8 book refer, 10 articles, 4 internet sources
Assessment Task 2
Due Date: 5.00pm Monday 24 August 2015 (Beginning of Week 10)
Length: 2,400 words total (+/- 10%), comprising 1,200 words for each of the 2 parts in the question. Reference list and cover sheet details are not included in this word-limit total.
Weighting: 30% of total unit marks 15% for each part
Part 1 (15%)
Assessment Criteria:
Demonstration of knowledge of the issues and evidence of wide reading to support your analysis
Demonstration of your ability to apply the knowledge to identify keys issues leading to your recommendations
Evidence of sound reasoning and the exercise of professional judgement to support your recommendations
Development and statement of concise recommendations for presentation to the Chairman
Overall structure and professional presentation of your report to the Chairman
High quality written communication of concepts and terms as the Chairman can be assumed to be professionally competent in corporate governance
The US Securities and Exchange Commission slapped Australian mining company BHP Billiton with a $25 million fine for practices tied to gifts offered to foreign government officials during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
BHP agreed to pay the fine to settle the charges, the SEC said.
The mining company invited 176 government officials and employees of state-owned enterprises to attend the Beijing Games at BHPs expense, the SEC said in its complaint. The sponsored guests were primarily from countries in Africa and Asia and received hospitality packages, that were valued at $12,000 to $16,000 a package, the commission said.
The SEC said BHP failed to provide employees with specific training on how to evaluate the bribery risk of an invitation It didnt have procedures to ensure meaningful preparation, review and approval of requests in violation of the internal control provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Dow Jones Institutional News, SEC Fines BHP Billiton $25Million, 20 May 2015
http://www.asx.com.au/prices/market-news-detailHome.htm?an=DJDN000020150520eb5k001yo
Required
Assume you have been employed as a corporate governance consultant by the Chairman of BHP Billiton Ltd. Your assignment is to prepare a report for the Chairman recommending best practice corporate governance guidelines for the company to adopt so that it can manage and prevent any future issues of alleged corporate malpractice or other actions that could be classified as corrupt practices by executives or directors of the company.
Part 2 (15%)
Assessment Criteria:
Demonstration of knowledge of the issues and evidence of wide reading to support your analysis
Demonstration of your ability to apply the knowledge to identify keys issues leading to your recommendations
Evidence of sound reasoning and the exercise of professional judgement to support your recommendations
Development and statement of concise recommendations for presentation to the AII
Overall structure and professional presentation of your report to the AII
High quality written communication of concepts and terms in ordinary English as the report will be published on the AII web site and not all readers can be assumed to be professionally competent in corporate governance
FIFA, an enterprise worth billions, has plenty of legitimate resources to fight off the corruption allegations some $400 million a year from sponsorship alone. So, as the US government follows the money allegedly coming in through illegitimate channels, fans should follow the money FIFA gets from corporate sponsors, which enables its unsavoury business as usual. The deaths of thousands of migrant workers building World Cup stadiums and other rampant labor abuse have done little to move soccers giant marketing partners Visa, Coca-Cola and McDonalds so perhaps an international criminal investigation might do the trick.
According to Transparency International poll of 35,000 people from 30 different countries, 69.2 per cent of soccer fans have no faith in FIFA. In the last year, some big-name sponsors have started to take notice, with Emirates, Johnson and Johnson and Sony ending partnerships with Blatters group.
Kavitha A. Davidson, FIFAs Corporate Sponsors Abet Soccers Corruption, Bloomberg View, 27 May 2015
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-27/fifa-s-corporate-sponsors-abet-soccer-s-corruption
Required
Assume you have been employed as a corporate governance consultant by the Association of Institutional Investors (AII). The AII is concerned with the risks associated with investments in corporations sponsoring FIFA. In order to minimise this risk the AII wants to know how the corporate governance of FIFA should be reformed to meet contemporary standards of best practice in corporate governance. Your assignment is to prepare a report to be published on the AII web site recommending the corporate governance changes required to be made by FIFA so that AII members can continue to invest in FIFAs corporate sponsors without exposure to investment risk associated with FIFAs current alleged corporate governance deficiencies.
(End of assessment details)

Corporate Governance
Order Description
Consider a publicly listed company whose business performance has been criticised publicly
and, using its annual report, reference documents about the company (e.g. analysts’ reports,
in-depth interviews and articles, documents on company’s website) and write a report about
its governance protocols and practices. (This could include independence of directors, length
of tenure of directors, other responsibilities of directors, etc.).

The report should include:
? A brief description of the organisation and its background/industry. This description
should be a short section only.

? An outline of the bases or criteria for the review of the organisation’s governance. For
example, mention which standards or guiding principles are relevant for the review,
discuss their importance and why it is appropriate for you to use them.

? A critical review of the organisation’s governance applying the relevant concepts,
principles, standards or other tools and techniques learnt during this subject, in
accordance with your discussion above.

? A list of recommendations for suggested improvement based on your review. The
recommendations should only be a short section in the overall report.
Important assignment instructions

? The required word length for this assignment is 2500 words (plus or minus 10%).

? In terms of structure, presentation and style you are normally required to use:

– AIB standard report format; and
– AIB preferred Microsoft Word settings; and
– Harvard style referencing (which includes in-text citations plus a reference list).
These requirements are detailed in the AIB Style Guide.

? Reference lists for AIB assignments / projects normally contain the following number
of relevant references from different sources: 6-12 (for MBA assignments).

? All references must be from credible sources such as books, industry related journals,
magazines, company documents and recent academic articles.

? Your grade will be adversely affected if your assignment contains no/poor citations
and/or reference list and also if your assignment word length is beyond the allowed
tolerance level (see Assessment Policy available on AIB website).

Corporate Governance
Order Description
Consider a publicly listed company whose business performance has been criticised publicly
and, using its annual report, reference documents about the company (e.g. analysts’ reports,
in-depth interviews and articles, documents on company’s website) and write a report about
its governance protocols and practices. (This could include independence of directors, length
of tenure of directors, other responsibilities of directors, etc.).

The report should include:
? A brief description of the organisation and its background/industry. This description
should be a short section only.

? An outline of the bases or criteria for the review of the organisation’s governance. For
example, mention which standards or guiding principles are relevant for the review,
discuss their importance and why it is appropriate for you to use them.

? A critical review of the organisation’s governance applying the relevant concepts,
principles, standards or other tools and techniques learnt during this subject, in
accordance with your discussion above.

? A list of recommendations for suggested improvement based on your review. The
recommendations should only be a short section in the overall report.
Important assignment instructions

? The required word length for this assignment is 2500 words (plus or minus 10%).

? In terms of structure, presentation and style you are normally required to use:

– AIB standard report format; and
– AIB preferred Microsoft Word settings; and
– Harvard style referencing (which includes in-text citations plus a reference list).
These requirements are detailed in the AIB Style Guide.

? Reference lists for AIB assignments / projects normally contain the following number
of relevant references from different sources: 6-12 (for MBA assignments).

? All references must be from credible sources such as books, industry related journals,
magazines, company documents and recent academic articles.

? Your grade will be adversely affected if your assignment contains no/poor citations
and/or reference list and also if your assignment word length is beyond the allowed
tolerance level (see Assessment Policy available on AIB website).