NTU NBS: Year 3 Semester 1

Year 3 Semester 1

Time flies! I would be in my last semester next semester. The first semester of Year 3 was still manageable. I guess the main reason is that I’ve managed to clear my Strategic Management module during my summer exchange. As such, I’ve only took 2 core and 2 electives this semester.

AC2105 Accounting for Decision Making & Control (CORE - 4AU)

Course Format: 

Online Assessments (5%)

Class Participation (7%)

Mid Terms (10%)

Seminar Presentation (8%)

Management Meeting (20%)

Final Examination - open book (50%)

Attained Score: 

Online Assessments (A+)

Class Participation (B)

Mid Terms (A+)

Seminar Presentation (A-)

Management Meeting (B+)

Final Grade: A+

This module focuses on management accounting. There are 4 themes to this module:

1. Framework for Decision Making and Control (Agency theory; Organisational Architecture Framework; Porter’s strategy concepts)

2. Cost Planning and Decision Making (CVP analysis; decision making calculations) 

3. Operational Control (Budgetary planning; variance analysis)

4. Management Control (Responsibility accounting; management compensation; transfer pricing; sustainability and performance management).

This module seems like a MBA module to me though. There was less teaching involved and more discussion/presentations/role plays. Most of the concepts were self taught and the classes don’t really provide much information to learn from. Rather, it’s more focused on the application of concepts acquired before class. Thus, it’s quite important to prepare beforehand, if not, one will get quite lost during classes. There were some interesting aspects of this module, e.g. transfer pricing, which appeals to me. I would say this module’s difficulty level seems similar to year 2 standard.  

The management meeting was the main highlight of this module. It involves teams taking on roles of different department. A pre-meeting video is required prior to the meeting; a lot of editing have to be done for the video which I feel that it’s quite troublesome. Preparation for the meeting would have to be done and it’s somehow very difficult to coordinate as the actual meeting comprises of 4 different teams. After the meeting which is 2 hours long, a reflection report has to be submitted within 24 hours.

AC3103 Accounting Analysis & Equity Valuation (CORE - 4AU)

Course Format: 

Class Participation (15%)

Quiz (10%)

Individual Take Home Written Assignment (10%)

Group Written Assignment (15%)

Final Examination - open book (50%)

Attained Score: 

Individual Take Home Written Assignment (A-)

Final Grade: A+

This module is my first AC3XXX module and it’s really hard! There’s mainly 2 parts to this module, the first part (1^st 4 weeks) covered the various financial accounting theories (e.g. positive accounting theory, earnings management, value relevance) and the second part was on fundamental analysis.

The first part was rather dry but I’ve find it quite interesting as it touches on concepts such as capital market incentives to manage earnings and some aspects of behavioral finance. The second part was more quantitative in nature as it introduces the 4 steps to valuation. As for the course components, there was a case study presentation to be done as part of the class participation. I find the level of difficulty for the case studies to be rather high as we are using Harvard Business School case studies for this module and there’s a lot of computation to be done for most of the case studies. The quiz tests the financial accounting theories and concepts that was covered in the first 4 weeks. As for the individual written assignment, the topic for my semester was to analyse the effects of an increase in a company’s financial leverage on its ROE and share price and the applications of some financial leverage measures. It differs from semester to semester and sometimes it’s quantitative or qualitative inclined. Mine was more qualitative inclined though. The group written assignment was demanding. It involves extensive application of the 4 steps of equity valuation to determine the intrinsic share price of 2 chosen companies. Anyway, there’s a lot of work and computations to be done. My group’s final report has a supporting spreadsheet with over 20 tabs and that’s crazy and not fun. The final examination was really challenging. It’s also a combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning. The questions in the finals are relatively standard though (EPS calculation, Accounting adjustments and ROE advanced DuPont decomposition, and RI model calculation).

NTU NBS: NTU ELECTIVES (GERPE/UE)

NTU ELECTIVES GUIDE

Hi all, I've decided to consolidate all the electives that I've taken into a post. Hope that it'll be useful for reference. 

The following would be the electives that I took in NTU:

CM8012 Introduction to Forensic Science (GERPE STS/UE - 2AU)

Course Format (S2):

Case Study 1 (20%)

Case Study 1 - Peer Grading (20%)
Case Study 2 (30%)

Case Study 2 - Peer Grading (30%)

Final Grade: Passed

This module is a purely online pass/fail module. It was a simple module to clear for AUs if you don't mind a pass/fail module. The course duration is only 9 weeks and the only deadlines to take note are the 4 components. The case studies are relatively simple and basic reading through the lecture slides provided would be sufficient for one to answer the questions in the case studies. It's similar to MS800M which was previously offered but subsequently phased out. The course workload is very light and there's not much to do. 

