Sample CGRM4000 Corporate Governance Sustainability and Ethics Assignment

CGRM4000 Corporate Governance, Sustainability and Ethics Assignment Sample

Assignment Brief

Length - 2000 Words (+/-10%)
Weighting: 30 %
Total Marks: 30
Submission: Individual Report (Submitted via Turnitin)
Due Date: Week 8 (Monday at 11.55 pm)

Your Task

Review a specified listed company and evaluate them considering the content covered in this subject.

Assessment Description

You are required to review and research annual and sustainability reports, recent news articles and any other relevant information relating to any one of the following 8 companies:

• Rio Tinto
• AGL
• CSL
• Domino’s
• Macquarie Banking Group
• AMP
• Telstra Corporation
• QBE Insurance Group

Through this, you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the concepts covered in the subject and the ability to apply them to a publicly listed company.

Assessment Instructions for assignment help

Write a report of 2000 words (+/– 10%) incorporating the concepts covered in this subject and addressing the following questions:

1. What is this company’s governance structure? How does this structure function to allow the company to operate successfully and responsibly?

2. What processes and policies does this company have in place to address the following areas:

• Discrimination
• Exploitation
• Corruption
• Dishonest and Fraudulent Behaviour
• Protection for Whistleblowers

In your judgement, how adequate are these policies and to what extent are these areas audited and enforced?

3. What are the values of this company according to their website or reports? In your opinion, are these values reflected in the approach taken in the areas discussed above?

You are required to include a minimum of 6 references from a range of sources, such as company sources (websites, annual and other reports), academic journals, textbooks and information in the media (online news or video). 

Important Study Information

This should be prepared as a report, addressing each of the questions listed above.
Harvard referencing protocol should be used.
Work should be submitted via Turnitin
Please refer to the assessment marking guide to assist you in completing all the assessment criteria

Academic Integrity Policy

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cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Academic Integrity and Conduct Policy.

What is academic integrity and misconduct?

What are the penalties for academic misconduct?

What are the late penalties?

How can I appeal my grade?

Click here for answers to these questions:
http://www.kbs.edu.au/current-students/student-policies/.
Word Limits for Written Assessments

Submissions that exceed the word limit by more than 10% will cease to be marked from the point at which that limit is exceeded.
Study Assistance
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resources on the MyKBS Academic Success Centre page. Click here for this information. 

Solution

Introduction

In this report, there is an assessment and examination of Company’s corporate governance structure and how adequate corporate governance assist company in operating successfully and responsibly. To evaluate the structure, Domino’s Pizza is taken into consideration and company’s process and policies in respect to discrimination, exploitation, corruption, dishonest and fraudulent behavior and protection for whistleblowers is also considered. Further, there is an analysis of the values of the company and the reflection of values in various areas of the business environment. Therefore, this report demonstrates the understanding of the concept ‘corporate governance’ and Domino’s ability to apply those in their normal course of business functions.

About Company

Domino’s is an American multinational company which is also one of the world’s biggest pizza restaurant chain. Domino’s is a public company established in 1961 and headquarter is in Michigan, US. The company has its restaurant at 17000 locations worldwide (LinkedIn, 2020). One of the reasons that the company has got huge market share is due to the fastest delivery services. The company’s mission is to be the top or best Pizza delivery company in the world. And the company with the stint of 59 years has achieved the position of being a worldwide leader in Pizza delivery. The company is expanding its business through company owned stores and franchisee that involves fun and innovative franchise and corporate team members in US and other international market. In United States itself, there are more than 94 percent of the stores are franchise- owned. Moreover, there are about more than 34 million ways Domino’s is using while preparing Pizza and the company sells around 3 million Pizzas a day globally (Domino’s, 2020).

Domino’s Governance Structure

Corporate Governance is the set of rules and principles that company incorporates in the business organization to operate its functions effectively and efficiently. It further includes the laws and regulations that assists company to perform in a regulated and controlled way.

In other words, it can be said that Corporate Governance is the combination of following elements, which generally includes- Board and committee, Legal and regulatory systems, Policies, framework and transparency and effective internal control system.

Figure: Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance of Domino’s Pizza can be examined as: -

• Board and Committee- The business functions and operations are being carried out by the team members, managers and officers. The CEO and the board of directors of the company ensures that the policies, strategies and the decision’s taken by the management are in the best interest of the company. The directors in the company possess good qualification and experience that incorporates highest level of ethics, integrity and values. And the corporate governance committee ensures the performance of the directors as well as the company.

