The Best Corporate Governance Books 2025

1. Corporate Governance and Firm Organization : Microfoundations and Structural Forms, Used [Hardcover]

Recent scandals involving large firms, in the US and elsewhere, have intensified discussion regarding the role and conduct of the corporation. The contributors to this book argue that much of this debate has taken too narrow a view of the issue of corporate governance, and question some of the key assumptions of economic models. Drawing on insights from a variety of fields, including management studies, organization studies, economics and finance, political science, sociology, psychology, and legal studies, the contributors argue that these models fail to take account of the varied and complex behaviour of actors within the corporation. Instead the cognitive and motivational foundations of governance problems and possible solutions are re-worked to produce a broader conception of governance, and a new range of forms that this can take. The book argues that no one of these forms is the 'solution' to the corporate governance problem. The book contains chapters from leading international management scholars, including: Masahiko Aoki, Margaret Blair, John Child, Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra, Bruno Frey, Anna Grandori, Joseph Lampel, Ryon Lancaster, William Lazonick, Siegwart Lindenberg, Patrick Moreton, Margit Osterloh, Michael Piore, Andrea Prencipe, Suzana Rodrigues, Mark Roe, Giuseppe Soda, Steen Thomsen, Brian Uzzi, Paul Windolf, and Todd Zenger. Corporate Governance and Firm Organization provides an important contribution to the corporate governance debate, and will be essential reading for academics and graduate students of corporate governance, business and management, economics, finance, sociology, and law; Consultants, professionals, and policy-makers working in the area of corporate governance.

Corporate Governance and Firm Organization : Microfoundations and Structural Forms, Used [Hardcover]

2. The Econometrics of Corporate Governance Studies (MIT Press), Used [Hardcover]

A vast theoretical and empirical literature in corporate finance considers the interrelationships of corporate governance, takeovers, management turnover, corporate performance, corporate capital structure, and corporate ownership structure. Most of the studies look at two variables at a time. In this book, Sanjai Bhagat and Richard Jefferis argue that from an econometric viewpoint, the proper way to study the relationship between any two of these variables is to set up a system of simultaneous equations that specifies the relationships among the six variables. The specification and estimation of such a system of simultaneous equations, however, is nontrivial.The authors illustrate their argument with a discussion of the impact of corporate anti-takeover measures on takeovers and managerial job-tenure. During the past two decades, an overwhelming majority of publicly held US corporations have adopted anti-takeover measures. The authors show that, contrary to expectation, defense measures are ineffective in preventing takeovers and the frequency of CEO departures is unrelated to takeover defenses. At firms with poison pill defenses, however, there is a statistically significant relationship between management turnover and company performance.

The Econometrics of Corporate Governance Studies, Used [Hardcover]

3. Corporate Governance: Promises Kept, Promises Broken [Hardcover - Used]

CONDITION - USED - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. Even in the wake of the biggest financial crash of the postwar era, the United States continues to rely on Securities and Exchange Commission oversight and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which set tougher rules for boards, management, and public accounting firms to protect the interests of shareholders. Such reliance is badly misplaced. In Corporate Governance , Jonathan Macey argues that less government regulation--not more--is what's needed to ensure that managers of public companies keep their promises to investors. Macey tells how heightened government oversight has put a stranglehold on what is the best protection against malfeasance by self-serving management: the market itself. Corporate governance, he shows, is about keeping promises to shareholders; failure to do so results in diminished investor confidence, which leads to capital flight and other dire economic consequences. Macey explains the relationship between corporate governance and the various market and nonmarket institutions and mechanisms used to control public corporations; he discusses how nonmarket corporate governance devices such as boards and whistle-blowers are highly susceptible to being co-opted by management and are generally guided more by self-interest and personal greed than by investor interests. In contrast, market-driven mechanisms such as trading and takeovers represent more reliable solutions to the problem of corporate governance. Inefficient regulations are increasingly hampering these important and truly effective corporate controls. Macey examines a variety of possible means of corporate governance, including shareholder voting, hedge funds, and private equity funds. Corporate Governance reveals why the market is the best guardian of shareholder interests.

Corporate Governance : Promises Kept, Promises Broken, Used

4. Chairing the Board : A Practical Guide to Activities and Responsibilities, Used [Hardcover]

* A comprehensive, practical guide to the role and responsibilities of a company chairman from an acknowledged expert

Chairing the Board : A Practical Guide to Activities and Responsibilities, Used [Hardcover]

5. Corporate Governance, Used [Paperback]

This book provides a comprehensive look at the history, the myth, the reality, and the future of corporate governance issues. Provides a comprehensive look at the history, the myth, the reality, and the future of corporate governance issues. Second edition has been extensively re-written and updated. Includes numerous case studies and supplementary online material. For supplemental resources including full appendices visit www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/monks

Corporate Governance, Used [Paperback]

6. The Data Asset: How Smart Companies Govern Their Data for Business Success, Used [Hardcover]

An indispensable guide that shows companies how to treat data as a strategic asset Organizations set their business strategy and direction based on information that is available to executives. The Data Asset provides guidance for not only building the business case for data quality and data governance, but also for developing methodologies and processes that will enable your organization to better treat its data as a strategic asset. Part of Wiley's SAS Business Series, this book looks at Business Case Building; Maturity Model and Organization Capabilities; 7-Step Programmatic Approach for Success; and Technologies Required for Effective Data Quality and Data Governance and, within these areas, covers Risk mitigation Cost control Revenue optimization Undisciplined and reactive organizations Proactive organizations Analysis, improvement, and control technology Whether you're a business manager or an IT professional, The Data Asset reveals the methodology and technology needed to approach successful data quality and data governance initiatives on an enterprise scale.

