Assignment 1
Choose a newspaper or trade journal article that is corporate governance related and complete the following:
Outline and summarize the arguments made.
Discuss in the context of your readings, the issues raised in relation to corporate governance
Why are these arguments being made in the media?
Conclude by providing your opinion about the issues raised in the article.
2000 words
30 marks
Due date: 21 March 2016

Assignment 1
Introduction
Body section
Outline and summarize the arguments made:
Short introduction about the company
Brief summary of the arguments made by the author of the article
Discuss in the context of your readings, the issues raised in relation to corporate governance
CG issues
Related literature review
Analysis in light of the issues being discussed in the article
 
Why are these arguments being made in the media?
Conclude by providing your opinion about the issues raised in the article.
Conclusion

Some examples of CG issues
Key CG issues may include (but are  not limited to):
Executive remuneration practices
Transparency and disclosure
Committee composition
Shareholder rights
Board diversity
Quality of directors
Corporate social responsibility
Audit
Internal control
Risk Management
Community engagement



Marking criteria
Your submission will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Fulfilment of overall task intent 20%
Use of information (including evidence and examples): 20%
Structure and organisation : 20%
Language use  20%
Presentation 20%

Three key skills to develop:
Building a skills base
Assessment tasks give you the opportunity to:
Develop expert knowledge in a particular area
Develop skills that you’ll need in the workplace in a structured environment
Generic skills addressed:
Logical presentation of materials/argument
Critical analysis of information
Synthesis of ideas, written expression
Referencing
Problem solving skills (higher order)
Writing your paper
Stages of writing:
Finding the appropriate material
Reading material and note-taking
Planning your essay / report / analysis
Writing it
Editing and Revising
References and quotations
Presentation of paper
Step 1: Reviewing the published material
You need to differentiate between good and bad sources of information
Focus on material which is
Current
Relevant
Reputable
Factual
Include academic studies [found in academic journals or research monographs]
What is scientific research?
Research published in academic journals is scientifically rigorous:
Validity
Reliability
To publish in an good academic journal, a paper is subject to ‘peer review’:
That is, reviewed by two or more experts in the area
For us, an acceptable journal article is one that is subject to this peer review process
See list in LMS Literature Review folder for a non-exhaustive list of acceptable journals
Reliability and Validity on Target
Where can I find scientific research?

catalogue to find research monographs [books reporting academic research]
electronic journal databases to find journal articles:
Tip: if you find a good article, look at its bibliography … it will point you to other studies.
How many articles should I include?
Tough question to answer.  Depends on:
Relevance of the research identified to the question
Quality of the articles used
Breadth of arguments/ideas covered by the articles identified
What kind of mark you want to get!
Ten high quality, relevant sources would result in a ‘pass’ score on the research criteria
Your research is very important – without a solid foundation of research, it will be hard to meet the other criteria
It will take longer than you think ... START NOW!
Step 2: Read the Literature
Think about the following:
Defining the key terms [from the essay question]
What are the classical (seminal) works that everyone refers to?
Are there conflicting ideas about the relationship between the concepts of your topic?
What is the dominant view about the topic? 
How do you know this is the prevailing view? 
Does that minimise the views of others?
Make notes from the articles:
Don’t plagiarise
Take down the publication details for your reference list
Note which articles the author is citing – may lead you to other relevant articles
Anatomy of a journal article
Most journal articles will have the following:
Abstract ü
Introduction ü
Literature Review ü
Methodology ü
Results ü
Discussion ü
Conclusion
Bibliography ü
Read with a purpose!
Step 3: Planning your Review
Organise ideas into categories
Use mind maps to develop connections between ideas
Think about how the ideas develop and connect
Develop an argument or point of view
Develop a ‘paragraph plan’
Introduction
Main body (many paragraphs)
Conclusion
Step 4: Write the Review
Use the ‘paragraph plan’ you developed as a guide
Try to stick to ‘one point per paragraph’
Consistently ask yourself:
Am I answering the question?
Am I presenting the various views in the literature accurately and appropriately?
Am I presenting the various arguments in the literature in a logical way?
How is this paragraph relevant to the question?
Am I writing these ideas in my own words and acknowledging the source?
Step 5: Editing and Revising
Read your work – ask the following:
Have I answered the question?
Have I discussed the different viewpoints?
Is my argument clear?
Does my paper have the appropriate structure?
Check your spelling, punctuation and grammar
If possible, ask someone (not a fellow student) to read over your paper – does it make sense to them?
Step 6: Citations, quotes, references
Ensure that you:
Provide in-text citations wherever you have used the ideas of another (even when you have paraphrased)
Make it clear to the reader if you have directly quoted from a source (word for word, by using ‘quotation marks’ and citing the page number)
That you have the full citation of any in-text citations in the reference list
Only works cited in-text should be listed in the reference list
Where you have used quotes, make sure you provide the page numbers in the in-text citation.
Refer to Havard Referencing style
In-text citations
Be consistent in your citation style


Wherever you obtain an idea, fact or argument from a source, acknowledge it in text:
Blyton (1999) argues that …….
………………. (Rimmer, 2000)
Provide a list of the full citations of every source you have cited in text in the reference list
Remember: style must be
Logical, consistent and systematic
Specific details can be found at http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/

Note: Reference list must be started on a new page

Step 7: Presentation of paper
Your paper should have the following characteristics:
Be written in 12 point, in Arial font
Paragraphs must be fully justified at both the left and right margin1.5 line spaced
Reference list should start on a new page
Any subheadings should be clearly defined (bold or underlined)
Stapled in the top left-hand corner of the page
Information about plagiarism detection strategy will be outlined on the subject website prior to essay submission
Plagiarism