Corporate Governance

Order Description
OUR COMPANY IS BARCLAYS PLC.

ACC3165 Coursework Assignment II – (35% of final mark)
Prepare a less than 3,500-word (excluding bibliography and appendices) group REPORT on a selected UK company from the FTSE100 by, addressing the following aspects:
1. Introduction (10%)
a) Briefly discuss the key themes/purpose of the report and the structure of it.
b) A brief background to the selected company, such as the company’s size, scope of operations, industry and competitors.
This section should not be more than half a page long.
2. Social Reporting (40%)
a) Why companies report social information/discharge of accountability (10%)
Accountability/transparency debate by Gray, Adam and Owen (1996) and Roberts (2009)
b) Theoretical Perspectives/framework (15%)
You need to choose your theoretical framework (with reference to the key as well as up-to-date academic literature), discussing which theories you have chosen and why to analyse the social reports of your chosen company. In doing so, you need to discuss why companies choose to report social information in the absence of regulatory requirements and which theories do you choose to analyse the content of the sustainability report of your company and why?
c) Critical evaluation of CSR reports (15%)
Point out the key issues related to corporate social responsibility or sustainability reporting. You need to state which CSR standards (such as GRI, AA1000, Global Compact), if any, have been adopted by the company.
Throughout this section, critically evaluate (in the context of your chosen theories) the social information that your company has provided. Are you happy with the evidence? (link with your chosen theoretical framework!!)
3. Stakeholder engagement (15%)
Identify and evaluate the stakeholder engagement techniques the company has employed and critically evaluate the usefulness of these techniques and strategies in discharging their accountability.
(Cooper and Owen, 2007)
4. CSR/Sustainability reporting assurance (15%)
a) How has your company assured its sustainability/social reports? Evaluate the assurance statement
b) Has the assurance statement helped the company discharge its accountability to its stakeholders?

5. Discharge Corporate Accountability (10%)
a) Using your chosen theoretical framework, critically evaluate different aspects of your company’s sustainability report (what you have discussed and presented in sections 2, 3 and 4). In doing so, you need to present discussions of the theory/(ies) that you find relevant here with reference to key as well as up-to-date academic articles.
b) In your personal view, has the company successfully discharged its accountability to is stakeholders and behaved as a socially responsible company?
6. Overall presentation (good spelling, good command of English), correct use of key and up-to-date references, bibliography (10%).
7. FORM D must be submitted together with the report.
Note: Make sure that you choose a company that has an assurance statement. The list of FTSE100 companies can be found in the following link:
https://www.economicshelp.org/finance/ft-100.html
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1. You must work within the group to which you have been allocated. Do not change groups or “swap” with members of other groups without the prior consent of the module leader.
2. The assignment must be prepared in report format (typed and 1.5 spaced on plain A4 paper), so write succinctly! The above content requirements will form chapters to the report which must also contain a cover page (with the name of the company, group members’ names and IDs), an Index and References etc.
3. The coursework must not exceed the word limit. Use tables and charts to illustrate and facilitate your presentation where appropriate (not essential).
4. Each group will work on a different company which must be a member of the FTSE 100 Index. In order to avoid duplication, each group must register with the module leader which company they have selected for their work.
5. Refer to all sources in the appropriate manner (i.e. correct referencing).
6. You should make every effort to agree with each member of the group on what is expected of them. You may wish to consider writing up a simple agreement that all members of the group should sign at your first meeting. Form D must be completed and submitted with the final report.
7. On receipt of the assignment (before undertaking any detailed work):
a. allocate work appropriately between group members
b. agree times, dates and locations of group meetings
8. A complete draft of the must be shown to me for feedback – otherwise 1% will be deducted from your final mark.
9. You must submit the final version of your coursework assignment online by the deadline.