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 | | Corporate Governance by Robert A. G. Monks, Nell Minow ISBN-10: 9780631222637 ISBN-10: 0-631-22263-4 ISBN-13: 9780631222637 ISBN-13: 978-0-631-22263-7 Hardcover 2001-05 Blackwell Publishers Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Book Description This book provides a comprehensive look at the history, the myth, the reality, and the future of corporate governance issues. It explains how roles of the shareholders, managers and directors have been transformed by the abuses and excesses of the takeover era, the exponential growth of the institutional investor, and the unprecedented ability of shareholders to find each other on the internet. The second edition of this successful textbook has been extensively re-written and updated. Changes include: A complete reworking of the international chapter, including excerpts from OECD, Hemphill, Mckenzie, and World Bank reports plus comparisons of international corporate governance best practices. Excerpts from NACD reports on board professionalism and CEO succession. New in-depth case studies on Stone and Webster and Waste Management. Impact of the internet on shareholder communications and disclosure. New cases - Daimler-Benz; Dow-Jones; Saatchi & Saatchi; Furr's/Luby's; Mirror; Brazil; Political contributions (US/UK). Updated cases - Inc General Motors; Sears. Including numerous case studies and supplementary online material, this book is an indispensable resource for students of business, corporate finance, law, and public policy.
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Reviews | ||
Compliance and Conviction This book provides a very thorough view of many activities taking place in the corporate environment. The authors are very seasoned and passionate about their work. The academic value is substantial. For those interested in peering inside the boardroom and gaining a perspective of an active leader in the corporate boardroom, I highly recommend that you read Compliance and Conviction: The Evolution of Enlightened Corporate Governance by Curtis J. Crawford, Ph.D. In his book, Dr. Crawford discusses why and who should care about corporate governance. He provides a historical perspective on the topic while focusing on succession planning, chief executive officer (CEO) supervision, executive compensation, and director independence. It is a fascinating book. | ||
Too much stuff, too little structure I do not like this book. 1. It lacks structure. The book flows in all direction at the same time, desperately looking for a purpose. 2. The clutter is overwhelming and the 400+ pages fail to reveal the purpose of the book. I see two alternatives - a review of corporate governance directed to non-academic use or an academic textbook in corporate governance directed to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. No book can accomplish both without failing in one of the two. I believe this book is a poor, but the only, choice as a textbook in US corporate governance. Mallin's corporate governance book is in many ways superior to Monks and Minow. Blair's book explains the same problems as Monks and Minow does in 60 pages. 3. The book does not figure out the main issues in corporate governance and structure the book around them. The three ideas, ownership - monitoring - performance, the book uses are too artificial and overly simplistic and this simplicity is completely lost in the book. Actually, these three ideas are the only clear areas in the book. I would suggest the following "great themes". Ownership, management, control, performance, and stakeholders is probably a better way to look at the main areas in corporate governance that the existant. 5. The ideas of corporate governance are either "best practice" or what is "a failure". You cannot economize explanations, but the book has scores of marginal areas that seem to overwhelm and confuse the readers without belonging to "best practices" or " failures". These marginal cases, references, thoughts, and ideas make it almost impossible to understand what is the purporse of the discussion. Case in point: dealing with greenmail under the board of directors? 6. The book is long. 7. Either add more cases to the book, or offer the cases separately. Make sure that the cases are even. Having a 20 page case on GM is excellent. 8. As a trained lawayer, I have not had any problems following the book. As a finance PhD doing research in corporate governance, I have no problems following the book. But any non-lawyer or layman, is likely to find the material frustrating, overwhelming and muddy. The material is not accessible, barely understandable, and hardly beneficial to the average reader (who is very unlikely a JD with a finance PhD). | ||
An academically oriented book. Would be an excellent tome for students of business. Also would be applicable for folks who are more interested in the corporate governance from a policy side. It's focus is publicly held companies, so if you're looking for a practitioners guide on how to 'get things done' in a startup world, this book doesn't address any of that. That doesn't make it a bad book, it just has it's focus on public companies. | ||
This fascinating governance "encyclopedia" has it all! If you want a single-volume resource on the topic of corporate governance, I urge you to beg, borrow, steal--or better yet, in the spirit of free enterprise, buy with a click from Amazon--Corporate Governance, now heading for another printing due to popular demand. Monks, a former Labor Department official, and Minow, an attorney by training, go beyond the "letter" of corporate governance and into its spirit in this monumental work, a sequel to their Power and Accountability (1991). Whether you are searching for sweeping theories, or simply want a place to look up key phrases from "agency costs" to "zones of ambiguity;" whether you want to travel through General Motors history or revisit Ross Perot's "pet rocks" quip, you will find what you are looking for here. "What is a corporation?" the authors begin. "It is the relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations." Monks and Minow go on to define these participants as the shareholders, management, and board of diretors, devoting a section to each. Then comes an overview of corporate governance in over a dozen countries. One of the best features in the book is the series of Socratic questions that appear in italics throughout. One follows: "How do we create a governance and ownership structure that gives employees the optimal role, from the perspective of fairness (to maximize their contributions) and productivity (to maximize their future contributions?)" How indeed? Read this book to find out. | ||