BAO 3309 Advanced Financial Accounting Semester XXXXXXXXXXIndividual assignment Assessment Weight: 20% Due Date: (Week 9, 17 September 2012) Research Essay: Corporate sustainability reporting Word limit: 2500 words (excluding abstracts and references) Required: 1. Provide a summary of the purpose of Corporate Sustainability Reporting by referring to the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Framework (G3.1) available at https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/G3.1-Guidelines-InclTechnical-Protocol.pdf 2. Critique Stakeholder Theory and Legitimacy Theory that you have learnt in this subject (See Deegan, 2009, Financial Accounting Theory, pp XXXXXXXXXXand the literature about the empirical application of the two theories published in academic journals (see Referencing and Style Item 2.2 on page 2) in explaining the motivators for corporate voluntary sustainability reporting practice 3. Identify two multinational companies from the Global 500 in 2012 (available at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2012/full_list/index.html) and compare their reporting on economic, environmental and social aspects in their annual reports and standalone sustainability reports for the reporting year XXXXXXXXXXDiscuss how legitimacy is managed through reporting by the two companies (in Item 3 above) from the perspectives of Stakeholder Theory and Legitimacy Theory References 1. Global Reporting Initiative website https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/G3.1-Guidelines-Incl-Technical-Protocol.pdf 2. Global 500 companies in 2012 http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2012/full_list/index.html) 3. Deegan, C. Financial Accounting Theory, 3rd Ed, McGraw Hill XXXXXXXXXXVU library http://w2.vu.edu.au/library/EJournalSearch/ See next page for further information 2 The following matters should be given particular attention: 1. Submission of your assignment 1.1 Submission of this assignment by due date (17 September) is compulsory for successful completion of the subject. The electronic copy must be submitted through WebCT Turnitin by due date. The printed copy along with a Turnitin Similarity Report (less than 25% similarity required) can be submitted to your lecturer at the conclusion of the lecture you normally attend in Week 9. Students may also submit assignments through assignment drop box located in front of School of Accounting office G3.02 on or before the due date. 1.2 The printed copy must be the identical version of the electronic copy submitted through Turnitin at Webct. Inconsistent version of the printed copy and the electronic copy will result in a Fail grade (Note: If you cannot submit your assignment through Turnitin due to a technical problem then email your assignment before the due date to your unit coordinators immediately. You cannot withdraw an assignment from Turnitin after the due date). 1.3 Late submission without extension approval from the Unit Coordinators and tutors will be penalised 2 (out of 20) marks per day. Do not submit any assessable task by slipping it under the door of your lecturer’s or tutor’s office. 1.4 No Extension will be granted unless supported by appropriate documentation prior to the due date. An application for an extension must be in writing and must use the appropriate form (available from Faculty Student Administration Office at Building A, Footscray Park Campus) with required evidence specified in the form. A completed written application must be submitted to Unit Coordinator(s) (e.g. by email) before the due date of the assignment. 1.5 Students are responsible to protect their work and save data by making necessary backup. Loss of data due to a computer or storage devices problems will not be considered a valid reason for an extension 2. Referencing and style 2.1 Assignment must be typed using Word document and double-spaced with a normal margin (i.e. 3cm) 2.2 Evidence of extensive research beyond the prescribed texts is required. Students should refer to journals such as Accounting Forum, Business Strategy & the Environment (John Wiley & Sons, Inc), The International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Business Ethics which are available on the electronic journals webpage of the VU library website at http://w2.vu.edu.au/library/EJournalSearch/ 2.3 The required referencing style is Harvard (Please visit VU library for examples of Harvard Referencing Style at http://guides.library.vu.edu.au/Harvard). Essays not using the required referencing style or not showing in-text and end of text references will be returned unmarked 2.4 Avoid Plagiarism University and the School of Accounting and Finance views plagiarism as a serious breach of academic discipline. All students of the School should familiarize themselves with the content of this document. Academic Honesty and Preventing Plagiarism Policy states plagiarism as ‘The practice that involves use of another person’s intellectual output and presenting it (without appropriate acknowledgement) as one’s own’. 