeing more of their employer than they have for many years.
COS’s future
Employees will be asked whether these initiatives are worthwhile when the survey is run for a second time shortly. Their scores on the communication scale will reflect their attitudes towards the communications changes made during the year.
Eleven months after the initial survey, managers still refer frequently to the ‘Voice results’. The survey results come up in management conversations at least weekly. There’s enough corporate memory to keep the survey on the agenda, and it is scheduled to run again on the anniversary of the first survey. Dom and the team plan to compare last year’s results with the next batch. He sees it as a formal way of asking all employees what they think, and acknowledging that the management team have heard it. He sees the results as a reflection of himself and the management team. He appreciates that the survey results highlight problems he may not have been aware of as the size of the business grows, and sees them as ‘constructive feedback’.
Initial concerns about possible disadvantages of conducting an employee survey – that staff may want even greater input, that they may start to challenge his (or management’s) authority, that they may distort survey results – have not eventuated. The survey has enabled Dom to stay in touch with his employees despite the organisation’s reaching a size and geographic spread that ordinarily limits that level of contact. The employee survey is now a standard business tool that will see Complete Office Supplies fulfil its promised growth.
Source: Adapted from Wood, J. et al (2009) Organizational Behaviour: A Global Perspective, 3rd edition, Wiley.

I. Report Marking Criteria (30% of the overall module mark):
1. Overall style of written report and structure – 10% of total marks Writing style should be simple and fluent in terms of spelling, grammar and punctuation. The report should have a clear structure and organised into identifiable sections with introduction, main body and conclusion.
2. Analysis –
Question 1 – 20% of total marks.
The answer should have good theoretical underpinning drawing on the appropriate theories/issues of communication and organisational culture/climate and should not be just a repetition and description of facts that are contained in the case study. There should be evidence of an in-depth examination of relevant issues with supporting evidence from the case. There should be evidence of logical development of arguments.
Question 2 – 20% of total marks
The answer should have good theoretical underpinning drawing on the appropriate theories/issues of personality, national/organisational culture and groups/teams and should not be just a repetition and description of facts that are contained in the case study. There should be evidence of an in-depth examination of relevant issues with supporting evidence from the case. There should be evidence of logical development of arguments.

Referencing – 10% of total marks There should be a properly constructed list of references using Harvard referencing system with a minimum of five appropriate academic sources and all referencing and citing in the text should be correct.

To build upon the intermediate level knowledge and skills acquired in AC2200 Management Accounting. Students will apply their problem solving skills to more complex problems in management accounting and will develop the ability to critically apply management accounting solutions to realistic problems.

WV are a car parts manufacturer with factories and sales on a global basis in America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Extracted financial results for the year ended 30 September 2015 are shown in the table below.

Consolidated total accounts 2015 $m
Sales
675
Cost of Sales
325
Expenses
142
Non current assets
870
Current Assets
163
Current liabilities
96
Non current liabilities
137
Sales (in units)
27 000 000
Production capacity (in units)
30 000 000

They have calculated the global split of sales is: America 45%; Europe 25%; Asia 20% and Africa 10%.
Global sales of car parts are estimated at 3 billion units.
They have accumulated a $60m cash pile and have sketched out 4 scenarios for 2 years time, based on different decisions:
Option 1 – do not invest the funds in the firm, keep the money effectively in the bank – they are aiming for a return of 4% on the cash;
Option 2. Invest the funds in new machinery increasing production capacity by 10%;
Option 3. Invest the funds in specific marketing in America, increasing the American sales by 10%;
Option 4. Invest the funds in new machinery cutting cost of sales by 9%.
The Board of Directors make the final decision on the options and the cash investment. The Board operate a working policy that any financial budget projections have a 50% chance of occurring in full; a 20% chance of being upto 10% higher; a 30% chance of being 5% lower.
You are to create a report to the Board of Directors covering the following issues:
Required:
1-Calculation of the four option’s financial implications for the firm in two years time with your suggested investment option and comments including risk issues. This is perhaps more discursive – talks about ‘risk options’ (remember risk attitudes); also specific firm risks and systematic market risks. Asks about investment – ARR; payback; NPV and IRR [20 marks]

