ACC8801 Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility
James Hardie: Restructuring, removing and reviewing the social contract (Source: Lisa Barnes, Associate Professor (Head of Discipline), Avondale College) On Thursday 15 February 2007, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commenced civil penalty proceedings relating to James Hardie. Both current and former directors and executives were investigated on matters of possible criminal issues, especially in relation to the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (MRCF). On Friday 16 February, the then Chair of James Hardie, Meredith Hellicar, and several directors resigned their positions. History of James Hardie James Hardie was founded in the late nineteenth century, and became an iconic company, especially in Australia in the twentieth century, for mining, importing and manufacturing asbestos-based products. Commonly referred to as ‘fibro’, fibro-cement played a key role in the growth of expanding cities as it was a cheaper alternative to brick, but supposedly safe and durable. However, fibro sold by James Hardie was made of asbestos, which even back in the 1930s was known to be ‘causing deadly lung disease’ (Ministry of Health Report 1938, cited in Kjellstrom 2004). Indeed, for James Hardie, the first workers’ compensation case occurred in 1939 (Hills, 2005); but it was not until the mid-1960s that James Hardie was given information on asbestos-related diseases among its employees in which they were told that liabilities could be as high as A$1.5 million, which set against shareholders’ funds of $30 million seemed significant (Haigh, 2006). Despite these health warnings and potential impact of liabilities from compensation, James Hardie continued to manufacture the product until 1987. Asbestos and its health impacts Asbestos has been found to cause many medical conditions including lung disease and, in particular, mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Mostly, however, it takes between 15 to 30 years before symptoms present themselves after people are exposed to asbestos dust (Smartt, 2004). Asbestos was mainly used in domestic and industrial buildings, brake linings, fibro sheeting, pipes and insulation. The health effects of its use are not limited to employees, however; they also include neighbours of mines and manufacturing plants, and demolition contractors. These effects are recognized internationally (Jackson, 2004). The fact that the medical implications of exposure to asbestos were known as early as the late 1930s, and that James Hardie knew about it via their own employees’ workers compensation claims in the 60s, and the fact that it took another 20 years until the manufacture of asbestos products ceased, showed that manufacturers ‘knew at an early stage about the dangers of asbestos and made a commercial decision to keep producing it, thereby jeopardizing lives’ (Spender, 2003: 235). The Medical Research Compensation Foundation (MRCF) and restructure In early 2001, the board of James Hardie made several announcements, one of which was the establishment of the MRCF. This fund was to ‘compensate sufferers of asbestos related diseases and claims against two former James Hardie subsidiaries and fund medical research aimed at finding cures for these diseases’ (JHIL, 2001). The fund was established to effectively resolve any liability in relation to asbestos, which would then allow the board to concentrate on growing the company ‘for the benefit of all shareholders’ (JHIL, 2001). The foundation was supposed to have sufficient funds (A$293 million) to cover all legitimate past and future claims; the funding was by way of ownership of subsidiaries Amaca and Amaba which had net assets of $293 million, and James Hardie also stated that any leftover funds would be used to support further research on lung disease (JHIL, 2001). Later in 2001, a new holding company was set up, called James Hardie Industries NV (JHI NV), and the group moved to the Netherlands where Australia has no civil law enforcement agreements. The decision to restructure and relocate was granted by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, based on the assurance by the company that any future claims would be met and backed up by partially paid shares in JHIL held by JHI NV. However, these shares were subsequently cancelled when JHIL (later known as ABN 60 Pty Ltd) vested in a new company, the ABN 60 Foundation, which was still supposedly able to meet any obligations for the MRCF. The complex structures and restructure of James Hardie made it harder to guarantee the liability of claims would be met. The MRCF, however, had been substantially underfunded. A report by KPMG re-estimated the liabilities to be A$693 million, rising to $1044 million in 2000 (Haigh, 2006). The shortfall caused much activity by lobby groups such as trade unions and local councils, resulting in the 2004 Jackson Inquiry. The findings indicated that James Hardie had acted within the law; however, it also discovered that James Hardie did not use reliable actuarial estimates, the company had made misleading public statements and appeared to be deliberately avoiding its moral obligations to society (Tozer and Hamilton 2006). The future for James Hardie and its victims James Hardie agreed that the MRCF was underfunded. In 2005, James Hardie signed a Final Funding Agreement (FFA) with the NSW state government, where claims were re-estimated to be A$4.5 billion over 40 years (Slater and Gordon, 2005). Negotiations then began with the Australian Taxation Office to set up a charitable organisation to fund the rest of the expected liabilities related to asbestos exposure. The arrangement established the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund Limited (AICFL), which would receive income annually from James Hardie according to a formula based on a percentage of ‘free cash flow’ and a ‘cap percentage’. The arrangement was agreed to by shareholders in early February 2007 as it ‘is consistent with current investor and Australian Community expectations’ (JHI NV, 2007). Little did James Hardie know that one week later, ASIC would commence proceedings into the actions of former and current directors and executives, alleging breaches of the Corporations Act 2001. The five allegations were: 1 Misleading communications in 2001 regarding the establishment of the MRCF. 2 Failure to disclose in relation to Deed of Covenants between MRFC and JHIL. 3 Restructure of the group: The scheme of arrangement, specifically the information memorandum, was misleading in terms of its lack of disclosure in relation to the meeting of future obligations. 4 Misleading executive presentations: in 2002, presentations made to institutional investors contained information on the supposed adequacy of the MRCF in meeting its obligations in relation to asbestos liabilities. 5 Failure of care and diligence: in relation to the cancellation of shares in JHIL, and the failure of information disclosed to ASX and ASIC in relation to the cancellation. Currently, according to ASIC (2007) ‘the investigation, which continues, has involved a complex corporate structure, it has spanned three countries (the US, the UK and Australia) and it has involved about 348 documents, 72 examinations and the issuing of 284 notices to obtain evidence’. The investigating continues as does the increase in the number of victims being identified and claims sought. It appears that the profit motive was prioritised by James Hardie at the expense of the social contract. ? REFERENCES ASIC, ASIC Commences proceedings relating to James Hardie, Media Release 07-35, Thursday 15 February 2007. Haigh, G., Asbestos House: The secret history of James Hardie Industries (Melbourne: Scribe, 2006). Hellicar, M., ‘Managing Corporate Social Responsibility’, Paper presented to the Social Responsibility of Company Directors Workshop, Monash University, Melbourne, 16 March 2005. Hills, B., ‘The James Hardie Story: Asbestos victims claims evaded by manufacturers’, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 11 Iss. 2 (2005), 212-14. Jackson, D.F.Q., Report for the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Medical Research Compensation Foundation (Sydney: The Cabinet Office, NSW Government, 2004). James Hardie Industries, available at: http://jameshardie.com.au, viewed 2007. James Hardie Industries Limited (JHIL), Media Release, 16 February 2001; cited in Jackson (2004) Sec 2.35, and Haigh (2006), 273-4. Kjellstrom, T.E., ‘The epidemic of asbestos-related diseases in New Zealand’ International Journal of Environmental Health, Vol. 10, Iss. 2 (2004), 212-19. Slater and Gordon (2005), available at: www.slatergordon.com.au/news/docs/WEBSITE%20Hardie%20lead%20v2.pdf Smartt, P., ‘Mortality, morbidity and asbestosis in New Zealand: the hidden legacy of asbestos exposure’, The New Zealand Medical Journal, Vol. 117 (2004), 1205. Spender, P., ‘Blue asbestos and golden eggs: evaluation bankruptcy and class actions as just responses to mass tort liability’, Sydney Law Review, Vol. 25 (2003), 223-63.
