| Unit name | Corporate Governance in a Global Context |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0175 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Villiers |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
Check your programme requirements. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
As large corporations – domestic and international - influence our lives in important ways, understanding the regulatory framework that balances the different interests and shapes the relationships among those interests is important for law and management practitioners. This unit explores the theoretical underpinnings relevant for regulating corporate activities and decision-making and focuses on such activities in a global setting, allowing for comparative and critical analysis of legal and policy developments. Corporations and their boardrooms face significant global challenges such as climate change and environmental degradation, human rights violations and social inequality. This unit considers how national and global corporate governance frameworks are implicated in responding to those challenges and whose voices are heard in the decisions taken. You will be encouraged to adopt innovative and critical approaches as you learn about different theoretical positions and regulatory responses from around the world.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The Unit is mandatory in the Company Law and Corporate Governance LLM Programme which provides an in-depth understanding of company law and corporate governance. It examines various issues that focus on the legal, regulatory, policy and practice responses to corporations’ actions. The Programme meets a growing demand for specialist lawyers who can embrace the challenges and opportunities of conducting business in a globalised society. The Unit will enable you to develop an advanced understanding of current developments, theories and issues in UK, European, and international law and regulation in relation to company law and corporate governance systems. You will gain a wider perspective and a confident grasp of the legal and regulatory issues, theories, principles, methods and approaches in corporate governance. You will also develop relevant writing, research, and critical skills, and will learn how to use academic referencing conventions.
Additionally, this Unit is available to all students on LLM Programmes but may be of particular interest to those studying for the General Legal Studies LLM, the Commercial Law LLM, the International Commercial Law LLM, and the Environmental Law, Sustainability and Business LLM, highlighting the relevance of corporate governance across commercial law settings and also for responding to key global challenges such as climate change and sustainability in which corporations play a fundamental role.
An overview of content
This unit will provide an overview and critical assessment of the role of corporate governance in society and the mechanisms with which this is regulated in the UK and globally. Topics will include the following:
How will you be different as a result of the unit?
This unit aims to provide you with a fundamental understanding of the legal rules that determine the balance of decision-making power within large corporations, not only in the Anglo-American context, but globally. You will gain knowledge of the main theoretical models of the business corporation as developed within jurisprudence and scholarship in the UK, US, European and wider legal literature. The emphasis is on studying how the legal rules and institutions interact with wider market pressures in establishing managerial incentives and disciplinary mechanisms to respond effectively to global challenges. You will gain an understanding of the role and decision making processes of boardrooms and how those boardrooms interact with different stakeholders within the corporation and outside it, such as with regulators. You will become familiar with key corporate governance theories and with major influences and practices such as the influence of financialisation and the relevance of disclosure to ensure accountability and informed decision-making
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:
You will be taught in both interactive lectures for the whole cohort and in seminar groups for each topic. Interactive lectures will deliver key information and ideas will be discussed and reflected upon through power points presented by the lecturer. The lectures may also include informal whole group exercises such as interactive questionnaires and surveys that will form a basis for debate and discussion. For the seminars, you will be expected to prepare by reading and responding to theoretical and practical questions around the readings and classroom discussions will include situation-based questions and small group tasks and presentations. You will read key regulatory documents and academic and theoretical readings suggested for each learning cycle. There will be short writing and presenting exercises in the seminars to give you practice and guidance for building your critical analysis skills.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare for your summative tasks (formative):
The formative assignment will be a 1,500 word critical analysis of a key regulatory document or academic journal article, giving you practice in writing for the purpose of evaluation which will be an essential skill required in the summative assessment. You will receive individual written feedback on this formative assignment. There will be opportunities for formative feedback throughout the course via group seminar discussions and feedback from the tutors, along with office hour appointments for individual points of clarification.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The summative assessment will comprise a 2,500 word essay (which will count for 60% of your final mark) and a 2,000 word evaluation of a corporate governance document such as the UN's Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights (which will count for 40% of your final mark). This assessment will cover all Intended Learning Outcomes for the unit.
When assessments do not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis with new assessment questions.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0175).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
