Epilogue: The Twenty-first Century Legal, Ethical, Moral, and Spiritual (LEMS) Challenges of Corporate Governance

Abstract

Executive Summary

There is a rising interest in ethical, moral, and spiritual challenges and imperatives, accountabilities, and responsibilities in the corporation. Governance issues arise whenever a corporate entity assumes a life of its own, and the ownership of an enterprise is separated from its management. How could owners ensure that “professional managers” hired and delegated to run their companies would run the venture to protect owners’ interests? What is and should be the moral quality of the corporation that CEOs govern? What types of corporate governance, ownership, and control modes and models should CEOs adopt such that they ensure long-term objectives of all stakeholders of the corporation? These ethical questions are central issues in the world of corporations today battled as they are with various pressures from governments, Wall Street analysts, credit ratings agencies, banks and promoters, private equity and hedge funds, and hostile takeovers. Such questions will always be crucial when fiduciary rights and duties attached to investment and ownership cannot be applied directly. This is the context of today’s corporate governance that this Epilogue to Volume I explores.

Citation

Mascarenhas, S.J., F.O.A.J. (2018), "Epilogue: The Twenty-first Century Legal, Ethical, Moral, and Spiritual (LEMS) Challenges of Corporate Governance", Corporate Ethics for Turbulent Markets (Corporate Ethics for Turbulent Markets), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 271-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-187-820181010