A New Approach to Fix Broken Governance

Many attempts are being made to improve corporate governance in the wake of the financial crisis. But few seem to be tackling the real issue: that our top-down paradigms, rooted in transactional, unitary, economistic notions, need to be completely rewritten in favor of a more humanistic model. Citing examples such as the John Lewis Partnership and Mondragón Corporation, the authors propose the adoption of network governance, which they say would allow for greater self-regulation, self-governance, cooperation and communication among all stakeholders. They identify the many conflicts and shortcomings of the traditional single-board system, before showing how network governance can provide a solution to these problems. By instituting a series of checks and balances, a system of having multiple boards would prevent power abuse, as well as cultivate transparency and trust. For a sustainable and truly humanistic society to flourish, the authors urge companies to do their part by changing the way corporate governance actually works.