APPLE MANAGEMENT
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Tim Cook is Apple’s CEO, who got to the position since the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs. In his nine-year stay as CEO, Cook has helped transform apple into the most valuable country in the world, recently hitting the $1 trillion valuation mark. Apple is one of the five major technology companies in the world, majoring in the design and production of consumer electronics, computer services, and online media services. Apple is well known for the creation of the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook computers, as well as its online streaming service, Apple tv. They also own the rights to the Beats by Doctor Dre sound equipment, having purchased the company in 2014. Cook generally oversees Apples’ massive workforce of close to 140,000 workers, all of whom helped shape the company into the giant it is today. Cook joined Apple in 1998, after a brief stint at Compaq computer corporation. He studied at Auburn University in Alabama, where he got his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1982, later earning a master’s degree in Business Administration in 1988 from Duke University. Before Cook joined apple’s management, the company had been on a downward spiral, and many predicted its inevitable collapse, even dissuading him from joining the company in the first place. However, after he had gotten promoted to vice president, the company saw a turnaround, showing profits within a year of his appointment. Cook’s favorite part of heading a multinational corporation is spearheading the development of new and impressive technologies. iPhones are known to have pioneered facial recognition systems and continue to develop remarkable technologies to stay ahead of the competition. The only challenges faced by Cook and apple, are the numerous controversies confronting the company, which tend to sidetrack its growth. Apart from expected chatter over controversial designs, Apple has also faced multiple lawsuits, owing to its exorbitant prices for their new models, and intentionally slowing down older models to get customers to upgrade.
Cook takes a hands-on approach to the management of the company, setting strict targets and deadlines for his staff on their impeccable innovations. For instance, he has successfully achieved his set objectives, getting apple to diversify on the products offered, from phones and computers to wearables and streaming services. Cook sets strict deadlines, saying that any business should run like a daily farm. If the deadlines get missed, you lose the freshness. Being the CEO, Cook has the responsibility of making major corporate decisions and being the bridge between the board of directors and corporate operations. He is in charge of strategic arrangements in the company to ensure financial success. Cook has also created a calm working environment, where culture and atmosphere enhance employee performance. Many employees claim to have a fun working environment, which boosts the company’s overall performance. Cook believes that creating an open space working environment enhances cooperation among the employees, creating better cohesion and reducing burnout from excessive workloads. The employees also get lucrative salaries and benefits, which motivates them into better performance for the company. There are annual performance reviews for all employees comprising a self-review to gauge employee feelings about their impact at the company. The employees also get to freely review their managers and the company’s hierarchy, done so to ensure that they get cohesive with their employers.
For successful management, Cook emphasizes the value of hard work. Without extra effort, it is impossible to cut your way into success as a manager. He also emphasizes on the importance of passion in your job. You are more likely to perform better in your career if it is something that you prefer doing.
ACCT20074 Final Assignment
Term 2, 2017
Student ID:………………………………. Student name……………………………………………………..
Marker’s overall comments:
The markers may include any final comments here.
Overall Mark (Total) out of 50:
0
Question 1: There are several possible objectives for general purpose financial reporting. Explain what these objectives might be, and which one you think best applies to Amazon’s financial reporting (based on the information in the case study). Make sure that you fully explain your answer.
The various objectives that financial reporting must satisfy are;
1) present information about the entity’s economic activity regarding certain pre-identified variables like revenues and expenses and the carrying amount of certain assets. Formulation of this objective emanates from the representations’ approach. This objective reflects the accountant or preparers’ ( preparer of the financial statement) approach to reporting. The emphasis is on accurate measurement of items of expenses and revenue and the carrying amount of assets and liabilities in the statement of financial position( also called the balance sheet), so that the financial statements – statement of income and expenditure and statement of financial position give a true and fair view of the company’s financial position.
