OBU research report November 2015

1. Oxford Brookes University BSc (Hons) in
Applied Accounting
SKILLS AND LEARNING STATEMENT
“The financial and business performance of
Pfizer from 1 January 2012 to 31 December
2014”
Name:
ACCA Registration:
Word Count:

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Skills and Learning Statement
The whole experience of participating in the Oxford Brookes University BSc
Degree in Applied Accounting by way of conducting research and present my
findings in a report has been very rewarding and enriching. I have managed to
learn new things and acquire new skills and knowledge while at the same time
reinforcing the skills and knowledge that I already had. The meetings and
interactions with my mentor have played a crucial role in making this possible.
The Skills and Learning Statement provides an opportunity for me to reflect and
share my experiences from the whole process. By answering four questions, I
will be able to divulge the lessons learned from the meetings with my mentor,
my views on the achievements of the project objectives, the benefits that the
process will have on my studies and career and how I have demonstrated my
interpersonal and communication skills.
1: What did I learn from the meetings with my Project Mentor including the
presentation I gave to my Project Mentor?
The meetings with my mentor have made me improve my skills and gained
significant knowledge as described below.
Self-assessment
My initial meeting with my mentor led me to realise that if I were to succeed in
conducting a meaningful research and present my findings in an effective
manner, I would need to select a topic that I am good at in terms of the
knowledge and skills that I possess. This struck a code in me as I had previously
attempted to do the research and chose a topic that I was not well suited to
perform and as a result found it very difficult and could not complete it within
the required time.

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This time around, I had to assess my strengths and chose a topic area that I
thought would suit my strengths. I enjoyed doing the research and did not find it
as difficult as I did during my first attempt. I managed to complete the research
on time and am very pleased with the work that I have done.
Planning
My mentor told me not to neglect the importance of having a good and effective
plan in order to achieve my objectives. He told me that without a good plan it
would be very difficult to track my progress and assess whether or not I was
achieving my objectives. Following my mentor’s advice, I established what was
required to be done and the resources needed in order to conduct an effective
research and prepare a good report. Having established this, I then put
everything together in the form of a detailed plan that I then used to check my
progress against during each stage of the project. Undertaking a major piece of
work as this without a proper plan could very likely have resulted in me failing
to achieve my objectives of conducting an effective research and presenting my
findings in a good report.
Time management
My mentor advised me that if I wanted to succeed with my objectives and plans, I
should manage my time accordingly. It is one thing having good objectives and
plans but it is the proper management of ones time that brings everything
together so as to ensure that everything is achieved in a timely manner and meet
the set deadlines. From time to time I have been finding it very difficult to
complete my assignments on time and even completing my ACCA exams within
the allocated time was a struggle for me due to lack of good time management
skills.
For this project, after having set out my objectives and developing a
comprehensive plan of how I was going to achieve those objectives, I set out
deadlines for each task and made sure that these deadlines were met. At the end
I was successful in completing the whole project within the set time and am

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confident that going forward, this time management skill that I learned will
benefit me.
Report writing
I managed to learn good report writing techniques from my mentor following the
advice that he gave me. My mentor insisted that for me to succeed in presenting
my findings of the research in a meaningful manner, it was important that I
follow well-tested techniques. He advised me to read some books on the subject
as well as search the internet and have a look at a sample of reports prepared by
others. He also advised me to adhere to the proposed structure in the Oxford
Brookes University Information Pack. Following his advice, I have managed to
present my research findings in a well laid out report, which I believe meets the
standards set out in the Oxford Brookes University Information Pack and
achieves the objectives of the research.
2: To what extent do you think you have achieved the RAP research
objectives you set?
In conducting this research, I set out a number of objectives that I believed
would enable me achieve the main aim of the research which was to analyse the
business and financial performance of an Pfizer over a three year period from
January 2012 to December 2014. These objectives include:
a) Find out what factors influences companies that operate in the
pharmaceutical industry.
b) Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of Pfizer.
c) Analyse the financial performance of Pfizer from January 1, 2012 to
December 31, 2014.
d) Give suggestions on what Pfizer should do to improve its business and
financial performance.
To achieve these objectives, I developed some research questions to guide me
through the research. These questions would enable me chose the appropriate

