• 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.

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.
 

will be specified in january

Case studies will have to bought by the individual student.