ACC30008 Accounting Theory Semester 1 2019, HawthornAssignment Information SheetYou have a choice of one from among three topics set out below dealing with notable events that occurred in February 2019 concerning corporate conduct.Topic 1On 27th February 2019, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Council released the fourth version of its ‘if not, why not’ Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations for adoption for full years commencing on or after 1 January 2020. Your task is to:1. Choose at least two substantive changes between the third and fourth versions of the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations, or the changes between the proposed fourth version and the issued fourth version, or a combination of both;2. Write a Report of no more than 2,000 words* for the chief executive officer (CEO) of the small listed Australian company for which you hypothetically work. In this report you needto:a) Explain the changes between versions you have selected to analyse;b) Explain why the changes might have occurred;c) Provide evidence (not restricted to Australia) from at least five quality**scholarly journal articles about the usefulness or otherwise of the two chosen corporate governance mechanisms that have changed, and explanation of the theory(ies)*** used in those articles;d) Recommend to your CEO whether or not you think your company should comply with the change, or why it should not comply and provide a reason;Individual Assignment: 25% + 5% bonus (see below) Due 20 May 2019, 9.00am through Canvas Turnitin 1
e) A referral to an ASX-100 company(ies) that in 2018 had already adopted at least one of the changed mechanisms and how disclosures about this mechanism in the Corporate Governance Statement were handled.You can find information and opinion about the new version in business newspaper articles (Factiva database), and the required marked up versions of the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations can be found at the following URLs: https://www.asx.com.au/regulation/corporate-governance-council.htm https://www.asx.com.au/regulation/corporate-governance-council/review-and-submissions.htmORTopic 2On 19 February 2019, the Australian Parliament passed Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2018. Your task is to write a report of no more than 2,000 words* for the CEO of the small ASX listed company for which you hypothetically work. In this report you need to:1. Explain the background and intent of the new legislation;2. Explain how the new legislation differs from the previous legislation and why;3. Provide evidence (not restricted to Australia) drawn from at least five quality** scholarlyjournal articles about corporate whistleblowing and explanation of the theory(ies)*** used inyour chosen articles;4. Explain the implications of the new legislation for the company in terms of procedures andthe company’s Code of Conduct;5. Provide a referral to an exemplar ASX-100 Code of Conduct that includes elements that youthink will be needed under the new legislation and explain why this Code of Conduct is exemplary.You can find information about the new whistleblowing legislation in newspaper articles (Factiva database), and at the following URL, among other sources:https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result? bId=s1120ORTopic 3On 1 February 2019, the Hayne Financial Services Royal Commission, established 14 December 2017, handed down its Report and Recommendations to the Australian Government (released publicly 4 February 2019), after handing down its interim report 28 September 2018. Commentators have suggested that the implications of both reports and their recommendations extend well beyond the banking industry. Your task is to write a report of no more than 2,000 words* for the CEO of the small ASX listed company for which you hypothetically work. In this report you need to:1. Explain the background and intent of the Royal Commission; 2 2. Provide evidence drawn from at least five quality** scholarly journal articles (not restricted to Australia) about any aspect of the Hayne report and explanation of the theory(ies)*** used in your chosen articles;3. Explore and report on the annual and/or sustainability reports for the largest four ASX listed banks for 2017 or 2018, providing examples of how at least two theories learned in ACC30008 can be applied to the disclosures made;4. Explain your view of the implications of the Hayne Report for other ASX listed companies;5. Provide your recommendation to your CEO as to the most important part(s) of either reportto focus on in terms of applicability to the non-bank, small listed ASX company for which you work, and why.You can find information about Hayne Royal Commission in newspaper articles (Factiva database), and at the following URL, amongst other sources:https://financialservices.royalcommission.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx* The body of the Report should not exceed 2,000 words (+/- 10 per cent) (excluding Title page, References and Executive Summary but including Footnotes or Endnotes and Appendices). Please provide a word count on the cover sheet. Markers will not read beyond the word limit.