BUSN3017: Corporate Social Responsibility, Accountability and Reporting
Business Report (Task 3) Assessment Requirements
Weighting: 30%
Due Date: 11am, Monday 14 October, 2024
This assessment task has been designed to allow you more deeply analyse the recent corporate responsibility disclosures of a large Australian public company. It has been modelled on the type of task of business consultants are often required to undertake for corporations, and is motivated by the recent developments in standards for corporate responsibility reporting.
The task has been designed to allow you to follow you own interests, by enabling you to choose the corporation/s that interest you, and encouraging you to develop your own substantiated but practical conclusions about a corporation’s sustainability reporting. The task examines your ability to undertaken analytical reasoning, independent research and your written communication skills.
Required
Choose one of Australia’s largest public corporations (i.e. from the list provided in Appendix 1). You are a consultant who has been appointed to provide an independent review of this corporation’s sustainability reporting. The CEO of this corporation has tasked you with preparing a report in which you analyse their latest sustainability report, and the performance of their corporation within it. In your report, you need to use research, analysis and your judgement to answer the following: 1. Is the corporation’s approach to materiality satisfactory? 2. Does the corporation’s choice of reporting frameworks demonstrate best practice? 3. What are the three (3) ESG issues in which the corporation is performing the worst? 4. One other question of your choice, which draws from any of the slides marked ‘Key Insight’ in the Lecture Slides or Workshop Slides.
You are to conclude your report with a series of recommendations to the CEO that draw on your analysis about the corporations reporting practices.
Important information
• To perform your analysis in each area, you should at a minimum: (i) do research to understand what the corporation does and how it is disclosed, (ii) consider the strengths of this approach/disclosure (further research will help you here), (iii) consider the weaknesses, gaps or ways the corporation’s approach in this area could be better, or improved (further research will help you here). Your report should then summarise your findings and lead to your judgement on each of these questions. • Base your analysis on the most recent sustainability reporting of your chosen corporation. Note that different companies report in different ways, so their reporting may take the form of a separate sustainability report, or CSR report, or integrated report, a website, or database. All of this can be included as ‘sustainability reporting’. Also, ‘recent’ refers to the most recently published information (usually a 2023 report or 2024 website). If your chosen corporation does not report on sustainability at all, then it is not an appropriate choice for this assessment. Ensure you clearly state what documents/resources you have reviewed for your analysis in your introduction. • Your written report should be no longer than 10 pages. Your cover page and reference list are excluded from this page limit. Do not use font size smaller than 10 in your submission. • You are recommended to use visual ways to present your findings in a business report. Consider how using tables, figures, diagrams or other visual could present your research and findings. Marks are allocated for the structure, style, and format of your report. • For part 4, above, you must develop your own analytical question based on one of the concepts raised in class (i.e. the ‘Key Insight’). To do this, choose the ‘key insight’ slide that most interested you, do some research on the corporation’s disclosure, and formulate your own question that you could use to guide your analysis. • Your business report should be carefully and thoroughly referenced. Use the Harvard referencing style, as outlined by ANU. Your reference list is excluded from the page limit.
Structure of the Report
The report should be addressed to the corporation/s you chose and use formal business language. Ensure you carefully edit your work for expression and grammar. Structure your report using the sections below (with marks allocated for each question; total 100 marks). Please ensure your report includes all of these sections; the length and structure within these sections is up to you.
Cover page Stating the name of the corporation you chose and your student ID. This is not included in your page limit.
Executive Summary [2 marks] Summarise the key messages of the report. Keep this very brief.
Introduction [3 marks] Outline the objective of your paper and its structure. State which disclosures or reports from the corporation you have used in your analysis. Keep this very brief.
Materiality [15 marks] Your analysis and response to: Is the corporation’s approach to materiality satisfactory?
Reporting Frameworks [15 marks] Your analysis and response to: Does the corporation’s choice of reporting frameworks demonstrate best practice?
Areas of Worst Performance [15 marks] Your analysis and response to: What are the three (3) ESG issues in which the corporation is performing the worst?
Additional Analysis [20 marks] Your analysis and response to your own analytical question.
Conclusion [10 marks] Conclude your report by making 2 – 6 recommendations to the CEO about what actions you think they should take in response to your report findings. Remember that your conclusions should flow from your earlier arguments in the report.
Reference List Proper references for all resources cited in your report. Ensure your references are correct and consistent. This is not included in your page limit.
A total of [15 marks] will be allocated to the structure, style and format of your submission, and a further [5 marks] for expression, writing and referencing of the report.
