Corporate Sustainability: A Comparative Study of Corporate Governance in the UK, US, France, Japan, and Germany

Author: (British) Jonathan Zacks
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: On the current debates surrounding corporate governance, this book makes significant contributions. Everyone interested in the future form of corporate boards should read this book. —Sir Adrian Cadbury, author of "Corporate Governance and the Chairman of the Board" This book will undoubtedly become an authoritative work in the field of comparative corporate governance. It has provided the essence of this research field to directors and senior managers worldwide. —Jay Lorsch, Harvard Business School This book offers an excellent evaluation of the financial systems of the major developed countries. —Will Hutton, The Guardian The author's analysis, insights, and historical perspective make this book highly readable and an extremely important work for the current debates on corporate governance. —Wulf Ettenberg, The European This book is recommended to all who wish to see their companies win foreign markets. —The Royal Art Association Journal
Whether you are a manager, employee, shareholder, or customer, corporate governance affects you. In this book, the author examines the corporate governance systems of five major developed countries—Germany, Japan, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Maintaining a balance between motivation and responsibility is key to a company's longevity. This book elaborates in detail on the following issues: Germany's co-determination system based on a two-tier board; the network characteristics of Japan's corporate governance system and the limited role of its corporate boards; the important role of banks in the corporate governance of both Germany and Japan; the uncertainty of the boundaries of the French corporate governance system; the confrontational features of the corporate governance systems in the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the importance of the CEO; and the role of mergers and acquisitions in corporate governance.
By emphasizing the unique cultural, historical, and institutional characteristics of each country, the author clarifies that one country cannot fully adopt another's corporate governance system. For each country, it is wiser to thoroughly reflect, both theoretically and practically, whether its own corporate governance system maintains a good balance between motivation and responsibility.