Ethics and Sustainability in Governance (MBUS201)
Semester 1 2023
Case study analysis
From your analysis of the case study, provide a response to either support or disagree with 3 of the 4 statements below. In your response, you should use examples from the case study to support your view and align your analysis with the principles of good governance and the relevant sections of the Corporations Act 2001 where/if appropriate. The report in total should be approximately 1500 words (i.e. between XXXXXXXXXXwords or 500 words per statement response).
You need to provide a response (as guided in the assignment information) to 3 of the following 4 statements in relation to the AFA Case Study:
1. 1. The board meeting agendas and minutes are sufficiently detailed to ensure the board is able to fulfil it’s obligations
2. 2. The board has provided adequate financial oversight to ensure they are not on the path to insolvency
3. 3.The board has effectively discharged its duties to monitor and review the performance of the CEO
Note: There are likely to be several examples in the case study that can be used to address any of the statements. You are not required to identify them all, but you are required to provide enough evidence to justify why you agree or disagree with the statement. There may also be perceptions and inferences in the case study that allow you to form your view, and these are also an important element of your analysis.
Assessment task marking: This assessment task is worth 30% of the overall mark for the unit. Your response to each statement will be marked out of 10 using the attached ru
ic (3 x 10 = 30 marks) as a guide.
Critical information: This assignment is directly related to the analysis of the AFA case study, if a generic response is received that does not relate to the case study it will be awarded 0 marks.
Marking Ru
ic: Case study analysis
Criteria
(2 marks each)
2 marks
Use of examples from case study in response
Multiple (3+) examples in the case study have been co
ectly identified and interpreted in the response
Use of relevant theories or legislation as part of response
Theories from reliable sources (with co
ect references) and or legislation have been co
ectly applied to the analysis
Identification and use of perceived director actions or behaviours in response
The inclusion of infe
ed or perceived information has been co
ectly included to support the analysis presented in the response
Clarity of analysis and the provision of concise and accurate information
The response is presented such that the analysis and connection of evidence is accurate and justified and clearly demonstrates a strong understanding of the case study
Construction of a cohesive and well written response to the statement
The response has been well written, remains within the 500 word limit +/-10%, and the arguments used have been clearly and cohesively presented
Microsoft Word - Case study AFA 23S1 .docx
Archery For All (AFA)
Background
Archery for All (AFA) was established in 2018. It was established with a purpose to
fill a gap in the community that would provide access to the sport for a community
that has had no exposure to archery at the local level. AFA was set up as a not-for-
profit incorporated association with revenue to be reinvested in ensuring the
community benefitted from ready and affordable access. The club business model
was to appoint a CEO to manage the business under the governance oversight of a
management board.
Bob Smith, an avid long-term archer, was the initiator of AFA on behalf of an
interested community of archers, and was appointed as the inaugural CEO on a part
time basis whilst the club established itself financially. A group of archers from the
original interested group subsequently formed the management board (see
Appendix I), with Bob also holding a position on the board.
The board agreed that Gary Jones would be appointed as the chair of the board on
the basis that he was a well-known community leader. They also agreed that board
members would not receive remuneration for their positions. It was then up to the
CEO to build the business, in line with the strategic goals approved by the board.
Location & facilities
The club (AFA) is an indoor archery club located on a prominent corner in an inner
northern subu
of Melbourne. It was set up in a shared space within a warehouse
style environment (see Appendix v) in an industrial zone to enable more efficient
distribution and sharing of overheads with co-tenants and with ample car parking
space. The club occupies approximately 65% of the warehouse space and has
sufficient space to accommodate up to 16 archers on the shooting line at any given
time. The range has a 2.5m high moveable screen wall used to separate the
eginners/learners (short distance shooting archers) from the regular members. The
targets are mobile and can be moved to any position within the range noting that
the maximum shooting distance is 25m from the shooting line. The most common
shooting distances are 18m and 25m as these are the national and world standards
for indoor archery.
The club also includes an air-conditioned office and a small kitchenette for members
to use for meals or to rest. The warehouse itself is not temperature controlled as the
costs and energy required to do so would be very high. With high ceilings and fans it
was possible to maintain airflow and a reasonable temperature in the absence of
extreme weather. It is the responsibility of the landlord to maintain all external
areas of the entire warehouse site and to ensure security is engaged to make sure all
lights, fans, air conditioning, heaters etc. were switched off at the end of each day
and that routine drive-by surveillance activities were in place each night.
This location was chosen on the basis that no other archery clubs were in the area
and all members of the board lived locally. The club was established to provide
access for all interested in the sport and as such, was a registered club with both the
Victorian Archery Association and the Australia Archery Academy. Registering with
these governing bodies allowed the club to host competitions for members to
potentially achieve ranking points at the State and National level.