**Refer Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) journal rankings available for download athttp://www.abdc.edu.au/master-journal-list.php***The theory or theories used in the article may or may not be among those covered in the Unit.Note: If, once you commence your Assignment, you become interested in a particular aspect of the topic that the requirements for that topic do not seem to accommodate, please feel free to discuss with the Convenor to seek permission to vary the requirement(s). However, please note that the requirement to incorporate evidence and theory from at least five quality** scholarly journal articles is not negotiable.You can begin the research required to undertake this assignment from Week 1. This assignment does not depend on coverage of class material, but the most relevant chapter of Rankin et al., (2018) is Chapter 7.Earn Bonus Marks for the AssignmentBonus assignment marks (2 x 2.5 marks) are offered to encourage you to start and make progress with your Assignment early in the semester, taking advantage of Staff from Learning and Academic Skills (LAS) who will be visiting each class during Weeks 5 and 8 of the semester.1. Bonus 2.5 marksYou can earn up to 2.5 ‘bonus’ marks for submitting in your Class in Week 5, 200 - 400 words on your choice of topic, the approach you intend to take, and the reference list for the five compulsory quality journal articles you intend to review. 3
2. Bonus 2.5 marksYou can earn up to 2.5 ‘bonus’ marks by submitting in your Class in Week 8 a summary of up to 400 words of one of your five chosen quality journal articles that describes in your own words the issue that the study investigated, how it investigated it, and what the findings were, using Harvard style in-text referencing as appropriate.Please Note: These bonus marks are attached to the Assignment to assist with the achievement of sound planning and writing skills. If the Assignment is not submitted by the due date (or official extension date), any bonus marks awarded for completion of Tasks 1 or 2 will be withdrawn. No student can receive more than 100% even with bonus marks.Scholarly Journal ArticlesSome students find reading scholarly journal articles very difficult. YouTube clips that help with this can be found on Canvas under ‘Assignments’. Additionally, a prior semester’s assignment requirements and exemplar assignments are available on Canvas. Writing support materials are also available on Canvas.Remember that it is the journal titles that are listed in the ABDC list, not the articles. You need to make sure that the title of the journal(s) in which the articles you want to use are published is on the ABDC list. It is suggested that you find relevant articles first, using the EBSCOhost Library Database, identify the journal title from which the article comes and then make sure this journal title appears on the ABDC list. This list is a way of ensuring that the articles you choose come from peer-reviewed, scholarly journal titles.Learning outcomes addressed by the assignment.The assignment is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop the following learning outcomes:1 concerning accounting theory knowledge, the assignment provides you with the opportunity to develop your understanding and ability to apply several topics included in the Unit;2. concerning generic skills, the assignment provides you with the opportunity to develop your ability to research and analyse complex issues, to formulate well-reasoned and coherent arguments, to reach well-considered conclusions, and to develop your written communication skills, including the conventions of referencing.You are to aspire to the highest standard of work for both the content and presentation of the Report. The Harvard referencing system is to be used as per Swinburne Library guidelines available at http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/researchhelp/harvard_style.html. Marks will be deducted where the Harvard system is not used appropriately. Please note that Wikipedia is not an appropriate source to reference for an academic Report such as this. The Library holds sessions on referencing technique, and the Learning and Academic Skills unit holds workshops. 4
LODGEMENT: You must submit your assignment via the Turnitin facility available under the Assignment Canvas menu item no later than Monday 20th May at 9.00am. No hard copy is required to be submitted, but please retain an electronic or photocopied version for evidentiary purposes. For submission, the file name should begin with your Surname. Please note that Turnitin takes at least 24 hours to return originality/similarity reports on second and subsequent submissions and can take some hours to return these reports even for the first submission. To avoid Turnitin including Cover Sheets as part of the originality/similarity score, please submit Cover Sheets in the separate Turnitin facility available.MAXIMUM MARKS: 25 Marks toward the final assessment. The assignment will be marked out of 100. The rubric for marking is included in this document.FORMATA report format is required for this Assignment. In a report, the Executive Summary should provide an overview of the whole report, including any recommendations. This task is a ‘thinking’ assignment and what is expected is the personal view of individual students based on research and the evidence (including real-world examples) that has been sourced. Further, an assignment which presents more quotes than constructive analysis and argument may be heavily penalised.SUGGESTED REPORT STRUCTURE1. Title Page (role play here)2. Contents Page3. Executive Summary (which provides an overview of the whole report)4. Introduction and Purpose5. Response to the specific task using appropriate headings and sub-headings6. Conclusion7. ReferencesNB: Markers will read the Conclusion, which is worth 10 per cent, only if the assignment overall is within the word limit.Additional GuidanceThis Assignment is a vital assessment component of this Unit and as such should be properly researched and professionally presented. The assignment should also:• Be all your own (individual submission) work.• Be word-processed (printed), and have 1.5 spacing for clarity. A high standard of presentationis expected.• Have a cover sheet (submitted to a separate Turnitin facility) with all relevant details:• Contain correct referencing, using the Harvard system.5
