International Governance
This Module develops an internal and an external perspective to the study of corporate governance. Internally, it considers the nature and effect of corporate governance on the shareholder. Externally, it considers and develops the significant debate about whether corporate governance now creates an obligation to ‘stakeholders’, not just shareholders.
What does the Module cover?
For this module an international perspective on corporate governance is used to enable a comparative analysis between, for example, the UK, USA and South Africa, as the approaches adopted in these different jurisdictions reflect the main schools of thought in this area. The nature, scope and effect of corporate social responsibility will be examined, including the major philosophical theories that influence thinking within this area.
The module adopts a theoretical and problem-based approach so that you will have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate your understanding, but can also consider the application and appropriateness of these theories in a business context. In particular you will critique the theoretical bases of ethical behaviour and evaluate modern theories of regulation, contrasting these with recent business scandals and the different responses to these.
Key topics
- Modern theories of regulation – including interest theory; new institutionalism; contractual theory etc
- The context, rise and growth of corporate governance; worldwide business scandals and critique of these.
- Inter-cultural comparisons between regulatory environments: the UK; USA; South Africa etc
- Consideration of ethical theory
- The context, rise and growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) – a critique
- CSR and profitability
Pre-requisites
None
Number of credits and study time
30 credits, equivalent to 300 hours of study
Assessment
Assessment may be exam or coursework or a mixture of both. Please speak to a course advisor for more information.