Type: Board paper – board structure analysis and evaluation
Format: Written
Length: 2,000 words (+10%)
Task
Step 1
Select a company- GO TRANSIT and one of its competitors- TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION (TTC) (both publicly listed companies) and retrieve relevant corporate governance information. Find the corporate governance information disclosed in the company’s most recent annual report/ proxy statement (US companies), management proxy circular (Canadian companies), company website or any other company statements. You can usually find these documents on the organisation’s or regulator’s website, and a few examples have been provided for you on the Reference Documents page.
Step 2
Based on the disclosed information, your board paper should evaluate your selected organisation’s (GO TRANSIT) governance practices according to the following perspectives:
Board structure and committees: Critically discuss and compare the overall board structure (in terms of unitary versus two-tier, executive versus non-executive directors, connected versus independent directors, CEO duality versus CEO separation, any additional directorships of other boards, etc.) and the board committees of your selected organisation, with those of the competitor firm in terms of their functions, membership and responsibilities.
Board diversity: Critically discuss and compare the board diversity of your selected organization (GO TRANSIT) with that of the competitor firm (TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION (TTC), including diversity in skill and experience, gender, age and any other social or cultural aspects of directors.
Recommendations for your selected organisation: Provide constructive suggestions for improvement to the board of the chosen organisation (i.e., not the competitor but for the chosen organisation only) and highlight the next steps to be taken to implement the recommendations.
You must support your discussion in Parts 1 and 2 using credible academic sources, peer reviewed journal articles to demonstrate research in a highly consistent manner. In addition to using credible academic sources, you may use other credible sources such as industry reports, government, and media sources to support your statement.
In the critical analysis of the board structure and diversity, ensure you discuss relevant corporate governance laws, principles (or guidelines) and theories that are applicable. Draw out and discuss the implications of your findings for committees and the conformance and performance functions of the board.
Requirements
Why this paper is being presented:
Background to this paper:
Discussion:
1. Introduction This section is included in the word count (allow ~200 words).]
2. Board Structure This section is included in the word count (allow ~800 words).
Comparison is at a highly integrated and critical level. The arguments are based on in-depth reflection in the context of the selected organisation, supported by compelling evidence from credible academic sources that are reflected in the Academic Reference Table to demonstrate research in a highly consistent manner. Implications of the findings are thoroughly linked with the peer board and the conformance and performance functions.
3. Board Diversity This section is included in the word count (allow ~700 words).
Comparison and evaluation are at a highly integrated and critical level. The arguments are based on indepth reflection in the context of the selected organisation and the conformance and performance functions, supported by compelling evidence from credible academic sources that are reflected in the Academic Reference Table to demonstrate research in a highly consistent manner.
4. Recommendations This section is included in the word count (allow ~300 words).
Implications of the explicit recommendations are thoroughly linked with the findings in the report. Next Steps (what/who/when):
The next steps provided are succinct, constructive and well-reasoned.
[Author]
[Job Title]
[Date paper created]
References [On a separate page, type references here, in alphabetical order.]
Appendix 1: Academic Reference Table (on a separate paper- see example below)
Define critical terminology when they are mentioned for the first time in the paper.
The required word length for this paper is 2,000 words (plus 10% allowance).
The title page, reference list and any appendices are not included in the word count.
Scholarly resources
A minimum of ten (10) credible academic sources must be used- these must be academic and peer reviewed, scholarly journal articles. You may also use the current company, industry, government and media sources to support your statements, but these will NOT count toward the minimum required credible academic sources for your assessment. Most web-based sources are not sufficiently rigorous and credible for academic assessments and will NOT count toward the minimum required credible academic sources.
Please do not use AI tools. -Please DO not submit to turn it in software that stores work.
Resources
Please use publicly available secondary data only.
Corporate governance codes: ASX CGOV Recommendations & Principles, OECD principles, NYSE CGOV guide, ECGI principles, AICD non-for-profit governance principles, TSX Corporate Governance guidelines.