Whilst a large proportion of members are recreational archers, there was a small
group who took their sport very seriously and were active in competitions around
the State and felt that this was an essential element of the club. There was also a
small but growing group of archers who had an interest in bow hunting/fishing as
they had ready access to private rural land.
Financial support
In the absence of any government funding, the club was built from the initial
donation of $50,000 from community para-archer Bill Taylor, who passed away
through illness just prior to the club commencing, and wanted to provide support to
ensure the business helped the disadvantaged and vulnerable access the sport.
Ongoing revenue streams come from annual memberships, drop-in visitors, club
donors, competitions and events, and its specialised ‘in-field’ excursion or incursion
sessions and children’s parties.
The club also takes advantage of the small café on site as part of the shared space in
the warehouse. The club receives a small amount of revenue from this café aligned
to the distribution and use of space in the warehouse. In return, it is expected that
AFA staff the café on scheduled days and members are encouraged to use the café
when they are at the club.
Operations
Bob Smith (CEO) maintains an office at the club and spends his time managing the
daily operations of the club 4 half days each week (including weekends) and from
time to time, helps out with the running of the café which is staffed by volunteers.
Other club members contribute to the daily operations of the club on a volunteer
asis. The club also makes use of talented local archers who donate their time to
provide on site coaching from time to time.
The club also has the provision to provide paid coaching upon request due to its
wide network in the archery community. As the club operates within a shared
warehouse and has a relatively small shooting distance capacity (up to 25 metres
only), high-powered bows (such as crossbows) are prohibited from use within the
club. The club promotes itself as being safe, accessible, affordable, modern, family
friendly and inclusive for all.
Competitions & Events
In 2019 the board approved a proposal from the CEO to establish an annual
tournament in the memory of Bill Taylor. The winner of the annual event was to be
awarded the Taylor Trophy. This resonated very well with the initial club members
who knew Bill and understood his passion for the sport and his community role
helping the disadvantaged. The event has attracted a great deal of interest from
members, especially due to the use of both 18m and 25m targets as part of the
event. This event has been a good annual source of revenue for the club and a great
annual event that
ings the community together.
Members
The club is made up of members. Members are individuals who have chosen to join
the archery club for many reasons. Some join because they are intrigued by archery
and see it as a fun thing to do, some join because it is local and accessible, some join
to compete in tournaments, some join because they want to learn how to hunt or
fish with a bow and a
ow, some join because it provides a community and point of
engagement with others, some join because they want to give back to their local
community in some way. Regardless of the reasons for joining the club, members
want a successful club that caters for as many people as possible that continues to
grow and build a strong reputation as a safe, friendly and accepting environment for
all.
On the whole, members want to be actively involved in club life and understand that
volunteering their time to support the club wherever possible is a way they can
contribute and support the CEO and the board in their overall management and
direction of the club.
Appendix I
Inaugural (and cu
ent) Board Members (including their
ief introductions)
• Bob Smith (CEO)
Bob has been an archer for more than 30 years and
ings a wealth of
enthusiasm and archery knowledge to the business. He was frustrated by the
application of extreme rules and regulations imposed by other archery clubs,
which he deemed as being unnecessary and far beyond the scope of what
was required. As such, he
ought together a group of like-minded
individuals to start AFA (Gary Jones in particular). Whilst Bob has never been
a senior manager or board member, he is a qualified car mechanic who has
worked building and repairing vehicles for large organisations for nearly 30
years, so he knows how to get things done!. Bob took an unexpected early
etirement from his role as a mechanic prior to starting his role with AFA.
• Gary Jones (chairman)
Gary has been engaged in the sport of archery for the past 10 years having
spent time at several different clubs over that time. As such, he has seen
many different ways of doing things in the archery business area and knows
how to improve through AFA. Gary has spent many years working on local
council projects as a contractor in the landscaping area, so he has many local
connections who he feels can help him build AFA. Gary operated his
landscaping business using apprentices and sub-contractors for many years
so knows how to manage people. Gary closed his landscaping business a few
years ago and then met Bob Smith at the last archery club they were both
members of, and together they created AFA.
• Phil Thompson
Phil is a close friend of Bob Smith’s son and is a relatively new archer so is
unable to
ing long-standing archery knowledge to AFA. However, as a new
young enthusiastic archer, he
ings energy and passion to the board of AFA
and wants to help AFA become a modern place for young people to ‘hang-
out’. Phil is cu
ently studying a life sciences degree at university as he
wishes to build a career in wildlife/environmental management and
conservation. He is a vocal, outspoken individual who is a passionate animal
welfare advocate, which is his motivation for his career path.