Further support
If you are unclear about the requirements of this assessment task, it is best to seek guidance in advance of submission. Speak to Sarah after class, or come to consultation if you would like to discuss any part of this assessment task.
In class, we will review a published Report, and we will discuss its structure, language, the elements and recommendations. This will provide a real example of what a Report should look like.
We will also allocate time in – class to developing your ‘Key Insights’ Research Question, where we will develop a question together, and you will have time in – class to develop a question and ask Sarah about your ideas. Remember to use consultation time to develop your question if needed.
Guidance on business report writing is available via the ANU Academic Skills Website at: https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic – skills/writing – assessment/report – writing
For further support, you may wish to book a consultation with Academic skills at: https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic – skills/appointments
Submission
Submit your business report in Word format (.doc) or PDF via Turnitin on Wattle. Please use the name of the company as the title of the file you submit on Turnitin (e.g. Report on BHP Limited).
Academic integrity is taken seriously at ANU. Ensure everything you submit is your own work. You can use the ANU Academic Skills Turnitin Practice Site to check your work prior to submission. Also, ensure you check the Turnitin Originality Report function to ensure you have correctly referenced the work of others. Apparent instances of plagiarism or academic misconduct will be reported and dealt with according to ANU Student Academic Integrity Policy and Processes.
While you may find AI helpful to assist with background research on sustainability, AI will not generate content that will satisfactorily meet the requirements of this assessment task in terms of depth, accuracy, recency, and referencing. Your submission on this task should, therefore, be entirely your own work, and you will be responsible for the accuracy and argument of your submission.
Late submission of assessment tasks without an approved extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Applications for extensions to the submission date should be in writing to the course convenor and require written documentation; and will not be accepted for reasons associated with study workload, extra – curricular activities, employment, travel or personal issues without medical substantiation.
Appendix – Top 40 ASX Listed Companies, as of August 2024
| Company Name | Industry | Market Capitalization |
|---|---|---|
| COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA. | Banks | 232.29B |
| BHP GROUP LIMITED | Materials | 205.54B |
| CSL LIMITED | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | 148.80B |
| NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED | Banks | 116.96B |
| WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION | Banks | 107.30B |
| ANZ GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED | Banks | 89.82B |
| NEWMONT CORPORATION | Materials | 87.59B |
| WESFARMERS LIMITED | Consumer Discretionary Distribution & Retail | 84.04B |
| MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED | Financial Services | 81.83B |
| GOODMAN GROUP | Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) | 62.98B |
| FORTESCUE LTD | Materials | 57.14B |
| BLOCK INC. | Financial Services | 54.59B |
| RESMED INC | Health Care Equipment & Services | 52.30B |
| WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LTD | Energy | 50.58B |
| TELSTRA GROUP LIMITED | Telecommunication Services | 45.17B |
| WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED | Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail | 43.64B |
| TRANSURBAN GROUP | Transportation | 41.55B |
| RIO TINTO LIMITED | Materials | 40.83B |
| WISETECH GLOBAL LIMITED | Software & Services | 39.69B |
| ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED | Consumer Services | 34.06B |
| REA GROUP LTD | Media & Entertainment | 28.83B |
| COLES GROUP LIMITED. | Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail | 25.27B |
| BRAMBLES LIMITED | Commercial & Professional Services | 24.84B |
| NEWS CORPORATION.. | Media & Entertainment | 24.50B |
| AMCOR PLC | Materials | 23.92B |
| JAMES HARDIE INDUSTRIES PLC | Materials | 23.72B |
| QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED | Insurance | 23.58B |
| SANTOS LIMITED | Energy | 23.25B |
| SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED | Insurance | 22.22B |
| XERO LIMITED | Software & Services | 21.86B |
| COCHLEAR LIMITED | Health Care Equipment & Services | 19.41B |
| FISHER & PAYKEL HEALTHCARE CORPORATION LIMITED | Health Care Equipment & Services | 19.12B |
| SCENTRE GROUP | Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) | 17.71B |
| INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED | Insurance | 17.65B |
| REECE LIMITED | Capital Goods | 17.28B |
| NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LTD | Materials | 17.23B |
| ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED | Utilities | 17.15B |
| COMPUTERSHARE LIMITED. | Commercial & Professional Services | 16.67B |
| SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED | Capital Goods | 16.49B |
| UNIBAIL – RODAMCO – WESTFIELD | Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) | 16.44B |