The Corporate Board Confronting the Paradoxes

by Demb, Ada; Neubauer, F.-Friedrich; Cadbury, Adrian

• ISBN13: 9780195070392
• ISBN10: 0195070399
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-04-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Written for practitioners, this book addresses corporate governance and the role of the board of directors in multinational corporations. Throughout the world, corporations are experiencing the second major transition in corporate governance of this century. The nature of the relationship between the corporation and the rest of society is changing fundamentally. The corporate board has unique responsibilities during this transition, but as it tries to respond directors are faced with destabilizing paradoxes: resolving who is in control--management or the board, achieving critical judgment while maintaining detachment, and avoiding becoming either a cozy club or a collection of all-stars. This book, based on interviews with 71 directors serving on more than 500 boards in eight countries, shows the nature of the challenges and suggests ways to analyze and confront them. This major international study compares the experiences of board members in Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Venezuela.

Table of Contents

Assessing the Discomfort

Corporate Governance: Lifespace and Accountability

The ""Job"" of the Board: Defining the Portfolio

Whose Responsibility: The Board or Management?

Commitment and Depth Versus Detachment and Breadth

""Cozy Club"" Versus Independent ""Personalities""

Dealing with Board Performance

Imperatives for the Twenty-first Century

Name Index

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.