ACC03043 - Corporate Governance (2018)

Unit description

The unit introduces students to corporate governance practices, regulations and guidelines. The abuses and excesses in global financial markets and the exponential growth of institutional investors have transformed the roles of shareholders, managers, and directors of publicly held companies. This unit critically analyses how modern corporate governance has evolved, the trends and changes taking place and the likely impact of those changes. Students develop skills in solving advanced and emerging corporate governance problems and communicating this information in organisations.

Unit content

Topic 1 The evolution of modern corporate governance

Topic 2 Company structure, the roles and responsibilities of directors and the board

Topic 3 Shareholders, stakeholders and ownership structures

Topic 4 Acting unethically: The anatomy of failure - Enron and HIH

Topic 5 Board knowledge and the importance of codes of ethics

Topic 6 A framework for board activities, board and committee structures

Topic 7 Board styles, board review and appraisal, and board development

Topic 8 Strategy formulation, policy making and measuring management performance

Topic 9 Corporate governance in the global business environment 

Topic 10 Corporate governance in SME and Start-up Companies 

Topic 11 Corporate governance in diverse organisational settings

Topic 12 Corporate social responsibility and global corporate behaviour

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

Prescribed texts