Introduction

Good governance is a joy to observe in any organization. But to know what it is we must define “good” While we acknowledge its limitations, we will largely define “good corporate governance” as that which maximizes the long-term value of shareholder interests in the company. The focus on the long-term value implicitly acknowledges the importance of other stakeholders’ interests as no company will survive in the long term if they ignore the interests of customers, employees, suppliers, and the community at large, to name but a few stakeholders. This definition accords with the majority of prevailing orthodoxy of both academic debate and policy discussion. But this objective has not gone, and certainly should not go, unchallenged. Nevertheless we warn readers that our review is a partial one conducted largely from a shareholder wealth maximizing perspective.