2) be useful for decision making for end users. This objective serves the functionalists who opine that the consumers of the financial reports are investors and share holders and financial reports should aid in their decision-making. Hence the exposure draft of the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting describes this objective of financial statement as-provide information on entity’s assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses so as to i) provide an assessment of the entity’s future cash flows and also ii)provide an assessment of the management’s stewardship of the entity’s resources. In other words, the financial reporting should enable the users of the information to estimate the value of the entity as well evaluate the management regarding efficiency and effectiveness of utilization of returns.
The appropriate objective in case of Amazon’s reporting:
The first objective listed above – presentation of information about entity’s economic activity through the income statement, statement of Financial position, cash flow statement is usually met by all entities statutorily required to submit financial statements. Compliance to Accounting standards ensures homogeneity of information across all reporting entities and external audits are supposed to present a true and fair view of the accounting statements. Amazon.com being a NASDAQ listed company.it is expected that the first objective is met in its financial reports.
That Amazon’ reporting has been able to satisfy the second objective- the objective to be useful for decision-making purposes to end users is apparent from the case study. Amazon’ s share prices dropped as soon as the fourth quarter results showed that operating incomes were steadily decreasing from the previous reporting periods. This means that the investors were quick to interpret information as decreasing cash flows and hence lower value of the company. This lowering in value reflected in drop-in share prices.
Thus it can be said that the financial reporting was able to able to satisfy the second objective.
References:
Insert your references here, for example:
Deegan, C. M. (2014). Financial Accounting Theory (4 ed.). North Ryde, NSW.: McGraw Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd.
https://www.iasplus.com/en/standards/other/framework
http://www.ifrs.org/projects/work-plan/conceptual-framework/#published-documents
Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.
Mark (10):
0
Exceeds Expectations
(High Distinction) 85-100%
Exceeds Expectations (Distinction) 75 – 84%
Meets Expectations
(Credit) 65 – 74%
Meets Expectations
(Pass) 50 – 64%
Below Expectations
(Fail) below 50%
Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.
Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.
Quality of writing is a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.
The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.
The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.
The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.
Question 2: From the case study, it appears that the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, might be receiving bonus company stock based on accounting outcomes (reported profit, for example, or share price performance). Let us assume for now that this is true. Would Jeff Bezos or Amazon’s shareholders prefer Amazon to use conservative accounting methods such as historical cost? Fully explain the likely preferences of both parties.
The accounting methods in vogue mostly follow the historical cost convention. The historical cost convention records all transaction at their historical costs, which is but the cost at the date of acquisition or the transaction value on the date of acquisition. The use of historical convention in accounting has its inherent drawbacks. The carrying amount of the assets or liabilities do not reflect their true economic values as on date. The true economic value of a plant and property on the date of the statement of financial position may not be its historical acquisition costs less depreciation but the deprival value of the plant and property or its replacement cost. Further the historical cost convention does not take into account the inflationary/ deflationary factors affecting the prices. Two similar assets purchased at different dates will be recorded at different amounts based on their acquisition costs irrespective of their actual utility.
Even the economic value of current assets will not accurately reflect if accounts are maintained at historical costs. In inflationary conditions, the value of inventories at the beginning of the year and the end the year for the same description and quantity of inventory will vary considerably. Thus the cost of sales will not reflect the actual or true values. While the growth in sales due to inflationary effect will be steady and smooth, the presence of the difference in closing and opening inventories in the cost of sales will not make an increase in the cost of sales follow the inflationary trend. It will be less than the inflationary trend. Thus in the inflationary situation, the growth of profit in monetary terms would exceed the growth of profits in real terms. Thus, accounting as per convention( historical cost) fails to provide a real picture of the economic value of the firm as presented through the statement of financial position( balance sheet), it distorts the results of operation( profit/ loss) as reflected in the statement of income and expenditure,
For the management, accounting as per the historical cost convention proves advantageous. 1) Under-inflation monetary profits will grow at a much faster than real profits. 2) Return on investment will be much greater than Return on Investment in real terms as not only is the monetary profits more than real profits the carrying amounts of total capital( debt and equity) in the statement of financial position is much lower than their actual or economic values. Thus when Jeff Bezos’s bonus is determined., it is most likely that accounting profits and accounting rate of return would be some of the parameters. Thus management would likely choose the method of accounting for historical costs for calculation of bonus.