• Legal framework and other regulatory systems- Dominos have mostly franchise- owned and personal owned stores all over the world. In US there are more than 90 percent of the stores are franchise owned. Factors incorporates legal framework includes- patents, copyright, employment laws, health and safety laws, discrimination las, data protection law and consumer protection rules and laws. The company is following all the rules and regulations and the provisions of the law.

• Internal control System-Internal control plays a significant role in the efficiency of the performance of the company. The company to maintain highest level of integrity and for internal control management have incorporated technological developments. It resulted in maintaining cost structure and value chain structure within the organization.

• Policies and procedures- The company has developed various plans and policies to sustain in the competitive environment and incorporate various strategies in order to grow and develop. One such policy is initiating the circular economy. The company aims to reduce the carbon footprints, pollution prevention, water conservation, consumers and workforce health and wellness, employee satisfaction, integrity of corporate governance and various others.

Therefore, it can be said that Domino’s has developed effective and efficient corporate governance. One of the principles of Domino’s is ‘We demand integrity’, which means the company has taken many initiatives towards personal and professional integrity.

Benefits to Company to Operate Successfully and Responsibly

Domino’s growth and development can be seen from the results of revenues. Domino’s international have experienced same stores sales growth for 107 consecutive quarters. Further, there are positive results obtained from several plans and policies of the company. As, Domino’s is a top performer among its competitors for it carbon footprints. The company’s initiative towards implementation of energy efficiency measures by introducing technology for the same, green building, and all the efforts towards sourcing renewable energy has successfully contributed towards climate change (Censible, 2020).

Further, the company has introduced various policies and plans to maintain consumer as well as employees and team members health and safety. The company has developed The Partner’s Foundation for maintaining the health and wellness of their employees and further assist them financially in the time of need. As a result, Domino’s is successfully implemented the plans for employee satisfaction. Further, the company is a top performer among its competitors on corporate governance on the basis of accounting practices, executive pay, board organization and ownership structure.

Company is however is successful in following rules and regulations and maintaining legal frameworks. Instead Dominos have sometimes faced penalties and warnings from legal authorities. Such as in 2018, Domino’s India received an order from the authority of the government- National Anti- Profiteering Authority for not passing GST on the invoices (The Economic Times, 2018).

Process and Policies of the Company

The companies have developed various policies and processes to address various areas such as discrimination, exploitation, corruption, dishonest and fraudulent behavior and protection for whistle blowers. The purpose of the company is to mitigate all these issues and lead a sustainable and healthy work environment. Various measures taken by Domino’s in respect to the following issues are-

Discrimination – The company has adopted measures to eliminate discrimination and tried to incorporate diversity within the organization. However, in diversity and diversification the company has not taken any such productive strategies, or it can be said that the measures were not that effective to mitigate the discrimination and incorporate the diversity. Moreover, the company has developed various plans and policies towards the health and wellness of employee without any discrimination which provides several financial aids to their employees irrespective of their gender, sex, caste and creed.

Exploitation- The company’s mission is to perform together and has a tag line- ‘We are made better together’. The company aims to treat each and every employee of the organization fairly. It has been examined that the company is facing huge rise in the cost of the ingredients from past many years and the cost of the Pizza is dropping frequently. As a result, the company is managing the cost for the wages or the salaries of the employees. And it resulted in the dissatisfaction among the employees of Domino’s.

Corruption- Dominos have developed ethics and anti- bribery policy. This policy includes laws relating to act fairly with customers, employees, suppliers and business partners. Harsh regulations have been framed regarding accepting gifts, hospitality and financial incentives. It means no employees or the company itself will receive gifts or money or any other benefits from the suppliers, customers or even competitors. There are trade barriers the company is facing in the host countries. As various price regulations and laws can harm the company’s profitability. Still the company has developed proper rules and regulations that are being followed in every country where the company has its existence.

Dishonest and Fraudulent Behavior- Domino’s does not tolerate any kind of illegal practice which includes hiring or recruiting any person who is not eligible for employment or not achieved an age of 16 years. Further, the company is committed towards human rights as a result the company ensures that there will be adequate working conditions. And most importantly, the company has initiated digital transformation which helps to trace the transactions, orders and track all the activity in any of the store of Domino’s.