​​​mark 20%
2-Calculation of the Expected Values based on the Boards policy on budget projections with a stated suggested investment option and comments including risk issues. The investment options (consider if appropriate – Expected values – relationship risk and return – check and only use where appropriate [20 marks]
​
​​mark 20%
3-Evaluate the issues with decision making including: risk and uncertainty; Expected Values; Decision Trees; Averages and trends; standard deviation Issues with ways of taking into account ‘risk’ – EV; SD; ranges etc –advantages and limitations [25 marks]
​ ​​​mark 25%
4-Critically evaluate the issues for WV in operating as a global firm, including: decentralisation and centralisation; ROCE/ROI performance measurement; motivation and PRP. Review issues for global firms – decentralisation v decentralisation – ROI v RI and how can be linked to PRP. (Chapter 19 Drury and Bhimani)​
mark 25%
5-Report format, presentation and use of referencing and research.​​​​​​​​mark 10%
Word count guide: 2000 +/- 10%.
The University operates a universal penalty scale for unauthorised late submission of any form of assessed work. Students who submit work within 5 working days after the published submission date without an authorised extension will obtain a maximum mark of 40% for that element of assessment.

All work submitted later than 5 working days after the published submission date will be awarded a mark of 0%.

AC3200 Advanced Management Acconting
Coursework 2015-16.
Rational for mark awarded.

In order to assess your coursework it has been benchmarked against the work of other
students using the guidelines below.

In order to maintain consistency of marking, a sample of work has been:
1. Internally moderated, and
2. Copied for External Examiner review. Marks awarded are subject to the external
examiner’s ratification

I have been guided in my assessment by the following:

Assessment criteria, with weightings:
The assessment criteria (as specified on the coursework requirement)

Calculation and discussion and recommendation of four financial investment options.​ ​​
20%​ E G A S I

Calculation and discussion of Expected Values of four financial investment options and recommendation.
20%​ E G A S I

Evaluation of issues in decision making including: EV; Decision Trees; averages and trends; standard deviation.
25%​ E G A S I

Critical evaluation of issues for globalised firms including: decentralisation and centralisation; ROCE/ROI as performance measures; motivation and PRP.
25% E G A S I

Report format, presentation and references and research. ​​
10%​ E G A S I.

When you calculating the numbers I need to know the formula for each number. Or you can send me the exel sheet and should be the formula clear

Examine the literature in your topic area and identify five articles published within the past five years that investigate mediating, moderating, or independent variables in an attempt to contribute to theory in the topic area. Write a paper in which for each article, you:

Describes the theory the researchers explore. What are the key constructs in the theory? How are they related? Identify which ones are cause, effect, mediating, or moderating constructs. How are the constructs operationalized?
Briefly describe the study, including the number of participants and research methods.
Briefly describe the statistical analyses used
Briefly described the findings and how the researchers interpreted them and their contribution to theory.

Using some or all of the five articles, argue for a gap in the knowledge in the topic area and briefly describe a study involving mediator and or moderator variables that can contribute to theory.

Support your paper with a minimum of 5 resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 5-7 pages not including title and reference pages
References: Minimum of 5 scholarly resources.

Hi, my paper consists of 2 essay questions.

Q1 requires 2 pages with 10 references from only journals please, Q2 requires 2 pages with references only from journals.

Q1. THE START ACTIVE STAY ACTIVE 2010 CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER’S GUIDELINE STATE THAT CHILDREN SHOULD ACCRUE 60 MINUTES OF MODERATE TO VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY EVERY DAY, AND MINIMISE THE TIME BEING SPENT SEDENTARY. CRITICALLY DISCUSS THIS GUIDELINE.

Q2.CRITICALLY DISCUSS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS THAT DRAW ON SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY IN THEIR DESIGN.

NOTE: BOTH ANSWERS REQUIRE CLEAR INTEGRATION OF SUPPORTING EVIDENCE AND CONSIDERATION OF HEALTH OF INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY LEVELS.

