Assessment Item 3: Enron and whistleblowers
Part A (20 marks)
Read Case 9: Enron: Questionable accounting leads to collapse, starting on page 395 of your textbook. Answer questions 1 & 2 (10 marks each) on page 404. You are expected to fully research your answers and reference your sources appropriately.
You have already discussed this case in tutorials, so I expect that you will have very good answers already noted down. However, for this assessment item, I want you to take very particular perpectives, as described below:
How did the corporate culture of Enron contribute to its bankruptcy?: Please focus on Enron's lack of critical questioning of its accounting practices, and how it became necessary for a whistleblower to make Enron's questionable accounting practices more widely known.
Did Enron's bankers, auditors, and attorneys contribute to Enron's demise?: Again, focus on the apparent lack of unquestioning or uncritical review by these stakeholders, and whether this was unethical. Why do you think they might have adopted the same (apparently) unquestioning attitude to Enron's accounting as Enron's staff and managers?
You are expected to research the Enron case beyond the presentation in your textbook. There are many articles and analyses of Enron's accounting practices in the academic databases, and on the Web.
Part B (20 marks)
Read this Financial Times article on whistleblowers. It is clear that whistleblowers have had a tough time in the United States despite having a level of legislated protection. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ce216134-e6c7-11e3-9a20-00144feabdc0.html
You are to answer the following two questions (10 marks each):
Investigate and report on the form and extent of current institutionalised whistleblower protection in Australia.
How effective has this (Australian whistleblower) protection been? Support your answer with research and examples.
Required
Each part of this assessment item (being Parts A and B) will require a report not exceeding 2,000 words (in the report body). As both parts refer to the same topic area, you may combine these reports, with one executive summary, one introduction, and one conclusion (and one list of references).
Submit only one document for assessment in Moodle. Make sure that each part is clearly identified using appropriate headings.
Each part of your report will require a high level of critical analysis and good writing skills. It is recommended that all students make full use of tutorial activities to familiarise themselves with the required analysis skills.
You will be assessed on the following criteria:
Demonstrated understanding of the course material and the ability to apply that material to the assessment question (70% of total marks);
Effective communication: you are able to write a coherent and logical argument in support of your answers (15%);
Presentation: Your assignment is formatted appropriately, and uses proper spelling, grammar and style (15%);
Referencing: The University's Harvard referencing style is used (no marks are provided for referencing—proper referencing is expected. Penalties will be applied for poor referencing).