ACC3100/ACF3100 - S1, 2023
GROUP RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT
Purpose This task assesses your ability to find, analyse and present findings as a group.
You will also have an opportunity to reflect on your own work and others work
within the team.
This task is connected to the following Unit Learning Outcomes:
1. Evaluate contemporary financial accounting issues
2. Apply a range of theories to explain accounting practices and show an
understanding of the judgements, estimations and assumptions influencing
accounting numbers
3. Critically assess changing influences in standard setting and regulatory
requirements
4. Apply judgement, communication, research and problem-solving skills to
deal with advanced financial accounting issues.
5. Contribute effectively to and reflect critically on teamwork.
Your task Part 1: As a group, you will work to create a research report investigating the
concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (see more information in ‘Instructions’)
N.B. In this assessment, you must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to
generate any materials or content in relation to the assessment task.
Part 2: Individually, you will give self and peer reflective feedback on the
performance of yourself and your team
Value Part 1: Task is graded out of 100 marks (20% of your total marks for the unit)
All group members will be awarded the same grade
Part 2: Task is graded out of 5 marks (5% of your total marks for the unit)
This will be calculated as an individual grade for each student
Word Limit Part 1: 2500 words (+/- 10%) (excluding executive summary, references and any
appendices)
Word count must be written on the document
Part 2: Individual reflection - maximum 180 words.
Due Date Friday, 12 May 2023, 9:30 am
Submission ● Via Moodle Assignment Submission.
● Turnitin will be used for similarity checking of all submissions.
Assessment
Criteria
Part 1:
This assessment task will be assessed on:
● Research and information gathering
● Academic integrity
● Analysis and synthesis
● Writing style
No individual submissions will be accepted.
View the rubric on Moodle for more detailed information on assessment criteria
Part 2:
Completion of the template around each group member’s contributions (see
Moodle)
This reflection will be assessed on:
● Clarity and conciseness in responding to the three short questions posed
● Personal reflection
Late Penalties ● 10% deduction per calendar day or part thereof for up to one week
● Submissions more than 7 calendar days after the due date will receive a
mark of zero (0) and no assessment feedback will be provided.
Support
Resources
Moodle Weekly Support
Find out more about appropriate report structure and see some sample
sections
Week 7 Consolidate Knowledge Report Structure
Feedback Feedback will be provided on student work via:
● general cohort performance
● specific student feedback ten working days post submission
Part 1 Research Report
INSTRUCTIONS
Issue to be investigated: Corporate social responsibility
Background
The concept of corporate social responsibility highlights that while companies may be primarily
focused on making profits, they also have an effect on, and responsibility to, society.
Sustainability reporting is one of the commonly used terms for organisations reporting on social,
environmental and financial aspects (others include CSR, ESG, triple bottom line and environmental
reporting). Integrated reporting is an initiative designed to improve sustainability reporting and
integrate it more closely with financial reporting and governance reporting.
Developed under the auspices of integrated reporting, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
developed a globally accepted reporting framework which hopes to enhance the quality of
sustainability reporting. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards are the latest guidelines that
companies can adopt when preparing sustainability reports.
Context
You have recently been appointed as a graduate accountant in a company listed on the Australian
Securities Exchange Top 300 (ASX300), and are currently reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
(Note: you will be assigned your specific company and allocated to a group by the beginning of Week 5.
Groups are a maximum of 3 students and group members must be from the same allocated tutorial
group). The CFO has tasked you to evaluate whether the sustainability report currently prepared by the
company impacts the environment or society negatively. Further, you are to assess whether sustainability
reporting should be mandatory or voluntary.
You are to research the issue and present your findings in a business report.
A business report to update the CFO on a range of issues relating to corporate social responsibility
must include (but not limited to):
(i) Briefly summarise and explain sustainability reporting and the GRI Sustainability Reporting
Standards. The explanation should be clear and succinct and in your own words.
(ii) Concisely describe the economic, environmental and social aspects for your company and the
impact of these. Further, discuss the sustainability policies identified by your company and the
ways the company wishes to project itself to the public in relation to these matters (such
information may be found under the sustainability report on their website or as part of the
company’s latest annual report). When addressing this point you should state whether you think
the company, through its sustainability report, impacts the environment or society negatively, and
briefly support your position.
(iii) With reference to theories covered in this unit and academic journal articles, and, where relevant,
high quality newspaper and professional articles, critically evaluate whether sustainability
reporting should be voluntary or mandatory. Why or why not? Further, if you believe it should be
mandatory where should the regulation be? Explain. You need to state your position on
whether this information should be mandatory or voluntarily provided.
