OLD (Pre-Period 35) Topic 17 Corporate Governance – RESUBMISSIONS ONLY

@trephena or Ann or anyone

With trephena recommendation I have decided to undertake corporate gorvernance (topic 17)

I trust my knowledge in this field but however you talked of comparator company and am now confused. Is it about comparing companies

And secondly if am to use purely secondary information can I use information from the internet and which multinational or big company has information that can easily be used from the internet

Thanks and any further guidance like what it might take me to get a good grade and what I can do ,

I shall be really greatful

Alfred

@trephena

Am in Uganda (East Africa) and like I said I nolonger have a chance to internal information ,a ctually the reason I took up your suggestion of topic 17 without second thought

I am really wondering if it’s possible to do this topic with out interacting at all with an internal person in the company, i.e I use internet (website), magazines , articles

but still I wonder how I would get those board structures (are there companies that you recommend that publicise their structures say on websites

You talk of employees ,shareholders ,suppliers do I really need to talk to these guys

And lastly am in Uganda like I said and we dont have any developed code here and basically a few companies which follow some are multinationals following their home codes

Can I use a UK company that has no base in Uganda and I rely only on their website and other internet indepedent reports

Otherwise oh yes I did my P1 in June and am waiting for results on 8th August

I thank you so much and hopefu;;y after this response I should be able to start on my RAP though I kind feel iam getting late considering I have to do an exam in December

Alfred

@trephena

Now this is truly helpful

I may go with the suggestion of M & S as I have long admired the company so a chance to find more about their dirty bit and their strength

But let me think about it (tomorrow 22 july ) I will be with a topic

Really if i make it the project shall truly be dedicated to open tuition and you @trephena

My other engagement is that I have to do my final 3 ACCA papers as I really want to finish my papers at the same time with the research

Alfred

@trephena- I understands your frustration with banks, they are evils we have to live with

Iam weighing in on M&S and I were thinking of something like
<An assesment of the quality of the corprate governance within M&S and the impact on M&S’ customers>

When am choosing a comparator company do I only look at a company doing better in corporate governance and I sort of bench mark

or alternatively can I compare with generally its competitors and which CG codes can I use for the project and any links to these codes

Othewise am now here really cracking to come up with research objectives and questions

Thanks @trephena
Alfred

@trephena

I hope this is not against forum guidelines, if so I stand to be warned

I have gone through the objective writing discussion and i really found it helpful-as objectives and questions are the all important pacesetter of the project I would wish to have an expert view on my objectives whether they will get me going on the right track. am doing this coz my mentor wont have a second thought on them as am just using him due to his suitabilty to mentor but otherwise he has no time for this, I have to push him
Otherwise am all on my own and you can imagine how this forum is massive to me

To cut it short these are my obectives and questions\

Objectives

1.To analyse the quality of corporate governance within MS

2.To establish what corporate governance guidelines and codes within MS

3 To analyse MS’ compliance to the codes in place

4. To establish the impact of corporate governance on MS key stakeholders

5.To improve my ability to criticise and asses a company’s performance in a particular area

6.To draw a reasonable conclusion and recommend some suggestions on the basis of overall learning from this project

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.What are the corporate governance codes adopted by MS

2.Who are the key stakeholders of MS

3.How is corporate governance with in MS compared with other players

4.To what extent has MS complied to corporate governance codes adopted

5.What are the major high points and corporate governance shortcomings within MS

6.What does quality/good corporate governance entail

7.What structures are in place to ensure quality corporate governance with in MS

8.How does MS evaluate its performance in corporate gorvernance both from an internal and independent view

Secondly when am writing part one of the report do I really have to reference points I incorporate say like from this forum

Thanks \\

Alfred

@trephena Thanks you so much,. how were the parties / weddings ? Did you bring for us on the platform a cake.? I will cut it myself..

