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Unit Summary
Unit type
PG Coursework Unit
Credit points
12
AQF level
Level of learning
Advanced
Former School/College
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.
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:
-
describe the current state of corporate governance internationally with reference to landmark developments in its historical evolution
- GA1:
- GA3:
- GA7:
-
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:
-
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:
-
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:
-
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.