BISM7221 Information Systems Governance and Assurance

Purpose

This document identifies the requirements for this assessment and a marking rubric to provide guidance in undertaking this assessment.

Details:

Type:                 Report

Due Date:         2:00pm 7th  June 2024

Weight:             50%

In Brief:             One Business Consulting Report with recommendations to inform the Company's

Board and Management regarding IT Governance, Fraud assessment, and

assessment of General controls and Operations to improve business performance.

Task Description

This is an individual assignment.

Students will use their understanding from the course of IT governance, fraud detection, and general controls to prepare a Business Consulting Report with recommendations that improve business performance.

This report is derived from a case organisation described in the Assignment Specification.

The Business Consulting Report will require analytical skills to assess the case organisation's portfolio of IT governance mechanisms, consider the potential for fraud arising from weaknesses in the internal control mechanisms, document any findings of fraud, and how to improve organisational performance  through recommendations that strengthen the internal controls environment.

The report will document the project rationale and approach, findings, and key recommendations for IT governance, fraud prevention, and the IT general controls environment.

The report is a cohesive document that can be communicated to the client.

The results are communicated as a Business Consulting Report of 8 to 12 pages in length (excluding appendices).

Students are to use SQL data analytic techniques used in tutorials for fraud detection work and use Excel data visualisations to highlight their findings in the report.

These visualisations should be to a high standard as they are to be communicated directly to the client.

Software Required:

.     PostgreSQL is available as open source software for installation on your own computer

.     PostgreSQL is not installed on the University's computer laboratories

.     Excel is available as part of the Office 365 package available to students free-of-charge and installation on your own computer

Key to success in this assessment is a professional Business Consulting Report that demonstrates completeness, attention to detail, insightful analysis, and clear communication.

This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex.  Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.

Further information regarding this assessment is provided in the Assessment Guideline.

Criteria and Marking

The grading rubric allocates marks to six dimensions:

.     IT Governance assessment and recommendations (10%)

.     Assessment of Internal Controls and Recommendations (20%)

.     Fraud assessment, detection, conclusions, and recommendations (20%)

.     Assessment of Operational Performance and Recommendations (20%),

.     Design and Performance of SQL Tests (20%),

.     Presentation and Communication (10%).

A full and complete Business Consulting Report (between 8 and 12 pages in length excluding title pages and appendices) is to be submitted.

Requirements

This assessment task is a full and complete Business Consulting Report, formatted

professionally and appropriately.

Students shall address this task individually.

This Business Consulting Report is to be written by you as an individual consultant that has been asked to use your understanding of IT governance as well as the systems analytical skills and techniques to provide advice to a client identified in the accompanying Assignment Specification.

The Assignment Specification is provided on Learn.UQ as a supporting document separate to this Guideline. You are to document the results of your analysis as a business consulting report. The business consulting report is addressed to the audience noted in the Assignment Specification but is to be executed to a high standard as this report will be provided to the Board and Chief Executive Officer.

In the Assignment Specification, you are provided with four Guiding Questions. Answering these questions requires that you apply your understanding of IT Governance and IT General Controls to provide IT governance and operational advice, and use the PostgreSQL and Microsoft Excel tools to undertake fraud analysis.

The data files used are provided with the Assignment Specification in the assessment folder – it is a zip file that will need to be unzipped. You are to download these files to your computer   and import the data into PostgreSQL.

Format

Your report should be typed (in Times Roman/Arial 10-point font or equivalent, single-spaced) and it  should be between 8 and 12 pages in length (excluding Executive Summary, appendices, figure, diagrams, tables, or, where used, references in the reference list). In all ways you should format the report to conform to the standards of a professional business consulting report.

On the cover/title page note the essay title, your student number, name, the course code and course title, the date, the word count (excluding cover page, Executive Summary, appendices, figures, diagrams, tables, appendices and, where used, references in the reference list) and the reference citation style where relevant.

You should document the extent and type of use of artificial intelligence tools to support your writing (e.g. grammar, spelling, sentencing, or phrasing) or in deriving content (e.g. arguments, structure, outline) on the cover page.

If artificial intelligence is not used, note this on the cover page.

The length of the main body of the report is specified as being no more than 12 pages in length. You should write a consulting report that, in your professional judgment, best addresses the Guiding

Questions whilst also aiming for clarity and conciseness. Too short and there may be insufficient detail. Too long, and you may not have summarised the material sufficiently.

Use appendices well for reference and supporting material.

Figures/diagrams/tables presented in the main body of the report should not exceed one page.

There is no limit on the number of pages of appendices.

