| Role
of CEO in Enforcing Corporate Governance in Urban Cooperative Banks in India
-- P
K Banerjea
Cooperative
banking is more than a century old concept that was started with the noble cause
of providing credit to the weaker sections of the population, who are normally
not considered creditworthy by commercial banks. These banks were started by members
pooling in their resources to help one another. Over the years, Urban Cooperative
Banks (UCBs) have grown at an exponential rate, constituting a significant percentage
of the financial market in India. These banks are under the dual control of RBI
under the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 for their banking activities and by the
Registrar of Cooperative Act of the State, where they were originally formed,
for administration. The governance standards in these banks are poor, thus paving
the way for scams. Good corporate governance is essential in such banks for not
only the stakeholders, but also for the entire financial system of the country.
The author, after extensive research, recommends various methodologies, and steps
to improve the governance standards. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Corporate
Excellence as an Outcome of Corporate Governance: Rethinking the Role and Responsibility
of HRM
-- Kalpana
Agrawal
The
current outlook on business appears to be a blend of high prospects for growth
on the one hand, and serious concerns about its impact on the society and environment,
on the other. Today, it has become extremely important for a company to align
its interests with those of the stakeholders. Corporate governance, which advocates
transparency and accountability in the system, is a tool for corporate excellence.
It is essentially a conscious, deliberate and sustained effort on the part of
an organization to strike a judicious balance between its own interest and the
interest of various constituents of the environment in which it is operating.
Good governance implies that an organization runs for the optimal benefit of its
stakeholders. The stakeholders may either be internal—like promoters, members,
workmen and executives, or external—like customers, lenders, dealers, vendors,
bankers, community, government and regulators. Due to a number of instances, where
well-regarded corporates have deceived their shareholders for the personal gains
of their managers or owners, corporate governance has acquired utmost importance.
Mangers at senior levels experience pressures leading to two broad options—the
right and the wrong. Their training, knowledge, skill, judgment and conscience
lead them to follow the right way. And it is here that the role of a human resource
professional comes into play. This paper is an attempt to study corporate excellence
as an outcome of good corporate governance practices in the present scenario of
scams, and also to determine the role of HRM in the accomplishment of good corporate
governance. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Corporate
Social Responsibility: An Effective Tool of Gaining Mindshare of the Customer
-- Shiv
Shankar Tripathi
The
concerns of social responsibility of business firms have passed through several
stages of development. At first, it was merely a philanthropic act, and later
became Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and is now gradually moving towards
Corporate Citizenship. Though all the concerns of social responsibility are projected
as a social welfare initiative, they also carry a profit motive which may not
yield results in the short-term, but would definitely do so in the long run. Today,
the social responsibility initiatives of organizations are showcased through various
awards and publicity. One important question that always attracts the attention
of the public is, whether or not the motive behind such concerns is indeed sacrosanct.
Exploring this dimension might seem to be quite sarcastic to many, but one point
that can be agreed upon is that, there is some driving force behind the CSR initiatives,
of which, profit may be one. By adhering to the positive aspects only, it can
be clearly understood that, showing CSR is one of the best methods of gaining
the Mindshare of the customer, although it comes at a price. Hence, if organizations
show their concern for the society in turn to the customer, they will definitely
be able to gain the Mindshare for the brands promoted by the company at the micro
level, and a better image for the whole company at the macro level. ©
2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Case
study Tesco's
Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
-- Indu P
and Vivek Gupta
This
case discusses the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Tesco,
UK's largest retailer, and its impact on the internal and external environment
of the company. It details the activities undertaken by Tesco's management and
employees to contribute to the benefit of the society and the community in which
the company operates. It further explains the active role played by Tesco in protecting
and regenerating the environment by ensuring that the products sold by it meet
the environmental standards. Tesco extends the CSR initiatives to its suppliers
too. Finally, the case highlights a few criticisms against Tesco including environment
pollution in some countries and not adhering to its CSR standards. ©
2006 ICMR. All Rights Reserved. For accessing
and procuring the case study, log on to www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk or www.icmrindia.org
Book
Review Beyond
Governance: Creating Corporate Value through Performance, Conformance and Responsibility
-- Martin
Fahy, Jeremy Roche, and Anastasia Weiner
Reviewed by Bharti Thakar
The
book has a forceful argument: "Corporate Governance is not enough; Companies
have to go beyond it". Legislators focus on company executives and are now
taking greater preventive measures following the series of corporate scandals.
Good governance is essential but the practices must not be allowed to stifle business
performance. The book develops the concept of `enterprise governance', an emerging
framework which unites performance, conformance and corporate responsibility,
and shows how addressing these areas in a coordinated manner will deliver value
to the organization and its stakeholders. The book particularly focuses on the
skills, processes and systems that are required to deliver excellence in each
of these areas. The book gives practical insights into the issues and an understanding
of best practices in each area. It is mainly aimed at finance and non-finance
business professionals seeking to understand the issues related to business performance.
Each part and chapter of the book is supported by experiences of the business
world proving its authenticity. ©
2004 Martin Fahy, Jeremy Roche and Anastasia Weiner. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review. |
