Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance
Instructions on Individual Written Case Submission
 Assignment:
• The aim of the individual written case is to show an understanding of theories and key concepts of corporate governance by applying them in real companies the company is PEAB (https://www.peab.com/) . The assignment involves combining knowledge gained from classroom/reading with critical analysis of current CG practice in corporations.
• The assignment is individual paper based on a company of the student’s choice. It is important to show understanding of the lectures and assigned reading material through analyzing the corporate governance behavior by the chosen company.
• The paper must reference the text book Corporate Governance Mechanism and systems (see the attached photo and at least 8 articles from the reading assignment. The texts must be coherently supported by the references.
• The length of the paper should be around 30 pages.
• Apply main theories of CG in your case and explain certain arrangement or behaviors of the company. You do not have to use all the theories we discuss in the class. Choose one and use it well for your case is good enough.
• Apply key concepts you learn from the class to understand the CG structures or actions of the company. Argue your conclusions well.
• A good grade will be given to well-analyzed case, not only on how much data you can find.
• Demonstrate independent thinking and understanding of course material in the case analysis.
• Extra literature is encouraged and please reference what you have used or quoted.

 Structure of the paper
All submissions much include:
Front page: including name/code of the course; name of the teacher; title of the assignment; the student’s first name, last name and e-mail address; date of submission

The paper should include the following major components although you do not have to use the exact titles:

  1. Introduction (about 10% of the paper)
    a. The introduction should be written as a problematization (a short background, then focus on discussing the chosen problem/topic that ends up in a research question and/or aim).
    b. Provide the three definitions of Corporate Governance and discuss the difference and evolution. If you missed the lecture, check with your classmates.
    c. Write the purpose of the paper. A couple of sentences on application of theories and key concepts towards the case company
    d. Outline of the rest of the paper should be included in the last section of the introduction.
  2. Literature review (about 30% of the paper)
    a. How the topic is studied, explained and discussed in the literature and main theories used in the topic.
    i. Importance of CG in relations to history, corporate scandals and development of corporations.
    ii. Discuss the key concepts of agency theory, stakeholder theory and transaction costs theory and how they relate to CG.
    b. You need to discuss the key points of the three basic modules we learned during the course:
    i. Ownership and management structure;
    ii. Board of directors and management;
    iii. Corporate governance mechanism.
    iv. Comparative CG is good to have but not required.
    c. In the last section, narrow down on your research method, theoretical choices, etc. to analyze your case. State which theory or theories will be utilized for analysis.
  3. Case company (about 20% of the paper)
    a. Brief description on the case company including history, location, industry, size, core business, etc.
    b. In depth description of the company’s corporate governance structure, culture, development, strategy, etc. You need to sort and organize your data here. Please do not copy past from website and just pile them up here. The reader (in this case, I) would not be happy. 

The organization should include at least
i. the ownership structure,
ii. top management structure,
iii. executive compensation and
iv. Other corporate governance mechanism such as board structure, CSR, and audit of the case company.

  1. Analysis (about 30% of the paper)
    a. Analyze the CG of the case company with the knowledge gained from lectures, articles and text book.
    b. Must clearly identify which theory or theories are utilized as analytical lens when examining the empirical data. Do this systematically based on your choice of theory that you chose in section 2. If you choose theories other than what you have discussed in section 2, then you need to explain this theory here.
    c. Additional references and relevant concepts (such as COSO for internal control) are encourage.
  2. Conclusions and summary (about 10% of the paper)
    a. Summarize the key points
    b. Draw conclusions of the analysis based on your own reflections for the case company.
    i. Do you believe the company has done well in their CG structure?
    ii. What is your critical thinking on their business strategy? For example, has the company only window dressed their CSR to please the stakeholders instead of changing the real behavior? Has the company structured their board and management in a way to minimize agency problem?
  3. Reference (APA system)