• Roger Marshall
Roger is a high school biology teacher (who used to teach Phil Thompson,
and Bob Smith’s son) who has been active as an adult archer for nearly 20
years. Roger has found that a teaching career works well with his archery
passion as he has plenty of holidays and finishes work each day by 4pm. This
allows him quality time to spend at the club on a regular basis. Roger has
spent his time at outdoor archery ranges in the past and is new to indoor
shooting but has a great deal of excitement around the new club. He feels
AFA is a much-needed business for the local area as there are cu
ently no
other ranges nea
y. He requested to join the board on the basis that he was
close to the range, had plenty of time to contribute, had a role in education
where he could potentially influence young people to join the club, and he
knew Bob and Phil well.
• Andrew Williams
Andrew has a casual interest in archery and owns and operates a small
usiness located within the same warehouse as the archery club (refer to Lot
3 on the club location page). Whilst not actively engaged in the sport,
Andrew has personal connections that could benefit the club. He has a
shared connection with Gary Jones through a previous short-lived business
venture and it was through Gary’s connection with Andrew that the archery
club was able to secure the warehouse space. Andrew was able to secure a
good rental outcome for the club, as he is already a long-term tenant in the
uilding and is well connected to the owners.
Appendix II
Committee reports
Meetings are held monthly on a Wednesday evening from 7pm at the club between
Fe
uary and November inclusive
Board member Meetings held in 2022 Meetings attended in 2022
Gary Jones (Chairman) 9 6
Bob Smith (CEO) 9 7
Phil Thomson 9 9
Roger Marshall 9 5
Andrew Williams 9 6
Appendix III
Board meeting minutes from 2022
______________________________________________________________
AFA Board meeting agenda/minutes
Feb 2022
Members: Gary Jones (Chairman)
Bob Smith (CEO)
Phil Thomson
Roger Marshall
Andrew Williams
Apologies Roger Marshall
Agenda
1. Chair’s report and apologies
2. Approval of previous minutes and follow up of action items
3. CEO report
4. Other Business
Minutes
1. Chair’s report
a. Roger was an apology as he was busy preparing to go on a school field trip
over the coming weekend.
. The Chair welcomed board members back from the long
eak since the Nov
2021 meeting and hoped that they all made the most of the nice weather
and the summer holidays. He highlighted the strong financial position of the
usiness throughout 2021 and indicated that he expected that to continue
through 2022. He commented that he expects no further legal challenges to
the club in 2022 after the successful resolution of issues
ought against the
club in 2021. He also noted that whilst there was a decline in some revenue
streams, the CEO had done an amazing job running the business successfully
through 2021. The board commended Bob for his efforts as CEO.
2. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved noting that no action items
were to be followed up from that meeting
3. CEO Report
a. The CEO thanked the board for their commendation but also raised the issue
of time commitment with respect to his remuneration. He proposed that his
salary be increased by 20% to allow him to work the equivalent of 3 full days
each week instead of 2. Given the strong financial position of the business,
this proposal would be in line with expectations of the club.
i. The board agreed and approved the salary and time commitment
increase
. The CEO provided a
ief ve
al report covering the period since the last
meeting (Nov 2021). He noted the following in his report:
i. Membership was still strong and that continued growth was to be
expected in 2022
a. Phil asked how Bob was keeping records of members and
was there a process for deleting members when they were
no longer financial members. He raised concerns that the
membership numbers may be inflated if the system was not
kept up to date and this would make the numbers look
etter than reality. The CEO advised that member data was
kept using an Excel spreadsheet and updated on a monthly
asis.
ii. The shooting range and facilities were all being maintained in an
excellent state and that all archers seemed very happy with the club
and were looking forward to an exciting 2022
a. Phil asked what feedback mechanisms Bob had put in place
to allow members to let their voices be heard and also
aised some concerns over the decline in junior archers over
the past year.
iii. Over the summer months he had heard comments from members
that the CEO should have modern archery equipment to set the
standard for others to follow. He proposed that the club should
purchase new equipment specifically for him to use as part of his
training and recruiting activities
a. Phil questioned the basis for this request and wanted to see
the feedback evidence supporting this request from the CEO.
. The board agreed and approved his proposal but wanted
the CEO to provide such evidence at the next meeting
iv. The café was still working well although he was finding it a bit
difficult getting volunteers to schedule on days when AFA was
expected to look after it.
