Corporate Governance, Remuneration, and CSR Analysis: A Report on a UK Listed Company from the FTSE

You are required to select a UK Listed Company of your choice from the FTSE 350 Index (The FTSE 350 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the top 350 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange) and write a report to address the requirements in Parts A, B and C.

Part A

You need to demonstrate that you understand how Corporate Governance operates practically for your chosen company in the context of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2018.

To be able to complete Part A, you are required to;

Discuss the main principles of the UK governance code;

Demonstrate your understanding of how the code has been implemented in your selected company; and

Critically analyse the explanations provided by your chosen company for non-compliance of the UK governance code.

Part B

You need to demonstrate that you can write a short critical discussion about the following Corporate Governance issue that is relevant to your chosen company.

This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third Parties or posted on any website.

To be able to complete Part B, you are required to;

Briefly explain the role of remuneration in corporate governance. This must capture the relevant links to the UK corporate governance code.

Discuss whether your chosen company pay its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) too much or too little. What does an analysis of your selected company’s accounts show in comparison with other companies in the same sector? So for example, if you have selected a company from the manufacturing sector, then you will need to compare the CEO remuneration of your selected company with a representative sample of other companies in the manufacturing sector listed on the FTSE 350 index).

Critically analyse whether there is a link between the CEO remuneration and the performance of your chosen company using data from the past 5 years.

Part C

You need to demonstrate that you can use Carroll’s Pyramid to analyse the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of the company you have chosen.

To be able to complete Part C, you are required to;

Briefly explain the role of Carroll’s Pyramid in CSR activities;

Discuss how and why Carroll’s Pyramid should be used to assess a company’s CSR activities;

Critically apply each of the four tiers of Carroll’s pyramid framework to your chosen company’s CSR activities using data from the annual reports and accounts.

Part B

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

1. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the central problems involved in corporate governance and the main theoretical approaches which have been taken in the investigation of these problems.
2. Appreciate the links between corporate governance and other issues in accounting and finance
3. Assess the ethical implications of organisational choices in the area of corporate governance
4. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the cultural and social determinants of governance structures and practices

The requirements for this assignment are as follows:

This is an individual assignment and your report must not exceed 3,500 words in length (excluding title page, references and appendices) and should be double spaced and word processed.

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark (after internal moderation) for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

Your assignment must include a title page, student number, and total word count.

You must use APA referencing throughout the assignment and include a reference list at the end of your assignment.

How to submit your assessment

Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Turnitin. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.

Please ensure that you have submitted your work using the correct file format, unreadable files will receive a mark of zero. The Faculty accepts Microsoft Office and PDF documents, unless otherwise advised by the module leader.

All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero.

The University wants you to do your best. However we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict. If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to 5 working days, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.

Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.

Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

As Part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw. You can also check your understanding of academic conduct by completing the Good Academic Practice quiz available.

Self-plagiarism or reuse of work previously submitted

You must not submit work for assessment that you have already submitted (Partially or in full), either for your current course or for another qualification of this and any other university, unless this is specifically provided for in your assignment brief or specific course or module information. Where earlier work by you is citable, ie. it has already been published/submitted, you must reference it clearly. Identical pieces of work submitted concurrently will also be considered to be self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism is unacceptable because you cannot gain credit for the same work twice. The University VLE includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. If you are a business student and joined Coventry University in September 2020 or later please use APA 7th edition referencing, if you joined prior to this date you may use APA or the existing Harvard Reference Style (Coventry version) that you are familiar with. Law This document is for Coventry University students for their own use in completing their assessed work for this module and should not be passed to third Parties or posted on any website.

Students should use OSCOLA. Please be consistent in the referencing style that you use and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. If you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing, your Progress Coach or a member of the course team.