FNQ Timbers purchases tracts of virgin

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ACC610 Task 1 and Task 2

FNQ Timbers

FNQ Timbers is a lumber milling company that operates in Far North Queensland. FNQ Timbers purchases tracts of virgin, old-growth native forest and harvests and processes any suitable trees for lumber.

Potential sites are spread throughout Queensland. In addition to the density of suitable trees, native title and transportation to processing facilities are also important in determining which potential sites will be developed.

Harvesting involves either selective logging, or clear-cutting. In clear-cutting all the trees are felled, suitable trees are milled for lumber and the remaining trees are mulched.

What to do with the biomass residue is an important issue for FNQ Timbers, as is the issue of regeneration. FNQ Timbers is an important employer, with over 1000 employees.

Required:

Management accounting is about working within teams to provide information for decision making within the firm. Understanding context is critical to providing useful information. Understanding whatever business you are employed in is, therefore, very important. In this task you will be required to conduct research about the logging industry, and make some assumptions, so your team can create a decision support tool. This will involve recognising the multiple stakeholders who are affected by the firm’s operations so that their interests can be incorporated into your decision support spreadsheet.

This assignment requires you to work together as a team. The oral presentation will be assessed on your individual performance but should be coordinated with the other members of your team. Therefore, before you commence your individual task, you will need to form a team and identify stakeholders affected by the operations of FNQ Timbers. Your team can focus on any aspect (or combination) of the company’s operation (such as site feasibility analysis, harvesting, processing, uses of the biomass residue, or rehabilitation). Then each team member will take the position of a different stakeholder. In the oral presentation you will justify the importance of your stakeholder and identify a measure of the firm’s effect upon that stakeholder.

Stakeholders may include (but are not limited to): employees; the Federal, State, or Local Government; the local community; a specific group within the local community (e.g., graziers); the indigenous community; customers; the environment generally (e.g., CO2 emissions); a specific animal or plant, ….

Task 1: Individual – Oral Presentation (including PPT slides with annotations/ notes)

1. Take on the role of your stakeholder
   1. Provide an ethical justification for the importance of your stakeholder (maximum 150 words):
      1. Identify your ethical definition (supported with an appropriate reference).
      2. Apply your definition to justify the ethical responsibility of FNQ timbers to your stakeholder.
   2. Identify and justify a criterion by which to measure the effect of the firm on your stakeholder.
      1. Explain why the criterion is important to your stakeholder and how it will be measured (maximum 100 words).
   3. Identify a legislative requirement relating to the operations of the logging industry that would be important to your stakeholder (this may or may not be related to the criterion that you identified above):
      1. Quote or summarise the relevant section of the legislation and provide the reference.
      2. Explain the specific implications of the legislation for the operations of FNQ Timbers and your stakeholder (100 words maximum).
   4. Recommend an action (Choice/ input into the model that you will develop with your team) and evaluate its effect on your stakeholder in terms of the criterion identified above (200 word maximum).

Deliverables:

1. At least 24 hours prior to your oral presentation you will submit your Powerpoint file through Blackboard. Name your powerpoint file with your surname and student number.
   1. The format and layout of your Powerpoint slides will be assessed. This includes keeping the content on the slides brief. Detail (including full references) is to be provided in the notes to the slide. The word limits noted above apply to the notes to the slide.
2. Oral presentation – Addressing the requirements listed above. Note, you will be assessed on your ability to make a professional and persuasive argument within the time limit. You will be penalised if your presentation is more or less than 3 minutes.

Learning Objectives: for each requirement (See the marking rubric for more detail):

Knowledge and application of ethical frameworks, theories and concepts and responsibilities in a business context.	Rigorously applies sophisticated and insightful knowledge of ethical frameworks, theories and concepts and responsibilities in a business context.
Capacity to take on board diverse stakeholder interests in a business decision making context.	Demonstrates capacity to accurately elicit, interpret and embrace the interests of diverse stakeholders, evidenced through the rigorous application of highly professional, socially responsible, ethical and sustainable approaches to decision making in a business context.
Knowledge and application of the relevant legislation/standards/codes of conduct /universal principles associated with social responsibility, ethical conduct and sustainable practice in a business context.	Rigorously applies sophisticated knowledge of relevant legislation/standards/codes of conduct/universal principles associated with social responsibility, ethical conduct and sustainable practice in a business context.
Knowledge and application of sustainability frameworks, theories and concepts and responsibilities in a business context.	Insightful and sophisticated application of advanced sustainability frameworks, theories and concepts and responsibilities facilitating fully justified and highly innovative and sustainable business solutions or recommendations.
Presentation
Structure of the presentation.	The central message is clearly, articulately and persuasively presented.
Use of appropriate supporting materials	Compelling: Judiciously employs highly appropriate and engaging supporting materials which inspire the audience and advance the presenter’s credibility on topic.
Use of effective time management	Delivers a focused presentation strictly within the time limit. Comprehensively, yet concisely covers all requirements and devotes appropriate time to various parts.