4. Other business
a. Next meeting to be held on Wednesday evening mid-March at the same
place and time as usual
_______________________________________________________________
AFA Board meeting agenda/minutes
March 2022
Members: Gary Jones (Chairman)
Bob Smith (CEO)
Phil Thomson
Roger Marshall
Andrew Williams
Apologies Gary Jones
Andrew Williams
Agenda
1. Chair’s report and apologies
2. Approval of previous minutes and follow up of action items
3. CEO report
4. Other Business
Minutes
a. Chair’s report
a. The acting Chair (Bob) noted the apologies from both Gary and Andrew who
were still away on their Labour Day duck shooting club long weekend.
. The acting Chair noted that Gary had not provided a written report for the
meeting as there was nothing of significance to report since the last meeting
. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved noting no action items were to
e followed up in addition to what was included in the CEO report.
c. CEO Report
a. The CEO provided a
ief ve
al report covering the period since the last
meeting (Feb 2022). He noted the following in his report:
i. He noted that it was surprising to see that there had been a slow
uptake of excursion activities this year compared to 2021, and
suggested that this may be due to insufficient marketing to the local
schools
a. Phil asked whether he had any evidence to support this and
whether previous users of the program had been contacted
for feedback. The CEO advised that he believes more
marketing activities are needed and that previous activities
had gone well
ii. He noted that there seemed to be fewer members around the club
during the week than in previous years. He added that he felt this
was most likely due to increasing work commitments of members.
a. Phil again raised the concern about feedback mechanisms
and the CEO advised that his views were based on the
conversations he had had with some members
iii. He advised the board that due to a lack of volunteers prepared to
help run the club, the opening hours had been reduced to Tuesday,
Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 1-6pm
a. The board requested that Bob develop a plan to enhance
the marketing effort and develop strategies to
ing
members back in during the week in particular when it was
quiet
iv. He advised the board that he had been notified by the landlord that
a rental review was scheduled this month with a likely outcome that
the rent may increase by 10% on 2022 figures
a. The board refe
ed this notice to Andrew to follow up and
provide clarity for the next meeting confirming that this
was not going to be the case
v. He advised the board that he had purchased his new archery
equipment and that members had already made comments about
the CEO presenting a strong modern presence on the shooting line.
He suggested other board members do the same before they next
go to the club.
a. Phil followed up on his request at the previous meeting
egarding member feedback on this matter. The CEO
implied that he had been too busy to focus on that but
would do so prior to the next meeting
vi. He noted to the board that he had received some emails from
members requesting the installation of a small archery shop within
the club and that he was looking in to the feasibility of such a
equest
a. Roger asked if the CEO would provide the board with a
detailed business plan and feasibility report in the coming
months as this is what he was used to seeing in his school
environment. The CEO confirmed this would be
forthcoming
d. Other business
i. Preparations were underway for the Taylor Trophy and a call had
gone out to members seeking their availability to contribute to the
unning of the tournament later in the year
ii. Phil put forward a motion to block animal hunters from becoming
members of the club, including members of the board who should
step down as this was damaging the
and. He proposed that this
was the reason why so many schools were not engaging with
excursions anymore.
a. The CEO requested Phil to provide evidence of such at the
next board meeting so an informed discussion could take
place
. Noting Phil’s concerns, the board by majority vote agreed
to dismiss Phil’s motion until such evidence was presented
to them.
iii. Phil raised concerns about the presence of an ambulance at the
club a couple of weeks ago. A friend who works across the road
asked him what had happened. Phil was unaware of any incident
a. The CEO advised that one of the members with a known
pre-existing health issue collapsed at the club whilst
shooting. Friends of the individual have since advised the
CEO that the individual is ok.
. Phil questioned as to why this incident was not reported
to the board. The CEO said it was an issue for
management to deal with and he has done that very
effectively and efficiently
_______________________________________________________________
AFA Board meeting agenda/minutes
April 2022
Members: Gary Jones (Chairman)
Bob Smith (CEO)
Phil Thomson
Roger Marshall
Andrew Williams
Apologies Roger Marshall
Bob Smith (CEO)
Agenda
1. Chair’s report and apologies
2. Approval of previous minutes and follow up of action items
3. CEO report (not provided as CEO is an apology)
4. Other Business
Minutes
2. Chair’s report
a. Gary noted the apologies received from Bob and Roger for the meeting as
they were attending a school Easter festival that had been running for the
week.