HP8005 Introduction to Human Resource Management (GERPE LA - 3AU)

Course Format (S1/S2):

CA1 (20%) - 40 T/F Questions

CA2 (20%) - 40 T/F Questions

Final Examination (60%) - 20 T/F and 3 choose 2 essay Questions (each Q has 2 parts)

Attained Score: 

CA1 (20%) - 35/40

CA2 (20%) - 35/40

Final Grade: A+

I definitely will recommend this module to HSS (especially PSY students) and NBS students. The concepts covered are relatively standard and I feel that it's more towards the PSY part rather than HR in general. It covers various psychology concepts/theories such as equity theory, reinforcement theory, agency theory. Some selected topics that were covered include work analysis, recruitment & selection, training & performance management, employee development, pay & benefits and employee turnover. Anyway, it's very psych-based and there are quite a few models and theories to remember to score well. For instance, in employee turnover, we covered issues like organisational justice, progression of job withdrawal theory and negative affectivity. NBS students would have covered some of the module content in our Organisational Behavior module.  

The finals are straightforward. There are only several issues in each topics and usually the lecturer would provide guidance on the topics that would be tested for the finals. One would just have to prepare the issues based on the topics tested and I believe he/she should ideally do well in the finals, even though it's a closed book examination. 

LG9001 German Language Level 1 (UE - 3AU)

Course Format (S1/S2):

Participation, includes 6 online worksheets (10%)

Grammar eQuiz (10%)

Oral 1 (10%)

Oral 2 (30%)

Final Test (40%)

Attained Score: 

Grammar eQuiz (6.4%/10%)

Oral 1 (6.9%/10%)

Oral 2 (30%)

Final Test (28%/40%)

Final Grade: S/U (S)

I've always wanted to try out a language course in Uni. I've decided for German since it's the only one that fits perfectly into my timetable. I would say language course are relatively easy to pass, however, to score, a little more effort is required. 

The CA for LG9001 was pretty straightforward. Participation includes 6 online worksheets to be done on NTULearn. It's basically application of the German grammar rules and some vocabulary that was covered in class. It would be good to discuss in groups to learn better as the NTU system is somehow flawed. For instance, there are 10 sentences to form in Q1. Upon submitting the online quiz, the system was only able to tell you the attained score for Q1 e.g. 7/10, but you won't know which sentences you've got it right or wrong. Both the orals are taken in groups of 2 or 3, however, it is assessed individually. For the first oral, you'll start off by giving a brief introduction of yourself and followed by a Q&A session (you'll ask a group mate 3 questions based on the cue words provided; after which you'll have to answer another 3 questions posed by another group mate). As for the second oral, it's basically a skit. You'll just have to come up with a storyline based on the theme provided and act it out for the assessors. The theme that I got was a Weihnachtsmarkt scene, it just means a Christmas market. After the skit, the assessor will ask you some questions and then you'll just answer accordingly. The final test was held on Week 10 and it comprises of a listening comprehension, 2 reading comprehension and a composition. In my opinion, it was relatively easy even though I do not have any prior background in the language. The only hard part of the finals was the reading comprehension because most of the words are basically foreign and not covered in class. So you'll have to kind of guess what the passage is about. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable module as the classroom sessions were engaging and entertaining. You'll get to know more people from other courses as well. I would recommend people to take it if you have a SU to spare, or you already have prior knowledge on German. One point to note is that to score, try to get above 80 or better, 85 for all your components as the average lies in the 70s range. 

