Hi

Martin Turner here. We are now in Week 2.

A lot has been happening in our course so far.

By now you should have read the readings from the Study Guide for both Weeks 1 & 2, and registered on PeerWise and got started writing, answering and commenting on questions.

When I last looked at PeerWise, people had written over 600 questions, given over 5,500 answers to these questions and made about 1,000 comments. Do not miss out on the action on PeerWise each day. Just spend at least five minutes each day on PeerWise. It is a great way of getting a grip on some of the key concepts from the reading each week, and laying a foundation for you to complete your assignments.

By the end of this week, you should have completed Step 1 of ASS#1. This involves setting up your personal profile on Moodle and your blog. (You should also be well along with Steps 2 and 3 of ASS#1. And a number of people have also got started with Step 4 of ASS#1).

There are so many great blogs already in our course. You should visit some by going to the Blog Links forum (Communication box on the top right hand side of Moodle).

And don’t forget to visit my blog and you can also follow me on twitter. I have already sent 25 tweets so far in our course. There are a lot more tips to come. I also include my tweets on my blog on the Tweets #ACCT11059 page. I usually tweet (at least once) every day.

So far, about 30% of people in our course have not yet registered on PeerWise; and 10% have not yet visited our Moodle site even once. Most of these people are also, probably, part of the 40% of people who do not use their CQUni student email account – so they are probably missing my email as well.

For those of us who have got started, we are now focusing on our company. Many people are posting some great information about their firms on their blogs as they seek to understand what it is that there firms actually do … and what makes their firm tick.

See my recent tweet on Demi Roberts (F&P Healthcare: video1 and video 2). Demi is just starting to come to grips with what her firm does, where its activities are, its strategy and culture. And how much is ‘marketing’ and ‘spin’ and how much is for ‘real’?

Vu Phan’s blog is one of my favourites – I have quite a few fav blogs already in our course. Why not visit Vu’s blog and say hi? Email me (or post on my blog) links to other people’s blogs you find really interesting and useful.

And check out a video produced by residents at one of Ryman Healthcare’s retirement villages (which went viral with over 8 million views); and also a video about a competition last year to find the kindest staff members at each of Ryman’s retirement villages; and an interview with Gordon McLeod, Deputy CEO and CFO of Rymans explain aspects of Ryman’s recent performance and strategy. What do these videos say about the culture at Ryman’s and its strategy?

People who invested say $10,000 when Ryman’s floated in mid-1999 now find that their shares are worth over $300,000 (and, in addition, they have received dividends in total greater than their initial investment).

So Rymans has made a lot of investors rich; as well as contributed a lot to its customers, staff and community.

So this week, focus on connecting: to your firms and also to others in our course. You will need to make strong links to others in our course to be able to complete your assignments.

And also make sure you get started on inputting your firm’s financial statements into your spreadsheet (Step 3 of ASS#1).

I look forward to working with you this coming week.

Regards

Martin

14 March 2016