I WILL UPLOAD MARKING CRITERIA AND INFO FOR BOTH QUESTIONS

THANK YOU

You are required to complete an individual reflective essay which evaluates the strengths and shortcomings of the research strategies and actions adopted by your group. In order to do this you will need to:
 analyse relevant research methods theories and models
 assess the strengths and shortcomings of the strategies and actions adopted by your group, and consider how they may have been improved (bearing in mind reviewed literature)

you need o answer 1-6 questions is about rugby but you not going to talk rugby each section I will but a pages it will help the writer bit more.
I will put a file it has to look like that my work but only the topics are different. I will but a file It will help the writer to understand more.
Each sections needs to have referees
In particular you should reflect upon:
Intro
1. How a research question, which required secondary and primary data (qualitative and quantitative) to effectively address it, was formulated?
2. How it was decided the identified research question could best be answered?
3. The sourcing, evaluation and analysis of relevant secondary (existing) material for the development of a literature review.?
4. How relevant primary data (qualitative and quantitative) were accessed, gathered, recorded and analysed?
5. the presentation and defence of the research process and findings at the ‘Undergraduate Research Conference’?
6. how ethical issues were addressed?
Evidence to support statements/argument should be drawn from your methods of enquiry research journal entries. This evidence should be presented in the main body of the essay as description of critical incidents or as quotations in inverted commas (giving journal page number).
This part will help the writer
Ethics we considered throughout our research project

• integrity and objectivity of researcher – promoted honesty and avoided deceiving them
• Avoidance of harm – ensured confidentiality was kept
• Privacy – anonymous
• Avoided leading questions in interviews, questionnaires
• Ensured interviews were held at sociable times
• As we took a covert approach – had to debriefing them fully after observation

Qualitative data

When collecting our qualitative data we focused on the following things: locations, time and if fans showed any strange or special explicit behavior. To collect such data, we conducted covert ethnographic observations in different locations to gauge and record genuine reactions by rugby fans.

An ethnographic observation is an observation done from the point of view of the subject. This of course could only be conducted by sitting within rugby fans and watching the matches with them. Our data was only collected when each of us heard the sighs and cheers during the matches and felt the camaraderie after therefore taking a covert approach..

We conducted this observation in a few different places including pubs, the Oxford Brookes Sports Center, a stadium, and a local rugby club at different times and during different games. We observed not only behaviors that stood out to us during those games, but also filled out observation sheets to record behaviors observed before, during and after the game.

The behaviors we were looking for were if fans were drinking or eating, sitting or standing, cheering or shouting, and/or sitting with fans from opposing teams. These sheets also determined if there was a large scale of a certain gender or age in each location that differed in others.

With each observation sheet and personal experiences with strange or interesting behaviors observed during each game, we analysed a pattern of behaviors that intersect with different rugby fans.

Quantitative

Regarding quantitative findings we discovered that 68% of the participants that watch rugby agree or strongly agree that they cheer more with friends rather than when they watch it with families or on their own.

The most popular reason for why they watch rugby was for socialising.

The 80% of the participants prefer a close game and 58% of them watch it in big groups, so it is quite high too the percentage of people that watch rugby in small groups or alone.

Another fact we got to know by the questionnaires, was that 68% of the respondents drink and eat while watching rugby, no matter the result of the game.

Qualitative

By observing people in different locations we get to the conclusion that the location affects demographics of audience and who they attend with (for example, as we could see here, in the stadium the range of spectator’s age goes from 5 to 75 years old, while…. ).

As well as the quantitative data shows, no matter the result of the game, they were always drinking or eating something everywhere.

Research showed that when winning they were more cheering and happier, while when losing they focus more on socialising and they cheer less.

Requirements

Choose about six UK companies that have options written on them. You will need sufficient data to be able to adequately discuss and illustrate the issues developed in the assignment, so about six should be enough. However, if you find your results are limiting your scope for discussion you may need to run the techniques for a few more companies to get additional results.

Stock prices can be obtained from Yahoo Finance UK or other free website, DataStream or Bloomberg. Option prices can be obtained from the
from Bloomberg.

Step 1: For each of your companies compute the daily, weekly and monthly returns using 5 years of data. Also compute the daily, weekly and monthly returns for the FTSE100 index. This gives you 3 x 7 = 21 returns series altogether.

Step 2: Test the random walk hypothesis for each series using the runs test on SPSS.

Step 3: Carry out a serial correlation test on the series using SPSS (or some other computer statistics package).

Step 4: Carry out a normality test on the daily, weekly and monthly returns of each company and of the index.

(Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 are worth 25% of the assignment grade)

Step 5: Critically discuss the results you obtained in steps 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Relate the results you have obtained to the underlying assumptions made in option pricing theory, namely that stock returns follow a random walk and that stock returns are normally distributed.

Interpreting statistical results is a matter of judgement and organised commonsense. It is not a technical matter of applying another formula.