Protection for Whistleblowers- The company has recently developed a policy named- ‘Whistleblower Policy’ version 3.0 on 14th July 2020. The policy aims to encourage an appropriate disclosure of the reportable conduct without any fear. It helps people associated with company an adequate platform to raise an issue which can be illegal, improper, fraud, harassment, or any other danger to any person (Policy, 2020).

Actions company take in these respective areas- The company believes in the power of people within the organization as well as in the society. That is the reason Domino’s foster diversity within the organization. And to achieve diversity, the company encourages the sense of belonging for each and every human resource in the organization and promotes culture of innovation and build an environment that values everyone’s whole self. The company tag line for incorporating diversity within the organization is ‘We are made better together’. One of the examples is during the pandemic Covid-19, the company has introduced more than $9.6 million bonus for frontline workers. And there are other policies as well which are incorporated by Domino’s in order to mitigate all these factors and to gain market share (Mittal, 2018).

Values of the Company

The company has contributed to the community in several ways. One of which is The Partner’s Foundation which is a non- profit organization. The purpose of the foundation is to assist their team members in their time of need like- tragedy occurs due to natural disaster, unexpected affliction, accidents, or nay kind of an emergency (Censible, 2020). With the help of these foundation Dominos have helped team members and their family members with various financial, emotional, intermediary and advisory services. Apart from this, the company offers various charitable events, donations and programs with schools, hospitals and other NGO’s in order to provide financial aid. The concept of the Partners Foundations is basically team members helping team members, as primary funding comes from company’s payroll deduction program. Moreover, the company in need has received more than $21 million of financial assistance through various sources (Allison, 2018).

Further, the company’s contribution to make the world a better place is highly progressive; it can be seen from their efforts towards maintain environment and promote ecological balance. The company has introduced recycling of pizza boxes through a partnership with The Recycling Partnership which is a non- profit organization and provides full recycling supply chain. Further, Westrock partners help company in providing differentiated paper and packaging solutions to maintain the market share and build better environment (Prnewswire, 2020).

Therefore, it can be said that Domino’s aim is to gain market share but with the growth and development of the people associated with the company, environment and the community in which the company works.

Reflection of the Values in various areas of business-

Company’s initiatives towards various rules, policies and frameworks has taken a good shape, which can be seen from the consecutive growth and increase in the sales revenue. The company is managing more than 300000 employees all over the world. The retention and the growth in the number of employees is a clear indication of the successfulness of the policies developed by the organization. Further, the company is top among its competitors in various aspects. Increase in market share and performance in various segments establishes that Domino’s strategies are effective and efficient.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that corporate governance plays a significant role in any business organization. Corporate Governance ensure that the company is functioning appropriately, and all the operations are adequate and effective. It includes- Board and committee, Legal and regulatory systems, Policies, framework and transparency and effective internal control system. Without which no company can perform well in the competitive environment. In this report, there is an examination of Domino’s Pizza chain and the company’s policies and process towards various factors like discrimination, exploitation and corruption. And it has been identified that Domino’s has incorporated Various effective strategies to lead the market as a result has gained a huge market share.

References

Allison.R.2018. Domino’s 2018 Charitable Giving. [Online]. Assessed from. https://biz.dominos.com/assets/images/2018_dominos_charitable-giving-report.pdf

Censible.2020. Domino’s Pizza: Corporate Values. [Online]. Assessed from. https://esg.censible.co/companies/Domino_s-Pizza

Domino’s.2020. Company profile. [Online]. Assessed from. https://biz.dominos.com/about/

LinkedIn.2020. Domino’s. [Online]. Assessed from. https://www.linkedin.com/company/domino%27s-pizza/

Mittal.R.2018. Domino’s Pizza Inc. strategies. [Online]. Assessed from. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rishoo_Mittal/publication/333396105_Domino's_Pizza_Inc_Strategies/links/5d1a653692851cf4405c8847/Dominos-Pizza-Inc-Strategies.pdf

Policy.2020. Policy- Whistleblower Policy. [Online]. Assessed from. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bd052c7c46f6d0e23b11afb/t/5f17724fa210db6424baddf6/1595372114321/DMP+-+Whistleblower+Policy+14.7.20.pdf

Prnewswire.2020. Domino’s delivering neighborhood recycling information to customers. [Online]. Assessed from. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dominos-delivering-neighborhood-recycling-information-to-customers-301138319.html

The Economic Times.2018. Domino’s lands in trouble for not passing on GST cuts. [Online]. Assessed from. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/dominos-in-trouble-for-not-passing-on-gst-cuts/articleshow/65154911.cms?from=mdr