Individual Coursework (55%)
BE133-6-SP - Debates in Public, Social and Environmental Accounting
2024-2025 - Spring
Coursework assignment
Drawing from academic literature (i.e., academic journal articles and books), practitioner research (e.g. research reports published by NGOs, think thanks or the Government), and the general media (e.g. articles published in newspapers) write an essay addressing the following:
Critically analyse how the adoption of New Public Management (NPM) principles influences local governments’ accountability. To achieve this, you must include in the body of your manuscript a comprehensive analytical table that systematically interrogates the multifaceted influences of NPM principles (e.g., those related to markets, managers, and measurements), critically examining their positive, negative, and paradoxical effects across diverse accountability dimensions.
IMPORTANT
- Your discussion should integrate the findings of at least 6 academic papers/books that have been published on this topic and alternative sources, such as media articles and reports by national and international organisations and NGOs.
- Your discussion should incorporate real-life examples to illustrate the points being made.
- Note that this coursework invites you to reflect and provide arguments on the topic based on your own
research. The essays that are well researched will normally attract a higher mark than those that are not. In particular, consider papers from journals such as:
• Critical Perspectives on Accounting;
• Management Accounting Research;
• British Accounting Review;
• Accounting, Organizations and Society;
• Journal of Management Accounting Research;
• Contemporary Accounting Research;
• Financial Accountability & Management;
• European Accounting Review;
• Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal.
- Essays should not exceed 2,000 words (excluding list of references, tables/pictures and appendices).
- You must indicate the total word count on the first/cover page.
‐ Essays must be typed with 12pt Arial or Times New Roman font, double-spaced.
‐ Essays should be written in an appropriate academic format. The following structure is suggested:
o Introduction (max 300 words) – i.e., what is the key focus/argument of your essay?
o Body (max 1,400 words) – i.e., ideas and elaboration with appropriate sub-headings
o Conclusion (max 300 words) – i.e., overall reflection on the topic and concluding argument
‐ You should ensure that you have fully acknowledged the work of others in the body of the text. Ensure
that you provide complete references for articles, books and other sources that you have cited in the body of your essay. You may refer to “EBS Student Resources”
https://moodle.essex.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=4454
‐ The essay must be submitted to the Online Course Submission (OCS) Server (FASER), by the published deadline date.
- All coursework will be anonymous (unless otherwise specified in the ‘Assessment’ section of this
module outline), so you should ensure that only your registration number is included in the header.
- Under the University’s zero tolerance rules, late work will receive a grade of ZERO. More information concerning late submission of coursework or absence from in-class tests, can be found here:
https://www1.essex.ac.uk/students/exams-and-coursework/late-submission.aspx
‐ University Regulation 6.21: It is an academic offence for a student to engage in unfair academic
practices or to cheat in any examination, or in any other submitted part of his or her University work, whether or not such work is formally assessed. A student maybe found guilty of an academic offence whether or not there has been intention to deceive; that is, ajudgement that negligence has occurred is sufficient to determine guilt. See more information of academic offences here:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations/affairs.aspx#cheating
‐ Students requiring support may contact EBS learning team:ebslearn@essex.ac.uk