3155+Corporate+Governance+Seminar


 * Seminar on corporate governance, 9/26**

This is a combined reading and research assignment. Its objectives are that students understand the nature of the modern business corporation, including competing perspectives on what companies are for, or should be for. Broadly understand questions of ‘corporate social responsibility.’

Students are to select ONE of the following, and be sure to clear their choice with me:

1. Structure and ownership of US business (research)
a. What is the mix of small, medium and large enterprises in the US (for example, in terms of capitalization, turnover, and employment)? b. What is the mix of widely held and privately held corporations, and why does this matter? Briefly, what regulations are public companies subject to? c. Who owns American corporations? How much of America’s business is owned overseas? How much overseas business is owned by US-based companies? d. How many individuals own shares in US companies? How many are beneficiaries of pension funds?

2. Pension funds, mutual funds, and beneficiary investors (research)
a. Who do the pension funds and mutual funds which invest in companies serve? Who directs pension funds and mutual funds, and what are their obligations? b. How large is the ‘socially responsible investment’ sector, and what does it seek to achieve? c. To what extent are public pension funds politicized? What goals have they pursued?

3. Corporate governance for shareholders and others (research) (John Crohe)
a. Briefly, what are the obligations of company directors (those on a corporation’s board of directors)? b. How do shareholders make their voice known in American companies? c. What kinds of demands have social, environmental or other movements made on companies through corporate governance mechanisms, and how successful have they been?

(reading—2 students)
a. Based on the following reading, offer a five minute overview of the case for and against corporate social responsibility (CSR). “Just Good Business: A special report on corporate social responsibility, The Economist, January 19, 2008

Readings for whole class

 * · “Corporate governance, shareholder value and societal expectations” Richard Tudway, Ana-Maria Pascal. Corporate Governance. Bradford: 2006. Vol. 6, Iss. 3; pg. 30
 * “Just Good Business: A special report on corporate social responsibility, The Economist, January 19, 2008

General background sources (library)

 * · Gangs of America, by Ted Nace
 * · Unequal Protection, by Thom Hartman (2002, Rodale)
 * · Corporate Governance, by Robert A.G. Monks
 * · Corporate Governance, by Christine Mallin