MBA402 Governance, Ethics and Sustainability Report 3 Sample

MBA402 Governance, Ethics and Sustainability. Ass 3

Your Task

You will write a report to a company board summarizing your views on corporate governance, sustainability and risk management practices.

Assessment Description

From Monday of Week 9 at 9 am, you will have access to a case study on MyKBS under the Assessments tab. This document will have all the necessary case study facts and the specific questions which you are required to answer for this assessment.

Assessment Instructions

• You are required to prepare a report and submit it through Turnitin in MyKBS.

• You should adhere to KBS’s referencing and Academic Integrity requirements.

• Please refer to the assessment marking guide to assist you in completing all the assessment criteria.

Solution

Question 1: Good Corporate Governance Practices 

One of the corporate governance practices that is required to be adopted by the company is Building a Competent Board. All the knowledge and abilities required to make wise decisions for the company should be represented on the board. Even though the conversations are lengthy and filled with strong ideas, the board members must fully trust one another for the discussions to be constructive. As per the MBA Assignment Expert overview, A strategic imperative, effective, competent, and diverse boards are becoming more than just a legal obligation. The most successful organisations are built over time via meticulous planning and have members who are strongly devoted to the organization's objective, contribute knowledge in crucial areas, and represent a variety of viewpoints (Zaid et al., 2020). This will help the company in making effective decisions required for the operations of its business. Based on this factor, the company would be able to carry out its business operations in an efficient way. This will help the company in competing with the rivals existing in the specified industry. The issues and challenges arising in the business operations of the company will be resolved in a short span of time. Due to this reason, the overall performance of the company will improve for its growth and development. 

Aligning Strategies with Goals is the other corporate governance practices which can be adopted by the company. The board should identify and evaluate all types of risk using all available tools and human resources. To establish the company's risk tolerance and risk profile, the board must collaborate. Organizations should also make sure that the right structures and controls are in place so that risks can be monitored and mitigated as needed. Board members must take both short- and long-term risks and strategies into account as per company best practises. This corporate governance practice will help the company in increasing employee autonomy (Yameen, Farhan and Tabash, 2019). Based on this factor, the ability of employees working in the company will enhance to a certain extent. Due to this reason, duties and responsibilities assigned to them will be accomplished by maintaining higher level of efficiency by the employees. The rate of employee engagement will also increase within the organization. However, for this purpose, the supervisors of the company are required to provide feedback to the employees on a constant basis. The adoption of this corporate governance practice will help the company in efficient resource management. It is simpler to provide resources to teams and projects when there is effective business alignment because it establishes a prioritising framework for corporate goals. 

Having a High Level of Ethics and Integrity can also be adopted by the company as one of the corporate governance practices. The company's voice is that of the executives. They are frequently requested to deliver public presentations as a result. Every time a director speaks on behalf of the company, they must take their fiduciary obligations into account. The finest candidates are those who exhibit a high standard of morality, decency, and integrity in their speech, work, and interpersonal interactions (Sivaprasad and Mathew, 2021). A clear conflict of interest policy should be in place on the board, and members should be encouraged to declare conflicts and abstain from voting in such cases. The board should also establish a procedure for reporting violations and whistleblowing. The maintaance of Ethics and Integrity within the organization will help the company in carrying out the business operations in an ethical manner. The social responsbilties associated with the business of the company will be fulfilled in an effectyuev manner. This will create a posituive impact on the brand reputation of the company. Based on this factor, the company will be able to attract more consumers towards its bsuienss. 

Policies in line with law and applicable regulations is the other corporate governance practices which can be adopted by the company. Policies and regulations are crucial since they deal with connected concerns including the norms and values of everyday business. They make sure that laws and regulations are followed, represent the culture of the company, offer advice on making decisions and taking risks, and streamline internal operations (Abdeldayem and Aldulaimi, 2018). These rules and regulations must be up to date, in accordance with company objectives and strategies, as well as applicable laws and regulations. To ensure that everyone is aware of how things should be done and behaved, these should also be simple to obtain.  Clarifying the organization's goal, directing future operations planning, assisting subordinates in making decisions, promoting general coordination and control, and assessing the effectiveness of senior management's decisions and actions are all made possible with the aid of policies. These are some of the benefits that will be obtained by the company (AlHares, Dominic and Al Abed, 2019).  The employees working in the company can understand what is expected of them and what will happen if they breach the rules by adhering to the rules and regulations. It establishes a reliable workplace where employees feel at ease showing up for work, being themselves, and conducting their own business. 

