UBAF3023 Corporate Reporting & Current Issues (January 2011)

UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE

JANUARY 2011 SEMESTER

BACHELOR OF COMMERCE (HONS) ACCOUNTING
YEAR 3
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT (Questions)

ASSESSMENT ON THE COMMITMENT OF A PUBLIC LISTED COMPANY IN

BURSA MALAYSIA TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(Group assessment –20% of coursework)

A. PURPOSES

This group assignment aims to achieve the following objectives: -

To test the students’ understanding on the emerging issues and practices of corporate reporting;
To synthesize the students’ understanding on sustainable development;
To provide the students an opportunity to comprehend the contents of sustainability report of
public listed companies, particularly in the presentation and disclosure of the information;
To familiarize the students with the various reporting guidelines’ criteria for sustainability
reporting;
To enable students to enhance their interpersonal, written, analytical and critical thinking skills
by providing an avenue to seek and evaluate information for research report writing; and
To develop and instil teamwork among the students in completing the assigned tasks.

B. FORMATION OF GROUPS

(i) Students are required to form their own groups where each group should
consist of 5 – 6 students.
(ii) All members in each group should plan and organize among themselves to
accomplish the group assignment.

C. TASK

Although there is no single definition of corporate responsibility, a responsible company can be

defined as one which actively manages the economic, social, and environmental impacts of its
activities, in line with a clear-cut set of values, in order to reap benefits for its own business as
well as for the stakeholders it affects and the communities within which it operates.

However, generally many companies still perceive corporate responsibility as being limited to
community investment and philanthropy or at its most unfavorable, as a set of discrete practices
or ad-hoc initiatives driven by marketing, public relations and other business motives. There was

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also lack of analysis and linkage on their impacts on the economy, environment and society to
define corporate strategies and business models.

In light of this, the assignment requires you to choose a Malaysian public listed company which
has an Environmental & Social Report / Sustainability Report for the year 2006 & 2009. The
report can be a stand-alone document or it can also be incorporated in the Annual Report. The
reports can be obtained by searching through the company’s website or any other relevant
sources. Students are required to register the selected company with the lecturer to avoid any
duplication of companies among the groups. The registration will be on a ‘first come first serve’
basis.

Students are also required to go through relevant academic journals as well as professional
journals to obtain deeper understanding on sustainable development and sustainable reporting in
completing the assigned tasks. In addition, students should also use the information provided in
the corporate report, company’s website, newspaper articles, and any other relevant sources as
their reference.

Upon obtaining the reports, each group is required to perform the following tasks (a) to (d): -

(a) Based on relevant literature, identify and discuss five (5) possible environmental and
social issues facing the industry within which the organization is operating. Your
discussion should relate to the organization that you have chosen and evaluate
whether there have been any changes in the affecting issues in the last five years
(beginning from the year 2006).
(15 marks)

(b) Identify four (4) stakeholders of the organization and critically discuss the importance
of its Environmental & Social Report / Sustainability Report to its stakeholders.
Support your explanation by citing part of the report in which these stakeholders may
find information pertinent to them.
(16 marks)

(c) Discuss thoroughly on the efforts, projects and programs that have been undertaken
by the company towards sustainable development and evaluate how the projects that
have been identified attempt to address the environmental and social issues
highlighted in part (a).
(25 marks)

5 marks are allocated for those data that are able to demonstrates the success (or
failure) of the above mentioned efforts, projects and programs.

(d) Based on the 2006 & 2009 reporting,

(i) Analyse the quality of the reports individually for each year as well as
comparison of both years. (15 marks)
(ii) Suggest ways on how the organization can improve the report. (15 marks)

Analysis on the quality of the reports should be covering the depth and breadth of
performance measurement, the extent to which environmental / social performance is
tied to business strategy, how well the company positions itself for the future and the
extent to which the company compares itself to others in the field.

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UBAF3023 Corporate Reporting & Current Issues (January 2011)

* Additional 4 marks will be given to the references cited (on source materials, footnotes
and bibliography) as well as the overall presentation of your assignment report.
[Total: 90 marks]

Your assignment report should be properly typed, printed and comb bounded for
submission. All pages in the written report should be numbered except for the cover page
and the Table of Contents. Please indicate your references in accordance with the APA
referencing system. A hard copy of the full set of Environmental & Social Report /
Sustainability Report, together with a CD copy of the PDF version of the complete report,
must be enclosed in your assignment report. You are also required to provide a word count
and your report must not exceed 5,000 words.

The assignment mark sheet as provided must be attached in front of your report.

SUBMISSION DATE

The submission date for this group assignment is on Friday, 11TH April 2011, latest by 2.00
pm. You are required to submit your assignment to your respective tutor.

Early submission is encouraged while late submission will be penalized through deduction of
marks.

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Assignment Mark Sheet

Part Questions Marks

a) Based on relevant literature, identify and discuss five (5)
possible environmental and social issues facing the industry / 15 marks
within which the organization is operating.
b) Identify four (4) stakeholders of the organization and critically
discuss the importance of its Environmental & Social Report / / 16 marks
Sustainability Report to its stakeholders.
c) Discuss thoroughly on the efforts, projects and programs that
has been undertaken by the company towards sustainable
development and evaluate how the project that have been / 25 marks
identified attempts to address the environmental and social
issues highlighted in part (a).

d) Based on the 2006 & 2008 reporting,

(i) Analyse the quality of the reports
• Individually / 8 marks
• Comparison / 7 marks
(ii)Suggest ways on how the organization can improve the / 15 marks
report.
References cited (on source materials, footnotes and
bibliography) as well as the overall presentation of the / 4 marks
assignment report.

Total / 90 marks