Where do I start?
Need more background information?
Look back over the topics and readings in Moodle, particularly in the following weeks:
Week 1, 2 and 3
Want to know more about finding information?
Check in with the Monash library website and staff.
You can start here with some ideas about finding and evaluating information:
https://www.monash.edu/library/help/assignments-research/finding-and-evaluating-information
Who might be able to help?
Start with your group! Make time to meet and share your ideas.
If you have questions about the task, post them on the assessment discussion forum.
Who can help with report writing?
LearnHQ has lots of great resources for business report writing.
Start with this resource to find out the format of a business report:
https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/write-like-a-pro/annotated-assessment-samples/business-and-
economics/buseco-report-writing
Who can help with APA7 referencing?
Understanding how to reference sources is a key part of this task.
The library has a number of resources that can help you:
Referencing: https://www.monash.edu/library/help/citing-and-referencing/citing-and-referencing-tutorial
APA7 style: https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa7th
In addition, check Moodle for more information and activities to practise these skills.
Group work
Working as part of a team is an important aspect of this task and no individual reports will be
accepted. For this project:
● Groups will be formed from within your tutorial group and reported to your tutor in week 4*
● Groups are expected to communicate regularly and group members should take equal
responsibility for the work produced^
*If students fail to form a group in week 4, they will be allocated randomly to a group. Please
note that based on past experience, students who choose their own groups are more likely to be
successful in this assignment, so we strongly encourage you to join the tutorial, meet your classmates
and form your own groups.
^As a group, you are encouraged to note your roles and responsibilities and keep track of what
has been completed. It is recommended that team members keep an individual log of their work or
some other appropriate ‘paper trail’ to provide evidence of work completed and interaction with their
teammates. This evidence will be useful in the case of peer review disagreements and
inconsistencies.
Q What can we do if a group member is not contributing to the assignment?
A In this case, contact the Chief Examiner as early as possible to report this.
Find out more about effective Group Work here:
https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/resources/collaborate-with-others
When preparing the research report you must:
● Refer to information from this unit on relevant theories
● Refer to appropriate, reputable sources outside of the unit (these may include academic and
professional journal articles, reputable websites and high-quality newspapers)
● Use appropriate report organisation and formatting
● Reference all sources using the APA 7 referencing system
● In this assessment, you must not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to generate any
materials or content in relation to the assessment task.
Referencing Requirement:
● You must submit a properly referenced assignment. Groups who submit an assignment
without in-text referencing (and/or a reference list) will have their assignment returned to them.
These groups should re-submit their assignment with appropriate referencing, however,
students will only be eligible to receive half of the total available marks (i.e. a maximum of 50
out of total possible 100 marks which will be scaled to 10 out of 20 marks).
Find out more about searching for appropriate sources here:
https://www.monash.edu/library/help/assignments-research/finding-and-evaluating-information
Find out more about report writing here:
https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/write-like-a-pro/annotated-assessment-samples/business-and-
economics/buseco-report-writing
Find out more about referencing here:
https://www.monash.edu/library/help/citing-and-referencing/citing-and-referencing-tutorial
Submission information:
● Your report is to be submitted by one group member only as a soft copy in the Research
Report Submission Box in Moodle by the due date and time.
● Please note that Turnitin will be enabled when submitting this assessment.
● Please refer to the following link for further information on Turnitin:
https://guides.lib.monash.edu/turnitin/using-turnitin
● When submitting the assessment, there will be an automated declaration process in Moodle.
Therefore, there is no need to include a signed cover page.
● You must keep an electronic copy for your records until the final results have been published.
Part 2 Group Work Reflection
INSTRUCTIONS
This part of the assessment is an INDIVIDUAL TASK that must be submitted separately by each
member of the group.
For this part of the task, every student must:
● Complete the peer review form for each member of the group
● Write a short reflection of their own participation in the group work (which will be submitted
individually through Moodle)
● Your reflection should answer the following questions:
○ What you learned about working in a group
○ What you feel your strengths and weaknesses are; and,
○ What you feel you can work on to be better group contributors in future.
The Chief Examiner will review these results to ensure fair and equitable marks.
Task Glossary
Term Meaning
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
ESG Environmental, social, and governance
GRI Global Reporting Initiative
SDG Sustainable Development Goals
CFO Chief Financial Officer
APA 7 American Psychological Association - 7th edition
Monash University APA 7 Resources