For this assignment, make sure you post your initial response to the Discussion

For this assignment, make sure you post your initial response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned. To support your work, use your course and text readings and also use outside sources. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format. Corporate Governance Governance mechanisms are considered to be effective if they meet the needs of all stakeholders, including shareholders. Governance mechanisms are also an important way to ensure that strategic decisions are made effectively. As a potential employee, how would you go about investigating a firms governance structure? Would that investigation weigh in your decision to become an employee? First, address the following item: Identify a firm that you would like to join or one that you just find interesting. Complete the following research on your target firm: Find a copy of the companys most recent proxy statement and 0-K. Proxy statements are mailed to shareholders prior to each years annual meeting and contain detailed information about the companys governance and present issues on which a shareholder vote might be held. Proxy statements are typically available from a firms website (look for an Investors submenu). You can also access proxy statements and other government filings such as the 0-K from the SECs EDGAR database. Click on the weblink U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to access SECs EDGAR database. Alongside the proxy, you should also be able to access the firms annual 0-K. Here you will find information on performance, governance, and the firms outlook, among other things. Identify one of the companys main competitors for comparison purposes. You can find this information using company analysis tools such as Datamonitor. Second, address any five of the following topics: Compensation plans (for both the CEO and board members; be sure to look for any difference between fixed and incentive compensation) Board composition (for example, board size, insiders and outsiders, interlocking directorates, functional experience, how many active CEOs, how many retired CEOs, what is the demographic makeup, age diversity, and so on) Committees (how many, composition, compensation) Stock ownership by officers and directorsidentify beneficial ownership from stock owned (you will need to look through the notes sections of the ownership tables to comprehend this) Ownership concentrationevaluate the firms outstanding stock owned by institutions, individuals, and insiders and identify the no. of large-block shareholders (owners of five percent or more of stock) Does the firm utilize a duality structure for the CEO? Is there a lead director who is not an officer of the company? What are the activities by activist shareholders regarding corporate governance issues of concern? Are there any managerial defense tactics employed by the firm? For example, what does it take for a shareholder proposal to come to a vote and be adopted? What is the firms code of conduct? List them. Summarize what you consider to be the key aspects of the firms governance mechanisms. Highlight key differences between your target firm and its competitor. Attach a graph to your post that covers the last 0-year historical stock performance for both companies. If applicable, compare both using a representative index such as the Standard & Poors (S&P), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ), or other applicable industry index. Finally, based on your review of the firms governance, discuss any change in your opinion of the firms desirability as an employer. Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week.