Mid-term Flashcards
WHAT IS CORPORATE GOVERNANCE?
“Corporation”
derives from corpus, the Latin word for body, or a “body of people”
“Governance”
is the process of overseeing the control and direction of something with the help of norms, rules,
laws, language, etc.
MANAGEMENT
the act or art of managing : the conducting or supervising of something (such as a business) (Merriam-Webster).
Circle - board with non-executive
Triangle - management
krc
Issues to dwell on
- Growing complexity of the companies;
- Changes in Ownership patterns;
- Lack of board responsibility for enterprise risk management and business continuity;
- Governance by rule or by principle?
- Unitary board “marking their own exam papers”;
- Independent directors who do not know enough about the business;
- Members’ changing expectations of directors and boards;
- Society’s changing expectations of directors and boards;
- Corporate Governance affected by cultural considerations.
DIFFERENT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVES
- Operational perspective;
- Relationship perspective;
- Stakeholder perspective;
- Financial economics perspective;
- Societal perspective.
Focus
governance structures, processes, practices.
Emphasis on the shareholders, the board, and the management –
their activities and interactions.
RELATIONSHIP PERSPECTIVE
“The corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among the different participants in the organization – such as the board, managers, shareholders, and other stakeholders – and the rules and procedures for decision-making”
STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVE
Those involved in and affected by corporate governance. It is about the activities of the board and the relationship it has with stakeholders and/or members, management, auditors, regulators, etc.
FINANCIAL ECONOMICS PERSPECTIVE
OPERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVE
BOARD PERSPECTIVES AND PROCESSES
Board structures
Types of constitution
Formal
Informal
Formal Constitution
under the law, f.e. under company law or the law registering cooperatives.
Informal Constitution
consisting of little more than a name, a purpose, and a set of rules.
Control levels
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 1 of control
– the regulatory level, with laws, regulations, and levels
Level 2 of control
– the advisory level involving voluntary codes of conduct
Level 3 of control
the personal level, concerning individual beliefs and behaviour
The Agency Dilemma
“The directors of companies, being managers of other people’s money, cannot be expected to watch over it with the same vigilance with which they watch their own”.
AGENCY THEORY STEWARDSHIP THEORY
SHAREHOLDER -
is a person, company, or institution that owns at least one share of a company’s stock or in a mutual fund.
TYPES OF SHAREHOLDERS
Common Shareholder
Preferred Shareholder
Debenture holders
Common Shareholder -
those who own the company. They have voting rights in the company depending upon the number of shares owned by them. They have the right to question the management of the company’s work
Preferred Shareholder -
do not have any voting rights in the company and thus cannot interfere with the working of the management of the company
Debenture holders -
are not the owners but are the creditors of the company. They do not have any voting rights. Instead of receiving dividends, they receive interest payments from the company.
SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS
- The right to inspect the company’s books and records
- The power to sue the corporation for the misdeeds of its directors and/or officers
- The right to vote on key corporate matters, such as naming board directors and deciding whether or not to green-light potential mergers
- The entitlement to receive dividends
- The right to attend annual meetings, either in person or via conference calls
- The right to vote on critical matters by proxy, either through mail-in ballots or online voting platforms if they’re unable to attend voting meetings in person
- The right to claim a proportionate allocation of proceeds if a company liquidates its assets.
INFORMING SHAREHOLDERS IS KEY
- Company’s financial situation;
- Performance;
- Ownership;
- Governance.
DIRECTOR -
is the senior operating officer or manager of an organization or corporation. Their duties are similar
to those of a chief executive officer (CEO) of a for-profit company. The executive director is responsible for strategic planning, working with the board of directors, and operating within a budget.