• Include a list of references (alphabetical by first author’s Surname) adequately referencing your sources (in-text references should refer to the surname of the author/authors and the year of the publication).• The assignment gives you autonomy in deciding how you want to relate the scholarly research articles of your choice to the task.• In using research articles, your comments and insights are more important than just describing what the article is about.• You need to do all this within the word count of 2,000. Therefore, think about how you will weight your emphasis and how headings and sub-headings can help you remain succinct.• Remember this is NOT a literature review. Please do NOT merely reproduce the contents of articles. Assignments that are excessive in their use of ‘quotes’ (even when appropriately referenced) are in danger of demonstrating inadequate original thought.• It is a good idea to prepare a plan or a skeleton of the report and include brief points, before you start writing. This will help you to keep the report organised.• Keep it simple. It is much better to discuss a few points in detail rather than discussing many points at a surface level.• Please make sure that you do a thorough job of editing. Poor grammar, spelling or expression will cost you marks and these marks are lost quickly.• Please post any questions to the Canvas Discussion Forum so that the Unit Convenor can clarify issues (there is a separate thread for assignment discussion).• Once you have created a draft, you can discuss with Class Leaders/Convenor. Note that they cannot/will not read drafts or give specific feedback – only guidance on the approach.• There are materials available to assist with reading journal articles and writing (under the Writing Support tab) on Canvas. Appointments can be made with Learning and Academic Skills (LAS) (https://www.swinburne.edu.au/current-students/student-support- services/study-support/improve-skills/) for additional support. However, you need to plan to have drafts ready and make appointments well ahead of time because LAS has limited capacity for individual assistance.• Past exemplar assignments (on a very different Assignment task, which is also provided) are available on Canvas to demonstrate the standard of cohesive argument, flow, editing, and the like required to receive a high distinction. If you would like to practise your Report writing skills ahead of the due date for this current assignment, attempt that prior assignment task and compare your response with one of the exemplars provided for you.• Make sure you back up your computer files. Computer breakdown or loss of files will not be taken as a reason for late submission.• Requests for extension must be sent to the Convenor (
[email protected]) before the due date and time. Late submissions without permission will be penalised as per the Unit Outline.Students are reminded to review the University policy on plagiarism. 6
ACC30008 Assignment marking criteria: rubricCriteria No pass Pass50-59% Credit60-69% Distinction70-79% High distinction80-100% Presentation(30%)Editing, grammar, punctuation,roleplaying, structureDid not meet criteria. Acceptable standard of presentation with clear communication.Good standard of presentation, including editing, grammar, punctuation, roleplaying and structure. Clear communication of ideas.High standard of presentation, including editing, grammar, punctuation, roleplaying and structure. Excellent communication of ideas.Excellent standard of presentation, including editing, grammar, punctuation, roleplaying and structure. Outstanding communication of ideas.Quality of Executive Summary(10%) Did not meet criteria. Acceptable summary of the key points of the report. Some points missed. Good summary of the key points of the report. Excellent summary of the key points of the report. Clearly worded. Outstanding summary of the key points of the report. Clear and concise. Quality of response to assignment task(40%)Research, logic and coherence of argumentDid not meet criteria. Basic reference to relevant sources linked to Unit content. Some evidence of a coherent argument throughout the report.Clear research supported by relevant sources linked to Unit content. Linkage between the theories and assignment scenario. Coherent argument throughout the report.Significant research supported by relevant sources linked to Unit content. Clear linkage between theories and assignment scenario, supported by relevant examples. Clear and coherent argument throughout.Outstanding research supported by relevant sources linked to Unit content. Detailed linkage between the theories and assignment scenario, supported by clear and strong examples and arguments throughout the report.Quality of conclusion(10%) Did not meet criteria. Acceptable conclusion providing key findings and recommendations. Some points missed. Good conclusion, providing the key findings and recommendations of the report. Excellent conclusion, drawing together the key findings and recommendations of the report. Clearly worded. Outstanding conclusion, drawing together the key findings and recommendations of the report. Clear and concise. Quality of referencing(10%) Did not meet criteria. Inappropriate referencing technique. Use of sources mostly cited in- text and referenced appropriately at the end of the report. Use of sources mostly cited correctly in text and referenced correctly according to Harvard style. Use of all sources cited correctly in text and referenced correctly according to Harvard style. 7
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