1. Your question is in 2 parts, as follows: |
Daimler and Tesla are today classified as two of the major players in the automotive industry. Your assignment is to carry out a detailed comparison between these two companies as specified below. The following are the links to the mentioned company’s annual reports. These reports include all the required information to complete the tasks 1. Daimler (https://www.daimler.com/downloads/en/) 2. Tesla (http://ir.tesla.com/financial-information/quarterly-results) Specifically you have been asked to undertake the following |
1. Critically compare and contrast the financial performance and financial position of the two listed companies (Daimler and Tesla) over the last FOUR years, (2015 – 2018). This should be done by using the respective tools including ratio analysis, together with vertical and horizontal analysis. The purpose of this task is to identify their financial strengths and weaknesses together with a conclusion highlighting the strongest company based on financial grounds. |
2. Critically analyze the cash position of both companies over the same period of time, and write a brief report commenting on your findings.
|
2. Presentation |
· Your reports and briefing paper should be clearly and logically structured in whatever format appears to be the most suitable for supporting the analysis, arguments, conclusions and recommendations. Locate the ratio calculations in an appendix and only present the actual ratios in the body of the report. · Key points of the comparative analysis may be summarized as a bulleted list to optimize the use of your words. · Tables, graphs and charts are a convenient way of organizing your findings and presenting data. They also make it easier for the end user of your report (and the marker) to understand your findings and so you are recommended to use visual aids where appropriate.
|
3. Assessment Requirements: |
· The submission of your work assessment should be organized and clearly structured.
· Maximum word length allowed is 3000 words, excluding words in Charts & Tables and in the Appendixes section of your report. · Student is required to submit a type-written document in Microsoft Word format with Times New Roman font type, size 12 and line spacing 1.5. ·This assignment is worth 50% of the final assessment of the module. · Indicate any sources of information and literature review by including all the necessary citations and references adopting the Harvard Referencing System.
|
- Marking Scheme:
|
Word Limit | Marks (%) |
Evaluation of the financial performance and financial position of Daimler and Tesla. | 2000 | 60 |
Evaluation of Cashflow position of both companies. | 1000 | 30 |
Presentation skills. | 10 | |
Total | 3000 | 100% |
5. Learning Outcomes tested in this assignment |
Upon successful completion of this module the student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a critical awareness, comprehension and synthesis of a business and its future prospects.
2. Identify, organize, analyze and critically evaluate financial information, articulate conclusions and form recommendations, based on a disciplined, thoughtful and well-structured appraisal of the evidence and founded on clear theoretical underpinnings.
3. Structure and communicate ideas based on an understanding and appreciation of the practical application of key issues and theories in corporate financial management.
4. Display an ability to evaluate complex business issues, synthesise concepts and to formulate and propose advice based on informed judgement.
5. Articulate conclusions and make recommendations, in an independent manner, which are based on informed analysis and critical appraisal.
|
6. Notes on Plagiarism | |||
Plagiarism is passing off the work of others as your own. This constitutes academic theft and is a serious matter that is penalized in assignment marking.
Plagiarism is the submission of an item of assessment containing elements of work produced by another person(s) in such a way that it could be assumed to be the student’s own work. Examples of plagiarism are:
Copying or close paraphrasing with occasional acknowledgement of the source may also be deemed to be plagiarism is the absence of quotation marks implies that the phraseology is the student’s own. Plagiarized work may belong to another student or be from a published source such as a book, report, journal or material available on the internet.
|
7. Harvard Referencing | ||||||
The structure of a citation under the Harvard referencing system is the author’s surname, year of publication, and page number or range, in parentheses, as follows:
|
Examples of book references are:
In giving the city of publication, an internationally well-known city (such as London, The Hague, or New York) is referenced as the city alone. If the city is not internationally well known, the country (or state and country if in the U.S.) are given.
Examples of journal references are:
|