Corporate governance has been defined as the “relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations. The primary participants are (1) shareowners, (2) management (led by the chief executive officer), and (3) the board of directors.” Corporate governance has been a much debated business issue for well over a decade. The California public employees’ retirement system has been at the forefront in discussing and researching corporate governance. Their document, “global principles of accountable corporate governance” is one of the best written on the issue.

1 - read through Calpers’ global principles of corporate governance which can be found at:

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/docs/forms-publications/global-principles-corporate-governance.pdf

2 - give your general opinion of the text and comment on at least two items that you found particularly interesting. Your comment should describe the item in question, explain why you found it interesting and give your opinion on the item.

3 – Two recent debates in the arena of corporate governance are the new “say on pay” rules enacted in the U.S and the very recent vote in Switzerland on limiting executive compensation. Find a text or article on one of these topics, or another topic relevant to corporate governance.