For the investors accounting for historical costs means not knowing the actual value of their worth. The net worth ( Total assets lesser liabilities )as reflected in the statement of financial position is not the actual position. The value ascertained by discounting the net cash flows is not the actual value as the operating profits( monetary profit) are the not the real profits. Thus for investors accounting as per the current costs( or CCA) would be a better choice. Financial statement prepared under CCA reflects the prices of assets and liabilities as on the date of the balance sheet and the price of the sales and cost of sales as on the date of reporting.
References:
Insert your references here, for example:
1)Deegan, C. M. (2014). Financial Accounting Theory (4 ed.). North Ryde, NSW.: McGraw Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd.
2)Accounting Standards Committee, “Current Cost Accounting-Exposure Draft Number IS,”ASC, 30 November 1976.
3) Accounting Standards Committee, “Inflation Accounting-An Interim Recommendation by theAccounting Standards Committee,” 4 November 1977.
4)Auditing Practices Committee of the ASC, “The Audit Implications of Current Cost Accounting, Review” ASC, January 1977.
Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.
Mark (10):
0
Exceeds Expectations
(High Distinction) 85-100%
Exceeds Expectations (Distinction) 75 – 84%
Meets Expectations
(Credit) 65 – 74%
Meets Expectations
(Pass) 50 – 64%
Below Expectations
(Fail) below 50%
Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.
Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.
Quality of writing is a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.
The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.
The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.
The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.
Question 3: Use Capital Markets Research (CMR) to explain the reaction of Amazon’s shareholders to Amazon’s earnings announcement.
Capital markets are the market for the transaction of securities, both stock and debt. It comprises of both debt and equity. Capital market research refers to all research that involves the relation between capital markets and financial statement information. The various topics of capital market research are 1) testing of efficient market efficient market Hypothesis 2) fundamental analysis and valuation research 3) properties of analysts’ forecasts 4) impact of accounting profits announcements on share prices 5) research on earnings response coefficient and so on.
From the information in the case study the following inferences can be drawn ;
1) Efficient market hypothesis(EMH)-The EMH hypothesis presumes that 1) information is freely available 2) current market prices fully reflect all relevant information 3) security prices change with new information. Further, the markets are classified into weak, semi-strong and strong as per the information processing efficiency of the market. The semi-strong form is one in which current prices reflect price history including all public information. Thus the slide of Amazon share following announcement following announcement of results is an indication of semi-strong market
2) Fundamental analysis and valuation research- The information of jump in sales, increase in market share is relevant information for company analysis, the component of fundamental analysis( the other components of fundamental analysis are economy analysis and industry analysis). While the drop in share prices with corresponding to low profits and low-profit margins give inputs fro valuation research.
3)Properties of Analysts’ Forecasts: The case study gives reactions of 5 analysts. All have expressed concerns about poor operating margins and low-profit growth. They have expressed caution but see prospects in the long term. Thus one has advised investors to hold the stock, and lowered target another expects the stock to be volatile in the short term. Another feels the stock will no longer outperform the market.
4) Impact of accounting profits announcements on share prices- The impact of accounting profit announcement has been immediate. The share price fell by 11% following the announcement of fourth-quarter results.
5) ) Research on earnings response coefficient- this type of research tries to find the co-relation between stock returns and accounting variables over a long period. This case study gives some information about the return of Amazon over a long period of time-( The return from Amazon stock was 700% over the decade but negative @-20% in the last year.)
References:
Insert your references here, for example:
1) Deegan, C. M. (2014). Financial Accounting Theory (4 ed.). North Ryde, NSW.: McGraw Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd.
2)Kothari SP(2001), Journal of Accounting and Economics 31 (2001) 105–231
Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.
