You are required to write a report of no more than 2500 words

Group Assignment: 25557 Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice

Autumn Session 2018

Due: 6pm Sunday 20^th May, 2018

Value: 20 marks

Broad Outline: You are required to write a report of no more than 2500 words, which analyses the sustainability, performance measurement, management compensation and ethics of two building material companies listed on the Australia Securities Exchange. The companies are Boral Limited and Brickworks Limited. Use the following websites https://www.boral.com.au and http://www.brickworks.com.au to locate the relevant material. This may be within their annual reports or in separate reports covering environment/sustainability, health and safety, governance and remuneration.

The report must include the following:

Executive summary: overview of analysis, findings and recommendation – no more than 200 words

Introduction: outline of the report structure and terms of reference

Body of report: must include discussion and analysis of the each company individually and then a comparison of the two must be made. See below for guidance on what to consider in your report.

Conclusion: this should include a recommendation on which company appears to rate higher in relation to sustainability.

Reference List: any material consulted during the research e.g. the annual reports and any other documents that may have been used.

Guidance:

We recommend you read the information provided at;

https://www.globalreporting.org/information/sustainability-reporting/Pages/default.aspx and consider some or all of the following questions with respect to Boral and Brickworks. This is only a guide; you are, of course, not limited to these questions. Remember, students are required to interpret and analyse quantitative and non-quantitative information and provide evidence to support their arguments e.g. has the company been explicit in setting sustainable goals?

 

• Does there appear to be a strong commitment to sustainability reporting and has this changed over the last 3 years?
• Look at all issues as discussed in your lectures and tutorials and determine if there are signs of improvement and if not did the company provide a reason for this? The issues must include environmental, social and governance for the firms overall sustainability. Within these disclose and comment on items such as GHG emissions, health and safety record as well as board representation etc. Your discussions are not limited to these issues but should be as complete as possible. Please use graphs and tables as is most appropriate to clearly show the firms progress or otherwise.
• How transparent are the companies in terms of their policies? How transparent are they in reporting breaches of their policies
• What sort of business are they in? Does it have a high/low/medium environmental impact? What are some of the biggest issues they face in terms of sustainability?
• Review the remuneration of the executive management. What changes have been made to remuneration goals/KPIs over the past 3 financial years?
• Is there any evidence that the share price has possibly reacted to any publicized breaches of policies or legislation? If so, do you see any ethical issues in connection to such a possible price reaction?

Groups: The report is conducted as a group assignment. You will combine yourselves into groups of up to a maximum of four students. Students must form groups by 6pm 4 May, 2018 with one student to act as group coordinator. The group coordinator must email the completed form provided on the UTS Online site to Deborah Cotton at deborah.cotton@uts.edu.au, the subject coordinator by 6pm 4 May, 2018. No changes can be made to the membership in the group without obtaining email consent from Deborah Cotton. Remember that it is your responsibility to ensure the assessment deadlines are met.

Format: Your findings must be set out as a report with the sections clearly shown. Note reports use multiple headings and sub-headings, tables, graphs etc. to support their arguments and are not essays. Note the use of these features in the following links;

https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2018/feb/pdf/statement-on-monetary-policy-2018-02.pdf) and https://www.macquarie.com/au/advisers/expertise/market-insights/is-amazon-the-end-of-australian-retail-as-we-know-it.

Although the level of formality differs, both reports carry the same key features which should be in evidence in your reports. Your report must be typed using 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing and 2.5 cm margins on all sides, with a maximum length of 2500 words (excluding references, executive summary and appendices). State the word count at the beginning of the report. Refer to the UTS Business School Guide to Writing Assignments (link below) on recommendations and suggestions on how to structure your report. All material (excluding executive summary, references and appendices) over 2500 words will be disregarded.

https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/business‐writing‐guide‐2014.pdf

Due: A soft copy of your report is due to Turnitin by 6pm May 20, 2018 and a hard copy must be handed in during your lecture before May 20, 2018 or in the assignment box marked FINANCE 2 on level 5 of building 8 (in front of the blue pods) by 6pm May 20,2018. Please ensure you put the names and student numbers of all students in your group, only one report per group to be handed in. There will be 2 marks deducted for each day the report is late.

Any questions regarding the report should be put in the Report Forum of the Discussion Board on the UTS Online site.

Marking Guide    Marks will reflect the depth of research and evidence presented and overall cohesiveness of the report. A maximum of 3 marks will be allocated from the total potential 20 marks for presentation and communication as tabled below:

	Below Acceptable	Acceptable	Above Acceptable	Total Marks Allocated
Executive Summary				3
Introduction				1
Body of Report				12
Conclusion				1
Presentation including title page, sections and subheadings etc. in body of report, format, writing style, grammar and referencing				3
Total				20

 

 

• • Assignment status: Resolved by our Writing Team
  • Source@PrimeWritersBay.com

GET THIS PAPER COMPLETED FOR YOU FROM THE WRITING EXPERTS  CLICK HERE TO ORDER 100% ORIGINAL PAPERS AT PrimeWritersBay.com

• • • • NO PLAGIARISM