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ACCT601 Auditing and Assurance Services
Auditing and Assurance Services Assessment Task 2 Due Date: Oct 14, 2019 Length: 1,000 words ± 10% Format: Questions and answers only. Executive summary, introduction and conclusion are not required. This is not a report. Question 1 (Total 20 marks) Select a public company of your choice. (Funtastic Limited, Challenger, or Evans Dixon Limited) Obtain the latest copy of the financial statements and include it as an attachment to the assessment. Imagine you are the audit partner in charge of the coming audit. Required a) Discuss two business risks that are applicable to all the business entities generally in the industry. (Total 2 marks; 1 mark @) b) Discuss two audit risks that are specific to the company you have selected (reference to the financial statement is required). (Total 2 marks; 1 mark @) c) Select a line item from the income portion of the Profit & Loss Statement and a line item from the expense portion of the Profit & Loss Statement, respectively (i.e. two line items in total). Design the audit procedures that your staff would undertake to audit each of the line items. Please complete the following table for the audit procedures, as exemplified by the Supplementary Notes on Sales. Only one audit procedure is required for each assertion. Audit Procedures Assertions about controls Tests of Controls Occurrence Completeness Authorization Accuracy Cut-off Classification (Total 6 marks; 3 marks@) d) Select a line item from the asset portion of the Statement of Financial Positions (Balance Sheet), and a line item from the liability portion of the Statement of Financial Positions (Balance Sheet), respectively (i.e. 2 line items in total). Design the audit procedures that your staff would undertake to audit each of the line items. Please complete the following table for the audit procedures, as exemplified by the Supplementary Notes on Sales. Only one audit procedure is required for each assertion. Audit Procedures Assertions about classes of transactions Tests of Transactions Occurrence Completeness Authorization and accuracy Cut-off Classification Assertions about account balances Tests of Account Balances Existence Rights and obligations Completeness Valuations and allocations Assertions about presentations and disclosures Tests of Disclosures Occurrence, rights and obligations Completeness Classification and understandability Accuracy and valuation (Total 6 marks; 3 marks@) e) Assume that both the income and expenses were overstated by 10 million, respectively. Discuss the impact of these two audit findings on your audit opinion, (i) individually and (ii) collectively (i.e. two separate audit opinions). (Total 4 marks; 2 marks@)
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ACF 5953 Assignment 1
ACF 5953 Assignment 1 (2019_S1) ASSIGNMENT 1 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT, DUE IN WEEK 8 The deadline for the submission of this assignment is 12:00 PM Friday 3 May. Please submit your assignment to the assigned box located at level 3, H building. Marks will be deducted for late submissions. IFRS/AASB 15 Revenue from Contract with Customers establishes principles about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from a contract with a customer that an entity shall consider when report useful information to users of financial statement. You are required to write a report (900 words), containing two parts: Part 1: Please read the academic paper below (paper is available to download from Moodle). Use around 400 words to answer the following questions: a) What is the main issue in recognizing revenue? Provide two examples to illustrate the issue. How is this issue dealt with in the IFRS/AASB15? b) According to the IFRS/AASB 15, how is the revenue recognized when a contract includes multiple elements? According to Colson et al. (2010), what are problems that can arise from this requirement? Colson et al. (2010). Response to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s and the International Accounting Standards Board’s Joint Discussion Paper Entitled Preliminary Views on Revenue Recognition in Contracts with Customers. Accounting Horizons, 24 (4), 689-702. Part 2: Select one company listed on the ASX and find the company’s 2017 and 2018 annual reports. Use around 500 words to: 1) summarize the information for revenue recognition in a table for the two years; and 2) are there any changes for the policy on accounting for revenue recognition? If so, the reason for such change; and (3) provide and analyze the revenue amount disclosed for 2017 to 2018? What are the reasons for the change? Please support your discussion by citing specific references such as newspaper articles, staff papers from AASB, articles from practitioner journals and scholarly journals. Submission Details • Use a font size of 12 point and a margin of 2.5 cm on the left and right-hand side of the page. Staple the assignment in the top left-hand corner. • Students are to take the MAXIMUM WORD LIMITS that are detailed for each task as a guide only. The word limit excludes calculations, appendices, tables and charts. PLEASE SHOW THE WORD COUNT in your assignment. • Assignments must be submitted with the Faculty cover sheet attached. This can be ACF 5953 Assignment 1 (2019_S1) accessed at: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/student/forms and choose assignment cover sheet on that page. • Ensure that all sources of information are acknowledged in your bibliography. The Faculty’s policy on plagiarism can be found at: https://www.monash.edu/students/academic/policies/academic-integrity • Use the APA/Harvard styles (author-date system) for citations. Monash University’s online citation and referencing guide can be accessed at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/tutorials/citing/harvard.html
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ACF5955 MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 1 MONASH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING ACF5955 MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING ASSIGNMENT – SEMESTER 1 2019 NB: This document is to be read in conjunction with the instructions on the assignment contained in the unit outline. REQUIRED: Each group is required to read the case and address the issues raised at the end of the case. You are expected to conduct research relating to: customer profitability; competitive advantage/competitive strategy; activity based costing, and relate this back to the case study requirements when preparing your assignment. The assignment should be in REPORT format and NOT a collection of separate sections each written by individual students. The report should include: cover page, executive summary, table of contents, introduction, discussion (with appropriate sub-headings), conclusion, bibliography and appendices. Please ensure you include summary calculations in the body of the report and include detailed workings in appendices. Also, it is important that all articles, books and web links used for the assignment are properly referenced throughout the assignment. Hand written assignments are not acceptable. Please remember to also include your assignment group number on the group assignment cover sheet. The assignment represents 25% of your overall grade for the subject. DUE DATE: The assignment is due before 1pm, Tuesday 7th May, 2019. Please also note details on submission in the unit outline. Please submit a copy of the group assignment (WORD document in either .doc or .docx format) online through the Turnitin link provided in the Assignment & Presentations tab in Moodle. This tab also contains instructions for online submission for Turnitin. Please note that the Team Leader of each assignment group is to do the Turnitin submission. Even if you group submits a number of draft reports through Turnitin before the actual final submission, it is important that the same person does all the submissions through Turnitin. Hence, please ensure that only the Team Leader does all the submissions. In addition to this, please also submit a hardcopy of the group assignment in the appropriate assignment box for your seminar time and day for ACF5955. The assignment boxes are located opposite the reception area on Level 3, Building H. SPECIFICATIONS: The suggested word limit for the assignment is 2,500 words (excluding bibliography and appendices). Assignments must be submitted typed (12p font in Times New Roman) and double-spaced, single-sided, on A4 paper. Where appropriate, the assignment must be adequately referenced, and a bibliography included. Students should keep a copy of their assignment. LATE SUBMISSIONS: There is a maximum penalty for late submission of 10% of the marks allocated to the written report per calendar day late. Extensions will only be provided to students who receive approval from the Chief Examiner prior to 7th May, 2019. ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 2 CASE DETAILS Aratani Bags is a medium-large manufacturer of corporate bags and sells these to customers which include bag retailers, corporates and department stores. The company began operations sixty years ago, originally as a small scale manufacturer of briefcases for executives. Over the years as the company grew and the demand for these briefcases dropped, the company expanded its products to include corporate bags which are lightweight and streamlined to store a laptop and/or tablet in addition to documents and personal effects. The bags are manufactured using leather or leather-look material and can be made in a variety of colours however black, brown and grey are the most popular. Currently, the company manufactures these in two sizes - a regular sized bag which can hold a smaller laptop or tablet and a larger sized bag which can hold both laptop and tablet. Both these sized bags hold documents and personal effects. The company also can include special trimmings and/or emblems on the bags, if customers request these in their ordering. These bags are often seen as an upmarket alternative for corporates compared to the standard laptop case especially for senior managers and executives, who frequently travel. The prices of the products are determined by a percentage mark-up on production cost. For example, the leather bags would generally be more expensive than the leather-look bags and the price would also vary with the size of the bag i.e. the regular sized bag has a lower selling price than that of the larger sized bag. Special trimmings and/or emblems to be included on bags further add to the manufacturing costs and also increase the production cycle of an order by 1.5 days. Even though demand for briefcases has decreased substantially, the company still produces these as some of its existing customers still order a small volume every now and then. Table 1 shows the average selling price and production cost per unit for each type of product. ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 3 Table 1. Average Selling Price and Production Cost per Unit Corporate Leather RegularCorporate Leather LargeCorporate Leather-Look RegularCorporate Leather-Look LargeBriefcasesAverage Selling Price$125$165$85$100$50Average Production Cost$80$105$40$55$35 The company has been in business for a long time and has had an excellent reputation namely for its high quality products which has helped the company maintain its position in the market. Over the last two years however, the company’s performance has not met expectations - profitability has decreased from $1.05 MIL to $0.617 MIL over the two years. Costs have increased and sales revenue has decreased. Figure 1 shows the 2019 Income Statement for Aratani Bags. Figure 1: Aratani Bags Income Statement for 2019 Sales $2,220,000 COGS ( 1,207,900) Gross Profit 1,012,100 S & G Admin1 ( 394,850) Net Profit $ 617,250 Many companies in the same industry as Aratani Bags have also been struggling to maintain profitability with a number of companies forced to shut down owing to high costs which made them uncompetitive and competition in the industry has increased. Many 1 Selling & General Administration expenses ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 4 companies that have survived have had to find ways of achieving a competitive advantage. Some companies have downsized their operations, but they are still finding it difficult to stay profitable; some companies have outsourced their production activities to cheaper overseas locations and other companies have switched to niche markets. Currently the majority of Aratani Bags’ customers pay for the bags by credit card and they take on average about fifty-five days to pay their account however, the customers can re-negotiate their credit terms if they need to. The customers however, differ in terms of the volume and type of order placed with the company and some customers order a combination of all types of products. On this basis these customers have been categorised in one of six groups: Major Department Stores (MDS), Smaller Department Stores (SDS), Major Corporates (MC), Smaller Corporates (SC), Major Retailers (MR) and Smaller Retailers (SR). Figure 2 shows the sales revenue and cost of goods sold (COGS) for these six customer groups. Figure 2. Sales Revenue and COGS for the Six Customer Groups MDSSDSSCMRMCSRSales Revenue577,200$ 510,600$ 222,000$ 399,600$ 288,600$ 222,000$ COGS301,975 241,580 157,027 169,106 157,027 181,185 In the most recent executive management meeting, Aratani Bags’ senior management met to discuss strategic planning issues for the company. During the meeting these managers agreed that the main strength of the company is the quality of the products whilst the main weakness in recent years lies with customer service, especially in meeting scheduled deliveries. It was also noted that this was in conflict with the company’s newly proposed mission statement which stated that the company’s mission was “to provide a reasonable return to shareholders through being innovative in product design, through the provision of good quality products to customers with excellent customer service, and also ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 5 providing on-time delivery at the lowest cost”. This proposed mission statement has not as yet been ratified by Aratani Bags’ Board of Directors and thus has not been implemented. As a result, the company’s management accounting and information system has not been modified to monitor progress towards these critical success factors. Also during the meeting the Marketing & Sales Manager, Cherie Bolt said she believed that Aratani Bags can only reduce its prices if it can cut costs. She suggested that the company needs to see where it can reduce costs and as an example she suggested that Aratani Bags can reduce its quality inspection costs by reducing inspections and this would improve its on-time delivery rates. As a starting point, the management team agreed the company needed to become more customer focused and this would help in improving company profit. In bid to ensure the company returns an increased profit in the next twelve month period, Aratani Bags’ management team decided that the profitability of its customers in the six customer groups need to be determined and analysed, as at present this is not possible. A few managers believe that some of the customers generate high profits whilst other customers are “loss” customers. These managers agreed that using Activity Based Costing (ABC) information would facilitate this analysis and that Jake Mutang, the company accountant, and his team were best positioned to do this analysis. Jake had substantial knowledge and experience with ABC and he knew exactly how he was going to manage this task. He gathered his team together and explained to them what he proposed they do for this analysis. Basically, they needed to design a customer profitability system based on ABC. The team commenced by firstly compiling information about the activities undertaken by the company in servicing their customers. They interviewed the company’s staff involved in the various processes and they began to get a better understanding of the activities undertaken by staff. The team primarily focused their attention on the selling and general administration activities. In previous reports the selling and general administration expenses were applied to each customer based on their percentage of sales revenue for the year. Now Jake decided that the team needed to isolate those activities that directly related to servicing customers (i.e. those activities which varied ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 6 with each customer) and those which did not. The activities which directly related to servicing customers were classified as customer related whilst the rest were classified as general administration. The team’s focus was mainly on the customer related activity costs and only these would be included in the customer profitability reporting system. The selling and general administration costs would be allocated as was done in past reports. Jake and his team identified a number of customer related activity costs which totalled $312,350. These included: processing standard orders and special orders, contacts with sales staff, sales visits, billing of customers, packaging, handling and delivery to customers. Processing standard orders involved manual computer entry of customer details if a customer telephoned the order through. Otherwise if the order had been emailed this would then be logged onto the system by an administration staff member. These orders involved straightforward ordering of existing products without these being customised in any way. Jake and his team determined the cost of processing these orders to be $48,600. Processing special orders accounted for $36,800 of total customer related activity costs identified. The work involved here was similar to processing standard orders above. However, as these orders were for bags to be customised in some way, more detail from the customer was required when recording these. For example, a customer may order a batch of regular leather bags with a company emblem to be put on the bags with/without special trimming. In addition to the above, Jake and his team discovered there were different customer ordering patterns that took place. Many of Aratani Bags’ customers (mainly retailers) would usually order regular and large sized bags to keep stock on hand to sell and would re-order once the stock decreased, however in many instances some customers (such as corporate ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 7 customers) would not keep stock of bags would order bags as needed (i.e. for new executives). All in all they found that some customers had fewer smaller order sizes and ordered less frequently when compared to the other customers. Aratani Bags’ sales staff would visit customers at their premises and showcase the latest products available in addition to attending to other sales related issues whilst there. Further, if requested by the customer, sales staff would also do displays to showcase the latest products. Jake determined that sales visits to customers accounted for $95,150 of the total customer related activity costs. In addition to the sales visits, customers could contact the sales staff for sales related issues, for example, to extend/vary credit terms/enquire whether a range bags could be bought on consignment, etc. Tending to sales related issues involved sales related phone calls and emails. Jake and his team determined that the cost of attending to sales related issues totalled $29,900. Packaging and handling costs accounted for $18,200 of customer related activity costs. Essentially, products ordered by Aratani Bags’ customers would be packaged and delivered in cartons. Each delivery to a customer, would consist of at least one carton. In some instances a carton could contain more than one standard or special order from a customer. The number of orders packed in a carton depended largely on, whether the order was a standard (receive within 7 days) or an urgent order (receive within 1 day) and to some extent on the size of the order. For example, smaller non-urgent orders meant that fewer containers were delivered to the customer over the year and vise-versa if a customer placed larger non-urgent orders. If an order was urgent, then there would be one carton packaged for each urgent order and delivered straight away, hence this could increase the number of containers delivered to a customer. Urgent orders could also increase delivery expenses as these tended to increase the number of deliveries to a customer. Delivery expenses were determined to be $20,700. ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 8 Aratani Bags’ customers were billed based on invoices which were raised for customer orders processed. Billing costs made up the remaining customer related activity costs that Jake and his team had identified as part of their analysis. They also identified a number of activity cost drivers to use as part of their analysis. Table 2 summarizes these activity cost driver amounts for 2019. Table 2: Activity Cost Driver Amounts for 2019 Activity Cost DriverMDSSDSSCMRMCSRNo. of Orders243162405243324243No. of Special Orders184161207184207207No. of Contacts221130286169221273No. of Sales Visits11088121887766No. of Invoices288252324270270396No. of Cartons Packaged182182234208208286No. of Deliveries108153126162171180 ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 9 REQUIREMENTS (90 marks) The senior managers at Aratani Bags have approached your project team and have asked for advice on the current situation and the future direction of the company. You are expected conduct research and analysis to prepare a report for the next executive management meeting which addresses the requirements below: 1. Your project team is required to present to Aratani Bags’ senior management a recommendation of the best strategy you believe that the company should adopt in order to be competitive, given the nature of its business. In order to achieve this, your team should conduct research into the fundamental ways in which manufacturing companies can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Specifically your team is required to: a. Discuss in detail two of these strategies, and for each one, identify and discuss in detail two Australian or US, publicly listed manufacturing companies (include the company code of each) that have succeeded in using the particular strategy. Discuss also, the reason why the strategy was chosen and implemented by the company, and how this has been effective for each company. b. Using your research from Requirement 1(a), present the senior management team with a recommendation of the best strategy you believe Aratani Bags could adopt in order to be competitive and why this is the best one. Your discussion should include and justify what you believe to be the critical success factors in achieving this strategy. Explain also why the other strategy, as identified by your research above, may not be as effective for Aratani Bags as the one recommended. 2. Aratani Bags’ management team have agreed that the company needs to become more customer focused and have asked your project team to research this further with respect to customer profitability analysis. Discuss in detail how customer profitability analysis can be used by companies in increasing customer focus. You should also identify and discuss in detail two Australian or US, publicly listed companies (include the company code of each) which have implemented customer profitability analysis ACF5955 Management Accounting Assignment Semester 1, 2019 10 highlighting how these companies have used this approach to become more customer focused and discuss what the overall outcome has been for each company. 3. (a) Design a customer profitability system based on Activity Based Costing (ABC) for Aratani Bags. You will need to describe in detail the elements of this costing system justifying the activity cost pools and activity cost drivers included. Include in your answer the activity cost driver rates. (b) Using the new ABC customer profitability system your group has designed calculate and show the profitability of Aratani Bags’ six customer groups. 4. Based on your group’s ABC customer profitability information, explain in detail the differences in the profitability of Aratani Bags’ six customer groups with an emphasis on analysing the customer related activity costs. 5. Based on: (i) your project team’s research for this report (ii) the information in the case and (iii) your customer profitability analysis for Aratani Bags, discuss in detail three strategic issues that may arise for the company.
