Availabilities:

Location Domestic International
Gold Coast Session 2 Session 2,  2
New Zealand - MIT Session 2 Session 2
Online Session 2 Session 2,  2
Papua New Guinea - Air Niugini N/A Session 2
Singapore - MDIS N/A Session 2
Sydney N/A Session 2

Unit Summary

Unit type

PG Coursework Unit

Credit points

12

AQF level

9

Level of learning

Advanced

Former School/College

Former School of Business and Tourism

Unit aim

The unit introduces students to corporate governance - one of the most important developments in business. The abuses and excesses of the takeover era and the exponential growth of the institutional investor have transformed the roles of shareholders, managers, and directors of publicly held companies. This unit explains how modern corporate governance has evolved, the trends and changes taking place and the likely impact of those changes. Students will be assisted to develop skills in applying techniques for effective corporate governance.

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 Government, not-for-profit, SMEs and corporate governance globally

Topic 10 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.

GA1: , GA2: , GA3: , GA4: , GA5: , GA6: , GA7:
On completion of this unit, students should be able to: GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 describe the current state of corporate governance internationally with reference to landmark developments in its historical evolution
2 define in precise terms what is meant by 'best practice' in relation to corporate governance and cite specific frameworks and principles that inform that definition
3 understand and describe the anatomy of corporate governance failure in at least two major corporations and link that failure to unethical practices
4 explain how best practice corporate governance is inextricably linked to the concept of ethical behaviour for both directors and senior management with reference to at least one theoretical perspective
5 explain the concept of 'sustainability', its relationship to corporate governance generally, ethical conduct specifically, and its importance with respect to quantifying the impact of business practices on indigenous groups, cultural identities, local economies and environments.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. describe the current state of corporate governance internationally with reference to landmark developments in its historical evolution
    • GA1:
    • GA3:
    • GA7:
  2. define in precise terms what is meant by 'best practice' in relation to corporate governance and cite specific frameworks and principles that inform that definition
    • GA1:
    • GA3:
    • GA7:
  3. understand and describe the anatomy of corporate governance failure in at least two major corporations and link that failure to unethical practices
    • GA1:
    • GA3:
    • GA7:
  4. explain how best practice corporate governance is inextricably linked to the concept of ethical behaviour for both directors and senior management with reference to at least one theoretical perspective
    • GA1:
    • GA3:
    • GA7:
  5. explain the concept of 'sustainability', its relationship to corporate governance generally, ethical conduct specifically, and its importance with respect to quantifying the impact of business practices on indigenous groups, cultural identities, local economies and environments.
    • GA1:
    • GA3:
    • GA7:

Prescribed texts

  • New Edition: Solomon, J, 2013, Corporate Governance and Accountability, 4th edn, Wiley, Australia. ISBN: 978-1-118-44910-3.
Prescribed texts may change in future teaching periods.