Assessment task 1: Individual essay

1) Assessment details: This assessment task assists students to develop skills with which they will be able to demonstrate the ability to keep ‘up to date’ on legislative and regulatory matters and changes, and determine their effects on business performance, management planning and decision making.

Task overview:

Prepare a critical evaluation of a public company (of your choosing) that has suffered from a severe financial crisis or become insolvent at some time over the past 10-15 years. Your essay should include (but not be limited by) a discussion about the following issues:

• a (brief) history of the company and how it formed

• its key initial success drivers, financial milestones or achievements

• any major changes in its structure over its life – ie mergers/demergers/major capital management programs etc

• the generally accepted reasons that caused its failure

• the social impact of its failure – both internally (ie staff) and externally, across the wider business community and society in general

• a summary of the lessons learned (This might include regulatory changes)

Note: Your essay is more than just a report. You are also required to analyse, evaluate and produce a line of argument to support your analysis findings.

A few points to guide you:

• Marks will be awarded primarily upon the strength of the arguments you present – these should be based on solid research using material from credible reports, analysis and commentary.

• The use of practical examples will provide support to your paper

• Your work must be in essay format – meaning that you are encouraged to present your own supported opinion

• You must research widely, but include references, cited using APA style, from credible sources – You must adhere to the word count. You will be penalized for exceeding the word limit

2. This task is worth 20% of total course marks. Word limit is 2000 words (plus/minus 10%). Please adhere to the word limit as content beyond it will not be assessed.