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ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting
ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting Research Assignment Assessment Requirements: Semester 2 2019 Weighting: 20% - 15 % group mark (marked out of 80) and; 5 % individual mark (marked out of 20). Due Date: End of Week 9 (4.00 pm Thursday 26 September 2019) Word Limit: Part A: The business report should be a maximum of 1,500 words (excluding executive summary, references and any appendices) Part B: A letter addressed to current and potential shareholders of your assigned company. This should be to a maximum of 500 words. Learning objectives assessed: This assessment task is designed to test your achievement of learning objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4. This is an assignment in two parts. Part A is a group-based assessment task (groups of 3); Part B is an individual assessment task. You will form your groups in seminars by Week 3. Issue to be investigated: Executive remuneration You have recently been appointed as a graduate accountant in a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Top 300 (ASX300), and are currently reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). (Note: you will be assigned your specific company by the beginning of Week 4). The CFO of your assigned company has been asked to consider whether the current pay structure of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is designed to encourage the CEO to act in the best interests of shareholders. With this task in mind, you are to research the issue and present your findings in two documents: You need to present your findings in two documents: 1. A business report (to be completed as a group) to update the CFO on the compensation package paid to the CEO, whether this package helps align interests between the CEO and shareholders, and provide recommendations on how the compensation package could be restructured to address potential conflicting interests. Your business report needs to be concise and informative. In preparing your report, you should investigate a range of issues: (i) Briefly describe the compensation package of the CEO, including details and types of compensation paid and which type of compensation is tied to short-term versus long-term incentives; (ii) Critically analyse whether the compensation package of the CEO helps resolve agency conflicts between the CEO and shareholders and, if so, how this is achieved. Support your position and discussion with reference to accounting theories covered in this unit and academic journal articles, and, where relevant, high quality professional articles; and (iii) Recommend changes (if any) needed to the compensation package of the CEO to better align the CEO’s and shareholders’ interests. If no change is recommended, clearly articulate why you have recommended no change. Support your position and discussion with reference to accounting theory and academic research. 2. A letter to current and potential shareholders (to be completed and submitted by each individual student) in relation to one of the following statements. Each student within the group must complete a different topic from one of the following statements. Students should also make reference to the remuneration of the CEO of their assigned company when addressing the chosen statement in their letter. a. Explain the horizon problem and discuss how equity-based pay as a component of a compensation package helps to reduce the horizon problem. b. Explain whether managers would prefer cash over equity-based bonuses and why this may or may not align with shareholder interests. c. Explain why shareholders might choose to vote against a compensation package with a high proportion of bonuses paid in cash rather than equity-based incentives. This letter should be in plain English suitable for non-accounting experts who may not have the requisite accounting and finance skills. Further information • A word count must be included. Students exceeding the word limit by more than 10% will incur a mark penalty. • A signed cover sheet must accompany your assignment. • In addition, you are to include, as an attachment, a copy of those parts of your company’s annual report related to the CEO’s executive remuneration. Failure to include this, and those who include the entire annual report, will result in a 5 per cent penalty, which will be deducted from the total marks available for the assignment. • Your assignment is to be submitted in hard copy to the ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting assignment submission box located on Level 3 of H Building and electronically through Moodle. It must be lodged by 4 pm on Thursday September 26, 2019. Please see the unit guide for information on the penalties for late submission. • You must keep a copy of your submission until your marked assignment is returned. • Assignments will be returned to you, together with both general and specific feedback, in Week 10 seminars. Assessment Criteria: A matrix outlining the assessment criteria and how your work will be assessed against these criteria will be provided on Moodle. This will assist you in completing the assessment task and to see the allocation of marks. For more information on appropriate report writing, formatting and referencing, you should refer to the Q Manual at the following site: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/qmanual/qmanual.pdf Students must submit a properly referenced assignment for Part A. Students who submit an assignment without in-text referencing (and reference list) will have their assignment returned to them and receive zero marks. These students may choose to re-submit their assignment with appropriate referencing, however students will only be eligible to receive half of the total available marks (i.e. a maximum of 7.5 out of a total possible 15 marks). Justification for Selection of this Assessment Task: This assignment is designed to assist you in demonstrating your knowledge of, and ability to critically assess, influences on a contemporary issue in financial reporting and disclosure. It also provides you with an opportunity to further enhance your research, judgement and written communication skills. In addition to the development of knowledge of a contemporary area impacting accounting, this task is also designed to develop the following generic skills: • Research skills • Judgement • Written communication skills, aimed at both accountants and non-accountants The research assignment is designed to broaden your understanding and application of theoretical knowledge gained in one major topic in the unit. Research skills, which involve the synthesis of information and communication of research findings through a business report, are essential skills that our graduates are required to demonstrate to employers. This assignment is designed to further develop these valuable skills and attributes. The issue addressed is a contemporary issue in the business and accounting arena, and one that you need to be aware of. As future accountants it is essential you understand the impact of accounting regulatory changes on the organisation. It is also designed to enable you to demonstrate your written communication ability – a skill that is deemed by your future employers to be essential for graduates. In the most recent Graduate Outlook survey accounting and finance employers rated good communication skills as their number one priority when hiring graduates (Graduate Careers Australia, 2011). All higher education providers of accounting degrees in Australia are required to provide evidence that their accounting graduates have achieved common national minimum threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) at the time of graduation. These TLOs were developed collaboratively with input from the professional accounting bodies, various business practitioners and accounting academics. Five TLOs were developed for the accounting discipline of which both the judgement and communication standards are relevant for this assignment. These standards requires that an accounting graduate of a masters degree must demonstrate: “Exercise judgement under supervision to solve routine accounting problems in diverse contexts using social, ethical, economic, regulatory and global perspectives.” “Justify and communicate accounting advice and ideas in diverse collaborative contexts involving both accountants and non-accountants.” Please keep this TLO in mind when preparing your assignment, as this is the basic benchmark against which your assignment submission will be assessed. These standards have been incorporated into the marking rubric.
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ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting
ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting Research Assignment Assessment Requirements: Semester 2 2019 Weighting: 20% - 15 % group mark (marked out of 80) and; 5 % individual mark (marked out of 20). Due Date: End of Week 9 (4.00 pm Thursday 26 September 2019) Word Limit: Part A: The business report should be a maximum of 1,500 words (excluding executive summary, references and any appendices) Part B: A letter addressed to current and potential shareholders of your assigned company. This should be to a maximum of 500 words. Learning objectives assessed: This assessment task is designed to test your achievement of learning objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4. This is an assignment in two parts. Part A is a group-based assessment task (groups of 3); Part B is an individual assessment task. You will form your groups in seminars by Week 3. Issue to be investigated: Executive remuneration You have recently been appointed as a graduate accountant in a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Top 300 (ASX300), and are currently reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). (Note: you will be assigned your specific company by the beginning of Week 4). The CFO of your assigned company has been asked to consider whether the current pay structure of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is designed to encourage the CEO to act in the best interests of shareholders. With this task in mind, you are to research the issue and present your findings in two documents: You need to present your findings in two documents: 1. A business report (to be completed as a group) to update the CFO on the compensation package paid to the CEO, whether this package helps align interests between the CEO and shareholders, and provide recommendations on how the compensation package could be restructured to address potential conflicting interests. Your business report needs to be concise and informative. In preparing your report, you should investigate a range of issues: (i) Briefly describe the compensation package of the CEO, including details and types of compensation paid and which type of compensation is tied to short-term versus long-term incentives; (ii) Critically analyse whether the compensation package of the CEO helps resolve agency conflicts between the CEO and shareholders and, if so, how this is achieved. Support your position and discussion with reference to accounting theories covered in this unit and academic journal articles, and, where relevant, high quality professional articles; and (iii) Recommend changes (if any) needed to the compensation package of the CEO to better align the CEO’s and shareholders’ interests. If no change is recommended, clearly articulate why you have recommended no change. Support your position and discussion with reference to accounting theory and academic research. 2. A letter to current and potential shareholders (to be completed and submitted by each individual student) in relation to one of the following statements. Each student within the group must complete a different topic from one of the following statements. Students should also make reference to the remuneration of the CEO of their assigned company when addressing the chosen statement in their letter. a. Explain the horizon problem and discuss how equity-based pay as a component of a compensation package helps to reduce the horizon problem. b. Explain whether managers would prefer cash over equity-based bonuses and why this may or may not align with shareholder interests. c. Explain why shareholders might choose to vote against a compensation package with a high proportion of bonuses paid in cash rather than equity-based incentives. This letter should be in plain English suitable for non-accounting experts who may not have the requisite accounting and finance skills. Further information • A word count must be included. Students exceeding the word limit by more than 10% will incur a mark penalty. • A signed cover sheet must accompany your assignment. • In addition, you are to include, as an attachment, a copy of those parts of your company’s annual report related to the CEO’s executive remuneration. Failure to include this, and those who include the entire annual report, will result in a 5 per cent penalty, which will be deducted from the total marks available for the assignment. • Your assignment is to be submitted in hard copy to the ACF5956 Advanced Financial Accounting assignment submission box located on Level 3 of H Building and electronically through Moodle. It must be lodged by 4 pm on Thursday September 26, 2019. Please see the unit guide for information on the penalties for late submission. • You must keep a copy of your submission until your marked assignment is returned. • Assignments will be returned to you, together with both general and specific feedback, in Week 10 seminars. Assessment Criteria: A matrix outlining the assessment criteria and how your work will be assessed against these criteria will be provided on Moodle. This will assist you in completing the assessment task and to see the allocation of marks. For more information on appropriate report writing, formatting and referencing, you should refer to the Q Manual at the following site: http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/qmanual/qmanual.pdf Students must submit a properly referenced assignment for Part A. Students who submit an assignment without in-text referencing (and reference list) will have their assignment returned to them and receive zero marks. These students may choose to re-submit their assignment with appropriate referencing, however students will only be eligible to receive half of the total available marks (i.e. a maximum of 7.5 out of a total possible 15 marks). Justification for Selection of this Assessment Task: This assignment is designed to assist you in demonstrating your knowledge of, and ability to critically assess, influences on a contemporary issue in financial reporting and disclosure. It also provides you with an opportunity to further enhance your research, judgement and written communication skills. In addition to the development of knowledge of a contemporary area impacting accounting, this task is also designed to develop the following generic skills: • Research skills • Judgement • Written communication skills, aimed at both accountants and non-accountants The research assignment is designed to broaden your understanding and application of theoretical knowledge gained in one major topic in the unit. Research skills, which involve the synthesis of information and communication of research findings through a business report, are essential skills that our graduates are required to demonstrate to employers. This assignment is designed to further develop these valuable skills and attributes. The issue addressed is a contemporary issue in the business and accounting arena, and one that you need to be aware of. As future accountants it is essential you understand the impact of accounting regulatory changes on the organisation. It is also designed to enable you to demonstrate your written communication ability – a skill that is deemed by your future employers to be essential for graduates. In the most recent Graduate Outlook survey accounting and finance employers rated good communication skills as their number one priority when hiring graduates (Graduate Careers Australia, 2011). All higher education providers of accounting degrees in Australia are required to provide evidence that their accounting graduates have achieved common national minimum threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) at the time of graduation. These TLOs were developed collaboratively with input from the professional accounting bodies, various business practitioners and accounting academics. Five TLOs were developed for the accounting discipline of which both the judgement and communication standards are relevant for this assignment. These standards requires that an accounting graduate of a masters degree must demonstrate: “Exercise judgement under supervision to solve routine accounting problems in diverse contexts using social, ethical, economic, regulatory and global perspectives.” “Justify and communicate accounting advice and ideas in diverse collaborative contexts involving both accountants and non-accountants.” Please keep this TLO in mind when preparing your assignment, as this is the basic benchmark against which your assignment submission will be assessed. These standards have been incorporated into the marking rubric.
