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

@alfred Re-read the Info Pack if you are worried about the structure of Parts 1 & 2 (also do a search of our forums as some mentors have done posts on this). The word count breakdowns in between sections are only suggestions as long as the whole lot does not exceed 7,500 words.

References for CG will tend to be mainly Code and annual reports as that is where the info is coming from but do try to get one or two (more if possible!) from business articles etc as that will show that you have researched well.

It isn’t mandatory for Topic 17 that you use the very latest reports but aim again to have them as current as poss (obviously if things haven’t changed like Board composition you can just say that “board composition remained the same in 2014 as in 2013” that would be enough.

You could put the remuneration details on a table for each of the years and comment on percentage increases perhaps – just thinking of ways you can do things in the least number of words and how you can present the info effectively. You would only have do this for M & S -you could just do a comparison on the total figures for Next as remuneration packages vary so much from company to company. However as the emphasis now is on not rewarding for failure, many analysts think that most of the remuneration should be in bonuses based on results (or better still share options) rather the majority being just a fat salary – so you could comment on this in the light of what you find.

Just ask yourself as you are doing it – am I presenting this information the best way?

Good luck! 🙂

Hello,

I have been reading a lot of the threads on the OBU forum for the past 2 weeks in order to get a clear understanding of what is expected from a student submitting a RAP.I have also read the info pack. I haven’t actually started my project as I am still brainstorming the topics to see what interests me most. After reading most of the treads on topics 1,8,16 & 17 I think I will choose topic 17.

Hopefully it’s not too late for me to start. I was planning on choosing my employer (the number 1 bank in my country) as the subject of my research and would like to know if that would be a good idea?

Also in terms of assessing the impact of the quality of CG on the key stakeholders, is Mendelow’s matrix the best model or are there other options?

Hope to hear from you soon.

With thanks.

@lan I think you will find that your queries have been answered in this forum (please do not open another forum for Topic 17 as I am trying to rationalise the number of forums we have open). I have therefore amalgamated the one you started with our existing one which I have renamed.

You should recognise that if you want to be successful when submitting a RAP on this topic that you need to be as objective as possible when doing your assessment. If you just apply theory without any meaningful evaluation you will not be successful. I have outlined the approach to take to this topic in my many posts above. If you read those this should give you some guidance on how to address this topic and get a decent grade (provided of course that you reference and present your work well).

In relation to models you discuss the theory in Part 2 and apply any model(s) in Part 3

@alfred I never thought for a moment that you were the only one interested in T17!

1. If you prepare the graphs, bar charts & pie charts that I have recommended all you need to do is submit the spreadsheet you used as an appendix (it doesn’t need to be posh & pretty as long as it is clear). Paste the graphs etc. into your RAP as images.

2. Oh please do not fall out! A conventional literature review is not required however yes you should VERY briefly mention Cadbury, Greenbury etc.in the context of how CG developed but you need not go overboard.

3. A formal report is normally written in the 3rd person singular but you may use ‘I’ in Parts 1 &2. There is very little scope for 3rd or 1st person in Part 3 as you are reporting findings and evaluating. You can however use I and me in your conclusions. Don’t fret too much about it as it is your content rather than the actual style (provided it is clearly written) that matters more. 🙂

@cherrony . I touched upon this partly in my answer on p.2 in response to mizztrayz so take a look at that post. What I was trying to emphasise is that it is how well a company approaches the whole concept of CG that is important. It is perfectly acceptable to look at appropriate parts of other Codes to help you in evaluating your chosen company whether these are Zimbabwean, South African, UK Code or SOX legislation. Essentially you need to make an objective assessment and rather than blindly agreeing that the company does CG well, you need to supply the evidence. Comparisons with codes and other companies provides some proof whether the company is doing the minimum on the CG front or ‘going the extra mile’

@mnaftara Far be it for me to come between you and your mentor but I suggest that you read my post on this forum to @thusang (on page 2)

Mentoring should be an exchange of information and questions between the mentor and student so I suggest that you ask your mentor the following questions:

1. How would they suggest that you can OBJECTIVELY assess a company’s CG?

2. Exactly how many students have they guided through T17 given their approach and answer to (1) above that have passed?

My approach in the posts I have outlined to @alfred and other students is based on having read many ACTUAL RAPs that have received an A grade for T17. Funny,… I don’t seem to recall reading any that got an A for T17 and tried to use primary data as their main form of analysis. However I do remember seeing quite a few that failed using that approach. Enough said on this subject I think 🙂

(Would I be cynical in thinking this is a case of yet another mentor who is only capable of mentoring for T8 and that any other topic is outside their comfort zone?)

@unyimeedem As long as you are showing in the text they are not your ideas etc. that should be fine, so stop worrying. It is how you use them that matters and whether you have demonstrated a balanced and reasoned evaluation.

@alfred OK let’s deal with these:

1. Limitations – More than a couple of sentences – I would expect a paragraph. Approach this by looking at your objectives and consider the information you used and ask yourself is there anything that has slightly hindered me in achieving the former with the data I had? What else could I have done in an ideal world? Probably the fact that you have had to rely on secondary data. Explain briefly why you couldn’t have used primary data (impracticality & validity issues) and then state that you have tried to introduce objectivity by using up-to-date information and comparator information and relevant codes etc. You can also (words permitting) state that as the data used is mainly discrete, unambiguous and the same basis has been used by the companies therefore comparisons are valid (e.g. gender of board, number of meetings, the number of days after year end that the FS of the companies were published cannot be disputed!) For Conclusion see 4 below

2. Your Mentor is fine. You have to do your Presentation to him (the 3rd meeting). Mislead him? In what way? He is supposed to have guided you but if he hasn’t had much exposure to the RAP he couldn’t fulfil this but the work is yours. The Presentation and verifying the work is yours are the main reasons OBU insists on a mentor – preferably one who is an ACCA – so you will need to give his details when you submit but OBU don’t need prior notification of who this is.