Otherwise am down on business need to draft something but everytime I look at this blank word document its as if am getting nowhere hahaha

Thanks

I will frequent this platform for guidance , and if it was acceptable I would from time to time send you my draft to see whether am on track. only if its acceptable

Alfred

@trephena

Congratulations on your honorary bridesmaid. You must have a fine taste of fashion. 27C in Uganda is not hot really. It can really be hot. I will try to find out the Celcius we are hitting nowdays

I had chosen Debenham as my comparator company but their site with governance details is inaccessible. they say its forbidden

any useful links, Thanks and its 9.30pm here now and Iam going to sleep., goodnight. I will look forward to your response in the morning

Alfred

@trephena

Thank you so much for the links

Am truly indebted

Have a nice saturday and to everyone on the OT platform though it seems for topic 17 its all me alone

Alfred

@alfred Glad to here that your Topic 17 RAP is progressing well and many congratulations on your exam success 😀

1. Perfectly acceptable to use FRC and M&S when referencing but ensure that you use the same designations as the ‘identifier’ in the reference list e.g. in the list put FRC (2014) – Financial Reporting Council, the title of the document and all the other details etc. If you are using DIFFERENT documents from the same source in the same year you must use appendages in the text and list to distinguish the documents e.g. M&S (2013a); M&S (2013b). The idea is the reader should be able to find things quickly on the list and be directed to the exact source. Fine to write ‘The Code’ but the first time you use it give it the full title and then in brackets (The Code) and thereafter The Code can be used.

2. My preference for this is to use the conventional Harvard details in the list but add “also available online’ and then put the web address – that way the reader/marker can access it (if they want to!!!)

3. I don’ think the FTSE 100 or 250 factor is critical. Go for what has the most relevant information as will make your life easier 🙂 . Remember with Topic 17 a comparator is not mandatory (or at least it is not stated as compulsory in the Info Pack). I recommend it because it helps to show whether the main company is doing well or poorly in CG compared with other companies in its sector. In fact rather than one company you could bring in either Debenhams or Next at various times if relevant e.g. one is particularly good at a certain element – say Debenhams when it comes to gender of directors (as I think they had 3 women on their Board) – but just make sure you keep a clear focus on M&S. You are not doing a comparison of Next/Debenhams/M&S in relation to CG you are doing “An assessment of the quality of the corporate governance within M & S and the impact on M & S’s key stakeholders” and these comparators are to help you with that assessment.

Don’t worry about word count at this stage. When you have finished you will probably want to edit Parts 1 & 2. (In relation to an earlier comment: although this forum looks like a dialogue between you and me, it has had lots of views so other students are no doubt picking up hints and being encouraged to tackle Topic 17) 🙂

@thusang Although doing a survey and interview sounds good in theory, you need to look at the practicalities of doing any primary data collection. Have you done a statistics course? Do you understand sampling techniques? If the answer to this is yes then continue reading, if it is ‘no’ then stop there and abandon the idea!

The next consideration, assuming that you do understand the principles that lie behind good research and primary data collection is how are you going to achieve this? Realistically it is unlikely (unless you have any strings that you can pull) that the management will respond to you (my guess is that an email / letter will either be ignored / trashed or you will get a very watered-down response –probably just referring you back to the annual report for example). Who would you question anyway – the Board? They are hardly going to tell you any of the areas that are weak in CG as it would be admittance of failing! As for other stakeholders: the average employee, customer and general public probably don’t even understand what CG is and how would they know if they company is performing adequately on this front anyway? What could they and suppliers base their opinions on? So any research results via a questionnaire would be very subjective or if you did manage to get the company to answer any questions for you, are likely to be biased. I would never recommend a student do primary data collection as their main research tool for Topics 17 & 20 unless they are well versed in statistical techniques and methods. Doing a comparison with other companies in the same sector and against the Code for T17 at least gives some reliable benchmarking – you are comparing facts with facts and it is a far more objective way than asking someone with limited knowledge what they may think.

As I have already alluded to: primary data collection unless it is pure observation or a straight interview is something that students should only consider if they have a good understanding of the principles that lie behind conducting surveys and sampling techniques and this normally means that they need to have done a good statistics course. Although it may be possible / necessary to do primary data collection for other topics it still comes down to conducting the research in a professional way. The most important aspects of this are framing the questions so that they are clear and unambiguous and to ensure that respondents actually understand what is being asked (far harder in practice than it sounds) and selecting the appropriate sampling frame.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear –but don’t shoot the messenger. I am only trying to help you avoid the frustration of not getting any clear results and wasting time doing the wrong approach – one that would most likely lead to a fail for Application of Models (a poor survey) and fail for Evaluation & Analysis (the results are not reliable and invalid and therefore the findings based on them prove absolutely nothing). The sad fact is that unfortunately most students do not possess adequate appreciation and skills of how to do primary research and therefore the results are usually unreliable and invalid. (95% of the surveys that students conduct are at best poor and at worst fabricated and the teaching staff at universities are not dumb when it comes to the latter and can spot a phoney survey a mile-off!! )

