Objectives of the Assignment
This assignment develops your capabilities to analyse, reason logically and conceptualise financial, social and environmental issues, and is aligned with the Course Learning Outcomes of identifying, understanding and interpreting accounting concepts. The use of Sustainability and/or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports enables you to apply your accounting knowledge to a real world context.
Overview of assignment requirements
Assume you are preparing the report for a friend who wishes to invest in a business which conducts itself in a socially and environmentally responsible way. In your report, you are required to advise your friend on the economic/financial, social and environmental performance of the business. You should choose and analyse the Financial and Sustainability/CSR Reports of one of the organisations listed below (please note that a marking rubric/guide will be available on the course Canvas) and, in the report conclusion, advise your friend whether or not to invest in the business. You should demonstrate that you have undertaken research by citing relevant sources you have used. Therefore, you need to appropriately reference those sources in the text and list them in the bibliography.
We highly suggest you to read through the sustainability chapter in the text book before you commence writing the assignment. Then, read through the annual reports as well as other online resources which provide additional information about the financial, social and environmental performance of the company you selected. When writing your report, it is important that you follow the assignment template.
You are required to prepare a report on one of the following specific organisations below:
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Adidas
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Annual Report and Sustainability Report 2015
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Myer
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Annual Report and Sustainability Report 2014
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Qantas
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Annual Report and Sustainability Report 2015
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Telstra
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Annual Report and Sustainability Report 2016
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The assignment's template is as follows:
- Title Page
- Table of contents
- Introduction (please see assignment's rubric for further information)
- Financial/Economic performance
- Social performance
- Environmental performance
- Conclusion
- Reference List
- Appendix (optional)
With the financial/economic performance section of your assignment, the minimum requirement is to locate and summarise the company's basic financial information as outlined below (see table). Then, most importantly you should discuss the financial performance (particularly profitability) of the company using the management reports, online resources, financial and sustainability/CSR reports. It is highly recommended to provide some comparative analysis, whereby you compare the company's financial reports (of the relevant year) with the same company's financial reports of previous years (up to 2 years) and/or competitors' reports or industry averages to support your report analysis.
Company name (select the preferred company)
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General financial information
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Financial year xxx
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(A)
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Total Assets
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Total Liabilities
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Total Owners Equity
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(B)
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(Basic) Profit earned- per share (EPS)
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(C)
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Total Ordinary Shares issued
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(D)
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Profit received by Shareholders- per share (DPS)
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(E)
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Net Cash flows from Operating Activities
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(F)
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Net Cash flows from Investing Activities
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As a result of reading your chosen company's CSR and/or Sustainability Report, you should discuss matters relating to the company's sustainability practices and reporting in your report including but not limited to the following issues:
- Aspects of the company's environmental performance - related to natural capital - including but not limited to environmental protection, energy and carbon emission concerns, and waste production concerns.
- Aspects of company's social performance - related to human capital and society wealth creation potential - including but not limited to the employee health, human rights protection, contribution to community, customer involvement, and product responsibility.
Other appropriate issues in completing this assignment:
- A report format should be used for your written submission. Please ensure you use headings and sub-headings to structure your report. Please ensure that your report is typed with the following formatting style recommended: 1.5 line spacing, 11 point font, minimum 3 cm margin on left-hand side of paper.
- Your assignment must be appropriately referenced using the Harvard Style referencing system.
Note: Cannot choose Adidas as alredy my friend is working, choose another