3. Referencing – the purpose of the reference list is that an academic should be able to track down the documents that you have used or at least be able to verify that such documents exist. If you have used the electronic versions of books and journals but do not put in the web addresses this is fine as long as you have given sufficient details (e.g. with journals the date or Volume and Issue). Check the date of the Code – you should be using the latest version and it is that date which is what you should use. Grant Thornton – in principle you have given sufficient referencing info as I have used this to find the doc – a question though – there is a 2013 Review so have you used this? Make sure you have referenced adequately in the text – every time you have used a source you need to show this in the text (and reference graphs and diagrams – you need to show the source of the info) – they are very ‘hot’ on referencing!

4. Why not use some of the points in the GT 2013 Review Highlights to help you with recommendations if you are struggling? Conclusion does not have to be long – normally you refer back to your aims and objectives and state briefly what you discovered in this respect.

By the way do not overlook your SLS (read the section in the Info Pack)- Fail it and you are into a resubmission and another GBP 191 🙁 When it comes to answering Q1 you can mention that you used our website for help (as long as your mentor isn’t too upset by this!). OBU word Q1 as ‘what you learned from the mentor experience’ because they expect your main guidance to come from the mentor but is WHAT you learned that is important NOT who actually guided you. The whole idea of the SLS is to show how you had doubts, lacked skills and direction and how daunting it was to do a piece of academic work. You need to reflect on how you learned how to approach this and produce work of the appropriate standard. How you learned to research etc (I am impressed with the Grant Thornton document by the way ! 😀 ) It would also be very appropriate to mention the initial setback with T13 as this taught you (a) how to deal with a major problem and (b) you realised that you should have planned this better – i.e. sought permission before you even started as you wasted a lot of effort. They are looking for ‘life lessons’ and new skills acquired here. When answering Q2 they want to know about the difficulties not so much how wonderful everything went… and anything you think you might hypothetically have done better or what you might have changed or approached differently if you were starting out now (e.g. what you have discovered with the benefit of hindsight). Just be sincere – I gather they hate SLSs that make out that everything was ‘hunky-dory’ because the people who mark these things deal with many students face to face and know that this is rarely the case….

BTW I am great thanks (I had an intense 3 month work project that I completed about 2 weeks ago) and so can now enjoy the last bit of UK sunshine before we are plunged into the depths of a dark and cold winter …. I am off on holiday soon to Italy too 😀 – a place I adore (funnily enough when the P28 results come out! ) so lucky me!

@alfred – definitely not while I’m on hols – I’ve worked long and hard and am going to have a complete rest! 🙂

The OT team will be holding the fort while I’m away…We are posting a few articles and the like over the next week or two for students who will be resubmitting so plenty for them to think about and get on with. I’ll only be ‘incommunicado’ for about 10 days.

Nice idea about the holiday in Uganda 🙂 but have another work project Dec through till the end of Feb and a big event in my social circle that will also impact on me from Nov for a while and will be very demanding. Had planned a trip to Dubai at Christmas but think that it is now unlikely that will go ahead as not enough time….. (let me put the violins away…) 🙂

@alfred this website will guide you on how to reference every source you have used.

https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm

@trephena Thanks

Am doing final touches on my M&S report

It is becoming tougher than the actual writing.

Atleast am out of the basket of Tesco and Morrisons

By the way I know I asked this before but I didnt get it clearly. I have been using the UK corporate governance code 2012., Any thing wrong with that year as most references I have met have the code as 2010

Thanks once again , are you back from holiday?

Hi all,

Open tuition is a wonderful learning plate form. I wish I knew it many years back but am glad I know it now.

Please can someone advice me… I intend to research on Topic 17 for my RAP. I am in Cameroon and we do not have a popular corporate Governance code. However, there is the OHADA uniform act joinly used by some member countries in Africa including Cameroon.

I will like to know if I can use the UK code for my project or strickly the Ohada, since Ohada is the law governing the company I intend to write on. Also, can I refer to both OHADA and Uk code?

I did ACCA and I am not very good in Ohada.

God bless you for your reply…
Prince

@ trephena Thank you very much for the reply.

I have read the clarifications you gave, precisely to Alfred. It was indeed a very rich and resourceful explanation and it has open my understanding a lot. Thanks again.

But Alfred eventually wrote on a UK company and that was why he used the UK Code. The real problem I have is that I am in a French speaking Country which follows the OHADA Uniform Act. The OHADA is still discussing on putting in place a Corporate Governance code as they have not developped one. I know it sounds strange but it’s true that there is no precise Corporate Governance code being followed by my country and therefore the company I intend to write on.

Please let me know if it is appropriate for me to use the UK Code for a company which is not in the UK, probably just for the sake of the research.

You also mentioned Topic 17 forum, please can you direct me to the forum. Or are you refering to the general OBU Forum?

Kind Regards,
Prince