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A recent contribution entitled Global Responsibility and the King Reports was made to the literature that represents a significant advancement in the understanding of how standards of good governance are practised. The corpus revealed key insights about macro-institutional governance regimes, yet, extraordinarily little about meso-organisational and even less so, micro-individual corporate governance practice. This study aims to shed light on the micro-individual level of corporate governance practice which has remained obscured by drawing pragmatic insights from the landmark South African King Code experience that may be applied to other governance jurisdictions for global organisational responsibility.

To unearth micro-individual corporate governance code practices, a phenomenological exploration of corporate governance practitioners’ (CGPs) perceptions was conducted. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with senior board members of securities-exchange listed companies were conducted with 10 directors of leading multinational South African corporations listed on Africa’s largest formal financial market; the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Recursive analysis of the qualitative data revealed key attributes that render a corporate governance code “fulfilling” as a consequence of being perceived as subjectively valuable by practitioners who are the ultimate end-users of the King Codes for advancing good corporate governance practice in each of their respective companies.

Two categories of fulfilling micro-perceived value attributes (MPVAs) of corporate governance codes emerged, namely, internal and external MPVAs. The three internal MPVAs are, namely, (I1) Meaningful innovation, (I2) Ethical pragmatism and (I3) Cultural transformation. The three external MPVAs are, namely, (E1) Governance legitimacy, (E2) Societal licencing and (E3) Risk mitigation. From these six attributes, two testable corporate governance code development propositions are advanced, namely, (P1) a corporate governance code with a higher constitution of MPVAs will fulfil CGPs more than one with less. (P2) A more fulfilling corporate governance code will enjoy higher adoption, application and/or compliance rates.

Illumining the subjective experiential perceptions that constitute the fulfilment of a corporate governance code deepens the pragmatic understanding of the “demand-side” or consumption of such codes in practice. Knowing these fulfilling MPVAs may also result in the development of codes that enjoy wider adoption and compliance rates thereby enhancing global corporate responsibility pragmatism through enhanced good governance. This study sheds light on the nexus where normative corporate governance principles and the enactment thereof meet at the coalface of organisational activity with an emphasis on those attributes that render them valuable to practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on the distinctive stance of the King Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa, 2016 (King IV) in relation to a number of other codes of corporate governance issued globally.

The paper presents a comparative analysis between King IV and the codes of governance that apply in a select number of the jurisdictions, namely, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Nigeria and the UK. The selection of jurisdictions was done with the view of having a sample that is representative of the major global regions. Preference was given to codes that were issued or revised recently. Mention is also made of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance where appropriate.

The conclusion reached in this paper is that King IV is distinctive from the codes compared to it in this paper in six respects. These include that King IV defines corporate governance as accountable leadership instead of it being a system only and is drafted for positive outcomes instead of compliance; proposes an application regime that is qualitative instead of quantitative; integrates sustainable development into its model for corporate governance instead of treating sustainability as an ad hoc-matter; has applicability across the ecosystem of all organisations instead of limited application to listed or larger companies; and has a has built in a social value system to harness broad public support instead of reliance on bottom-down enforcement.

The implications of the distinct approach to corporate governance in King IV are explained in the paper and should serve as a premise to reconsider whether the more traditional approaches to corporate governance code development are still appropriate in light of the learning as evidenced in King IV.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prominence and positioning of ethics in the four editions of the King Report on corporate governance for South Africa that were published since 1994. It tells a tale of how certain ethics aspects remained fairly constant over the four editions of the King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (King I in 1994; King II in 2002; King III in 2009; King IV in 2016), whilst other ethics aspects evolved quite substantially over the four editions.

In this paper, a conceptual distinction between “Ethics of Governance” and “Governance of Ethics” will be introduced, which will then be used to analyse the ethics dimensions of the four King reports.

It will be demonstrated that there is continuity across the four editions of the King Report as far as the Ethics of Governance is concerned.

With regards to the Governance of Ethics, there has been a quite drastic evolution in both the prominence and positioning of ethics since the publication of the first King Report in 1994.

This study focuses on the evaluation of the introduction of international corporate governance codes such as Combined Code (UK) and King Report III (SA) in the Greek publicly listed enterprises. This research is based on a case study analysis of six publicly listed enterprises (three of them are traded in the high capitalization index and another three in the medium‐low capitalization index of the Athens Stock Exchange). The main purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of international corporate governance codes impact in the relevant local laws and regulations, as well as the adopted best practices.

Qualitative research is carried out to address the research topic, using primary and secondary data. The primary source of this study is the professional experience of the author in the field of corporate governance within publicly listed enterprises, whereas secondary sources are the international corporate governance codes, Greek corporate governance laws, regulations and best practices, books, working papers and published articles.

Although certain parts of international governance codes requirements have been applied by a number of Greek publicly listed enterprises, there is a long way to go to achieve best practice. The reason for this is the typical, however not substantial application of international governance codes requirements.

Research is proved to be very useful as it describes a gap analysis in the application of international governance codes in the areas of corporate governance, internal and external auditing, as well as the regulators therefore making it easier to identify potential areas for improvement.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader with a high-level overview of the key messages of each of the four King Reports on Corporate Governance for South Africa, published during the period from 1994 to 2017, with a particular focus on the stakeholder-inclusive approach. While confirming the constant themes and messages, it also highlights the unique features and attributes of each of these reports.

