A Reformed Global Architecture for Corporate Responsibility (UNITAR / YALE 2014) (original) (raw)

The Development of Global Convergence on International Corporate Governance Models and Law

The Development of Global Convergence on International Corporate Governance Models and Law, 2021

This paper aims to persuade and fulfil the premise that the stakeholder model proved most successful during the post-financial crisis by way of corporate social responsibility. As such, the case for Germany will be made while thoroughly dissecting the United States corporate social responsibility during the post-financial crisis era. The foundation of this dispute lies with the theory of shareholder and stakeholder corporate governance practices. The first section will provide a preliminary overview of crucial aspects of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and background on the global financial crisis. Thereafter, a succinct outline of two corporate governance models relative to this discussion will be undertaken. The latter half of this paper will critically assess each model’s corporate social responsibility performance during the financial crisis, emphasising the post-financial crisis results.

Frankenstein Incorporated or Fools’ Parliament? Revisiting the Concept of the Corporation in Corporate Governance

Bond Law Review, 1998

In this article the concept of the corporation as separate legal person is revisited and the argument is put forward that Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd was formal reasoning, giving recognition to what the judiciary conceived to be emerging social and economic reality, but was inadequately justified in terms of principle and policy. The concept was also inadequate for doctrinal purposes in corporate decisionmaking; hence the equation of the good of the company with that of its shareholders which is logically inconsistent with the idea of a separate legal person. The Anglo-Australian approach is narrow, ethnocentric and increasingly isolated from German, Japanese and US corporate governance systems. The lack of adequate principle and policy justification accounts for the incoherence of the Anglo-Australian piercing the veil jurisprudence. The answer lies in development of the concept of the corporation as a firm in its social context and consideration is given to the extent to which modern law and economics scholarship and stakeholder theory assist in that development.

From Voluntary to Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility: A Legal Introspective in Modern Corporate Governance.

This research work aims to show the link between good corporate governance and corporate social responsibility(CSR). We will discuss the origins and definition of CSR as well as its utility in today’s world specially regarding the responsibility of corporations towards society and the environment. We will also discuss the necessity of State intervention in the in the CSR policy of private companies. We will also explore the changing nature of CSR from purely voluntary to partly regulated to fully mandatory. This research will be based on available data from articles and empirical studies conducted in this domain. We will analyse the CSR policies of private companies in multiple jurisdictions namely the United Kingdom, the United States of America, India. These selected jurisdictions will give us a variety of corporate governance issues and CSR policies from voluntary to mandatory and also help us examine the level of State intervention in these policies

Towards the age of corporate responsibility? Emerging challenges for the business world

Futures, 2005

The article seeks to show how the issue of ethical corporations can be examined and challenged through the concept of corporate responsibility. Corporate responsibility first emerged as a term around 10 years ago with the rise of environmental reporting systems. At that time, the UNCED summit in Rio boosted the general level of consciousness concerning these issues and the first business-driven international organisation to tackle the field, Business Council for Sustainable Development, emerged. Globalisation, which by any indicators accelerated enormously during the 1990s, has challenged corporations to consider responsibility in a new light. The evolution and spread of a global network of finance have increased the need for transparency and responsibility, at the same time as the shift from 'international' to 'global' signified the gradual breakdown of old institutions and the emergence of new ones. This article evaluates how corporations have responded to this challenge and postulates, in the light of increasing pressures on human and natural conditions, a coming 'Age of Responsibility' that will set corporate responsibility a basis for any action in business world. q

Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective

This article develops an integrative perspective on corporate responsibility by synthesising competing perspectives on the responsibility of the corporation at the organisational and societal levels of analysis. We review three major corporate responsibility perspectives, which we refer to as economic, critical, and politico-ethical. We analyse the major potential uses and pitfalls of the perspectives, and integrate the debate on these two levels. Our synthesis concludes that when a society has a robust division of moral labour in place, the responsibility of a corporation may be economic (as suggested under the economic perspective) without jeopardising democracy and sustainability (as reported under the critical perspective). Moreover, the economic role of corporations neither signifies the absence of deliberative democratic mechanisms nor business practices extending beyond compliance (as called for under the politico-ethical perspective). The study underscores the value of integrating different perspectives and multiple levels of analysis to present comprehensive descriptions and prescriptions of the responsibility phenomenon.