However, in this vein, you should think in terms of a highly paid, busy senior executive spending his or her time reading your report. You would want to get your arguments across forcefully, but not waste the person's time. The senior executive would probably not read the appendices, so the body of your   report should be able to stand on its own and match to the expectations of a business consulting report. The senior executive's staff analysts would likely examine your appendices in depth, however, so they must also be executed and presented to a high standard.

You may need to use external independent sources in support of the arguments you present in the report, or the tests that you discuss. References when used can be cited using APA 6th, APA 7th, or

Vancouver styles (you must note the referencing style on the title page). Other citation styles may be allowed through permission granted by the lecturer.

Always remember that the report should conform to the standards of a professional business consulting report.

Frequently Asked Questions

.     Can I use Artificial Intelligence in this report?

In this assessment it is noted that this task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference generative AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.

You may use artificial intelligence for support and guidance. Specifically, you may use

artificial intelligence tools to support your writing (e.g. grammar, spelling, sentencing, or

phrasing). You may use artificial intelligence tools to derive some content (e.g. arguments, structure, outline) but not other content (e.g., examples, facts, or sources).

You should document the extent and type of use of artificial intelligence tools to support your writing or in deriving content on the cover page.

The prompts and the associated AI tool used for deriving content is to be recorded as endnotes1  in each instance.

.     Are independently researched quality academic sources required, and what are they?

No they are not required.  You may however choose to cite such sources in support of your answers to guiding questions.

.     Can we cite non-academic ‘industry’ sources?

Yes you can, although they are not required.  You may however choose to cite such sources in support of your answers to guiding questions, and this might support your evaluations and recommendations.

.     How long does the report need to be?

The specification sheet says that the main body of the report (excluding title page, executive  summary, and appendices) should be no more than 12 pages in length in Times Roman/Arial 10-point font or equivalent. You will need to keep in mind the need for a professionally presented report. The main part of the report should be sufficient for the busy executive to understand the core answers addressing the guiding questions. Detailed material and reports (query files, long reports, etc.) should be placed in the appendices.

In writing your report, consider the busy executive who is reading the report, and aim for efficiency and ease of communication rather than for density and exhaustive analysis in the main report. Each student’s response will vary, not least due to the selected format and approach. Although no minimum length is specified, it is likely though that the main report will be somewhere in the range of between 8 to 12 pages in length.

Given the usual rule of thumb of approximately 10% leeway – the report should NOT be more than 14 pages in length.

Appendices and detailed analysis can (and should) be included in appendices to support your overall analysis. You should include some detail in the main body of your report and provide greater detail in the appendices.

.     How professional is professional? What does that even mean?

It means that in every way the report is true to what you would expect a professional to provide in a consulting engagement. The internet has several examples available.

Several pointers:

.     Use dot points judiciously.  Perhaps open and close your answer to each question with a full paragraph, but focused dot points statements that explicitly address the question are  clear and concise in a business report.

.     Consider following an exemplar format of a consulting report that you have found as a

guide. If this is done, however, be sure that the report is structured to clearly relate to the guiding questions set out in the Assignment Specification.

.     Do not allow your report to become waffly, vague, and wordy. Explicitly identify

recommendations made (for example, "It is recommended that [insert recommendation].").

You should structure your report to match the requirements of the case.

.     What goes on the cover page again?

On the cover/title page note the essay title, your student number, name, the course code and course title, the date, the word count (excluding Cover Page, Abstract,

Figures/Diagrams/Tables, Appendices and References) and the reference citation style.

You should document the extent and type of use of artificial intelligence tools to support your writing (e.g. grammar, spelling, sentencing, or phrasing) or in deriving content (e.g. arguments, structure, outline) on the cover page.

If artificial intelligence is not used, note this on the cover page.

Assessment

The criterion-based marking rubric below applies the Criteria and Marking noted above. Part marks are rounded up to the nearest half mark.

Assignment Submission

There will be electronic submission of assignments through TurnItIn in the course website (Learn.UQ) under Assessment. The drop-box will remain open to allow for late submission.

Your document must be submitted in either Microsoft Word document format or PDF format.

You must name your document with your last name followed by your initial(s) (e.g., Smith_A.doc). All students will receive an electronic copy of their marked assignment through Learn.UQ.

When you submit your assignment to the drop−box, this act will certify that you have acknowledged and understand the Plagiarism Statute of the University of Queensland.

As a safeguard, you may wish to submit your assignment to the lecturer by electronic email at the same time as submitting via Blackboard ([email protected]u).

Please discuss any problems that may lead to late submission with your lecturer at the earliest possible opportunity. Items (for which no extension has been granted) submitted after the due date and time, incur a late submission penalty. The penalty is at the rate of 10% of the total available marks for that piece of assessment, for each calendar day or part thereof that the item is overdue.