Mark (10):
0
Exceeds Expectations
(High Distinction) 85-100%
Exceeds Expectations (Distinction) 75 – 84%
Meets Expectations
(Credit) 65 – 74%
Meets Expectations
(Pass) 50 – 64%
Below Expectations
(Fail) below 50%
Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.
Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.
Quality of writing is a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.
The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.
The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.
The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.
Question 4: Explain how an Amazon investor might use heuristics to decide whether to buy, sell, or hold Amazon shares. To answer this, you should explain the various categories of heuristics available to the investor.
Heuristics are rules of thumb used by humans to make decisions. In Behavioural Finance literature Heuristics have often been defined as-Heuristics are simple, efficient rules of the thumb which have been proposed to explain how people make decisions, come to judgments and solve problems, typically when facing complex problems or incomplete information. These rules work well under most circumstances, but in certain cases lead to systematic cognitive biases” – Daniel Kahneman or it refers to rules of thumb, which humans use to make decisions in complex, uncertain environments (Brabazon, 2000).
The various categories of heuristics identified and classified by experts are :
1) Familiarity Heuristics- These heuristics stems from peoples’ comfort with familiarity, dislike for ambiguity and aversion for risks if unrewarded. In case of Amazon stock, people may invest o the basis of familiarity of Amazon stocks. This familiarity may be due to familiarity with the Amazon Bond. Thus new investor may buy stocks by Amazon stocks while the existing holders may continue to hold the stock even when the returns are negative in the short term.
2) Representative heuristics- This refers to heuristics applied by prior experience. Humans’ tendency to categorize a certain decision situation based on previous experience and apply a decision rule accordingly. Such a decision rule represents representative heuristics. Investors often consider a good company to be synonymous with the good investment. This is a case of representative heuristics. In case of Amazon, people may identify Amazon as a good company, irrespective of the fact that operating profits have decreased, which means a decrease in cash inflows and hence decrease in valuation. Another case of representative heuristics is the phenomenon of chasing winners( arising from the belief that winner will always continue to win). In the case of Amazon shares investors with the mindset of chasing winners will continue investing in Amazon since Amazon was a winner earlier( gave 700% return over a ten year period).
3) Anchoring Heuristics- Anchoring refers to the psychology of humans to seek a reference point( anchor) from where to start a decision-making process. Thus investors might base their opinion of stock on the historical prices. Thus in case of Amazon stock investors might consider the immediate price of the stock which was 11% lower than the previous days stock and decide to sell. Still, others may anchor a price five years back and choose to hold. Both these decisions are against the rationale of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), which consider the future price of independent of the present( past value of the stock). The stock market phenomenon of herding results is cause of the use of anchoring heuristics
4) Over confidence –This is one’s exaggerated sense of one’ ability and inability to see the negatives. During financial markets booms investors, investment managers, brokers continue to pump money into the stock market driving indices skywards, they fail to see subsequent crashes and black swans. The subsequent crash wipes out investors wealth. This was observed before the world wide recession of 2008. In case of Amazon stocks, investors might continue investing by long-term ignoring the fact of 20% negative return in the past year.
References:
Insert your references here, for example:
1)Deegan, C. M. (2014). Financial Accounting Theory (4 ed.). North Ryde, NSW.: McGraw Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd.
2) Kahneman D, Frederick S. 2002. Representativeness revisited: attribute substitution in intuitive judgment.In Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment, ed. T Gilovich, D Griffin, D Kahneman, pp. 49–81. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
3)Dreman D,(2004), The Journal Behavioral Finance-Th Influence of affect in Investor decision making, Vol-5, No-2, 70-74
Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.
Mark (10):
0
Exceeds Expectations
(High Distinction) 85-100%
Exceeds Expectations (Distinction) 75 – 84%
Meets Expectations
(Credit) 65 – 74%
Meets Expectations
(Pass) 50 – 64%
Below Expectations
(Fail) below 50%
Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.
Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.
Quality of writing is a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.
The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.
The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.
The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.
Question 5: Critical theorists view accounting very differently to positive or normative theorists. Use critical theory to explain how Amazon uses accounting and accountants for its own purposes.