If you do have the right background in statistics then go ahead as you should be able to avoid the pitfalls set out above by doing robust research and so achieving the assessment criteria won’t be a problem. It may then add some value to your work but it would still need to be supplemented by doing some comparator analysis or similar benchmarking to increase the objectivity of the results.

A business report is less formal than an academic paper. The latter has to be written in the 3rd person and will mainly be written in the passive voice. It also has a stricter layout and it will normally contain a very thorough literature review of related research.

A business report is not so prescribed but you should see the latest Information Pack on what sections need to be included in the RAP. In UK universities the terms ‘dissertation’ and ‘thesis’ have particular meanings and the RAP is not of the same academic standard as these (although many overseas students seem to apply these terms indiscriminately and mistakenly to the Research and Analysis report)

@unyimeedem Provided you select an appropriate company and you have studied P1, I think you will probably find Topic 17 is easier than Topic 15 in terms of evaluation (it can be difficult with T15 to achieve a good grade unless you have access to a lot of reliable and relevant information).

According to the Resubmission Rules it states:

“If you fail the Research Report but you pass the Skills and Learning
Statement, then you need only submit the revised Research Report and not
the Skills and Learning Statement”. However it doesn’t sat anything about if you change topic and company.

So it looks as if you won’t have to do the SLSL again but you will obviously have to do the Presentation. However I confess that admin matters are not my forte (as I am more concerned with RAP academic content, evaluation and the assessment criteria). So perhaps someone else like @Anna – OBU mentor or @bassaniobroke can confirm this?

By the way although if you change your topic you don’t have to submit a Resubmission statement, I think it would still be a good exercise as it may help you if you looked at your marker feedback and reflected on what went wrong, as this will focus you on what to avoid second time around. (Please see my article on our home page called ‘The Resubmission Statement – how a good one can be your key to success on resubmission ). However it will be entirely up to you if you actually want to write and upload such a statement with your work on resubmission 🙂

@Alfred Hi there!

Maybe it would be a good idea at this point to go back to the earlier sections and trim a lot of the unnecessary material? You do not need to give a lot of the background to M & S for example. The clever part of the RAP is the findings section and your evaluation & analysis so you must concentrate on this. You need to maintain focus and clarity in this section start with the various important factors relating to the board, remuneration, committee compositions, meetings etc and wherever possible use a graph or diagram or table as this will save words (you can sometimes create these in another document and if you paste them into your work as images you can sometimes save on the wordcount – yes it is Microsoft word for the word count). If you do this for the comparator then you can than ‘save’ your words for explaining the important differences or stressing the weaknesses and strengths (avoid repeating what the graph says and making statements of the obvious as this is just ‘eating up’ words and does not advance the analysis). Graphs/ diagrams are great anyway as they break up the text .

Just had an idea to save some words – when it comes to the comparator analysis you could put a whole lot of the info in tables* with say one column for the Code, one for M & S. List out what the code says e.g. the composition of the board in terms of NEDs and then show M & S’s breakdown then move on to the next factor say frequency of board meetings, or separate role of CEO and Chairman and work your way through. You then only have to pick up in the text on the points where M & S is not complying and comment on the significance.

Where they are not complying you can then look at the comparator and see what they are doing on the issue (and preferably show it in a graph or chart). The thing is you have to make the way you present your information interesting and engage the reader (students forget that some poor person somewhere not only has to read their work but may have dozens of other RAPs to read and mark as well so they are already probably bored and need something that is appealing and more interesting). So try to make your work look good and think about how you can present the information to best effect – and save words into the bargain

Been a bit chilly and rainy in the UK lately 🙁 but in fact I’ve been so busy working on a work project I hardly noticed – they are forecasting better weather this weekend 😀

*tables -ensure these are keep in Word format. Do NOT post them as images otherwise they will not be picked up by the word count. The words in images still count towards the word total and therefore if you exceed this you could be failed.