| Semester 1, 2020 Online | |
| Short Description: | Corp Gov & Social Responsiblty |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts |
| School or Department : | School of Commerce |
| Student contribution band : | Band 3 |
| ASCED code : | 080101 - Accounting |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
Staffing
Examiner:
Requisites
Co-Requisite: ACC5216
Other requisites
Pre-requisites: Enrolment in an approved postgraduate program.
Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at
Rationale
The accounting profession now places a high emphasis on Corporate Governance and Ethics issues. High profile collapses of companies such as Enron overseas; and HIH, OneTel and ABC Learning in Australia, have encouraged corporate governance reform worldwide. The global financial crisis (GFC) demonstrated to investors that the markets need to analyse not only financial information but also environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance as indicators of an organisation’s health and future prospects.
Consequently, graduates need to possess an understanding of concepts of corporate governance, ethics and organisational sustainability and how the annual reporting of these issues is needed and applied in today’s business environment. CPA Australia and The Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand require its professional members to study these concepts in their respective professional year programs. This course provides students with an opportunity to achieve learning outcomes about the key issues of corporate governance, ethics and organisational sustainability that will be a foundation for their professional program studies or their career in business.
Synopsis
This course is designed to provide students with advanced knowledge that covers the components of the corporate governance, ethical and moral obligations, and social responsibility issues, and the theories underpinning business sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) integrated reporting.
Objectives
On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
- use theoretical knowledge of the corporate governance, ethical and moral obligations, and social responsibility issues involved in business decision making in their professional practice;
- apply regulatory requirements to develop appropriate board and committee functions and structures to protect the interests of diverse stakeholders in the corporations;
- utilise critical ethical and social thinking skills to analyse the existence of corporate governance best practice principles and to recommend how to achieve appropriate business practice;
- apply and integrate the sustainability accounting reporting principles and practices (including the Global Reporting Initiative) into the development of sustainability reporting and integrated reporting known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | The concepts, essential principles, and stakeholders of corporate governance, ethical and moral obligations, and social responsibility | 20.00 |
| 2. | Corporate governance in Australia impact on board and committee functions and structures and company officers’ training, induction, and behaviour to protect the interests of diverse stakeholders in the corporations | 15.00 |
| 3. | Principles of good corporate governance and corporate disclosure requirements and corporate governance disclosure in practice | 20.00 |
| 4. | The main theories and elements of corporate social responsibility (CSR) | 15.00 |
| 5. | Current and future directions of sustainability accounting and integrated reporting of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) | 30.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=ACC8801)
Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)
Reference materials
Student workload expectations
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Assessments | 20.00 |
| Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app | 56.00 |
| Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app | 89.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASSIGNMENT 1 - PROBLEM-SOLVING | 100 | 40 | 19 Apr 2020 | |
| ASSIGNMENT 2 - RESEARCH | 100 | 60 | 31 May 2020 |
Important assessment information
-
Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them, to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. -
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.) -
Penalties for late submission of required work:
Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4) -
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course. -
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course. -
Examination information:
There is no examination in this course. -
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations. -
¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
Assessment notes
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Referencing in assignments:
Harvard (AGPS) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use Harvard (AGPS) style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (AGPS) style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at .