EE8092 Digital Lifestyle (UE - 3AU)

Course Format (S2 only):

2 x Mid Terms (25% each)

Final Examination (50%)

Attained Score: 

Mid Terms (28/30 for both mid terms)

Final Grade: A+

This module was offered both as a GER-PE (STS) and UE. I took it as an UE as initially, I thought that the course format was simple. There were 2 mid terms with 30 MCQs each and a final exam of 60 MCQs. The content for this module was rather heavy as compared to the other electives that I have taken so far. Some concepts such as JPEG compression were also difficult to grasp. There were a total of 4 themes for this module: 1. Digital Cameras and Camcorders, 2. Home Entertainment Systems, 3. Computers, 4. Mobile Phones and Networks and this module only last about 12 weeks. There are 3 lectures per week and 2 of them are used for mid terms so effectively, the lessons are only for 11 weeks. I have prior background in tech and physics, thus most of the concepts covered, e.g. Cellular Network, 3D tech and circuit/packet switching was something that I am already familiar with. However, the MCQs were very specific, for example, what is the download speed for 3G UMTS and the speed of 802.11n wifi network speed. There is no way to score a perfect score as it's nearly impossible to memorise everything (including all the figures and diagrams) on the notes and some of the questions tested are not even in the notes, but the amount of such were limited.

I chose not to S/U this module in the end as I have observed a lot of people opting for S/U and I believe that the bell curve wouldn't be so stringent. I expect my finals to have at least more than 6-8 errors though. 

AB0402 Sustainability, Innovation and Operations (GERPE BM - 3AU)

Course Format: 

Class Attendance (10%)

Class Participation (10%)

Group Presentation - Case (10%)

Group Presentation - Idea Pitch (5%)

Group Presentation - Project Presentation (10%)

Group Report (15%)

Quiz 1 (15%)

Quiz 2 (15%)

Attained Score: 

Class Attendance (10%/10%)

Group Presentation - Case (B+)

Group Presentation - Idea Pitch (B)

Quiz 1 (A)

Quiz 2 (B+)

Final Grade: S/U (S)

Well, NBS students would have to choose one sustainability module as part of their GER-PE (BM) and I settled for this based on good reviews from my seniors. BUT, I've never expected the workload to be so heavy as the syllabus for this module has changed this semester. As the name of the module suggests, this module covers the sustainability aspects of business operations. We had 3 themes - What is sustainability, Technological innovation for sustainability and Operational innovation for sustainability. The 1st theme covers a lot on economic concepts such as efficiency and resource allocation. The 2nd theme covers various sources of energy such as non-renewable energy (coal) and renewable energy (wind, solar) while the 3rd theme covers issues like logistics, electric vehicles and CSR. Cheat sheet were allowed for both quizzes, but the restriction was rather odd. 1/4 A4 for the first quiz and 1 A4 for the second quiz. 

I would say this module is not the easiest to score but the content was relatively easy to understand. One good thing about this module is that it gives marks for class attendance. Anyway, I've S/U-ed this module anyways as the bell curve is likely going to be steep. 

EE8061 Innovation and Technology Management (UE - 3AU)

Course Format (S1 only): 

Mid Terms (40%)

Final Examination (60%)

Attained Score: 

Mid Terms (36%/40%)

Final Grade: A

This module was actually offered both as a GER PE (BM) and an UE. I took it as UE. The content was fairly understandable and it was closely related to what I've learnt from my business modules in NBS. I would recommend this module since the course component is straightforward and suitable for those with a heavy timetable. The lectures were all recorded as well. 

As for the assessment components, the mid terms is fully MCQ, with 40 questions. It's kind of scary as 1 alphabet shaded actually constitute 1% but it's kind of a good thing as well since less effort is required to gain that 1%. The final exam is pure essay questions. The professors will give hints during the lecture sessions. Like most business modules, I just think this module is quite general and the overall experience was alright though. 

MS800M An Exploration of Symmetry (GERPE STS - 3AU)

Course Format (Module does not exist anymore):

MCQ 1 (5%)

MCQ 2 (10%)

MCQ 3 (10%)

MCQ 4 (5%)

Field Exercise 1 (12%)

Field Exercise 2 (15%)

Learning Log 1 (4%)

Learning Log 2 (4%)

Writing Exercise (35%)

Attained Score: 91.1%

Final Grade: Pass

This is a fun elective to take! I took this to clear my Science and Technology elective requirement. It is an online course offered by Coursera and it just takes 8 weeks to complete it. The field exercises would require you to take selfies with different patterns that you've found that fits the required symmetry patterns in the exercises. While learning logs were just reflecting on what you have learnt from watching the online lecture videos. Some, including me, might find it challenging while doing the writing exercise as we are not from a science-related discipline. Attempt to write on a topic like this "A neutron diffraction study of quartz-type FePO4: high-temperature behavior and α-β phase transition". It was really weird but somehow I've managed to complete the exercise through the help of the online discussion videos where students come together to discuss on their approach towards the question.