(Step 5 is worth 25% of the assignment grade)

In this part you are testing some of our basic assumptions about stock returns. You are testing whether stock returns really follow a random walk in (2) and (3), and in (4) you are testing whether stock returns really are normally distributed. In other words, you are testing whether Brownian motion is a good model for stock returns.

Step 6: Compute the theoretical value of a selection of calls and puts written on your stocks using the Derivagem options pricing software. Also compute the theoretical value of one call option and one put option using the Black-Scholes formula.

Compare the theoretical values and current market prices of the options. On the basis of this (limited) piece of empirical research, do market prices appear to be consistent with theory? Critically discuss.

(Step 6 is worth 25% of the assignment grade)

Step 7: Calculate the volatilities implied by the market prices of the options, using Derivagem. By calculating implied volatilities on selected options, do you find evidence of mispricing in the options market? If so, explain at least two strategies for exploiting this apparent mispricing. Critically discuss.

(Step 7 is worth 25% of the assignment grade)

Written report

Write a report. Your report should contain:
(1) A clear summary of your results.
(2) A brief and clear explanation of how you carried out the calculations.
(3) A critical discussion of your results and conclusions.

The requirements (1), (2) and (3) are very important. Make sure you try to achieve these in your written report.

For example, using clearly presented tables to summarise your results in (1) is good. Spending pages and pages describing in detail what the reader can clearly see from the tables is bad.

If you write a poorly structured report with a bunch of spreadsheets/printouts attached at the end, it is very difficult for the examiner to know what your results are, whether you have carried out the calculations correctly, what your conclusions are, and in general, whether or not you understand what you are doing.

Your aim in writing your report must be to convince the reader that you have complete confidence in applying these techniques, that you understand the ideas behind these applications, and that you can critically discuss the results and form reasonable conclusions.

Hints and mistakes to avoid

In general, we will give help and feedback in showing how to use the techniques, but the discussion, explanation and interpretation required in the report is mostly up to you. If you add up the marks you will see that around 50% of the assignment grade is for explanation, discussion and interpretation. This should be reflected in your report.

Try to do the statistical tests first yourself, and then come to see us if you get stuck.

When discussing the results from the statistical tests and from the option pricing calculations, it is important that your report does not simply describe the results you get. Simply listing the results is something that is best done by putting them in a table.

When interpreting the results of statistical tests, you need to consider what the results say overall. This is an art, not a science. Some people think that interpreting statistical results means applying another formula. It isn’t. It is a matter of judgement, on which experts themselves often disagree. So, don’t be concerned that you do not know enough statistics to interpret the results. A lot of it is just looking at the results as a whole and using common sense.

You must interpret the results of this assignment by looking at them as a whole, and forming a judgement

Maximum word length

Your report must be between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length

As a general rule, shorter is usually better. In this kind of material it is possible to say all the important things concisely, briefly, simply and clearly.

Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” in the Student Center.
Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center.

Scenario for Assignments 1-5
For Assignments 1-5, you are the new budgeting and finance administrator for your local government agency. Your first responsibility is to become familiar with the agency, the budget, programs, and capital projects. As the administrator, you will be responsible for analyzing, examining, proposing, and preparing the agency�s budget for the next five (5) years.

Note: Students cannot use New York City as a selected local government
Assignment 4: Implementing the Budget

Refer the Scenario for Assignments 1�5. Prepare a variance report for the selected agency. Refer to Table 8.4 in Chapter 8 (page 133).

Write a three to four (3-4) page paper addressing the criteria below. (Note: Change the title of the report to reflect the selected agency�s name and the years to 2013-2014.)
Find the variances for both the revenue and expenditures sides and then discuss two to three (2-3) problematic areas for the agency. Provide the results of the variances in a table (Excel or Word).
Recommend two (2) policy actions for each problematic area discussed in criterion 1. Justify the recommendations.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student�s name, the professor�s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Recommend appropriate policy actions based on the evaluation.
Evaluate a budgeting system at any governmental level.
Analyze the scope and sequence of budgeting in terms of sources of revenues, purpose of government expenditures, budget cycles, budget preparation, and debt administration.
Analyze the requirements for implementing a budget.
Develop various budget charts that represent segments of the budgeting process.
Write clearly and concisely about public budgeting and finance using proper writing mechanics.
Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment

MY AGENCY IS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES