BUSINESS SCHOOL

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ACCT3031: International Corporate Governance
Semester 2, 2022
Individual Assignment

The individual assignment is a summative assessment that considers the material presented during the
semester. In completing the Individual Assignment, students are expected to demonstrate their ability to
undertake individual research, critically evaluate information, use analytical skills, and apply knowledge from
course materials and other sources.

The individual assignment (weighted at 35% of your overall marks) consists of one component:
Report: 2000-word report due week 13 (10am, Wednesday 2 November 2022)

Document Properties
Format: The report is to be prepared using 12-point font (Times New Roman, Arial or Cambria),
paragraphs formatted with 1.5-line spacing, and with margins not less than 2cm.
Header: Your SID is to be shown in the header of your report on each page.
File name: The Report must be saved using SID, ACCT3031, Semester 2, 2022; e.g.
490490490ACCT3031s222.
Referencing: Students should follow the rules set out in the APA 7th referencing style. Please refer to the
library site for further information and expectations about consistent referencing:
https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation/apa7
Word length: A word length (of 2000 words) has been specified for the report in this assignment, you must
conform to the word length. Where a report exceeds the maximum word length, the report will
incur a penalty of 10% of the total available marks when the submission is 10% above the
maximum word length and an additional 10% for each 10% over-length thereafter.
Note, the maximum word length includes in-text referencing but excludes the reference list
and any appendices at the end of the assessment. See University Policies and Business
School Resolutions on Assessment: https://business.sydney.edu.au/students/policy

Company Notification
As part of the requirements of the individual assignment, students will undertake an analysis of corporate
governance requirements by utilising an Australian listed entity. The listed entity (company) for your
assignment will be provided on Canvas.

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Assessment Details

Report (100 marks)
The individual assignment draws upon your research for the group assignment to examine corporate
governance requirements and practices across different jurisdictions.
You are required to investigate the corporate governance disclosures of an Australian listed entity within
Australia, and through analysing these disclosures in an international context. As part of completing the
report, you will need to identify and obtain:
• the 4th edition of the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s, Corporate Governance Principles and
Recommendations; and
• the Australian company’s corporate governance disclosures
In addition, you will need to refer to the appropriate corporate governance requirements governing the
company from your group assignment.
N.B. Disclosures include, but are not limited to, financial reports, annual reports, governance reports,
sustainability reports, and the company website - do not rely solely on a single source document.
Report Brief
Drawing upon the corporate governance requirements from your group assignment and using the
Australian company’s corporate governance disclosures together with the ASX corporate governance
code, you will analyse and critique the requirements of corporate governance mechanisms and
requirements.
Executive summary (200 words)
An executive summary of the key findings and analysis. The executive summary must provide
sufficient detail for the reader to understand (albeit at a superficial level) the contents of your report.
Comparison of Australian to relevant international corporate governance code (500 words)
Compare the requirements under the ASX corporate governance code to the corporate governance
requirements code (or listing rule, where appropriate) of the local stock/security exchange used for
your group assignment. It is suggested this information is provided in a table with a brief explanation
on the similarities and differences. For the purposes of the comparison, use the Australian code as
the base data.
Critical analysis of corporate governance requirements (1 300 words)
Drawing upon the corporate governance disclosures of the Australian listed entity as evidence,
undertake an analysis of the corporate governance requirements of both countries. As part of the
analysis, examine how differences in the code could result in changes to corporate governance
practices or disclosures of the Australian company.
As you undertaken the analysis, ensure you consider appropriate literature and the weekly modules
to frame your discussion and explanations.
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Submission Instructions

Report
Anonymous marking will be used for this assignment. The report must be submitted electronically via
Turnitin by the due date as either a .doc or .docx file.

Late Submissions
A student that submits an assessment late (after the official due date), and is not covered by an approved
Special Consideration, or submits after the extension granted under a Special Consideration, the penalty of
5% of the Total Available Marks per day or part thereof, until the close date will apply, after which the student
will receive 0 marks.

Academic Honesty
As a student of the University, you are responsible for taking part in your education in an honest and authentic
manner. It is, therefore, expected that you take extra care to ensure that there are no breaches of academic
honesty. All assignments will be manually and electronically checked for plagiarism (copying). Any perceived
breaches of academic honesty will be referred to the Office of Educational Integrity for further investigation
and penalised if verified. You can read more information on what plagiarism is and how to avoid plagiarism
from the University link: http://sydney.edu.au/students/academic-dishonesty-and-plagiarism.html
Note on recycling: While this assignment draws upon the research undertaken for the group assignment, it
is not necessary, nor appropriate, to recycle work from the group assignment including the report. Any
submission for the individual report that shows evidence of recycling from the group report will be reported as
a suspected breach of academic honesty.
Students are reminded all sources of support for the assignment must be acknowledged and failure to
acknowledge such support may potentially breach the University’s academic honesty requirements.

Feedback
The report will be marked via a rubric in Turnitin. A marked-up copy of the report, available through Turnitin,
will provide feedback after the semester results are released.


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Marking Criteria
Activity/Criteria Does Not Meet Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations
REPORT
Relevant Content Information generally not
relevant
Information included is
generally relevant
Information included is
always relevant
Accurate Content Little evidence of research
Poor or little understanding of
material in order to present
satisfactorily
Reasonable evidence of
research
Evidence of reasonable
understanding of material and
content in order to present
satisfactorily
Evidence of research
Evidence of clarity of
understanding of the material
and content in order to
present effectively
Appropriate word allocation Poor allocation of words
within the defined limits
Marginally allocation of
words within the defined
limits
Appropriate allocation of
words within the defined
limits
Makes effective use of tables
and figures

Data presentation aids not
used appropriately, not
integrated or inconsistent (e.g.
not related appropriately to
text, poor quality).
Data presentation aids used
reasonably well, reasonably
well integrated and
consistent.
Data presentation aids used
very well, developed
appropriately, integrated and
consistent.
Clear and logically organised Information not clear
Disjointed or does not flow
well
Little apparent logical order
Key points are relatively clear
Most information presented in
a logical sequence
Sufficiently well organised
Generally satisfactory flow
Some ambiguities remain
Clearly stated and developed
content
Material flows well and is
well organised
No ambiguities left
unexplained
Uses appropriate grammar
(appropriate language, tone
and flow)
Grammar inappropriate Grammar generally
appropriate to reader and
situation.
Reasonable style, tone and
voice
Grammar appropriate to
reader and situation
Good style, tone and flow
Gains/holds reader attention Little effort/ability to gain or
hold reader attention
Gains and holds attention of
audience reader
Gains and holds attention of
reader well
Purpose The purpose and focus of the
writing are not clear to the
reader
The writer's decisions about
focus, organisation, style, and
content sometimes interferes
with the purpose of the
writing
The writer's decisions about
focus, organisation, style, and
content fully elucidate the
purpose and keep the purpose
at the centre of the piece