In his 2007 book lt;igt;No Seat at the Tablelt;/igt;, Professor Douglas Branson aptly describes how patterns of male dominance inherent in the legal structures of corporate governance reproduce themselves again and again to keep women out of executive suites and boardrooms, and then he offers a...

A number of theorists have proposed mechanisms suggesting that corporate social responsibility produces better financial results. Others subscribe to the theory that, realistically, less ethical means are necessary. This article contains an analysis of these perspectives drawing on observations...

This short essay provides some explanation and context built around a simple statement regarding corporate (or entity) purpose and how to balance the shareholder wealth maximization norm with broad director discretion. That statement, using the model from the Edward R. Murrow radio show “This...

Few enterprise operational areas present as much inherent risk or prove as difficult to govern as Information Technology (“IT”). To be successful, IT governance requires enterprise commitment at the very top. Boards and executive management need to extend governance, already exercised over...

This study addresses an apparent impasse in the research on organizations' responses to cultural distance. We posit that cross-country differences in egalitarianism - a cultural orientation manifested in intolerance for abuses of market and political power and support for protection of less...

The freedom to make contracts is a liberating feature of commercial life, yet too often contracts turn into tyranny, when haggling over fine print makes two sides mis-trust each other. This problem, and some solutions, are explored in this chapter from Margin of Trust: The Berkshire Business...

Prodded by economists in the 1970s, corporate directors began adding stock options and bonuses to the already-generous salaries of CEOs with hopes of boosting their companies' fortunes. Guided by largely unproven assumptions, this trend continues today. So what are companies getting in return...

The advent of crowdfunding (and crowdfund investing, in particular) has put strain on business lawyering. This paper identifies and comments on professional responsibility and professionalism issues in the current rapidly changing business finance and regulatory environment -- an environment in...

The Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia or BNM) introduced the Shariah Governance Framework (SGF) in 2010 and required all Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) to fully implement in 2011. The objective is to provide a proper regulatory framework for IFIs to function within the...

In this Article, we use hand-collected data to shed light on a troubling innovation in bankruptcy practice. We show that distressed companies, especially those controlled by private-equity sponsors, often now prepare for a Chapter 11 filing by appointing bankruptcy experts to their boards of...