Question 1) Assume you have been employed as corporate governance professional by a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The Chairman of the company has decided to address the issue of gender diversity on the company's board. As an initial step in the process of increasing the gender diversity of the board the Chairman has employed you to prepare a report that critically analyses and assesses the evidence that gender diversity on a company board is associated with improved business performance and also provide recommendations on how the company should initiate a gender diversity policy for the board. Your report will be tabled at the next board meeting for board members to review and evaluate your recommendations.

Question 2) Assume you have been contracted as an independent corporate governance consultant to a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. As part of the consultative process to implement the Code of Ethics you have been employed to write a report on behalf of the Board for distribution to shareholders advocating the benefits of the adoption of a Code of Ethics. The Chairman has requested that your report should include examples and evidence from contemporary cases of corporate governance failure and malpractice that demonstrate the need for a corporate Code of Ethics.

Question 3) Assume you are a corporate governance professional working for a venture capital fund. The venture capital fund requires you to advise the fund on the best way to transition the corporate governance practices of a small to medium sized enterprise (SME) to a company ready for initial public offering (IPO) and listing on the stock exchange. You are required to prepare a report to be submitted to the management committee of the venture capital fund identifying the best corporate governance practices to be introduced into all entrepreneurial growth SME companies into which the venture capital fund will invest.

Question 4) Assume you have been appointed as an Independent Director to a company listed on the Australia Stock Exchange. The Chair of the Board has just returned from a meeting with institutional investors where the company's reporting of its corporate social responsibility was questioned. The Chair has asked you to write a report to be submitted at the next board meeting that provides recommendations so that the company can implement international best practice in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and corporate governance practice.