Corporate Integrity

Add a Comment

Comment by Steve Burrows on February 15, 2012 at 6:16

Hi Jonathan. Perhaps the problem is not so much the existing model of corporate governance as the fact that it is so little understood or applied?

I'm a Chartered Director so I'm inevitably a bit of a corp governance nerd. My observations: most corporate leaders don't really know what it is, why it's needed, how to create it etc. Most corporate leaders believe that they don't need further governance, they are good guys, they look after their employees and customers as well as shareholders, whatever corp governance is it doesn't need to apply to them because they're already doing things right.

Further, the corp governance rules that we have technically only apply to very large (FTSE) listed companies. They are optional codes for both smaller listed companies and unlisted businesses (there is a separate recently-published pan-European corporate governance code for smaller & family-owned businesses). The majority of business leaders think the corp governance codes are for big companies and don't apply to them, have never read them, don't know where to find them, and if they ever need to know their accountants will tell them - until then they can ignore them.

In short the vast majority of the directors of the UK's 2.5 million businesses have no real idea of what corp governance actually is, or why it should apply to them. Maybe it is not the model which is flawed but that adoption of it is too low to make any real judgements on its validity?

Cheers, Steve

Comment by Laurence Guinness on November 3, 2011 at 11:56

Firstly; Perhaps it's because not only can't we see the possibility of alternative answers, we can't even recognise that the question is valid any more. Like the air around us, we just accept the status quo, as being how things are.

 

Secondly; If you're in the corporate system you're dependent on the corporate system. Fear of rejection and ostracism keeps most people quiet. Old Japanese saying gives insight on this.... "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down" 

 

There are people trying looking for solutions check out "Verifiable Capitalism" @  http://nudgeglobalexchange.com/the_cic_nge.cfm

Comment by Jonathan Jewell on November 3, 2011 at 11:09

Okay, I might have set up some dumb groups in the past, but I am shocked not to see this one taking off - what with everything that's going on at the moment. I suppose that Profit without Purpose group is poaching members!

Comment by Jonathan Jewell on June 3, 2011 at 12:03

Okay, can someone tell me why 'corporate integrity' is not attracting more membership and discussion? Perhaps I need to change the name or market it differently - this is a big one!