One of the corporate governance practices which is required to be adopted by the company is related to Agenda and minutes. The board must discuss the most crucial and pressing strategic matters at the meeting. It has been discovered that organising regular issues for simultaneous board approval and categorising them under topics maximises the use of agenda time during meetings. It has been identified that it is critical that board meeting minutes are of the greatest quality, crystal clear, succinct, and unambiguous because they serve as the last record of a company's highest decision-making body (Bezawada, 2020). This will help the company in conducting the meeting along with the accomplishment of Agenda. Based on this factor, the process of decision making will be fastened up in an effective manner. This wil help the company in improving its overall profitability. 

Question 2: Benefits and Challenges of Sustainability Report 

As per Caesaria and Basuki, (2017), the market performance serves as both the independent variable and the dependent variable. The independent variables include aspects of the sustainability report such as economics, the environment, and social aspects. According to the findings of the research, economic factors, environmental factors, and social factors all have a substantial and beneficial impact on the market performance of organizations. The practical relevance of this study is the value that society places on corporations in terms of their image when such companies disclose how their actions linked to economics, social issues, and the environment impact the success of their businesses. Joshua Wilson, a member of the board of JKW Renew Pty Ltd., expressed his interest in learning more about the necessity for sustainability reporting. According to Joshua, the process of rehabilitating soil does not always include shifting the dirt around. At other times, the corporation will apply chemicals to ensure that the harmful material remains dormant in the earth. The task may need to deal with various substances. Businesses like JKW Renew Pty Ltd. are not a part of the issue; rather, they are a part of the solution. Similarly, James Pearson, the Chief Operating Officer of the firm, wanted to know whether the business required to undertake both risk management and sustainability reporting at the same time. The benefits and challenges of the Sustainability Report for JKW Renew Pty Ltd. are as follows.

Benefits of Sustainability Report 

• The key to reassuring people that this firm is serious about sustainability is to provide them with a report on the company's sustainability efforts, which helps make clear every economic, environmental, and social consequence that the actions of the organization have (Petrescu et al., 2020).

• Reporting on sustainability helps to identify the cost savings that have been brought about by the sustainability plan as well as the opportunity of creating even more savings. Both JKW Pty Ltd. and the investors will have the option to reduce their expenses as a result of these reporting requirements.

• The process of reporting on sustainability enables firms to use reliable data and information in order to report back internally on their growth and success. In addition, the reporting serves to create worker pride, action, and morale, which are all benefits of the reporting (Buallay, 2019).

• Reporting on sustainability may assist businesses in determining what aspects of their operations are successful and which need improvement. As a result, the management board of JKW Pty Ltd. is able to alter its plans and strategies appropriately.

• The investor Acme, who is in JKW Pty Ltd., is worried about the company's sustainability reports. Therefore, publishing reports on sustainability might boost their faith in you. Reporting on sustainability is an example of trustworthy reporting, which strengthens the confidence of stakeholders and investors. Reporting data on sustainability is particularly important for acquiring authentications and authorizations related to sustainability as well as winning the confidence and trust of investors.

Challenges of Sustainability Report 

• The clearing or openness of the information being reported on sustainability is a significant obstacle. A firm is able to declare high levels of participation in the local community if it incorporates representation programs into each of its operations, even if these programs are unsuccessful.

• An organization has the option of arguing that a necessary declaration does not apply to them, or that the necessary facts and information are private secret, and either banned or inaccessible due to legal restrictions (Jain and Tripathi, 2022). Because of these anomalies, it is difficult to compare the performance of different organizations in terms of sustainability or the performance of an organization over time.

Key elements 

• Inadequate corporate governance mechanisms provide JKW Pty Ltd. with the greatest potential threat to its long-term viability.

