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2012/2013  BA-HAI_2GOV  Corporate Governance

English Title
Corporate Governance

Course information

Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course period First Quarter, Autumn
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course coordinator
  • Therese Strand - Department of International Economics and Management
Main Category of the Course
  • International Political Economy
  • Management
Last updated on 28-08-2012
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, students should be able to critically evaluate selected theories within the fields of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and business ethics, as well as discuss how these frameworks can be applied to concrete business situations:
  • Explain, combine and analytically discuss the theories, frameworks, models and concepts presented in the course.
  • Critically discuss the role of business in society, in the context of globalised markets and internationally active firms.
  • Identify business challenges and opportunities arising from internal corporate governance challenges and external stakeholder pressures.
  • Using the concepts and frameworks discussed in the course, sketch responses to these challenges and opportunities, and reason why those responses would pass the “good business ethics” test of critical observers.
  • Understand the importance of stakeholder engagement to obtain buy-in for the business responses deemed appropriate and describe how this could be achieved in practice.
Examination
.
Corporate Governance:
Type of test Written Exam
Marking scale 7-step scale
Second examiner No second examiner
Exam period October and December/January, the regular exam takes place in October. The make-up and re-examination takes place in January.
Aids Closed Book
Duration 4 Hours
No aids allowed other than basic language dictionaries (e.g. from mother tongue to English and vice versa and English/English).

To gain the highest grade in the 4-hours written closed book exam, students must be able to fully recall basic models and concepts from the curriculum/literature and present them in a comprehensive and well-argued way. Departing from this, students can put their findings into new perspectives. Please note that session-specific readings (excerpts from books and articles) are as important as the textbook for the exam!
Examination
The Make-up and Re-examination takes place according to the same rules as the regular exam.
Course content

Corporate governance concerns the way firms are directed and controlled. The regulatory backlash caused by corporate scandals and the financial crisis, as well as growing public and media pressure on companies to act in a ‘socially responsible’ way, have put stakeholder engagement on top of the corporate agenda. Regardless of international business managers’ individual philosophical stance on what the role of business in society should be, these pressures cannot go unmanaged and need to be addressed in a strategic manner. A thorough understanding of the corporate governance demands companies face today is therefore a necessary prerequisite in any international business function.
 
This course gives an introduction to the theoretical foundations of corporate governance, develops awareness of associated practical problems, and provides an overlook of governance systems around the world. The intertwine of legal, economic, political, and psychological factors affecting how firms and markets are run and controlled creates complexity and challenges our ability to state and solve problems practically as well as intellectually. The course provides students with a toolbox and skills for evaluating firms from a governance point of view.

Teaching methods
The course is lecture based, using various texts, journal articles, cases, research results, and current events and news to illustrate the topic of the session.
Expected literature

Overall for the entire course:
Thomsen, S. (2012), An Introduction to Corporate Governance: Mechanisms and Systems, Djoef Publishing, Denmark
 
Specifically for each session:
Excerpts from books and articles. Will be downloadable from course website at e-cbs.dk a couple of days prior to each session.

Last updated on 28-08-2012