Corporate Governance ( Sarbanes Oxley )

Corporate governance is a commonly used phrase to describe a company’s control mechanisms to ensure management is operating according to

Phenomenal growth of interest in corporate governance has emerged in recent years. The body of literature on the subject has grown markedly in response to successive waves of large corporate failures. Furthermore, there have been numerous attempts to define what constitutes ‘good corporate governance’ and to provide guidelines in order to enhance the quality of corporate governance.

Farrar, J. (2008). Corporate Governance: theories, principles and practice. 2nd ed. South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press

In my review of A Primer on Corporate Governance by Cornelis A. de Kluyver I intend to examine, evaluate, and break down his key points. The book provides a general view on how corporations govern themselves, and the internal and external forces that effect and constrain them. The biggest external force is of course the US Government and the variety of laws and regulations imposed upon corporations. Internally, they are managed by the CEO and board of directors along with a set group of committees and corporate guidelines.

Corporate governance refers to ‘the ways suppliers of finance to corporations assure themselves of getting return on their investment’ (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997: 736). Corporate governance discusses the set of systems, principles and processes by which a

Corporate governance is a set of actions used to handle the relationship between stakeholders by determining and controlling the strategic direction and performance of the organization. Corporate governance major concern is making sure that the strategic decisions are effective and that it paves the way towards strategic competitiveness. (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2017, p. 310). In today’s corporation, the primary objective of corporate governance is to align top-level manager’s and stakeholders interest. That is why corporate governance is involved when there is a conflict of interest between with the owners, managers, and members of the board of directors (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2017, p. 310-311).

In recent years the issue of corporate governance has become a keenly debated topic in international finance. In developed countries, some of the biggest corporate collapses in history have brought about a change in focus. No longer are governments and lawmakers trying to deregulate and reduce the controls and disclosure requirements of corporations. The deregulation boom has ended, as regulation comes back into the picture.

Corporate governance in itself has no single definition but common principles which it should follow. For example in 1994 the most agreed term for corporate governance was “the process of supervision and control intended to ensure that the company’s management acts in accordance with the interest of shareholders” (Parkinson, 1994)1. Corporate governance code is not a direct set of rules but a self-regulated framework which businesses choose to follow. This code has continued to change in the past 20 years in accordance with what is happening in the business world. For example the Enron scandal caused reform in corporate governance with the Higgs Report which corrected the issues which were necessary. Although it does not quickly fix problems, it gives a better framework to

Corporate governance can be defined as the process, customs, laws by which the affairs of a company are managed and controlled it also

For the purpose of this report, corporate governance is defined as the relationship that exists between company management, stakeholders and the board. Objectives of the company are usually set, attained and monitored through the structure corporate governance provides. (Balgobin 2008).The Guyana Corporate Code of Governance is similar to the UK codes of corporate governance and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2004).These principles serve as a reference point that can be used by companies to develop their own frameworks for corporate governance that reflect their own circumstances or situations.

The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance states that: "Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are

It is the responsibilities and practices exercised by the board of directors and senior management of an organization. It aims to achieve:

By expanding the spectrum of interested parties, the stakeholder theory stipulates that, a corporate entity invariably seeks to provide a balance between the interests of its diverse stakeholders in order to ensure that each interest constituency receives some degree of satisfaction (Abrams, 1951). The stakeholder theory is therefore appears better in explaining the role of corporate governance than the agency theory by highlighting the various constituents of a firm. Thus, creditors, customers, employees, banks, governments, and society are regarded as relevant stakeholders. Related to the above discussion, John and Senbet (1998) provide a comprehensive review of the stakeholders’ theory of corporate governance which points out the presence of many parties with competing interests in the operations of the firm. They also emphasize the role of non-market mechanisms such as the size of the board, committee structure as important to firm

Corporate Governance refers to the way a corporation is governed. It is the technique by which companies are directed and managed. It means carrying the business as per the stakeholders’ desires. It is actually conducted by the board of Directors and the concerned committees for the company’s stakeholder’s benefit. It is all about balancing individual and societal goals, as well as, economic and social goals. Corporate Governance is the interaction between various participants (shareholders, board of directors, and company’s management) in shaping corporation’s performance and the way it is proceeding towards. The relationship between the owners and the managers in an organization must be healthy and there should be no conflict between the

This was a very interesting article, in my opinion it brings to mind the derived phrase, which came first the chicken or the egg. Meaning, is corporate governance an attempt to control the results of unethical practices of corporations or is it meant to deter them. In reading this article, it is clear that certain corporations practiced unethical business behaviors for self-interest, but the questions this author have are: 1. Should corporate governance be regulated by the legislature as well as the organization and to what degree, 2. Is corporate governance, there to protect the shareholder or the stakeholder, 3. How effective is corporate governance on a global level. The need for a governance system is based on the assumption that the separation between the owners of a company and its management provides self-interest executives the opportunity to take actions that benefit themselves, with the cost of these actions borne by the owners (Larcker & Tayan, 2008).