This paper is based on a review and comparison of the four King Reports of Corporate Governance for South Africa with a particular focus on the stakeholder-inclusive approach.

The key findings of this paper are: the concept of “stakeholder inclusivity” is a common theme across all four the King Reports forming part of the review while, at the same time, having a unique flavour in each of the reports and visibly developing over the years. The reliance on human intervention and ethical leaders to appropriately and effectively steer the stakeholder-inclusive approach is obvious. In the absence of this, no corporate governance code will provide adequate safeguards to stakeholders against corporate failures and disasters, whether in South Africa or anywhere else.

This paper is a part of a special issue which looks at the contribution of the King Reports to governance globally.

The purpose of this study is to provide a high-level review of the evolution of shareholder activism and institutional investor engagement in the corporate governance ecosystem in South Africa. Furthermore, it specifically seeks to explain the incorporation of such aspects into the various key codes and reports on corporate governance in South Africa since 1994.

Historical narrative and analysis.

This study highlights how shareholder activism and institutional investor engagement in the corporate governance ecosystem have been considered and addressed in South Africa since the publication of the First King Report in 1994. The progress that has been made specifically with regard to the introduction of a code for institutional investors is highlighted. The study ultimately acknowledges that this evolution is a continuing journey on the road to stakeholder inclusivity and engagement, and then concludes that the specific role and impact of institutional investors, particularly given some of the recent corporate governance failures, will require further consideration going forward. This should ensure the continued alignment of all stakeholders and assist in making the necessary improvements to the overarching governance framework and attendant culture.

This study is a part of a special issue that looks at the contribution of the King reports to governance globally.

This paper aims to discuss the King Reports and Codes and the development of South Africa’s common law. The role of developing the common law is explicitly recognised in the Constitution, as is the obligation to give effect to the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights. With decisions of the Supreme Court of Appeal being based on the King Code, the King Code is now an integral part of South Africa’s common law.

When the task team drafting King IV commenced their work, one of the important issues raised with Mervyn King, as Chairman, was the challenge to ensure that King IV was aligned to the now firmly entrenched common law principles taken from King I, King II and King III. It is believed that this has been achieved and it is hoped that King IV (and the subsequent King Reports that will inevitably follow because the corporate milieu keeps changing) continues to enrich South Africa’s common law.

The King Reports and Codes have been made part of South Africa’s common law.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the King Report and Code, as it relates to South Africa’s common law.

This study aims to examine the factors influencing the quality of corporate governance in South Africa (SA) and Kenya. Firm-level variables including performance, firm size, leverage, investment opportunities and audit quality were identified from the corporate governance literature.

The study used panel data of 247-firm years obtained from the annual reports of the 50 largest companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) of SA and 234-firm years obtained from the 49 companies listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). The author then used content analysis to extract the study variables from the annual reports and multiple regression analysis to determine their relationship.

The study found audit quality and firm performance as the main factors influencing the quality of corporate governance in Kenya and SA. There are also differences in the quality of corporate governance between the two countries.

First the study sample consists of the 50 largest firms listed in the JSE of SA and another 49 companies listed in the NSE of Kenya. Since these are large companies, the results may not be generalized to other smaller firms operating in both SA and Kenya. Second, this study is constrained to SA and Kenya. Firms in other developing countries may differ from their SA and Kenyan counterparts.

The results of this study are important to the King Committee and other corporate governance regulators in Sub-Saharan Africa, in their effort to improve corporate governance practices, minimize corporate failure and protect the well-being of the minority shareholders. Furthermore, the study contributes to the understanding of the variables affecting the quality of corporate governance in developing economies of Africa.

This paper aims to delve into the progress in governance application regimes over the years.

This paper was conceptual/analytical in nature and based on research of King Reports and other desktop research.

Distinctive developments in the narrative and practice of governance in the King Reports were found.

A unique reporting of the development in governance praxis through the King Reports is provided.

This study aims to examine the factors influencing the quality of corporate governance in South Africa (SA). Firm-level variables including performance, firm size, leverage, investment opportunities and audit quality were identified from the corporate governance literature.

The study used ordinary least squares regression on firm-specific and corporate governance variables obtained from panel data of 247-firm years obtained from the annual reports of the 50 largest companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Securities Exchange of SA.

This study found leverage, firm size and investment opportunities as the main factors influencing the quality of corporate governance in SA.

The research findings should be interpreted in the light of the following limitations. First, the study sample consists of the 50 largest firms listed in the JSE of SA. Because these are large companies, the results may not be generalized to other smaller firms operating in SA. Second, this study is constrained to SA. Firms in other developing countries may differ from their SA counterparts.

The results of this study are important to the King Committee and other corporate governance regulators in Sub-Saharan Africa, in their effort to improve corporate governance practices and probably minimize corporate failure and protect the well-being of the minority shareholders. Furthermore, the study contributes to our understanding of the variables affecting the quality of corporate governance in developing economies of Africa.