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: chou@nccu.edu.tw
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
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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
2
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.
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Class Schedule
Week Month Date
1
Feb
2
3
Case Title (Case Number) / Themes
21 Course Introduction; Learning with Cases (Lecture);
Corporate Governance
Group
Discussion
Case(1)
28 Holiday (和平紀念日)
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
The Enron Corp. (6A)
17 Financial fraud
Accounting Fraud at WorldCom (6B)
Accounting fraud and internal auditor
Case (7)
10
24 Procomp Informatics (7)
Ethical landmines
Case (8)
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
Tokyo Disneyland and the DisneySea Park: Corporate
29 Governance and Differences in Capital Budgeting Case (13)
Concepts and Methods Between American and Japanese
Companies (12)
11
May
4
International investment & capital budgeting
16
Jun
5
The Parable of the Sadhu(苦行僧的啟示)* (13)
Business ethics
17
12 Royal Trustco (14)
How the Board can save a company?
18
19 Final Examination
Case (14)
Concluding
Remarks
*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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