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ACF5957 Auditing and Assurance
ACF5957 Auditing and Assurance Assignment Semester 2-2019 INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSION – 18 percent Due Date: 4 PM, Friday, 23 August, Week 4 “For some time, regulators have referred to a lack of professional scepticism among auditors as a major issue in audit quality. Regulators argue that, were auditors to be more sceptical, more misstatements in financial statements would be uncovered through the audit process. Despite increased awareness among auditors of the importance of professional scepticism in ensuring audit quality, regulators continue to refer to a lack of professional scepticism in their oversight reports.” (ACCA, 2017 p. 5). As part of this individual assignment, you are asked first to reflect on your level of scepticism and then to engage in a broader discussion about professional scepticism. Each student shall take the survey individually and enter her / his Monash email address to receive a copy of her/his score that shall be included then in the assignment report. IMPORTANT: REQUIRED: 1) First, you have been asked to take a survey that assesses different dimensions of professional scepticism. The link to the survey was provided in Week 1 via an announcement onMoodle. Based on the score you received by email (title "Survey results - Individual Assignment ACF5957 - Auditing and Assurance"), please refer to the below mentioned research article for details on the different characteristics of professional scepticism: Hurtt, R. K. (2010). Development of a scale to measure professional skepticism. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 29(1), 149-171. 2) Based on examples from your own personal experience, please reflect on the scores that you obtained for the 6 characteristics of scepticism. (6 marks, maximum 400 words) 3) Thinking about the client acceptance / continuance decisions, please provide one specific example that illustrates the positive effects of professional scepticism. How would you personally deal with this situation? (5 marks, maximum 300 words) 4) While professional scepticism in general strongly contributes to the quality of an audit, it may sometimes have negative effects. Thinking about the client acceptance / continuance decisions, please provide one specific example that illustrates the negative effects of professional scepticism. How would you personally deal with this situation? (5 marks, maximum 300words) Overall: Writing Style, Clarity & Structure (2 marks) (Maximum 1000 words) [18 Marks] - You will not be assessed on the scores of professional scepticismobtained. - A higher professional scepticism score will not necessarily result in a highermark INSTRUCTIONS (IMPORTANT): (1) Please make sure you familiarize yourself with the resources provided on moodle “Reflective writing in Education - Guidance” (1) Please simply answer the questions denoted above and within the specified word limits. (2) The assignment submission has to be in an appropriate format and written well (i.e. logical as well as minimal grammar and syntax issues). References should be consistent with the APA or Harvard referencing style. (3) Academic or professional references may be used to support / illustrate some of your explanations. Professional references are published in professional journals. These include publications by the professional bodies (e.g. CA ANZ, CPAA), publications from the audit standard setters/regulatory websites (e.g., Australian Auditing and Assurance Standard Board, U.S. PCAOB, IAASB). Academic references are published in academic journals. These are similar to the articles that you are presenting in seminars. Newspaper article references are welcome too. (4) Do not cut and paste from the academic and professional references. Your answers must be in your own words. Remember that your marker would have read all the reports and references prior to marking your assignment and can easily detect plagiarism, which will be dealt with very seriously including mark penalisation. Where direct quotes are used to support your answer, please provide in-text references to the report or reference being discussed. (5) Please submit a softcopy (pdf file) of your individual assignment via Moodle by 23 August (Friday), 4pm (Week 4). We will use Turnitin to check the plagiarismpercentage. (6) When submitting online, you will be asked to accept the cover sheet so there is no need to include a signed cover sheet in your submission file. A soft copy of the feedback sheet is not required as part of the assignment submission. (7) Please include the scores you have obtained when taking the survey (email titled "Survey results - Individual Assignment ACF5957 - Auditing and Assurance") in your submission file. Penalties will be applied if failure to include a print out of your scores in your submission. Penalties will be applied if failure to include a print out of your professional scepticism scores in your submission. 3 ACF5957 Auditing and Assurance
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ATS1262 Understanding Social Behaviour
ASSESSMENT TASK 2: ESSAY PLAN This document supplies detailed information on assessment task 2 for this Unit. Key information ? Due: Friday, 7th September 2018 – no later than 11:55 pm EST ? Weighting: 10% ? Word count: 1000 words Assessment task details Essay plan and essay topics Students are required to write their essay plan as part of their preparation for major essay writing. This will be a reflective essay; and students will be asked to reflect upon a recently (1 year and less) published/released online media article of their choice on one of the suggested topics: Topic 1. Racial discrimination and prejudice in Australian context Topic 2. Radicalization of Muslim youth in Australia Topic 3. Mass shootings in the US Topic 4. The US immigration debate Essay plan structure This assessment task is in four parts. You are required to address all parts of this task. You may use bullet points in most parts of your plan except reflection. Introduction In your introduction, please discuss the following points (approximately 20% of the word limit): ? Introduce your selected social issue/behaviour. ? Briefly discuss its importance and provide recent statistical information. ? State the aim of your assessment task. ? Discuss the population group/s you plan to refer to and country-specific context. ? Briefly discuss your media article. ATS1262 Understanding Social Behaviour S2 2018 2 Theoretical background You are supposed to select one of the social theories presented in this Unit to explain the social issue/behaviour in your media article. You cannot select more than two theories. Students will not incur additional grades for selecting two theories. This section should comprise approximately 15% of your essay plan. ? Introduce your theoretical framework. ? Define the main theoretical concepts. ? Discuss the main points of the theory (do not relate them to your social issue). ? Justify your selection of this theoretical framework. Main part (please do not use it as a heading; instead, include your topic-specific heading) In this section, you need to apply your selected social theory to explain your selected social behaviour/issue, occasionally referring to your media article. The main part of the essay plan will constitute about 30% of the word limit and provide key arguments supported by the relevant literature. You need to find and describe 3 relevant research studies that have applied this theoretical framework to explain your selected social issue. Reflection You would need to reflect on how your understanding of a particular social issue discussed in the media article has changed after application of a social theory. This section should constitute approximately 35% of the total word limit. Please read the Critical thinking section on how to write a reflection. Learning outcomes This assessment assesses the following Unit Learning Outcomes: 1. An appropriate level of understanding of a range of theoretical orientations to the social settings of, and influences on, human behaviour across the lifespan. 2. The ability to discriminate between evidence, interpretation, opinion and fact in evaluating these theories and concepts. 3. The ability to communicate, orally and in a written form, their understanding of these theories and concepts. Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of social theories and their concepts and appropriately apply them into the explanation of social behaviour/issue and to assist you with major essay writing. Critical thinking We suggest that you use a critical thinking guide developed by Forneris and Fey1 to brainstorm the topic. Please refer to the Table 1. 1 Forneris, S.G. and Fey, M. (2018) Critical Conversations. The NLN Guide for Teaching Thinking. Wolters Kluwer: Philadelphia 3 TABLE 1 CRITICAL THINKING FRAMEWORK [Adapted from Forneris and Fey (2018)] Directions Guided Questions Context Identify a media article What is your article about? Describe the social issue/behavior What is the described social issue/behavior? What population groups are affected? What is the country-specific context? Determine important aspects of the situation What are your main concerns? Content Understand and guide thinking I read… I think… I wonder… Discuss your impressions What sources of knowledge had influenced your thinking? Understand the knowledge guiding your thinking How have past experiences/knowledge helped you to make sense out of the situation discussed in the media article? Course Apply one of the social theories that you have learned in this Unit to explain the social issue /behavior discussed in your media article How had the applied social theory helped you to understand the social issue described in the media article? What were the limitations of the selected theory? Instructions ? Use information from what you have learned from the course material, readings and your own research of the selected topic. ? Familiarise yourself with the online resources provided on the Library web page: https://www.monash.edu/rlo/quick-study-guides ? Access relevant contemporary literature to support the information in your essay. ? References should mainly include refereed journal articles, books, and book chapters. The suggested readings in this Unit are useful sources to start. ? For your essay plan you need to provide only 10 references (Introduction – 4 references, including your media article; Theoretical Background – 3 references; Main Part – 3 references; Reflection – no references). ? The referencing style is APA 6th. The style guide could be accessed via: https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa. ? References to non-peer reviewed websites and/or Wikipedia are not appropriate for this assessment task. References to statistical information sources, such as Australian Bureau of Statistics and similar bodies, are acceptable. ? Media sources could be used only in reference to your selected media article. ? Make sure you self-assess your essay plan against the marking rubric available before submission. Self-assessment enables you to make sure all the required areas have been covered. Presentation requirements Front page: to include student name and number, Assignment title and word count. Adhere to word limit requirements (within 10%). The word count does not include headings, a list of references, and direct quotes. 4 A list of references should be provided on a separate page headed ‘References’ at the end of the assignment. Appendices (your media article) are attached after the list of references page. Do not include a table of contents unless instructed to do so. Headings and sub-headings should be applied for this assignment task. You may use Introduction, Theoretical background and Conclusion as your headings. Please note that Main part should be replaced with the topic specific heading. Font Times New Roman. 12-point font size. Spacing Double-line spacing (Do not insert extra lines between paragraphs or the references list entries). Page numbers Page numbers to be provided on all pages except front page. Place page number in the bottom right-hand corner. Margins 2.54 cm at the top, bottom, left-hand, and right-hand sides of the page. Paragraph indents Indent the first line of each paragraph (using the tab key or paragraph tool). Justification of text All text needs to be aligned to the left, not justified. Academic writing style We expect that word choice will be formal and academic language will be used. Please note that media language is acceptable only in description of your selected media article. The assessment of the academic writing style includes correct use of grammar, punctuation and spelling, as well as the use of appropriate sentence and paragraph structure. Paraphrasing and direct quotations Unless really necessary, essay plan does not require the use of direct quotes. Instead, re-expression of author arguments (paraphrasing) into your own words is required. Paraphrasing of author arguments/statements must be supported by a reference. If a direct quotation is used, mainly in your theoretical part, e.g. definitions of the main theoretical concepts, and description of your selected media article, you must provide a reference as per APA Style guide 6. Turnitin Prior to submitting your essay plan in Essay Submission Portal, students would be required to upload it in Turnitin: 5 ? All essay submissions are subject to similarity check and, prior to submission, they should be uploaded in Turnitin. ? Turnitin is an educational software that will help you to identify similarity in text and re-write the highlighted text prior to submission in order to avoid plagiarism. More information on Turnitin provided on https://guides.lib.monash.edu/turnitin. ? Please note that similarity due to including quotes, definitions and references is not considered plagiarism. ? You may use Turnitin as many times as you would like prior to submission date. ? !!! Note: Originality Report generation for re-submissions is subject to a twenty-four-hour delay. Please make sure that you have some time in reserve to avoid late submission penalties. Resources for essay writing Should you need further support in developing your assignment or with your writing skills Monash provides a number of resources which you might find helpful: https://www.monash.edu/rlo/quick-study-guides https://www.monash.edu/rlo/quick-study-guides/writing-essays https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/apa https://www.monash.edu/english-connect/academic-writing Submission details This assignment task is to be submitted in Turnitin submission portal and in assignment submission portal. To ensure appropriate support from e-Solutions is available should any technical issues arise, you are strongly advised to submit your assignment before 4pm on the due date. You are responsible for ensuring that the correct version of your assessment task is properly uploaded into the correct assessment dropbox. Extension requests No extensions on this assessment task will be provided by the Unit Coordinator or tutors. Please apply for special consideration. Special consideration You may be eligible for special consideration if circumstances beyond your control prevent you from undertaking or completing an assessment task at the scheduled time. See the following link for advice on the application process: http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/extension-and-late-assessment-submission-procedures/#consideration.
