RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Assignment:
Download BHP Billiton Ltd 2015 annual financial report from the company website.
Task 1 (GLO 1, GLO 2 and GLO8)
• Review and assess related party transaction disclosure provided by BHP Billiton Ltd in its annual report. Evaluate how important for (potential) investors to receive/understand information about related party disclosure in order to properly assess the performance of BHP Billiton.
• Analyse and discuss the costs and benefits for firms disclosing related party transaction disclosure in the context of stakeholder theory, positive accounting theory, legitimize theory, and institutional theory and/or other relevant theories (whichever theory/theories you consider relevant for the analysis. You are not expected to cover all theories, but at least one theory and maximum two theories should be discussed and analysed).
Your arguments for tasks 1 have to be supported by relevant academic refereed articles (at least 6). You should provide evidence that you have carefully examined the literature, understand it, and have been able to summarise its essential content by integrating these articles into your own arguments and perspective.
The task 1 is to be completed as a Group assignment (maximum 3 people per group).The number of words is 2,500 excluding the reference list, appendices and the cover page. The actual word count must be stated on the cover page of the assignment. A deduction of 2 marks from marks allocated to this assignment will apply if the number of words is 1
under by more than 10% of 2,500 words or over by more than 20% of 2,500 words. Word limits allow the student to structure the assignment to allow for the preparation of an informative yet succinct report.
Task 2 (GLO 7)
All team members must complete Peer assessment form and submit this document in the individual dropbox (NOT IN THE GROUP ASSIGNMENT DROPBOX) before the deadline of assignment submission. As a team member you will evaluate your other team members’ contribution to complete this assignment. Peer assessment statement form can be accessed under “Assessment 1’ resource folder. In a very rare case where a student completes Task 1 as an individual assignment, the student will automatically get zero on task 2. In some cases where not all team members submit the peer assessment form, the team member who has not submitted the assessment form will attract zero on this task. This task will carry 10% of the total assignment marks. Please note it is an individual task.
Task 3 (GLO 6)
Write around 500 words reflecting on what you have learnt about yourself as a team member. Reflect on your strengths and your weaknesses as a member of your team. Also provide list of actions that you will take next time to improve your team work skill. All team member should submit separate document in the individual dropbox (NOT IN THE GROUP ASSIGNMENT DROPBOX). Self-assessment statement form can be accessed from Cloud under “Assessment 1’ resource folder. This task will carry 10% of the total assignment marks. Please note it is an individual task.
Weight (% total mark for unit):
This total mark of the assignment (including task1, task2 and task3) is 100, and converted into 30% of the final grade in this unit.
Unit Learning Outcomes assessed:
• ULO1: Explain, evaluate and apply a range of advanced accounting theories and standards.
• ULO2: Identify, define and integrate to construct explanations that can inform solutions to relevant accounting issues.
• ULO3: Reflect and critically examine personal actions and responsibilities for applying and learning theories and standards in accounting principles and practice.
• ULO4: Work with others effectively and provide constructive feedback that is supportive and promotes improvement in understanding of advanced accounting principles and practice.
• ULO5: Critically analyse and discuss concepts surrounding corporate ethical and social responsibilities within the global. 2
Graduate Learning Outcomes assessed:
• GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities.
• GLO 2: Communication
• GLO6: Self-management.
• GLO7:Teamwork
• GLO8: Global citizenship.
Requirement for Task 1:
The formation of a group must be achieved by students self-enrolling into a group on Cloud. Students must be careful to choose their group. Change to another group is not allowed after 12th August 2016.
You will need to do some personal research in order to complete the task1. Therefore, it is strongly recommended students start to form the assignment group and prepare for the assignment as early as possible.
The assignment documents MUST be typed using arial 12 font, properly referenced and ideally 1.5 line spacing (refer to ‘Guide to assignment writing and referencing booklet) and include a REFERENCE LIST (in alphabetical order) outlining the book(s) and any journal articles, electronic sources etc. used. It is recommended to use the Harvard citation format, but it is not compulsory. You can choose any citation format you feel appropriate to your assignment, but make sure to keep the format consistent throughout the assignment. Each page must be numbered.
Title page for Task 1:
This should be the first page (cover page) of your assignment, and it must include the
following information:
• Unit code and unit name
• Name of the Unit Chair
• Group number
• Each group member’s full name, student ID number
• Number of words
• Due date. If granted a time extension, then insert the following:
‘ Revised date approved by the unit-chair (show approved date)’.
Recommended Task 1 Structure
#
SECTION
1
Title page
2
Introduction
3
Analysis of the related-party transactions disclosure in the annual report 3
4
Literature review (At least 6 academic articles)
5
Analysis
6
Conclusion
7
References
ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
This assignment must be submitted electronically by the due date (Friday 26 August, 2016) as Microsoft Word document by uploading all documents to the respective assignment dropboxes, via the MAA725 site on Cloud. Specifically, When uploading your task1 assignment, the document must be given a name using the following syntax: your group number _ one of your group member’s student ID number _MAA725.doc (or ‘.docx’) (for example, group001_123456789_MAA725.doc). Only one copy of the assignment per group is required to be submitted online. Task 1 assignments submitted after the due date (or the extension date approved by the Unit Chair) incur a penalty of 3 marks per day, deducted from the final mark achieved. All group members should separately submit Task2 and task3 assignments to individual dropboxes. Task 2 and Task3 assignments submitted after the due date (or the extension date approved by the Unit Chair) incur a penalty of 3 marks per day, respectively, deducted from the final mark achieved. Submitting a hard copy of this assignment is not required.
