Module BUSI5G215: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (DL)

Department: Economics, Finance and Business (Business)

BUSI5G215: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE (DL)

Tied To

• N1D217: Business Administration (Finance) (Distance Learning) (For students entering before August 2007) (see Postgraduate Handbook 2011-2012 for details)
• N1D314: Business Administration (Distance Learning) (For students entering before August 2007) (see Postgraduate Handbook 2011-2012 for details)
• N1D317: Business Administration (Distance Learning) (For students entering before August 2007) (see Postgraduate Handbook 2011-2012 for details)

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To enable students to:
• improve upon and demonstrate a specialist knowledge and understanding of those elements of economic and financial theory that are relevant for the analysis of individual mechanisms of corporate governance as well as of complex systems of corporate governance;
• develop skills in the application of economic and financial theory in analysing individual mechanism of corporate governance as well potential interdependencies between such mechanisms;
• develop critical understanding of national and international systems of corporate governance.

Content

• Introduction: What is corporate governance?
• Corporate Governance and Theories of the Firm
• The Board of Directors and the influence of Corporate Governance Codes on their composition and operation
• Investors, Shareholder Activism and Corporate Governance
• Insider Ownership and Corporate Performance: incentive alignment or managerial entrenchment?
• Executive and Board Remuneration Decisions: theory and empirical evidence.
• The Market for Corporate Control: theory and evidence.
• Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance: capital structure and investment decisions
• International aspects of corporate governance

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module, students will:
• be able to critically analyse how different systems of corporate governance evolve and how corporate governance mechanisms affect managerial behaviour as well as corporate performance;
• have gained an advanced understanding of the differences in the systems of corporate governance employed in different types of organisations and in different countries.

• By the end of the module, students will:
• have acquired the essential skills needed to use institutional economic theories to analyse the relationship between principals and agents in organisations and to explore the impact of formal and informal rules and codes of conduct on the behaviour of agents.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is delivered in discrete Units. These are designed to enable the learning outcomes to be achieved through a combination of specially written material, directed reading, reflection through self-assessed assignments and guidance for further reading. Module tutors provide feedback on formative work and are available for individual consultation as necessary (by email, telephone, post or fax).
• The written assignment will test students’ understanding of relevant concepts and their ability to apply and interpret what they have learned to the analysis of a particular issue in depth.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

None.