Task 2: Team Assignment

Create a spreadsheet to allow scenario planning for FNQ Timbers that recognises the effects upon each of the stakeholders that your team members addressed in the individual task. Your team’s model will:

1. Allow FNQ to make choices (input) about their operations, and see the effect of those choices upon the stakeholders in terms of the criteria (measures) identified by team members in Task 1.
2. The spreadsheet will require you to make assumptions about the relationships between the choices and the criteria. These assumptions should be clearly stated and able to be adjusted. The model will be professionally presented, easy to use, and powerful.
3. A GANTT chart with a list of tasks assigned to individuals, and dates to be completed. Complete this in a separate worksheet in your spreadsheet. Clearly label the worksheet.
   1. There should be columns for Task, individual assigned, and each week of the project.
      1. Show the planned start and finish weeks for each task
      2. Show the actual start and finish weeks for each task ((you will need to use two rows for each task)
      3. Identify important milestones
      4. Show interdependencies between tasks.

Deliverables:

One team member will submit on behalf of the team (to Blackboard):

1. Team Output: A spreadsheet model addressing the requirements above. The spreadsheet only needs to be submitted by one team member.
2. INDIVIDUALLY download, complete and submit the reflection sheet. (document in the Task 2 materials)

Learning Objectives for each requirement (See the marking rubric for more detail):

Group Assignment – Spreadsheet (One submission per group) (70%)
Capacity to develop a spreadsheet model that meet’s the user’s needs.	All user’s requirements are incorporated into the model in ways that effectively increase the usability, effectiveness, or efficiency of the spreadsheet.
Knowledge and application of sound principles of spreadsheet design.	Model is accurate, usable, flexible and auditable.
Application of project management skills.	Professionally presented and complete GANTT Chart.
Individual Reflection – Word Document (individual submission) (30%)
Acknowledgement and facilitation of strengths and skills of team members.	Evidences advanced capacity to facilitate collaborative achievement of the group task by encouraging and integrating individual viewpoints and supporting team members to fully leverage their individual skills and strengths.
Knowledge and application of effective group processes.	Demonstrates sophisticated knowledge of group processes, evidenced through comprehensive and rigorous documentation and application of this knowledge in completing the group task.
Use of leadership skills when engaging with team members.	Demonstrates sophisticated use of leadership skills to confidently and constructively inspire, motivate and encourage the team.
Equal contribution to the group task (individual marks for the group assignment will be adjusted to reflect peer evaluation)	Completes assigned individual tasks in an insightful, sophisticated, timely, rigorous and accurate manner as evidenced by self and peer assessment. Self and peer assessment will affect be mark assigned to each team member.

Instruction document for Excel Spreadsheet

User requirements for the spreadsheet model: (a basic model has been provided, but you are required to add and improve it)

Organise your spreadsheet with a title page and menu, with links to the key areas/ worksheets as follows:

Identification: The title of the spreadsheet, who created it, what it was created for, the date of creation and the date the spreadsheet was last altered.

Documentation: Including instruction on how to use the spreadsheet, limitations, and assumptions.

Data: A clear LAYOUT and clear labels are important. Much of the data may be assumed (in which case make sure that this is made clear).

• For example, if one of the stakeholder criteria was CO2 emissions, and the choice being made was distance transported from forest to processing site, you would need to consider the relationship between kilometres travelled and CO2 emission from the fuel consumed. The CO2 emissions per kilometre can be found with a google search and inserted into the data area (in which case, a link to the site could be included). The number of tonnes being produced by FNQ Timbers can be assumed but should be included in the data section so it can be changed if necessary. The number of kilometres might be a choice (based on the location of the processing plant).

Workings: Any complex calculations should be clearly explained, and therefore AUDITABLE. All formulas should be ACCURATE. There should be no numbers included in formulae – it should all be based on links to the data so that your model will be FLEXIBLE.

Input/ Output: Here the layout of input and output should be organised for USABILITY and to support decision making (by seeing the effects of changes to input). It will be particularly important to see how decisions have positive effects for some stakeholders, and negative effects for others so that compromises or trade-offs can be made.

Principles of good spreadsheet design:

Pay particular attention to the following principles of good spreadsheet design (see further Excel Fundamentals.doc in the assessment tab on Blackboard).

Understanding and Responding to Need: The user’s need is summarised in the identification page, and then related to the use of the spreadsheet model in the documentation. The documentation also relates features of the model to the user’s needs.

Accurate: No errors in formulae. All spelling is correct.

Usability: Instructions, limitations and assumptions clearly specified in the documentation page. Clear labelling throughout. Model is organised, or Excel functionality is included, to make it easy and efficient for the user.

Flexibility: Data can be easily changed without compromising the model’s integrity. Model signals if the relevant range is exceeded (either through limits on input values or messages contingent on output).

Auditable: Explanation for workings. Use of cell labels so that formula can be read. No numbers typed directly into formulae.

Layout: Use of the separate areas/ worksheets. Structure of the input/ output areas so that the effects of changes in input can be seen in the same view as the input.

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