23 September, 2021

Company law ‘should place purpose at the centre of business’

A four-year research project looking at the state of corporate governance has concluded that government must reform company law to place “purpose” at the centre of company activities and the fiduc...

13 September, 2021

Academic warns that ‘good’ corporations are bad for democracy

The argument over shifting from “shareholder” to “stakeholder” corporate governance has taken an unexpected turn. Until now, debate has focused on whether the big multi-national companies prof...

1 September, 2021

US corporates ‘should do more’ to help environment and low-paid workers

Two years on from a declaration by the biggest US companies that they would switch to serving stakeholder interests, public opinion says large corporates should be doing more for the environment and f...

25 August, 2021

Business Roundtable stakeholder statement ‘mostly for show’, says study

Since the Business Roundtable, a club for chief executives at some of the most high-profile companies in the US, announced in 2019 that it was

8 June, 2021

Why we need to redesign AGMs for the era of ESG

In a world which is increasingly focused on responsible capitalism and environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, the role of AGMs has never been more important. Climate change, diversity, su...

28 May, 2021

The challenges of balancing purpose with performance

Over the past few years, we have seen considerable changes in behaviour from a large portion of the providers of capital. An increase in responsible investing coupled with more forceful stewardship pr...

20 May, 2021

Company purpose is more than a marketing slogan—it’s a new philosophy

Last month the debate about the role of “purpose” in business and governance took off. Efforts to integrate the concept into boardroom thinking have never been exactly trivial, but April saw a cam...

5 May, 2021

The post-Covid recovery demands ‘context-conscious’ leadership

Context is an often overlooked but crucial issue affecting leadership decision-making at all levels. And in a post-Covid world where the leadership focus is organisational reconstruction rather than r...

26 April, 2021

Why boards should address value preservation at a strategic level

In theory most rational board members intuitively understand that the delivery of sustainable enterprise value over the long-term requires a healthy focus on both value creation and value preservation...

9 March, 2021

Business leaders issue warning on governance rules and sustainability

This week a fightback began in support of European Commission effort’s to redraw corporate governance so it promotes sustainability. In an