The Impact Of Corporate Governance On The Uk

Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) is the premier retailer in clothing, foods and home ware within the United Kingdom. The company’s commitment to quality, value, service, innovation and trust is a key contributor to their success as a high street retailer in the UK. Their current core UK operations centre around three divisions, food, general merchandise (including clothing and home ware), and the financial services industry. Therefore Tesco plc is the prime UK retailer to analyse and compare growth, financial performance and the financial status of M&S Plc in line with other competitors within the same industry.

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).

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

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

As details of the Enron scandal surfaced public outrage grew, calling for action, accountability and consequences. Corporate governance began receiving renewed interest. Corporate governance is a multi-faceted subject that sets forth the rules and responsibilities of the relationship between the corporation and its stakeholders (Cross & Miller, 2012). This includes the company’s officers and management team, the board of directors, and the organizations shareholders.

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.

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.

The board of Hastie have appeared to failed in all four key functions of the board (Tricker 2012, p174, Fig 7.1) being Strategy Formulation, Policymaking, Monitoring & Supervision and Accountability which could reasonably be judged that the Hastie Board of Directors had operated outside of 7 of the 8 principles (the only Principle seemingly being observed was ‘Principle 8 – Remunerate fairly and responsibly) (ASX 2010, p40) described so the review will focus on Principles 3 and 4.

This paper will have a detailed discussion on the shareholder theory of Milton Friedman and the stakeholder theory of Edward Freeman. Friedman argued that “neo-classical economic theory suggests that the purpose of the organisations is to make profits in their accountability to themselves and their shareholders and that only by doing so can business contribute to wealth for itself and society at large”. On the other hand, the theory of stakeholder suggests that the managers of an organisation do not only have the duty towards the firm’s shareholders; rather towards the individuals and constituencies who contribute to the company’s wealth, capacity and activities. These individuals or constituencies can be the shareholders, employees,

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 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 founded on laws, policies, processes, systems and behaviours and together they provide a system for the way in which an organisation is directed, administered and controlled. As such, the Charity Commission, (the ‘Commission’) recognises that to deliver its strategic aims, objectives and priorities successfully, it needs sound corporate governance arrangements in place, (Charity Commission UK). Corporate Governance is not - or should not be - about debate and discussion on executive compensation, shareholder protection, legislation and so on. In recent times, corporate governance became not only a subject of fierce debate and public outcry, but also, as a result of this and arising legislation, a subject which been wearisome for many company directors. The hidden gem here is to a great

As explained by Schelker (2013), the agency problem between the owners and the management of a firm is at the heart of the corporate governance literature. Hence, there is a need for a

Corporate governance includes all the rules, regulations, procedures and practices that guide a company in achieving their objective. Corporate Governance(CG) creates a support platform for a company’s stakeholders; the owners, the board, employees, the community and the regulators. Corporate governance policies are instituted to protect the interest of stakeholders through monitoring and controlling all management practices. Questions arise regarding the need to regulate corporate governance; if it is widely believed that good corporate governance leads to better financial performance, then firms would not need to be reminded to adopt these practices, however various recent company failures have revealed that good corporate governance practices are still lacking in many firms. The global financial crisis coupled with the fall of Enron, WorldCom and more recently the Volkswagen AG scandal in 2015 has led to high investor and society expectations regarding CG of companies.

Companies better understand how good corporate governance contributes to their competitiveness. Investors – especially collective investment institutions and pension funds acting in a fiduciary capacity – realise they have a role to play in ensuring good corporate governance practices, thereby underpinning the value of their investments. In today’s economies, interest in corporate governance goes beyond that of shareholders in the performance of individual companies. As companies play a pivotal role in our economies and we rely increasingly on private sector institutions to manage personal savings and secure retirement incomes, good corporate governance is important to broad and growing segments of the population. The review of the Principles was undertaken by the OECD Steering Group on Corporate Governance under a mandate from OECD Ministers in 2002. The review was supported by a comprehensive survey of how member countries addressed the different corporate governance challenges they faced. It also drew on experiences in economies outside the OECD area where the OECD, in co-operation with the World Bank and other sponsors,