ACC03043 – Corporate Governance
Assessment 1 – Understanding Corporate Collapses - Short written answers
DUE DATE: Monday, Week 3, 11:00 PM
WORD LIMIT: 2x400-600 words
WEIGHTING: 20%
All students are required to submit this assessment via the ACC03043 SCU Blackboard learning site. Hard copy and email submissions will not be accepted and late submission penalties will apply to assignments that are not submitted on time via the specified Blackboard site.
The following questions are all based on chapter 1 of the textbook. There are two questions associated with this assessment. Answer both questions.
Understanding Corporate Collapses
1. Research the three cases of early corporate collapses in Australia mentioned in the textbook on page 11: Alan Bond, Laurie Connell of Rothwells and the Girvan Corporation. Prepare a brief report outlining the case(s). What was the underlying reason for the failure? Would today's corporate governance codes, rules and regulations have prevented these outcomes? (400-600 words / 10 marks)
2. Explore the collapse of financial institutions mentioned in Chapter 1 on page 17 of the textbook. Prepare a brief report on corporate governance implications stemming from the global financial crisis. (400-600 words / 10 marks)
You are encouraged to undertake further research about the Australian collapses as well as about the financial institutions to gain a deeper understanding of the case (e.g. board structure, board behaviour, etc.) - trustworthy nonacademic sources are acceptable in this context. Following issues need to be considered:
• For this assessment task, there is no right or wrong answer. It all depends on your analysis and justification for the answers put forward. You may not have all the information, and the limit to the above word count might be challenging, but this assignment will train you to write quality management reports.
• Please answer the two questions individually (i.e. one by one), observing Harvard referencing style and a clear and logical structure, along with the ability to express yourself clearly and succinctly. This is not a report, so no executive summary, introduction or conclusion is needed. Just answer the questions directly one by one.
• Your arguments have to be based on concepts and tools discussed in the topics of this unit and must be supported through direct reference to (academic) literature (recent peer-reviewed journals preferred). Your answers will be assessed based on your ability to develop arguments supported by relevant and valid sources (please also refer to marking criteria). You are expected to use at least 2 academic sources per question (excluding the textbook) to support your viewpoints. All sources must be properly referenced.
• In addition to the academic references, and in case you want or need additional information about the cases, feel free to engage with non-academic literature, i.e. in order to gain a broader and more detailed understanding of the cases, you can mention and use information and facts from valid newspapers, magazines and/or official
reports. Again, all sources must be properly referenced.
• Assignments strictly have to be within the word limit (- / + 10 %)
• Where cases of plagiarism are found, students will be sanctioned in accordance with university policy (see Blackboard for more information).
• All students will be required to submit their assessments via the ACC03043 SCU Blackboard learning site, utilising a Turnitin assignment link. Students will be able to amend and resubmit their assessment following a Turnitin review (ie. multiple submissions are allowed up until the due date).
A detailed marking rubric (i.e. marking criteria) will be made available on the ACC03043 Blackboard site (see Assessment Tasks and Submission).
END OF ASSIGNMENT