Authorised: Dean of School Owner: Dean of School Approved by: SQC Date: 28th June 2004 Revised: 17th

July 2006 Ref: UWBS038g Assessment Briefing for Students

UWBS038g Assessment Briefing for Students

Academic Year: 2012/13 Module code: Subject Area: 7IB001 Module title: Corporate Governance in an International Context Dr Silke Machold Postgraduate Block 3

International Business

Module Leader:

Assessment brief number 1: Coursework Literature Review

Weighting: 50%

Assessment Brief/ Task Boards of directors are at the apex of organisations decision-making structures (Fama & Jensen, 1983), and are generally considered to be the most important internal governance mechanism. However, several corporate scandals and the recent financial crisis have re-ignited a debate on the role of boards and their effectiveness. Your task is to review the theoretical and empirical literature on boards, focusing specifically on the concept of board independence. Your report should include the following: a) An introduction to the domain of corporate governance and within it the role of boards. b) A critical review of the concept of board independence and its theoretical derivation. c) A review of the empirical literature on board independence, including a summary of findings regarding the impact of board independence on firm performance. d) A conclusion in which you put forward recommendations on how board independence can be achieved. Important requirements
Mode of Working: Presentation Format: Grade required to pass: Assessment limits: (in accordance with assessment tariffs) Hand in date: Assessment should be marked for the attention of: Preferred hand in location: individual Report D no more than 3,000 words
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24 May 2013 Dr Silke Machold This is an e-submission via WOLF.

The following detail is important when:

Preparing for your assessment Checking your work before submission When interpreting your grade and feedback after marking. (Note that your work will not be returned to you, so always keep a copy of your work for this purpose.)

Learning Outcomes Tested

1. To critically compare and contrast theoretical perspectives on organisations and their implications for organisational objectives and goals 2. To critically evaluate organisations and their international activities from a strategic management perspective

Assessment Criteria

1. Thoroughness of understanding and evaluation of organisational theories related to corporate governance. 2. Comprehensiveness of review of empirical studies on board independence and firm performance. 3. Quality of recommendations and their evidence base 4. Coherence of argument; accuracy of spelling, grammar and referencing A grade The question has been fully and comprehensively addressed and fresh insights are provided, clear evidence of a comprehensive understanding of organisational theories and their application in the context of corporate governance and boards, excellent capacity to synthesise views which are theoretically well-founded and underpinned with appropriate empirical evidence, excellent ability to communicate argument, wide-ranging and accurate use of referencing in Harvard convention The key aspects of all question are completely addressed, there is wide-ranging understanding of organisational theories and their application in the context of corporate governance and boards, very good capacity to express theoretically-founded views which are underpinned with appropriate empirical evidence, very good ability to communicate argument, very good range of sources used and accurate referencing in Harvard The key aspects of the question are addressed, there is a sound understanding of organisational theories and a clear attempt to apply these in the context of corporate governance and boards, a solid capacity to put forward views which are theoretically grounded and have supporting evidence, the key points are soundly argued and a good range of sources is used, Harvard referencing is used Most aspects of the question are addressed, there is evidence that key organisational theories are understood and the student has the capacity to apply these to corporate governance and boards albeit incompletely, satisfactory capacity to express views which have some basis in theory, awareness of some of the empirical studies in the domain, referencing is used but with some errors and/or omissions, an argument is constructed and the key points communicated Missed the point of the question and/or failed to address the key parts sufficiently, there is limited (incomplete, erroneous, simplistic) understanding of organisational theory and little relevant application to boards and corporate governance, insufficient capacity to express views based on theoretical or empirical foundations arguments are largely descriptive, limited, erroneous or absent referencing, None of the above did not attempt question(s)

Performance descriptors (by grade)

B grade

C grade

D grade

E grade

F grade

To help you further:

Refer to module guide for contact details of module leader Resit details will be posted on WOLF

Detail of tutorial inputs

Weeks 1-4 will cover the domain of corporate governance and the traditional organisational theory perspectives on boards and board composition. Each week, you will be given revision questions which will help you in preparing for the assignment. See module guide and guided reading issued in class

Recommended reading and other sources

Avoiding Academic Misconduct

Warning Collusion, plagiarism and cheating are very serious offences that can result in a student being expelled from the University. The business school has a policy of actively identifying students who engage in academic misconduct of this nature and routinely applying detection techniques including the use of sophisticated software packages. Avoid Collusion The business school encourages group working, however to avoid collusion always work on your own in order to complete your individual assessments. Do not let fellow students have access to your work before it is submitted and do not be tempted to access the work of others. Refer to your module tutor if you do not understand or you need further guidance. Avoid Plagiarism You must use available and relevant literature to demonstrate your knowledge of a subject, however to avoid plagiarism you must take great care to acknowledge it properly. You should therefore always use of the Harvard style referencing system in all cases. (For further guidance go to www.wlv.ac.uk/lib and from the menu that then appears, make these choices in turn: Study skills, referencing, Harvard Citation). Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone else's work and passing it off as your own. This includes incorporating either unattributed direct quotation(s) or substantial paraphrasing from the work of another/others. For this reason it is important that you cite all the sources whose work you have drawn on and reference them fully in accordance with the Harvard referencing standard. Extensive direct quotations in assessed work is ill advised because: It represents a poor writing style that is unlikely to meet the pass grade marking criteria, and it could lead to omission errors and a plagiarism offence could be committed accidentally. Maximising the benefits of team working Individual assessment must represent an effort prepared and submitted by you. It will contain your solutions to exercises set during the delivery of the module. (Your submission may reflect some contributions arising from group working and classroom presentations). Always: Maintain a file of evidence (e.g. academic papers used in preparing your assignment) Submit an electronic copy (e.g. a disk or CD) of all written assessments in addition to paper copies.