• The organization's commitment to authenticity has to be made abundantly obvious in the sustainability reports.

• Audiences for sustainability reports may be broken down into several different categories. Reports on sustainability have to come up with a format that will guide readers through the history of sustainability at the company.

Question 3: Key risks 

Risk Oversight 

Risk supervision is becoming more and more important for boards to do because the current economic crisis was caused by poor governance that did not adequately protect against taking too many risks (Alkurdi et al., 2019). The boards of JKW Pty Ltd. should assist management in identifying possible risks and continue to monitor risks, and boards must be able to execute these tasks so that information is of high quality, reliable, and up to date. Boards are also accountable for ensuring that adequate crisis response preparation has been carried out, which may help reduce the number of errors made during times of emergency.

Corporate Strategy 

One of the board's primary responsibilities is to participate in management's process of developing an effective corporate strategy. JKW Pty Ltd. can better strike a balance between strategy and risk by, among other things, improving strategic information, collaborating with management earlier and more extensively in the creation and refinement of strategy, aligning board composition with strategy, and better aligning goals in the short, medium, and long term. It is highly essential to tie up the executive compensation objectives along with metrics with the motive of establishing the process which in turn will be utilised for developing out the effective strategies and therefore, provide monitoring for implementation and improvisation (Alkurdi et al., 2019).

Transparency 

Improved and more relevant information for shareholder choices, a framework for constructive management supervision, and a clearer understanding of the roles and responsibilities of management and the board are all urgently required in relation to board decisions. JKW Pty Ltd. has the ability to increase its level of openness by being more proactive in its contacts with shareholders and by making more use of technology in the context of communications, such as during annual shareholder meetings.

References 

AlHares, A., Dominic, G. and Al Abed, R., 2019. The corporate governance practices: Evidence from MENA countries. Theoretical Economics Letters, 9(04), p.999. DOI: 10.4236/tel.2019.94065

Alkurdi, A., Hussainey, K., Tahat, Y. and Aladwan, M., 2019. The impact of corporate governance on risk disclosure: Jordanian evidence. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 23(1), pp.1-16 DOI: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/qut.edu.au?url=https://dx.doi.org/https://www.proquest.com/openview/f252ebef26787871f43433e578233eba/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=29414

Bezawada, B., 2020. Corporate governance practices and bank performance: Evidence from Indian banks. Indian Journal of Finance and Banking, 4(1), pp.33-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46281/ijfb.v4i1.502

Buallay, A., 2019. Between cost and value: Investigating the effects of sustainability reporting on a firm’s performance. Journal of Applied Accounting Research. DOI: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/qut.edu.au?url=https://dx.doi.org/https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JAAR-12-2017-0137/full/html

Caesaria, A.F. and Basuki, B., 2017. The study of sustainability report disclosure aspects and their impact on the companies’ performance. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 34). DOI: http://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20173408001

Jain, K. and Tripathi, P.S., 2022. Challenges of Sustainability Reporting from Managerial Perspective: A Review and Future Agenda. Metamorphosis, p.09726225221127481. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09726225221127481

Petrescu, A.G., Bîlcan, F.R., Petrescu, M., Holban Oncioiu, I., Türkeș, M.C. and Căpuşneanu, S., 2020. Assessing the benefits of the sustainability reporting practices in the top Romanian companies. Sustainability, 12(8), p.3470. DOI: doi:10.3390/su12083470

Sivaprasad, S. and Mathew, S., 2021. Corporate governance practices and the pandemic crisis: UK evidence. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society. DOI:  https://dx.doi.org/https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CG-08-2020-0357/full/htmlt

Yameen, M., Farhan, N.H. and Tabash, M.I., 2019. The impact of corporate governance practices on firm’s performance: An empirical evidence from Indian tourism sector. Journal of International Studies, 12(1). DOI: 10.14254/2071- 8330.2019/12-1/14

Zaid, M.A., Wang, M., Abuhijleh, S.T., Issa, A., Saleh, M.W. and Ali, F., 2020. Corporate governance practices and capital structure decisions: the moderating effect of gender diversity. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society. DOI: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CG-11-2019-0343/full/html