NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY
2008 Spring Semester
Case Studies in Corporate Governance
Class Schedule: Thursday 18:00 – 21:00
Instructor: Prof. Ling-Tai Lynette Chou 周玲臺教授(會計系)
Office: 261245
Phone: 2939-3091 Ext. 81245
Email:
Office Hours: Tuesday 16：00 - 18：00
Course Overview
Have you ever wondered why companies including Livedoor (Japan), Procomp Informatics (Taiwan), Enron and Worldcom (US) were all fatally destined to high-level executive exploitation of company resources, and eventually led to enterprise downfalls? Do you know how an effective Board of Directors can help a company maximize the impact of its corporate governance initiatives? What are the characteristics or indispensable elements of a well-functioned corporate governance system?
This course aims to bring you in-depth looks into how an adequate corporate governance system, including effective board monitoring, persistent internal audit functions and independent external auditor assurance, works in Asian companies as well as in world-renowned global enterprises. You will closely analyze the balancing roles of external audits and internal control in relation to a firm’s corporate governance policies, and through elaborative discussions of real world cases from 14 different industries (including a non-profit organization) with classmates possessing diverse academic, professional and cultural backgrounds, learn the unique environments and corporate governance issues that haunt different industries and organizations.
Course Structure
1. This course will adopt business cases from Harvard Business School, Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario) and the University of Hong Kong. There are no pre-requisites to this course. Students in the IMBA and ETP programs, as well as senior or graduate students from all colleges are encouraged to take this course. Students may contribute their unique perspectives through pro-active discussions and learn about contemporary corporate governance issues affecting the world.
2. Students are expected to prepare for class in advance. The course grade will be determined as follows:
A. Participation during class meetings 50%
B. Group discussions (attendance and contribution) 20%
C. Final examination 30%
TOTAL 100%
3. No final paper is required. Course grades will be based on a student’s performance (interaction and contribution) during study group sessions and class discussions; thus, weekly pre-class preparation and study group participation are mandatory.
4. This course will be taught in English. Students will be assigned to study groups with the purpose of creating an international discussion environment. Students are encouraged to use English in expressing their ideas and opinions with the aim of enhancing their general-management skills and English language ability.
Purpose
1. Enable students to personally experience the Case Study Method as it is applied in top business schools around the world. This will greatly enhance students’ decision-making skills and business experience.
2. Expand students’ management know-how and industry knowledge by studying cases published by Harvard Business School, Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario), and Hong Kong University.
3. Instill in students a global perspective via a natural divergent class environment and a versatile collection of cases on companies from Asia and North America. Our goal is to facilitate continued appreciation and life-time learning of English as a business communication medium by students.
Pedagogy
The professor leads the class case discussions during the first 1-2 hours of each class. This will be followed by the study group discussion in preparation for the next class. Study group discussions for this course will begin during the third hour of the first day of classes (Case 1), while class case discussions will commence during the second meeting. As there is no pre-requisite for taking this course, students from assorted backgrounds are encouraged to register for the course and contribute to the class with their diverse thoughts, this can also help enhance the depth and breadth of students’analytical abilities in relation to corporate governance issues.
Course Materials
1. Cases from Harvard Business School, Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario) and the University of Hong Kong.
2. Louise A. Mauffette-Leenders, J. A. Erskine, and M. R. Leenders. 2005. Learning with Cases. Third edition. Ivey Publishing.
3. Additional readings will be assigned with cases when necessary.
Targeted Students
Students in the IMBA and ETP programs as well as senior and graduate students from all colleges:
1. with an interest in corporate governance, basic accounting and auditing knowledge; or
2. interested in a vivid Case-Method and Participant Centered Learning experience; or
3. who hope to enhance their global perspective and English language abilities while gaining knowledge on corporate governance and basic concepts on internal controls/accounting reporting.
Grading Policy
1. Class Participation: This course does not have a midterm examination nor final report, however, students are required to put in their utmost effort in participating in class discussions (every meeting). The quality of class participation and contribution is the primary basis for grading and comprises 50% of the students’ final course grade.
2. Study Group Discussion: This is a necessary part of pre-class preparation. All students are required to participate and contribute in group discussions but a consensus among group members is not required. As group discussions are an important part of the learning process in this course, it will comprise 20% of the students’ final course grade.
3. Final Examination: Students will independently analyze a case. This comprises 30% of the students’ final course grade.
Class Schedule
1 / Feb / 21 / Course Introduction; Learning with Cases (Lecture); Corporate Governance / Case(1)
2 / 28 / Holiday (和平紀念日)
3 / Mar / 6 / Conflict on Trading Floor (A & B)(1)
Ethics and personal values / Case (2)
4 / 13 / Pepsi Bottling Group(2)
Formation of a new board / Case (3)
5 / 20 / Petro China(3)
Chinese characteristics / Case (4)
6 / 27 / Royal Bank of Canada (4)
Subsidiary governance study / Case (5)
7 / Apr / 3 / Spring Break (春假)
8 / 10 / National Kidney Foundation: CEO with a Golden Tap (5)
Social enterprise / Case (6)
9 / 17 / The Enron Corp. (6A)
Financial fraud
Accounting Fraud at WorldCom (6B)
Accounting fraud and internal auditor / Case (7)
10 / 24 / Procomp Informatics (7)
Ethical landmines / Case (8)
11 / May / 1 / Livedoor: The Rise and Fall of a Market Maverick (8)
Corporate fraud / Case (9)
12 / 8 / Financial Reporting Problems at Molex, Inc. (9)
CFO/CEO vs. auditor / Case (10)
13 / 15 / Microsoft’s Financial Reporting Strategy (10)
Strategy and corporate governance / Case (11)
14 / 22 / Restating Revenues and Earnings at INVESTools, Inc. (11)
Earnings restatement / Case (12)
15 / 29 / Tokyo Disneyland and the DisneySea Park: Corporate Governance and Differences in Capital Budgeting Concepts and Methods Between American and Japanese Companies (12)
International investment & capital budgeting / Case (13)
16 / Jun / 5 / The Parable of the Sadhu(苦行僧的啟示)* (13)
Business ethics / Case (14)
17 / 12 / Royal Trustco (14)
How the Board can save a company? / Concluding Remarks
18 / 19 / Final Examination
*Guest Lecturer - Professor Tze-Kuan Chiu, Department of Finance, National Central University (中央大學財金系邱慈觀教授)
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