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BTF5501 Corporation Law
CORPORATIONS LAW SEMESTER 2 2019 GROUP ASSIGNMENT Due: 11:59pm on Friday 20 September 2019 (Week 8) What is the Group Assignment? The Group Assignment is a research assignment and it is worth 35% of your final mark in BTF5501. Your task is to choose one of the topics below and then analyse and discuss it by presenting arguments in order to reach a conclusion. You must rely upon sources relevant to your research question such as legislation, academic journal articles and government reports to support your arguments. Please see pages 13 & 14 of our Unit Guide for more information. It is expected that all members of a group will contribute equally to all parts of the assignment. Each group member will obtain the same marks as other members of the group. The assignment should not be divided into individual tasks. Is there a word limit for the Group Assignment? Your assignment should be 2,500-3,000 words, not counting the abstract, footnotes and bibliography. A discretion of 10% is permitted. . What are the Assessment Criteria for the Group Assignment? Please ensure that you address the following criteria when you are writing your assignment: (a) The level of understanding shown of the chosen Group Assignment topic; (b) Depth of research and use of sources obtained; (c) Attention to written expression and use of the English language (including style, spelling and grammar); (d) Quality of articulation of considered views (including your own); (e) General presentation, expression and logical development of the discussion; (f) Evidence of degree of engagement with the research materials; and (g) Use of discernible referencing system of sources. What are the topics for the Group Assignment? Question three In the final report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (2019) Commissioner Hayne said: Boards must have the right information in order to discharge their functions. In particular, boards must have the right information in order to challenge management on important issues including issues about breaches of law and standards of conduct, and issues that may give rise to poor outcomes for customers. Without the right information a board cannot discharge its functions effectively. (see page 400, ‘Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry: Final Report’ available at https://financialservices.royalcommission.gov.au/Pages/reports.aspx) Why is it important that Boards ensure that they are fully informed about all aspects of the company’s business operations? What are the potential legal consequences for directors if they are not fully informed? How do the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations encourage directors to ensure that they receive the right information? In light of the findings of the Royal Commission, should these rules be reformed? Provide and explain your reasons for your answers. Is there a preferred style for for referencing sources in our Group Assignment? There is no preferred referencing style to use within your assignment. However at the end of your assignment you must provide a list of the sources that you used within your assignment. Please ensure that your referencing system is consistent.
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ETB1100 BUSINESS STATISTICS
ETB1100 BUSINESS STATISTICS Assignment 1 - Semester 2 2018 This assignment comprises 10% of the assessment in ETB1100. You must submit a printed “hard copy” of your written work - with an Assignment Cover Sheet (from the “ASSIGNMENTS” section of Moodle). Submit it to the ETB1100 assignment submission box, 3rd floor D Block, Peninsula campus by 2pm on Wednesday 22 August 2018. For each day that it is late, 10% of the total marks allocated to the Assignment will be deducted. ENSURE that you • submit a printed “hard copy” of your assignment to your tutor. Your assignment must be typed. Your tutor will NOT print or mark your assignment from Moodle. • name your assignment: Surname-Initials_A1.docx, eg, Trump-DJ_A1.docx. • upload this file to Moodle (as a backup) in the “ASSIGNMENTS” section – as follows. Click on “Submit ETB1100 Assignment 1”. The following message will appear momentarily, “File uploaded successfully.” [To later confirm your upload was successful, go to the “ASSIGNMENTS” section and click on the “Assignment 1” uploading link. The uploaded file’s name will be shown.] NB, DO NOT submit any Excel files. You may upload only ONE file. • retain your marked assignment until after the publication of final results for this unit. This is an individual, NOT a syndicate, assignment. On the Assignment Cover Sheet, read the references to plagiarism and collusion from the Monash University (Council) Regulations. • This assignment is based on the relevant unit material (lectures, tutorial exercises, prescribed textbook readings, etc). We expect that students who have not revised such material before doing the assignment will obtain VERY POOR marks (but, at least, they will know why). • Check your work to ensure that o you completed all tasks and answered the questions which were asked. o you are succinct and to the point. Marks are awarded for correctness, not for the amount written. o any software (eg, Excel) has carried out the tasks that you require. o graphs, tables, etc are appropriately and informatively labelled, with chart titles, axis titles, legends, etc – as appropriate. A graph should “stand alone”. Print relevant graphs, tables, etc. o you have followed any prescribed templates for reporting. • Do not submit your assignment in a folder – stapled A4 pages are much easier for the marker. • Save trees! Double-sided printing is encouraged. • There is no need to print in colour (no extra marks). • In business, a high standard of presentation is usually required. In this unit, your submitted work is expected to be legible, to be well laid out and to reveal use of a spelling checker. However, we are more interested in correct content than in your abilities in desk-top publishing. For example, o if you are having trouble embedding graphs or tables in your document, just print them separately and include them as appendices (appropriately labelled). o if you lack the Microsoft skills to do a task, then do it “by hand”. (We would rather see a hand-written alteration than an error.) o if you want coloured output, but don’t have a colour printer, you may use coloured pencils/pens on your work. • Most calculation, tabulation and graphing tasks are done with little effort (for you) by the computer. Your role is to ensure that the output is presented appropriately and meaningfully to a reader. • Keep a backup copy of all assignments until results are finalised at the end of semester. ________________________________________ ? QUESTION 1 Exhibit 1.1 tabulates 240 days of recent daily sales figures for TechTicket ticket agency. (This table can be copied into Excel.) Sales ($) Number of days 0 - 1,000 5 1,000 - 1,500 16 1,500 - 2,000 27 2,000 - 2,500 65 2,500 - 3,000 44 3,000 - 4,000 48 4,000 - 5,000 25 5,000 - 10,000 10 (a) Using Excel, graph this frequency distribution as an Excel “Clustered Column” chart. Use the values in the “Sales ($)” column of Exhibit 1.1 as the horizontal axis labels. (i) Appropriately and informatively label your chart. (ii) Right-click on one of the columns of the chart and select “Format Data Series”. In the “Format Data Series” dialogue area that appears at the right of the screen, o specify a “Gap Width” of 0%. o click on the “Fill & Line” icon . Select FILL/Solid fill and choose a light (not dark) Color. o Select BORDER/Solid line and choose black as the Color. (b) (i) Critically appraise your chart in (a). (ii) If your chart in (a) can be improved, graph it again and incorporate your improvements. If your chart in (a) does not need improvement, graph it again in an alternative way. (c) For the sample of data shown in the frequency distribution in Exhibit 1.1, estimate the mean and the standard deviation. Show your working and state any assumption(s) that you have made. QUESTION 2 The word “average” may refer to the mean, the median or the mode. Here is a statement from the latest annual report of Green Valley Retirement Resort. “The average resident of Green Valley is female, 73.5 years old and has a GHS of 3.” [GHS refers to the Green-Valley Health Score. Scores are on a 7 point scale from 1 for “excellent health” to 7 for “terminally ill” - according to the senior doctor’s opinion.] For the variable(s) in this statement from the report, which measures of “average” (central tendency) could have been used? You MUST explain and give reasons for your answers. ? QUESTION 3 At MelSyd Manufacturing, a recent increase in accidents has led to a review of the times taken to complete various tasks. For one potentially hazardous production task (known as “P-8”), a preliminary study suggests that at least one hour should be spent on it. The file MelSyd.xlsx contains P-8 completion times from last week for the Melbourne factory and for the Sydney factory. For each factory, the times are presented in chronological order. (a) For Melbourne (Mel) and for Sydney (Syd), obtain the following summary measures: count, mean, median, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, range, 1st quartile, 3rd quartile, IQR and coefficient of variation. (b) For Mel and for Syd, obtain (i) a percentage frequency table, ie, show the percentage of values in each class. (Either calculate Relative Frequency and format it as a percentage, or calculate Relative Frequency*100.) Use classes which start at 50 minutes and have a width of 2.5 minutes. (ii) a percentage frequency graph of a suitable type. (c) Compare the completion times from last week for the Melbourne factory with those of the Sydney factory. Use your analysis in (a) and (b), and additional analysis if you think it would be helpful. Quote suitable evidence for your statements. This number line may be useful if you wish to draw a boxplot. QUESTION 4 (a) Critically appraise the following graph. (b) Critically appraise the following graph. You should know these key words which appear in assignment and exam questions. Compare Identify characteristics or qualities that resemble each other. Emphasise similarities and also mention differences where appropriate. For example, the comparison of fundamental and technical analysis; you should define what is meant by each concept before undertaking the comparison. Contrast Stress the dissimilarities and differences of things, events, problems or qualities. Criticise (critically appraise) Express your judgement about the merit or truth of the factors or views mentioned. Draw conclusions, discussing their limitations and good points. eg, “critically appraise …” Define State concise, clear and authoritative meanings. Give the limits of the definition, but omit detailed explanations. Show how the item defined differs from items in other