Critical theory has to do with the set of all research, study which is cast as a critique of the society. It has to do with the examination and critical analysis of the society, societal customs and culture. Its knowledge base is all streams of humanities- history, sociology, philosophy, ethics, etc. This school of thought sees accounting as a stream of social science, unlike the positive theory , which assumes that individual actions are geared to maximise wealth and choice of accounting methods can determine the outcome( cash flow, profits) of an entity’s activity or the normative theory which prescribes accounting to adhere to some norms ( like establishment of standards). Critical theory on the other takes a different view. It regards accountancy not as a sub-discipline of economics but as a separate discipline within the social sciences fold. Thus critical theory would evaluate accountancy as to how the subject would promote social well-being and be free from evils of capitalism which the concept of maximisation of wealth promotes.
In the light of critical theory, it can be said that accounting by Amazon fails the test of social well-being. The investors and analysts watch and see whether the financial reports have the ability to see a spurt in stock market price. The investors want returns that surpass the market returns. The investors want to see the value of Amazon stock goes up. This will, in turn, see the individual investors’ wealth go up. The investors thus subscribe to the economic rationale of maximising wealth and not the entire society’s well-being. As such the accounting in Amazon cannot be said to be directed to the ideals of the critical theorists, but the accounting is more aligned to the positive theory of accounting, which also assumes that human beings efforts are geared at maximising wealth.
It was observed Amazon’s impetus for increasing sales, and market share has resulted in a decrease in operating profits and stock prices. So does it serve the critical theorists, since the efforts were not geared towards maximising wealth? This action mirrors that of a monopolist who tries to maximise sales, ( may not be profit maximisation) and bring with it the evils associated with monopolism. So even this action would not pass the tests of the critical theory.
Some present-day voluntary reporting activities like sustainable reporting, reporting on environmental issues, reporting on community service and human capital would conform to the parameters set by the critical theory.
References:
1)
Insert your references here, for example:
1)Deegan, C. M. (2014). Financial Accounting Theory (4 ed.). North Ryde, NSW.: McGraw Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd.
2) Gaffikin M(2006), The Critique of Accounting Theory, Accounting & Finance Working Paper06/25, School of Accounting & Finance, University of Wollongong,
3) Donleavy G(2016), An introduction to accounting Theory( 1st e), Ventus Publishing.
4) Watts, R. L. & Zimmerman, J. L.,(1986) Positive Accounting Theory (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Marker’s Comments: The marker will provide feedback here.
Mark (10):
0
Exceeds Expectations
(High Distinction) 85-100%
Exceeds Expectations (Distinction) 75 – 84%
Meets Expectations
(Credit) 65 – 74%
Meets Expectations
(Pass) 50 – 64%
Below Expectations
(Fail) below 50%
Demonstrates a balanced and very high level of detailed knowledge of core concepts by providing a very high level of analysis. Utilises current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a balanced and high level of knowledge of core concepts by providing a high level of analysis. Utilises mostly current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates a good level of knowledge of some of the core concepts by providing some level of analysis. Utilises some current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates limited knowledge of core concepts by providing a limited level of analysis. Utilises few current, appropriate and credible sources.
Demonstrates little, if any, knowledge of the core concepts with extremely limited, if any, analysis. Utilises little, if any, current, appropriate and credible sources.
Quality of writing at a very high standard. Paragraphs are coherently connected to each other. Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Quality of writing is of a high standard. Paragraphs are mostly well structured. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Quality of writing is of a good standard. Few grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
Some problems with sentence structure and presentation Frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Use of inappropriate language.
Quality of writing is a very poor standard so barely understandable. Many spelling mistakes. Little or no evidence of proof reading.
The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a fairly detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing fairly clear and well-thought-out conclusions.
The assessment presents a somewhat detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; providing some evidence of conclusions.
The assessment provides limited detail with no clear summary of the ideas presented; drawing limited conclusions.
The assessment fails to provide any clear evidence of the ideas presented; drawing no clear conclusions.