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tools to use in conducting the research and meet my objectives and aims. The
research questions developed include:
a) How are companies operating in the pharmaceutical industry affected by
the general environment?
b) Can Pfizer benefit from any opportunities present in the general
environment?
c) What threats does Pfizer face?
d) What strengths and weaknesses does Pfizer has?
e) What has been the financial performance of Pfizer form January 1, 2012
to December 31, 2014?
f) To improve its business and financial performance in the future, what
should Pfizer do?
To successfully answer these questions, I decided to use a number of tools
including PESTEL, SWOT and Ratio Analysis. I believed that these tools, used in
conjunction with the appropriate information gathering techniques, would
enable me get the right answers to my research questions and eventually achieve
my research objectives and aims.
The PESTEL tool was used to analyse the general environment in which
pharmaceutical companies operate and establish the factors that can have an
impact on the business performance. This tool was also used to highlight any
opportunities and threats that the companies face from the general environment.
SWOT was then used to summarise the opportunities and threats from the
general environment that were highlighted by the PESTEL tool that could have
an impact on Pfizer. The tool was also used to analyse the internal workings of
Pfizer and summarise its strengths and weaknesses which the company should
use to take advantage of the opportunities it has and at the same time address
the weaknesses that its has.
Ratio analysis was used to address the financial situation of Pfizer. A number of
ratios were analysed in order to understand what factors influenced their
behaviour from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014. The information
obtained from the analysis of the general pharmaceutical industry environment

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as well as the internal workings of Pfizer helped in forming an understanding of
its financial performance.
Having performed the above analysis and obtaining a good understanding of the
various factors affecting the business and financial performance of Pfizer, advice
was then given on what should be done to improve its business and financial
performance.
Following this methodology, I am very confident that I have fully achieved the
research objectives of the project.

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3: How has undertaking the RAP helped me in my accountancy studies
and/or current employment role?
By conducting this research and preparing the report, my accountancy studies
and current employment stand to benefit a lot.
As I am currently attempting the professional papers of ACCA, the knowledge
and skills that I have acquired by performing this research will enable me
perform well in the upcoming exams. I will be able to plan and manage my
studies much better as well as plan the answers to the exams questions. The time
management skills acquired should also see me manage my time in the exams
and enable me complete all questions within the allocated time.
The report preparation skills should also enable me present the answers to the
exam questions in a more structured way that is both logical and appropriate to
the questions.
I believe that my performance in the P3 exam, which mainly focuses on business
analysis, will benefit so much from the knowledge and skills obtained as a result
of using the PESTEL, SWOT and Ratio Analysis tools in this research.
The skills and knowledge acquired will also see major improvements in my
current employment role as an accounts assistant. I will be able to plan my work
more effectively and manage my time so as to complete my tasks on time. I
should also be able to communicate more effectively with my work mates orally
and through the reports that I prepare and submit to my superiors.

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4: How have I demonstrated my interpersonal and communication skills
during the project work?
Interpersonal and communication skills have been very important during the
whole process of conducting the research and preparing the relevant reports.
One area that I have managed to demonstrate my interpersonal and
communication skills is during the meetings that I had with my mentor. These
meetings required me to communicate effectively with my mentor by listening
carefully and ask questions to confirm my understanding. My body language was
also appropriate as I avoided any instances that would indicate that I was not
paying attention such as fidgeting with my pen or avoiding eye contact. I also
dressed appropriately as sometimes inappropriate dressing might act as a
destruction. Establishing rapport with my mentor was also important. Before we
started our meetings, I normally “broke the ice” by briefly talking about football,
which was an area of common interest to both of us as we were Arsenal fans
The report that I prepared was also another avenue that I used to demonstrate
my communication skills. Gathering information was just one phase of the
research. To be effective, I had to make sure that the findings were presented in a
manner that was going to effectively present my findings. I presented my
findings in a logical and well structure manner. Like information was grouped in
sections with appropriate headings and subheadings. Standard report fonts and
line spacing was used so as to aid in readability. I avoided using technical terms
so that a wider audience could understand the report.
More interpersonal and communication skills were demonstrated during the
presentation that I made to my mentor and fellow students. I had to condense
my research findings into a couple of slides to be presented to my mentor
without loosing the essence of my findings. The language and tone of voice used
during the presentation was also important to ensure that everyone heard me
and understood what I was saying. My body language and dressing during the
presentation was also appropriate to avoid diverting attention from the
presentation. At the end of the presentation, I provided the audience with the
chance to ask questions in order to ensure that they understood what I was
communicating to them.