Students who anticipate possible difficulty in lodging this assignment online (for example, being in a remote place on the due date with no computer access) must contact the Unit Chair at least one week prior to the due date in order to make alternative arrangements for submission.
Students who require a time extension in relation to this assignment should submit a written request to the Unit Chair, supported with documentation (for example, medical certificate). Such requests should be e-mailed to the Unit Chair. Requests for time extensions should be emailed to Unit Chair AT LEAST ONE DAY BEFORE (24 hours before) the due date of submission. After this deadline, extension requests received by the Unit Chair will not be considered. No extension exists until such time as it is approved in writing by the Unit Chair. Students are also reminded that extensions will only be given for exceptional and unusual circumstances outside the students’ control.
Turnitin
Please review the section on ‘Plagiarism’ in the Unit Guide for MAA725 and on the Cloud site for this unit. You need to check that your assignment does not contain plagiarism. This is done automatically when submitting your assignment to the dropbox which uses Turnitin, which checks your assignment for plagiarism and generates an originality report that you can use to be confident that your assignment does not contain plagiarism. For example, Turnitin will tell us (but tell you first) the extent to which your work has copied material from others without appropriate recognition through referencing. If this is excessive you will lose marks or you may not receive any marks, or you may have some form of 4
disciplinary action taken if the issue is severe. So you have an opportunity to submit an unmarked draft copy of your assignment to Turnitin and then take appropriate action to amend your report before final submission.
Therefore it is advisable that you check your assignment for plagiarism by uploading it to Turnitin at least more than 4 days prior to the due date. This is because it might take a few days or longer before you receive your originality report. Then, you might need some time to make adjustments to your assignment and upload it again to Turnitin if need be.
Note that uploading your assignment to Turnitin via the prescribed link in the Coud site for this unit constitutes submission to this unit AND also constitutes a declaration regarding the contents of the assignment being all your own work, except where appropriate references to the work of others has been acknowledged. You can upload your assignment to Turnitin as many times as you like up to the due date. In order to avoid a late submission penalty, you must upload your assignment to Turnitin by the due date. Assignments submitted after the due date (or the extension date approved by the Unit Chair) incur a penalty of 3 marks per day, deducted from the final mark achieved.
Should a student try to conduct a plagiarism/collusion test through the Cloud site of any other Unit, it would attract a high turnitin score on your final version of MAA725 assignment. It is very important to remember that you should not undertake such activity.
Students are advised that a significant selection of submitted assignments may be checked during the marking process to verify that plagiarism has not occurred. If an undue number of assignments checked are identified as subject of concern, then all assignments might be similarly checked. If plagiarism is suspected, the corresponding assignment(s) will automatically be referred to the Faculty Academic Progress and Discipline Committee (FAPDC) at University. Plagiarism can result in expulsion from University.
Students should note that Turnitin will automatically reject assignments that are uploaded after 11:59 pm on the due date. This will be the case even if the assignment were submitted one minute after 11:59 pm on the due date. Please note, assignments that are submitted late (including those that have extension approved by the unit chair) still be able to be submitted through the Dropbox. However, the system will show the submission date/time in red.
It is important that students familiarize themselves with the online submission procedures well before the due date for this assignment. The most common problem when submitting an assignment electronically is an improperly configured Internet browser. Students can test if their browsers are properly configured. This can be done from the Cloudhomepage. The Unit Chair does not accept excuses for late, incorrect or incomplete submissions of assignments due to problems with uploading them to Turnitin. Check your ability to submit electronically at the outset of this trimester and advise staff via Cloud if you are having a problem. It is the responsibility of each student to keep backup copies (both soft and hard) of their assignments. The Unit Chair will not accept excuses for late submissions due to computer-related matters (e.g., lost documents, virus infected documents, hardware failure, stolen computers, etc.). Back up your draft copies of your assignment in progress 5
often and to a remote device for safe-keeping.
Conflict among the group members:
It is expected that group members will resolve any conflict among themselves as it is one of the skills assessed by the assignment (refer to GLO7:Teamwork). In a very rare scenario where group members are unable to resolve their conflict, they could contact the unit chair but no later than two weeks before the assignment submission due date.
Helpful hints:
Before commencing your assignment you should read:
o Writing a Research Essay by Professor B Cooper
o Plagiarism and Collusion Support Resources
These can all be found in Contents under Assessment
In-text referencing: Students are encouraged to make use of in-text referencing throughout this assignment. Any issues that you refer to and arguments that you put forward should be supported by reference to relevant sources of information.
Use of footnotes: Footnotes should not be used.
Use of figures and tables in analytic reports: While the use of figures and tables could sometimes help embellish a report, it is important to bear in mind that they should not overshadow the substance of the report. A report that predominantly consists of figures and tables with very little explanatory text would not be viewed favorably from an assessment perspective. No more than two tables and figures are acceptable in this assignment and they are expected to be fully discussed and analyzed in the body of the report. Tables and/or figures should be numbered sequentially, given appropriate captions and placed in the main body of the assignment at suitable points.
Use of appendices: The use of appendices is not recommended for this assignment.