Corporate Governance in Turbulent Times

The tenth lecture in this series was presented by Professor Margarethe Wiersema (UCI Paul Merage School of Business).

Turbulent changes in the corporate world have transformed the corporate governance and strategic landscape in which publicly traded companies operate. Companies face a changed investor landscape with the rise of index funds, the Big Three and activist investors focused on shareholder value. While events over the past few years have raised serious questions as to the purpose of the corporation and whether it is time to abandon shareholder primacy.

Lastly, the demand for ESG investing has led to the need for more transparency and clarity by both companies and institutional investors. This turbulent landscape represents significant challenges for the management and boards of publicly traded companies as they must address societal and investor expectations on the environment and social responsibility while not abandoning value creation for shareholders.

Prof. Wiersema summarized the principal factors that have changed the governance landscape and their impact on boards and executives of public firms. She identified opportunities for future research that will lead to greater insight and a more comprehensive understanding of how the changed governance landscape is influencing managerial and board decision-making and firm outcomes.

The public lecture series is organised by Institute for Corporate Governance (ICG), in partnership with the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University and ECGI.