The Data Asset : How Smart Companies Govern Their Data for Business Success, Used [Hardcover]

7. What Happened to Goldman Sachs : An Insider's Story of Organizational Drift and Its Unintended Consequences, Used [Hardcover]

This is the story of the slow evolution of Goldman Sachs--addressing why and how the firm changed from an ethical standard to a legal one as it grew to be a leading global corporation. In What Happened to Goldman Sachs , Steven G. Mandis uncovers the forces behind what he calls Goldman's "organizational drift." Drawing from his firsthand experience; sociological research; analysis of SEC, congressional, and other filings; and a wide array of interviews with former clients, detractors, and current and former partners, Mandis uncovers the pressures that forced Goldman to slowly drift away from the very principles on which its reputation was built. Mandis evaluates what made Goldman Sachs so successful in the first place, how it responded to pressures to grow, why it moved away from the values and partnership culture that sustained it for so many years, what forces accelerated this drift, and why insiders can't--or won't--recognize this crucial change. Combining insightful analysis with engaging storytelling, Mandis has written an insider's history that offers invaluable perspectives to business leaders interested in understanding and managing organizational drift in their own firms.

What Happened to Goldman Sachs : An Insider's Story of Organizational Drift and Its Unintended Consequences, Used [Hardcover]

8. Back to the Drawing Board: Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World [Hardcover - Used]

CONDITION - USED - Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "From the library of" labels or previous owner inscriptions. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included. Business scandals from Enron to WorldCom have escalated concerns about corporate governance into a full-blown crisis. Institutional investors and legislators have dominated the debate and enacted important changes in corporate accounting and other areas. But Colin B. Carter and Jay W. Lorsch say that we must now focus on the performance of corporate boards. This timely book argues that boards are being pressed to perform unrealistic duties given their traditional structure, processes, and membership. Carter and Lorsch propose a strategic redesign of boards--making them better attuned to their oversight, decision-making, and advisory roles--to enable directors to meet 21st century challenges successfully. Based on the authors' deep expertise and longtime experience working with boards around the world, and on a probing survey of CEOs, Carter and Lorsch help boards to develop a realistic value proposition customized to the company they serve. The authors explore the core dilemmas and responsibilities boards face and outline a framework for designing the most effective structure, makeup, size, and culture. This book provides a candid account of the current state of boards and points the way in a time of crisis and change.

Back to the Drawing Board : Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World, Used [Hardcover]

9. Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism, Used [Hardcover]

A sharp and illuminating history of one of capitalism s longest running tensions the conflicts of interest among public company directors, managers, and shareholders told through entertaining case studies and original letters from some of our most legendary and controversial investors and activists. Recent disputes between shareholders and major corporations, including Apple and DuPont, have made headlines. But the struggle between management and those who own stock has been going on for nearly a century. Mixing never-before-published and rare, original letters from Wall Street icons including Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Ross Perot, Carl Icahn, and Daniel Loeb with masterful scholarship and professional insight, Dear Chairman traces the rise in shareholder activism from the 1920s to today, and provides an invaluable and unprecedented perspective on what it means to be a public company, including how they work and who is really in control. Jeff Gramm analyzes different eras and pivotal boardroom battles from the last century to understand the factors that have caused shareholders and management to collide. Throughout, he uses the letters to show how investors interact with directors and managers, how they think about their target companies, and how they plan to profit. Each is a fascinating example of capitalism at work told through the voices of its most colorful, influential participants. A hedge fund manager and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, Gramm has spent as much time evaluating CEOs and directors as he has trying to understand and value businesses. He has seen public companies that are poorly run, and some that willfully disenfranchise their shareholders. While he pays tribute to the ingenuity of public company investors, Gramm also exposes examples of shareholder activism at its very worst, when hedge funds engineer stealthy land-grabs at the expense of a company s long term prospects. Ultimately, he provides a thorough, much-needed understanding of the public company/shareholder relationship for investors, managers, and everyone concerned with the future of capitalism. "

Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism, Used [Hardcover]

10. Watching the Watchers : Corporate Goverance for the 21st Century, Used [Hardcover]

No aspect of business or finance has changed more dramatically over the past decade than corporate governance. Until recently it has been unthinkable for a shareholder resolution to be sponsored by an institutional investor, or for a resolution sponsored by an individual investor to get more than 3 per cent of the vote. Suddenly institutional investors are submitting dozens of shareholder resolutions, all with substantial support. Astonishingly, shareholders have been reponsible for the departures of CEOs from the giants of Corporate America - General Motors, weestinghouse, IBM and Kodak.

Watching the Watchers : Corporate Goverance for the 21st Century, Used [Hardcover]