3. Approval of minutes & follow up of action items
a. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved
. Gary noted that in the last meeting the CEO had been asked to work on a
new strategy to
ing members in to the club during the week and to look at
ways to increase
and awareness. He advised the board that he spoke to
Bob over the weekend and Bob advised him that this had not been
progressed at this stage, but he was working on something to hopefully
ing to the board in the coming months. Gary advised the board that his
advice to Bob was that there was no urgency and that it should be a
carefully considered plan, which might take some time.
c. The Chair refe
ed the follow up item regarding the rental matter to Andrew
for comment. The Chair reminded the board that this was an unexpected
item raised by the CEO in the last meeting and he was disappointed that this
hadn’t been dealt with and that the board had no knowledge of such a
ental increase. Andrew advised that he only heard about this in recent days
and had not had a chance to discuss this with his in-laws. He advised that he
would follow up and negotiate something in the coming week and inform
the board of the outcome.
4. CEO report
a. The Chair provided a ve
al update on behalf of the CEO based on
discussions held over the weekend.
i. The CEO advised that volunteers for the Taylor Trophy were still
difficult to find so there might be delays in running the Trophy this
year
ii. The CEO advised that he had made good progress on the feasibility
study for the introduction of an archery shop at the club
iii. The CEO reminded board members to purchase their new archery
equipment so they could use it in the Taylor Trophy
iv. The reduced opening hours were positive and that the CEO could
now spend more time focusing on the club administration
v. Excursions from school groups continues to be very slow but this is
expected to rise as the winter months start and schools will be
looking for indoor opportunities for their student groups
5. Other business
a. Andrew raised the issue that the managers of the café had made a
complaint to the building landlord about the high volume of archers using
the café but with little support for volunteers to work at the café. The
complaint threatened that if volunteers could not be provided by the club,
they would no longer receive the discounts for food and beverages or the
income share from the café.
i. The board refe
ed this to the CEO to address and to provide the
oard with a timely response. The board also requested that the
CEO prepare a formal response to the café management outlining
the clubs position
ii. Phil questioned what ‘high volume of archers’ implied. Had this
increased in recent weeks/months? The CEO had previously raised
concerns about lower attendance at the club
____________________________________________________________________
AFA Board meeting agenda/minutes
May 2022
Members: Gary Jones (Chairman)
Bob Smith (CEO)
Phil Thomson
Roger Marshall
Andrew Williams
Apologies Gary Jones (Chairman)
Andrew Williams
Agenda
1. Chair’s report and apologies
2. Approval of previous minutes and follow up of action items
3. CEO report
4. Other Business
Minutes
1. Chair’s report
a. The Chair and Andrew were apologies for this meeting as they had both
een considered close contacts to a confirmed COVID-19 case and were in
isolation. Neither were showing COVID-19 symptoms and were in good
health but were following health advice and isolating.
. The Chair provided a
ief email to the CEO for presentation to the board at
the meeting.
c. The Chair advised that Andrew had met with the landlord since the last
meeting as requested and had negotiated a good deal regarding the rent for
the club. The key points of the proposal are provided based on Andrew’s
email (refer to 2.b. below). The board was being asked to approve the
proposal on the basis that it represented a good saving to club to offset the
ental increase and had Gary’s support.
d. The Chair informed the CEO that he had heard rumours that plans were
eing developed to establish another archery club 2km from AFA. The CEO
eassured the Chair that AFA had a strong member base and represented
the community very well, so the risk of losing archers to a rival club were
minimal.
2. Approval of minutes & follow up of action items
a. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.
. In response to the rental matter, Andrew and the landlord had met to
discuss a potential revision to the lease agreement. Andrew had proposed
that to offset the rental costs for the club that the back end of the range
would be removed from the club and allocated to lot 3 in the warehouse. Lot
3 would then have increased space and ca
y a higher rental burden and the
club would pay less rent. This would decrease the range size by approx. 15%
so there would be a net benefit to the club of a 5% rental reduction instead
of the proposed 10% increase.
i. The board agreed to consider this option and requested Andrew
to negotiate with the landlord to allow them more time to
consider the proposal.
3. CEO report
a. The CEO advised that plans to develop the archery shop were progressing
well and that the club would be in a position to establish that in the coming
months which would add value to the members experience and be up and
unning in time for the Taylor Trophy when many archers would make use of
it.
. The CEO advised that he had received a request from a new school to
undertake an excursion to the club later this month. The school was a new
special school for students with a disability that was recently opened in the
area and they were interested in looking locally for activities for their
students. The CEO advised the school that the club was well established and
could cater for their students with special needs. As he had previously
mentioned, as winter months a
ive he expected excursions to increase so
this was a good sign.
c. The CEO added that he was yet to finalise his formal response to the café
management team regarding their staffing concerns as he had been busy
with daily operations at the club and with preparing matters for the shop.
d. The