3 Examples of Plagiarism: • Word-for-word copying of sentences/paragraphs in an assignment without acknowledgement or with insufficient or improper acknowledgement; • Downloading essays or assignments from the web and presenting these for assessment; • Presenting another student’s work or research data as the student’s work; • Copying out parts of any text without acknowledging the source(s). This may be written text, structures within texts, diagrams, formulae, sound files, still photographs, audio-visual material (sound and image files), graphics/animations/multimedia objects, other computer based material, mathematical proofs, art objects, products and others. This can be done as verbatim copying or paraphrasing. • The use of someone else’s concepts, experimental results, experimental conclusions or conclusions drawn from analysing evidence or arguments without acknowledging the originator of the idea(s) or conclusion(s). Students are responsible for: • Understanding and respecting the University’s policies and procedures regarding plagiarism, collusion, and other forms of academic misconduct and as such should only submit work for correction or academic credit that is their own or that properly acknowledges the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of others; • Avoiding the lending or making accessible original work to others; • Being clear about the appropriate referencing rules that are applicable to their field of study; • Refusing to be a party to another student’s efforts to undermine the academic integrity of the University. • Seeking assistance with their learning and assessment tasks if they are unsure of appropriate forms of acknowledgement. (Should students need assistance in academic writing please contact Student Learning Support Unit at Building M Footscray Park Campus). 4 Assignment Marking Sheet Student Name………………………………………..Student No………………. Part 1 Total of 15 marks Marks Quality in summarising corporate sustainability reporting 15 Part 2 Total of 25 marks Quantity of international publications identified 5 Quality in critique of Stakeholder Theory 5 Quality in critique of Legitimacy Theory 5 Level of discussion of empirical application of the Stakeholder Theory and Legitimacy Theory to investigating motivators for corporate sustainability reporting practice 10 Part 3 Total of 25 marks Marks Overview of each companies and an inclusion of website link to the annual report and sustainability report 5 Similarities and differences in level of detail provided (reporting content) 10 Discussion the similarities and differences way companies portray themselves (how company present themselves, e.g. positive, negative or neutral, objective image) 10 Part 4 Total of 25 marks Marks Level of detail in discussion of the concept of ‘legitimacy’ from Stakeholder Theory and Legitimacy Theory perspectives 10 Level of detail in discussion of each theory as an explanation for the way companies portray themselves 15 Presentation Total of 10 marks Marks • adoption of correct referencing style 5 • correct use of structure such as Abstract, introduction and conclusion, logical flow of assignment 5 Total marks 100 /100 Total mark out of 100 reduced to a mark out of 20 20 /20 5 ASSESSMENT DECLARATION This form must be completed, signed, dated and attached to each assessment task that you submit for marking. FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW 1. ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS STUDENT NAME: STUDENT ID NUMBER UNIT OF STUDY: TITLE OF ASSESSMENT: DATE DUE: DATE SUBMITTED: LECTURER’S NAME (HIGHER EDUCATION ONLY): TEACHER/TUTORS NAME: TUTORIAL/CLASS TIME: 2. COMPULSORY STUDENT DECLARATION Plagiarism means using another person’s intellectual output and presenting it (without appropriate acknowledgement of the author or source) as one’s own. Plagiarism constitutes academic misconduct. Where there are reasonable grounds for believing that this has occurred, disciplinary procedures as outlined in the Policy for Academic Honesty and Preventing Plagiarism will be instituted. PLEASE TICK TO INDICATE THAT YOU HAVE SATISFIED THESE REQUIREMENTSo I have read the policy on Academic Honesty and Preventing Plagiarism and the relevant referencing guides (or have had this explained to me by my teachers) and understand the consequences of committing academic misconduct as outlined in the policy. o This assignment is my own work, I have not participated in collusion, nor have I previously submitted this or a version of it for assessment in any other Unit of Study at the University or any other institution without having obtained the approval of the teacher. o I have taken proper and reasonable care to prevent this work from being copied by another student. o So that the assessor can properly assess my work, I give this person permission to act according to University policy and practice to reproduce this work and provide a copy to another member of staff for the purpose of cross checking and moderation and to take steps to authenticate the assessment, including submitting a copy to a checking/detection system that in turn may retain a copy of this work on a database for future checking. o I have carefully read the assessment criteria that will be used to evaluate my work as given below - ASSESSMENT CRITERIA I certify that the statements I have attested to above have been made in good faith and are true and correct. I also certify that this is my work and that I have not plagiarized the work of others and not participated in collusion. STUDENT SIGNATURE: ________________________________________________ DATE: ____/____/__