Executive Leadership and Governance CW3 Assessment Brief | BPP University

Assessment Brief

A large investment firm is considering making a significant investment in one of the following automobile manufacturers:
- Volkswagen AG.
- TATA Motors Limited.
- General Motors Company.
As part of their due diligence, they hired you as a management consultant to evaluate different aspects of one of the companies listed above, covering Executive Leadership and Corporate Governance.
The investment firm has asked you to produce a report, that will have a considerable impact on the firm’s investment decision, so you are expected to be diligent in your analysis and to offer an insightful evaluation of the company.

Please note you are NOT required to make recommendations or advice in your report about whether to invest. This will be solely the investor’s decision after evaluating all the due diligence information obtained.

Task 1 – Leadership and Management (LO1)

- Critically evaluate the Leadership and management styles at the company using relevant academic models.
Conduct independent research into your chosen company and support your arguments with academic literature and the appropriate application of relevant leadership and management models.

Task 2 – Corporate Governance and Regulation (LO4)

- Discuss the different governance rules, practices, and processes (collectively known as the Corporate Governance Framework) at the company that ensure that it meets the interests of its shareholders.

Conduct independent research and refer to relevant academic literature. Ensure that you identify the internal governance mechanisms and the external governance rules and regulations and demonstrate how the company applies and complies with them to meet shareholder interests. Depending on your company of choice, these might include some of the following:
- The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), the Securities and Exchange Act in the USA, and the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002.
- BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority), and the German Corporate Governance Code (Deutscher Corporate Governance Kodex).
- SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), the Listing Agreement of the Indian Stock Exchange.

Task 3 – Risk Management (LO3)

- Analyse three significant risks that the company faces and recommend appropriate responses to each of these risks.
Conduct independent research into your company of choice and ensure that your analysis and recommendations are specific to the company.
For higher marks, use and apply relevant risk management models and frameworks such as the Three Horizon Model, Risk Heat Maps, or the 4T’s Process. Explain how you used the models to identify and analyse the risks and to offer your recommendations. As part of your recommendations, explain what role the board of directors plays in the risk management process at the organisation.

Task 4 – Ethical Leadership (LO2)

- Discuss at least one significant ethical business challenge that the company faces and provide ethical leadership recommendations on how the company can address and manage this ethical challenge.
Conduct independent research and explain why the challenge(s) you discuss are considered ethical, by analysing their impact on the company and its stakeholders. Ensure that your recommendations are targeted at the company’s top management and leadership. For higher marks, use and apply a relevant ethical leadership model or framework such as the Triple Bottom Line.