classes. Describe Recount, characterise, outline or relate in sequence. Emphasise the most important points. You are not required to explain or interpret. Diagram A drawing, chart, plan or graph. Diagrams should be labelled and there should be an accompanying explanation. Discuss Examine, analyse carefully, and give reasons for and against. Be complete, and give details. Enumerate Provide an itemised list, which may often be expressed in point form. Evaluate You are required to appraise in order to make a judgement. This means you should carefully appraise the problems, referring to advantages, limitations, costs and benefits as appropriate. Explain Clarify, interpret and elaborate on the material presented. Give reasons for differences of opinion or results, and try to analyse causes. Your focus is on the how and why of a particular issue. [It is not sufficient to merely state a result.] Illustrate Use a concrete example, diagram or figure to explain or clarify a problem. Justify Prove or give reasons for conclusions or decisions. Outline Organise a description under main points and subordinate points. Omit minor details. Stress the arrangement or classification of things. Review Examine a subject critically, analysing and commenting on the important statements. State Present the main points in brief, clear sequence, usually omitting details or examples. Summarise Give the main points or facts in condensed form. Use a chronological or systematic format. ? Excel Tips If you need help with Excel, • use Excel’s Microsoft Excel Help menu item. (? at top right of the screen.) • see the “Computing” section on the Moodle site for some Help files. To alter the page margins, in order to optimise the use of a page before printing it Click on the “PAGE LAYOUT” at the top of the screen and select Margins. Select one of the options offered or click Custom Margins. To print in “Landscape” view, rather than in “Portrait” view Click on “PAGE LAYOUT” at the top of the screen, then Orientation and choose Portrait or Landscape. To Copy part of your spreadsheet, eg to Paste it into a Word document • Select the desired cells in Excel. • Click on the Copy command. • Go to the Word document. At the top left of the “HOME” screen, select the triangle under the Paste command and select Paste Special/Picture(Enhanced Metafile). An alternative to the procedures above is to use Microsoft’s “Snipping Tool” when your spreadsheet is displayed. This captures an image, which may then be Pasted into a Word document. Use Word’s “Crop” tool to reduce the Pasted image to your desired selection. Word Tips To capture a screen image & “Paste” it into Word To capture the image (any image, eg, an Excel page, an internet page, a photo, etc) currently displayed on your screen, • use Windows’ Snipping Tool to capture the image. • go to the desired location in your Word document. Hold the Ctrl key and press the letter “V”. The “Snipping Tool” is available via • the START button/All Programs/Accessories for computers with Windows version 7. • Windows Accessories for later versions of Windows. To copy a table or graph from Excel & “Paste” it as an image into Word • Select, then “Copy” the table or graph in Excel. • Go to the desired location in your Word document. From the top of the screen, select “Paste”, “Paste Special”, then “Picture (Enhanced Metafile”). To trim (“Crop”) an image in Word • Click on the image. • From the ‘ribbon’ at the top of the screen, select Format/Size and click on the “Crop” icon: • Apply the “Crop” icon to the image. To arrange graphs and pictures within a “Word” document Graphs (eg, from Excel) and pictures can be more manageable if you INSERT a table into Word and place your graphs and pictures (and text) into cells of the table.
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MKB2500 An abridged retailer strategy report
MKB2500: Assignment Two: An abridged retailer strategy report (PART B) Due Date: Friday October 12th 2018 by 11:50pm (WK11) Weighting/Value: 20% Details of Task: Team of two students Word limit: Maximum 3000 words Executive summary This is the final section of the report – it is written last and is not numbered. It also appears on a separate page before your table of contents. It should provide a summary of the key points from the main sections of both Assignment One and Assignment Two. 1.0.Introduction In this section you will provide: • an outline the purpose of your report, • a brief outline of your chosen retail business • an outline of what the report will cover. 2.0.Summary of the key trends/challenges/opportunities facing the retailer This section will be based on information from your first assignment (Assignment One). It should include a clear and concise summary of the key trends, challenges, and opportunities that you identified in Sections 2-4 in Assignment One. • You may use sub-headings and dot points in this section. • Note –you may also redevelop this content based on the feedback you received from Assignment One. That is, you may undertake further research to identify additional and/or more relevant trend, challenges, and opportunities. 3.0. Evaluation of retailer image In this section, you will evaluate the image that your chosen retailer is trying to project to its customers using the following criteria: 3.1.Service scape (physical/online store layout/atmosphere) 3.2.Visual presentation 3.3.Promotional strategy/retail advertising 3.4.Customer service (frontline and online) 3.5.Experiential factors (i.e., what is the retailer doing to enhance the experience of customers) 3.6.Customer experiences with the retailer (online reviews) 3.7. Brand image 3.8.Any other factors you may identify To complete this section, you are expected to visit your chosen retailer and its direct competitors. (evidenced by the images and notes that you will take). Make valid observations supported by photographs (seek permission please) • Text book/Lecture theoretical/conceptual material, company reports, websites and various media sources. • You are expected to include diagrams, photographs and other supporting materials. MKB2500 Assignment One Semester 2, 2018 Department of Marketing, Monash Business School 4.0. Recommendations 4.1. In this section, you will critically evaluate which elements of the retail mix* need to be changed and/or improved in order to respond to the threats and opportunities that you outlined in Section 2.0. 4.2. You will then develop recommendations as to how your retailer could go about making these improvements/changes using their retailing mix. *Retail mix includes location, merchandise, pricing, promotion, customer service and selling, store layout and design. Referencing At this stage of your tertiary education you are expected to be able to undertake independent research and to utilise source material beyond that provided in your prescribe textbook. Please speak to your academic facilitators and the librarians if you struggling with supporting your statements with evidence. • You are expected to use the APA reference format both in-text and in your reference list. There are numerous internet resources to help you with this process and the Monash library has resources on their website. • You should be wary of over relying on a single source. It is also important that you try to substantiate the points that you make from various different sources. This helps the reader to be more confident in the points that you are putting forward. • Finally, think about the quality of the sources that you are citing. Ask yourself how credible/reliable is the content likely to be? Writing style and clarity ???? Use of a formal business writing style and tone (see Q manual) o (e.g., you should not use personal pronouns such as “I” or we”) o (e.g., you should remove contractions. By way of illustration, “didn’t” should be written as “did not” and “can’t” should be written as “cannot”) o (e.g., do not use slang or informal terms) ???? Your points should be clearly and concisely presented. ???? Your statements should be free from spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. o Check for appropriate use of words. o Check acronyms are explained. Content structure and presentation ???? Appropriate use of paragraphs o Each paragraph should be built around one key point o There should be a logical flow between paragraphs. This means there should be evidence of transition statements to help link the paragraphs together. o Paragraphs not be excessively long. o The following resource will help you to develop well-formed paragraphs https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/) ???? Numbered headings and subheadings that are suitably descriptive. ???? Tables/figures/diagrams are clearly numbered and each with an appropriate heading (e.g., see http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/reingold/courses/resources/handouts_apa/TablesFigures1.pdf). ???? Any Appendices are clearly labelled and appropriately referred to in the body of the report ???? Presentation: o Title Page – this should be professionally laid out and include a descriptive and engaging title and information about who authored the report. MKB2500 Assignment One Semester 2, 2018 Department of Marketing, Monash Business School o Table of Contents - this should be professionally laid out. o Appropriate page numbering. o Use wide margins, double spacing, Times New Roman font, 12 point font size, numbered pages, and fully justified text. o Attribution of any imagery embedded in the report should be clearly identified (this includes imagery from websites and also photographs that you may have taken). Estimated return date: Two weeks after assignment submission Criterion Weighting Executive Summary 10% 1.0. Introduction 5% 2.0. Summary of the key trends/challenges/opportunities you identified in Assignment One 5% 3.0. Evaluation of retailer image through retail mix 35% 4.0. Recommendations 25% Referencing (in-text and reference list) 5% Writing style and clarity 7% Content structure and presentation 8% An outline of the teaching team expectations with respect to each grade band is outlined below. MKB2500 Assignment One Semester 2, 2018 Department of Marketing, Monash Business School This table provides a brief description of our expectations with respect to each grade band. Area Fail (<50) Pass (50-59) Credit (60-69) Distinction (70-79) High Distinction (80-100) Executive summary Unsatisfactory level of detail. The summary contains mostly unnecessary or trivial information AND/OR is missing numerous key pieces of information from the report. The summary is difficult to follow and/or understand. Variable level of detail. Some of the critical elements are present but quite a few are missing AND/OR are trivial or unnecessary to understanding the report. The summary is difficult to follow and/or understand in places. Reasonable level of detail. Many of the critical elements are present but some are missing and/or trivial/ unnecessary to understanding the report. The summary is only difficult to follow or understand in a few places. Good level of detail Most of the critical elements are present and only a couple are missing and/or trivial/ unnecessary to understanding the report. The summary is generally easy to follow and understand. Excellent level of detail. Summary clearly communicates the critical elements of the report and reads well as a standalone document explaining the report. The summary is easy to follow and understand. 