RESEARCH TOPICS
Corporate governance is not disconnected
from the political and cultural environment that surrounds it. The rules and
regulations by which firms are governed are themselves reflections of the
mentalities and intellectual evolution of contemporary society, which call
for greater transparency, democracy, and the monitoring of corporate power.
The firm, therefore, can be seen as a political arena where people themselves
are affected by principles of «good governance» that society at large
establishes at every point in human history. The demands for «social
responsibility» are a new means by which the firm and society at large define
together the rights and duties of each social actor in a democratic
capitalist society.
Our research agenda focuses on two questions:
 How can it be determined that a practice of governance is «good»?
By analyzing the language of annual reports, CEO pronouncements, as well as
statements produced by professional organizations and the media, we seek to
understand how «best practices» of governance are justified. What is the
logic of justification? What arguments are employed? Using a database of
texts, we seek to determine objectively how certain themes emerge and grow in
importance: themes such as the «fair» compensation for managers,
transparency, and shareholder power.
Are entrepreneurial behaviours compatible with governance
practices that are becoming ever stricter?
Contemporary liberal society is
founded, on the one hand, on economic power and the aura of the entrepreneur,
and on the other hand, on the mechanisms of the democratic limitations of
power. How are these two opposing forces balanced between the desirable
effects of sufficient autonomy for entrepreneurs and the need to reduce the
risks associated with entrepreneurial activity? What governance mechanisms
best assure this balance?
Our published works dealing with these issues (see publications)
are supplemented by qualitative research that seeks to
understand how these same issues are dealt with in non-Western cultural
areas, such as in India and China.
If you would like to contribute to this
research stream, contact
 Pierre-Yves Gomez
To be kept up to date about this research area,
subscribe to our newsletter.
|
 |
ENDORSEMENT
«As the
members of IFGE, I want to participate to the change of economic practices.
Our projects at HEC on alternative management are very close to those of
IFGE.»
Eve Chiapello, Professor,
HEC, Head of the master for alternative management.
 The IFGE database:
brings together data
on the strategies of firms of the SBF 250 over the past ten years:
concentration, differentiation, globalization, recruitment, layoffs,
investments, innovation. It identifies the policies of corporate social
responsibility of major firms.
|
