Corporate Governance Order Description Option 1 Conduct a review of the governance of your organisation (or one with which you are familiar) and write a report with your findings. Use the concepts, tools and techniques learned in this subject to review the structure, process and effectiveness of the governance of the organisation, and to make recommendations for appropriate improvements. These focus questions could guide you in writing your report: In which aspects of corporate governance has your organisation been reasonably successful? Discuss what has led to the success and how it could be sustained. In which aspects of corporate governance has your organisation failed or been less successful? Discuss the reasons for this and what can be done to address them. Option 2 Consider a publicly listed company whose business performance has been criticised publicly and, using its annual report, reference documents about the company (e.g. analysts’ reports, in-depth interviews and articles, documents on company’s website) and write a report about its governance protocols and practices. (This could include independence of directors, length of tenure of directors, other responsibilities of directors, etc.). Whichever option you choose your report should include: A brief description of the organisation and its background/industry. This description should be a short section only. An outline of the bases or criteria for the review of the organisation’s governance. For example, mention which standards or guiding principles are relevant for the review, discuss their importance and why it is appropriate for you to use them. A critical review of the organisation’s governance applying the relevant concepts, principles, standards or other tools and techniques learnt during this subject, in accordance with your discussion above. A list of recommendations for suggested improvement based on your review. The recommendations should only be a short section in the overall report. This assessment is an individual assessment (ie this is not a group assessment). Please ensure you avoid collusion and other practices which compromise individual assessment work. Important Assignment Instructions The required word length for this assignment is 2500 words (+/- 10%). In terms of structure, presentation and style you are normally required to use: - AIB standard report format; and - AIB preferred Microsoft Word settings; and - Harvard style referencing (which includes in-text citations plus a reference list). These requirements are detailed in the AIB Style Guide. Reference lists for AIB assignments / projects normally contain the following number of relevant references from different sources: 6-12 (for MBA assignments). All references must be from credible sources such as books, industry related journals, magazines, company documents and recent academic articles. Your grade will be adversely affected if your assignment contains no/poor citations and/or reference list and also if your assignment word length is beyond the allowed tolerance level (see Assessment Policy available on AIB website). Useful resources when working on your assignments include: - AIB Online Library - AIB Assignment Guide - AIB Style Guide TEXT BOOK Tricker, B 2015, Corporate governance: principles, policies and practices, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press (ISBN: 9780198702757). The 2nd edition is also suitable (ISBN: 9780199607969).
16 September, 2015
response to two prompts *** Write a response to two of the following prompts. Each response should be at least three paragraphs long. Keep your introductory paragraph brief—no more than three sentences. *** You should include at least two specific citations in each essay, and one of the textual references you cite should be a direct quotation, like this: We see Willie’s courage when he says to his bullies, “I am not going to run, and I am not going to fight back. You are the ones who are afraid, not I” (99). The ‘99’ refers to the page number. Also, strive to use the following “PIE” structure in your paragraphs. Now here is a paragraph that makes a claim or “point,” supports the claim with textual evidence or an “illustration,” and then adds “explanation” to tie the evidence to the claim and make the point convincing: Willie’s courage is deserving of our admiration, but sometimes we must question his judgment. For example, when he describes riding freight trains as his main mode of traveling from city to city, job to job, he does so even though he has been warned that it is a federal crime and that the rail yard guards carry cudgels and are accompanied by fierce dogs. He says that he felt “invisible” (76). He would hide on the tops of tanker cars and underneath the flat cars. He’d heard stories of hitchers being caught and beaten or robbed of all their belongings at knife point on a moving train, but that “never scared me; my newfound freedom seemed to dissolve all fear” (83-84). Willie’s actions were bold, and he certainly rejoiced in his freedom, but he seems oddly unconcerned for his safety and without fear. Here the two-page range is cited because the quotation spans both pages. ? Notice how the quotation does not start the paragraph; instead, it follows statements made by the student writer. 1) Select a passage from both “Pigeons” and “Sign Here if You Exist” that you find particularly engaging, one that holds your attention. Perhaps you find it engaging because you can identify or “relate” to the narrator, the situation, or to one of the minor characters. Perhaps you love the writing style or how the passage is written—the diction, the sensory details, the intimate spoken quality, etc. Or perhaps your interest is engaged because of the subject matter. Write an essay of 3 paragraphs that explains how and why these two passages engage you. (Note: By passage we mean a paragraph or a few paragraphs.) 2) Write an essay of three paragraphs that characterizes the personal paradigm shifts that Quinn (“Sign Here if You Exist”) and Pollack (“Pigeons”) describe in their respective essays. What events change them, and how and why do they transform? Finally, in your conclusion, assess how the two transformations are alike or different. 3) We are taught that an “essay” makes a point. It has a main idea or argument. Do these two narrative essays by Quinn and Pollack have that main idea, and is it stated explicitly for the reader? If so, what is it, and where in each essay is it openly stated? 4) Both essays use their closing paragraphs to “synthesize” or tie together the experiences and ideas that are presented up to that point. What does the conclusion accomplish in each essay? Do you find both convincing—that is, are you persuaded by what the author says in her closing reflection? Explain why or why not. I am/not persuaded because… 5) What do the two essay titles mean? Write an essay that interprets the two titles metaphorically. Close your essay with an insight about how titles work and what makes a good title
16 September, 2015
Research Method class Professor requirements: Questions are going to deal with hypotheses, causality, and policy concerns and in somewhat of a broad nature. When noted, you will need to use the appropriate data to answer the questions. You will be evaluated based on how you develop an appropriate methodological design to respond to the question and how you analyze and interpret the data. Thus you should be responding to the questions as if you are hired to respond to the corresponding board pertaining to the questions. In other words, you need to explain what you are doing, why, and your interpretation of the results. You should respond in a way that assumes limited knowledge on my part. Therefore, you need to be concise in your responses and detailed in your explanations. Please answer all parts of the question for full point consideration and answer the questions in complete sentences. Be sure to include any SPSS print outs and/or word document necessary to answer the questions. If you feel something can be interpreted in more than one way, be sure to adequately articulate your interpretation and subsequent answer. 1. You have been asked to conduct a study of mobility patterns among welfare recipients. Explain how you approach such a study from an inductive theoretical perspective. Note: You might find it helpful to make an outline to answer this question. 2. You and a colleague get into a heated debate over the cause of student dissatisfaction on campus. Your colleague argues that there is a direct relationship between student unrest and periods of uncertainty among faculty due to changes in upper administration. Outline how you would design a study to test your colleague’s theory keeping in mind the criteria underlying causal logic. Note: Consider using Criteria of cause and/or causal analysis. 3. You are a consultant to your country’s social service board. You hear that new legislation may significantly reduce social security and Medicaid Benefits. If three of the four communities and four of the five rural townships in your county have negatively skewed age profiles, what might be the implications of the new legislation on your country? Note: a complete answer will use discussion of distributions to defend your position. Also, note a vast majority have a negatively skewed profile. 4. Compare and contrast the t-test and the One-way ANOVA Procedure. Are there any similarities & differences between the two types of tests? What are the advantages to each, that is why would you want to use one versus another? Note: remember, I do not know the difference or anything about either of these tests or why you would use them so be sure to be clear with your answers.
16 September, 2015