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Corporate Governance: At the Crossroads?

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Governance and Governed
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Abstract

This paper revisits the rationale for the existence of firm, focusing on the scope of corporate governance and how corporations, especially in India, are trying to expand their objectives from pure financial to social, aligning roles of their various stakeholders, especially shareholders, and the larger society. This paper first looks at how and why shareholders gained more prominence as compared to other groups associated with corporations. It then goes on and analyzes the case for corporate social responsibility and the expanded scope of corporate governance to incorporate the interests of other stakeholder groups, especially the society. Through examples, from corporate sector in India, this paper evaluates the relationship that the Indian corporate has established with society and how the contours of this relationship are shifting. Cases from both the so-called business and social enterprises, where making profits and creating social values, respectively, are cited as primary objectives of existence, are discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.tata.in/company/Media/inside.aspx?artid=ZYTmDvfrGd4. Accessed on September 9, 2014.

  2. 2.

    http://www.tata.in/ourcommitment/articlesinside/SRTT-and-NRTT. Accessed on January 9, 2013.

  3. 3.

    http://www.mciindia.org/pdf/Annual%20Report.pdf. Downloaded on January 9, 2013.

  4. 4.

    http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FRIND3/FRIND3-Vol1AndVol2.pdf. Downloaded on January 9, 2013.

  5. 5.

    http://business.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?240800. Accessed on January 11, 2013.

  6. 6.

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/frugal-innovation-devi-shettys-narayana-hrudayalaya-to-conduct-heart-surgeries-at-worlds-cheapest-rates/articleshow/17762516.cms. Accessed on January 11, 2013.

  7. 7.

    http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-12-26/news/36008056_1_narayana-hrudayalaya-heart-surgeries-devi-prasad-shetty.

  8. 8.

    http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4493.

  9. 9.

    http://www.businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/pulse-on-the-future/387828.0/page/0.

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Correspondence to Hema Bajaj .

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Bajaj, H. (2018). Corporate Governance: At the Crossroads?. In: Sekher, M., Parasuraman, S., Kattumuri, R. (eds) Governance and Governed. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5963-6_11

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