7. Agency conflicts between managers and shareholders Aa Aa E Remember, an agency relationship can degenerate into an agency conflict when an agent acts in a manner that is not in the best interest of his or her principal. In large corporations, these conflicts most frequently involve the enrichment of the firm's executives or managers (in the form of money and perquisites or power and prestige) at the expense of the company's shareholders. This usurping and reallocation of shareholder wealth is most likely to occur when shareholders do not have sufficient information about the decisions and actions being made by the firm's management. Consider the following scenario and determine whether an agency conflict exists: Jacob and Kayla equally own and manage A New Beginning (ANB), a store that sells preowned clothing and furniture. Jacob is responsible for ANB's back-office activities, and Kayla staffs the store and makes deliveries to customers. Both have equal decision-making authority and, under the terms of their partnership agreement, both are prohibited from making personal purchases using company funds without prior approval of the other partner. Jacob, without Kayla's knowledge, used the company's bank account recently to purchase a new sports car. Jacob has acknowledged that the car will not be used to support the business. Is this a potential agency conflict between Jacob and Kayla? 0 Yes; it should have been Kayla who purchased the car. O No; Jacob and Kayla co-own and co-manage ANB and have a partnership agreement that makes them equal, so an agency conflict cannot exist. O Yes; Jacob is misappropriating some of Kayla's wealth by unilaterally purchasing a nonbusiness asset using ANB's funds. O No; Jacob and Kayla are both authorized to spend ANB's money, so no conflict of interest can occur. For the past 40 years, companies have attempted to attract, retain, and encourage managers by developing attractive compensation packages. These compensation packages have also been intended to reduce potential agency conflicts between these managers and the firm's shareholders. In the best interest of shareholders, compensation packages should be structured in a way such that managers have an incentive to maximize the value of the company's common stock price. Amalgamated Metals Corporation's stockholders are mostly individual investors, and there is relatively little institutional ownership. If several pension and mutual funds were to take large positions in Amalgamated Metals Corporation's stock, direct shareholder intervention would be likely to motivate the firm's management