Boards of Directors and Corporate Governance

Description

Over the past few years, corporate governance reform has been advocated as a response to the business crises experienced in the United States and Europe. The response of governments has been a greater intervention in the internal functioning of companies through the regulation of the institutions of corporate governance, bringing greater clarity to the directors' conflicts of interest, and imposing heavier penalties. The legal framework is indispensable, but the company also needs to create economic value with its products and services, invest, innovate, create employment, offer opportunities for training and continuous improvement, and have a positive impact on society at large. In the last instance, a company's board of directors should focus on the company's project - beyond the products and services which it offers today - to allow it to survive in the long term.

Learning Objective

The aim of this technical note is to direct the attention paid to potential improvements in corporate governance towards the role of the board of directors and, at a secondary level, that of the executive committee.

Keywords

Board of Directors