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Hi Class, For discussions this week--select at least one of the following to discuss this week: 1

Management

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Hi Class,

For discussions this week--select at least one of the following to discuss this week:

1.  Select an international company of your choice.  Go to their annual report.  What type of disclosures do they have?  Explain and summarize at least three of their disclosures.  What do you think about the disclosures - would it make it easier for you to decide to invest in this company?  Why or why not?

2.  You can discuss the chapter 5 questions that start on page 160.  You can choose to discuss one of the questions--there are 10 questions, so tell us which question you are discussing.

Group Project:
Country Report (10% of course grade) 

To explore comparative accounting principles and practices among major countries, students will form groups to identify and analyze the international accounting and reporting practices of the following countries: China, United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, India, and Egypt or Saudi Arabia.  Each group will

1. prepare a report on the county
2. post their report in class at the beginning of the session as identified in the Course Schedule, and
3. moderate the class discussion for the session

To avoid redundancy, there will be one group per country, and a size limit of 3-4 students per group.  If the class size exceeds 24, remaining groups will identify additional countries in South America, Asia or Africa upon which to report.  

Each group report should be 8-10 double-spaced pages, excluding appendices, and follow the APA 6^th edition formatting and style guidelines. 

Research sources should include UMUC Web Databases (i.e. ABI/INFORM), scholarly journals, and reputable accounting or finance journals, as located through UMUC Web Databases.  Articles from other scholarly journals and sources are also acceptable. 

Student’s reports will be evaluated based on how well they address the topic, critically evaluate their readings and research, employ APA style, and moderate the class discussion by making substantive responses to the majority of the conference participants.  As a group submission, the report must be well integrated, reading as if written by one author. 

Concepts groups may consider exploring in their reports include (you do not have to cover all of these, nor are you limited to just these concepts)

1. accounting principles and practices of the country
2. cultural influences on accounting principles and practice
3. status of IFRS
4. similarities and differences between the country’s financial reporting and GAAP
5. deep exploration of select items to GAAP – where might tensions exist
6. other emerging issues as driven by the global economy
7. application of international accounting standards in certain industries  within a country
8. risk management related to accounting standards and reporting from multinationals doing business
9. level of organization among accounting professionals in country

All of the above-suggested concepts may be placed in comparison to U.S. GAAP or IFRS.

Note that the words critically evaluate are important.  A simple overview of the concepts presented in the book (i.e. “how to translate foreign financial statements”) will not meet the requirements for this report. The writer should analyze the topic, bring in relevant research, offer comparisons, and consider pros and cons, or implications for practice.  These are simply a few of the contemplative practices that move a report into the critical realm.   Remember that basically all of the paragraphs within the paper need to be cited because you are doing a research paper.  In addition, you need a bibliography at the end of the paper.  Each group paper also needs a cover page with title, class, and names of class members that participated in the group project.

Selecting Teams

Class members may "self-select" their own teams/groups during the first week of the semester. Each group should include three members.  A conference will be available for group sign-up.  If you have fewer than three members in your self-selected group, the instructor will add members. If you are not a member of a group, the instructor will assign you to a group. All work for team (group) project should be conducted in the group’s assigned Study Group Discussion area in LEO.  Teams are expected to be self-regulated and manage their work effectively as would be expected of any virtual team in the work place.

Submitting the Assignment and Grading

While this is a group project, active participation is required of all members. To demonstrate your active participation, group members should carry-out and post substantive portions of their interaction and group work in their assigned Study Group Discussion area.

Groups should post Drafts of their work in the group's Collaborative Documents area. They should post the final work in the Study Group Discussion area, with the topic clearly titled as “final submission”. Check for due dates in the Course Guide/Schedule, and adhere to class policies for deliverables.

One team grade is assigned for the submission. Individual grades may, however, and be adjusted for quantity and quality of participation and contributions posted in the Study Group area in the classroom.  Merely agreeing and providing feedback will not result in a full grade.  Substantive contributions and participation, early and often, are required. The instructor may visit the study group to observe contribution and participation levels.  The instructor reserves the right to solicit input from the group members regarding participation levels of members based on the following general criteria enthusiasm for project, commitment to deadlines, quality of individual work inputs, ability to interact with peers, and overall contribution to team effort.

Groups should exclude the names of any team members who did not participate in the final submission. Failure to exclude names of students who did not participate in the project may be considered plagiarism under Policy 150.25 (IV, B. 6), located at http://www.umuc.edu/policies/academicpolicies/aa15025.cfm and impact the overall team grade.

Groups are expected to work together in a cooperative and professional manner.  Should conflicts arise among group members related to personalities or work effort, students should promptly notify the instructor.  If problems/issues cannot be resolved satisfactorily, the instructor may restructure the group. Should an instructor determine that an individual is not making a good faith contribution to the group’s work; the instructor may require the individual to complete the assignment on his/her own.

The assignment addresses Course Objectives 1, 3, 4, & 5 above.