1.0. Introduction The purpose is missing. The background to the retailer is missing OR lacks relevance. The report structure is missing. The purpose is present but poorly articulated. The background to the retailer is present but is poorly articulated and/or lacking in relevance in places. The report structure is mainly present and accurate. The purpose is present and is accurate. The background to the retailer is present and shows a reasonably sound understanding of the retailer. The report structure is present and accurate. The purpose is present, accurate, and clearly expressed. The background to the retailer is present and demonstrates a good understanding of the retailer. The report structure is present, accurate, and clearly articulated. The purpose is present, accurate, and very well articulated. The background to the retailer is present and demonstrates an excellent understanding of the retailer. The report structure is present, accurate, and well articulated 2.0. Summary of key trends, challenges, opportunities The summary contains mostly unnecessary or trivial information. There is no clear outline to trends, challenges, opportunities from the first report. The summary is difficult to follow and/or understand. Summary of trends, challenges, opportunities from the first report is variable in quality. Some points are missing and/or difficult to follow/understand. Summary of trends, challenges, opportunities from the first report is generally fair. Only a few key points are missing. The summary is only difficult to follow or understand in a few places. Summary of trends, challenges, opportunities from the first report is reasonably good. Very few key points are missing. The summary is generally easy to follow and understand. Summary of trends, challenges, opportunities from the first report is very good. Key points are present. The summary is easy to follow and understand. 3.0. Evaluation of retailer image shown through retail mix Analysis inadequate in terms of relevance, depth, and/or detail Numerous key points missing and/or irrelevant. No/very little supporting evidence provided. Analysis very general - lacks relevance, depth, and/or detail. Some key points are missing. Limited supporting evidence provided. Analysis is mostly relevant and has some depth and breadth. The analysis shows sound understanding but only probes in-depth in places. Few key points are missing. Supporting evidence is present in places but not consistently and is not well integrated into the report. Analysis is relevant and is fairly comprehensive. The analysis has reasonably good depth and displays some evidence of independent and critical thinking. Key points are mostly present and addressed well. Supporting evidence is consistently present and is well integrated into the report in places. The review is very comprehensive. The analysis has good depth and there is clear evidence of substantial and probing insights. Key points are present and addressed well. Supporting evidence is consistently present and used in a way that enhances the clarity and readability of the report. 4.0. Recommendatio ns No/poor justification for choice of recommendations. No/ little detail of how to implement the strategy is presented and/or it lacks relevance to the company. Minimal/vague justification for choice of strategy. Detail on how to implement the strategy is sketchy and /or the relevance to the company is not well presented. Justification for choice of strategy is present but rather general. Some detail is provided on how to implement the strategy and it has some relevance to the company. Justification is explained in detail and shows some insight. Overall, the detail on how to implement the strategy is good. Justification is appropriately detailed and well thought out. Overall, the detail on how to implement the strategy is excellent. MKB2500 Assignment One Semester 2, 2018 Department of Marketing, Monash Business School Referencing No or little evidence of appropriate referencing in-text or in references. Source material is generally of an unsatisfactory standard. APA reference style has been very poorly applied. Some attempt has been made at referencing in-text. Source material is of variable quality. APA reference formatting errors are common. A reasonable attempt has been made at referencing in-text. Source material is generally of good quality. There are some APA reference formatting errors. A good attempt has been made at referencing in-text. Source material is of good quality. There are few APA reference formatting errors. Very good attempt has been made at referencing in-text. Source material is of good quality. There are very few APA reference formatting errors. Style & clarity of writing Style and tone do not fit the task. Frequent evidence of poor sentence structure and word choice. Content is frequently confusing or lacking in clarity. Some attempt to create a style and tone appropriate to task. Evidence of poor sentence structure and word choice are not uncommon. It is not uncommon for content to be confusing and/or lacking in clarity. Style and tone are generally appropriate to the task. Sentence structure and word choice are fairly good. Some evidence of content that is confusing or lacking in clarity. Style and tone is mostly appropriate to the task. Sentence structure and word choice are typically good. Generally, content is clearly presented – only occasional errors are present. Style and tone are appropriate to the task. Sentence structure and word choice is are good. The content is clearly presented with only very occasional errors. Content structure & presentation Work lacks organisation and structure. Poor connection and flow of ideas between paragraphs. Structure within paragraphs is poor. Layout and formatting – criteria not met to a satisfactory standard Organisation and structure of content is quite variable. Connection and flow of ideas between paragraphs is problematic places – only occasional use of transition statements. Paragraphs lack structure in places. Layout and formatting – only a few criteria are met to a satisfactory standard. Organisation and structure of content still needs some work. Content sometimes difficult to follow but there is evidence of transition statements. Occasional evidence of structural problems within paragraphs. Layout and formatting –all criteria are met to a basic level – and some to a satisfactory level. Organisation and structure of content is generally good. Transitional sentences are present and help with the connection and flow of ideas across paragraphs. Each paragraph generally relates to central idea. Layout and formatting – most criteria are met to satisfactory level and some to a good level Organisation and structure of content flows logically and the content is cohesive. Paragraphs clearly guide the reader through the progression of ideas. Each paragraph is coherently structured. Layout and formatting – the criteria are generally
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PSY1022 Research Proposal Topics
PSY1022 Research Proposal Topics Please select any one topic for the assignments 1. Social Psychology The impact of social media like Facebook contributes to individuals comparing their body image with those of others. People are surrounded by images that emphasise thinness for women, and muscularity/leanness for men. Past research has found that women who engage in comparisons through social media sites experience more appearance and body dissatisfaction. However, recent research has found that this dissatisfaction is not just limited to women. Men also experience body dissatisfaction as a result of comparisons through social media sites. Design a study to test the idea that body image on Facebook will be related to body dissatisfaction in either men or women. Be sure to develop a study that is ethically feasible. Starting reference: Manago, A. M., Ward, M., Lemm, K. M., Reed, L., & Seabrook, R. (2015). Facebook involvement, objectified body consciousness, body shame, and sexual assertiveness in college women and men. Sex Roles, 72, 1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s1199-014-0441-1. 2. Cognitive Psychology Human memory is fallible. Rather than being like a recording of events experienced, our memories are vulnerable to errors due to such phenomena as forgetting. The impact of forgetting varies from not remembering where you left your car keys, struggling to recall a question on an exam to more serious implications relating to early onset dementia. In recent times, interventions designed to boost memory performance represent a growing multibillion-dollar industry. Design a study to test an intervention that can improve either long term or working memory performance in humans. Be sure to develop a study that is ethically feasible. Starting Reference: Macpherson, H., Ellis, K.A., Sali, A. et al. (2012) Memory improvements in elderly women following 16 weeks treatment with a combined multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplement. Psychopharmacology, 220, 351-365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2481-3. 3. Abnormal Psychology There is now little doubt that genetic factors contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Adoptive children whose biological parents have schizophrenia are more likely to develop the disorder themselves, even though families with no history of schizophrenia had adopted them. However, pure inheritability does not entirely explain the development of schizophrenia. For example, when one identical twin develops schizophrenia there is only a 50% chance that the other twin will also develop the disorder. This suggests that environmental factors also contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Thus, the heredity versus environment debate remains; exactly what environmental factors are involved, and to what extent do these factors influence the development of schizophrenia? To help answer this debate, design a study to assess the influence of one environmental factor (e.g. drug use, malnutrition, childhood upbringing) on the development of schizophrenia. Starting Reference: Heins, M., Simons, C., Lataster, T., Pfeifer, S., Versmissen, D., Lardinois, M., & Myin-Germeys, I. (2011). Childhood trauma and psychosis: a case-control and case-sibling comparison across different levels of genetic liability, psychopathology, and type of trauma. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168(12), 1286-1294.