This research is in the field of corporate governance and focuses on corporate accountability and transparency of China’s commercial banks, in particular SOCBs. Since 1979, the banking system of China has been undertaken reforms to transform from a mono banking system to a banking system in which banks should be profit-driven. The focus of the reforms has been changed from off-loading of NPLs to the improvement of corporate governance of commercial banks. However, China’s SOCBs still appear to be inefficient and poor in disclosure of information, though they are now more profitable. They are also required to make certain loans in line with the policies of the Chinese government. This research aims at finding out issues related to the governance and disclosure systems of China’s commercial banks from a legal perspective and suggesting possible direction to solve the issues. For the governance system, directors who are accountable to their stakeholders, not only the majority shareholders, play an important role in enhancing the operations of banks. For the disclosure system, auditors and CRAs, the gatekeepers of the financial sector, could help to reduce information asymmetry and enhance the transparency of banks, leading to a more effective use of market discipline in monitoring the operations of banks. To improve the operations of banks, this research highlights the need to improve various institutions in addition to the reforms of banks, with the focus of reforms on the legal and regulatory systems relating to the governance mechanism, disclosure system, audit industry and credit rating industry. Though legal rules on the above areas are mostly stipulated in line with international standards or in line with regulations of other developed countries, they are usually scattered in various administrative regulations, departmental rules and normative documents and some of the provisions are still principles based in lack of implementation details. In lawmaking, there should be more revision, harmonization and consolidation of existing regulations and rules. In particular, the provisions associated with the liability risks of directors/ banks/ auditors/ audit firms/ CRAs/ responsible personnel of CRAs should be revisited and revised to enhance the enforceability of regulations and rules by regulators. Regulators of banks, auditors and CRAs should also take up more proactive roles in preventing possible risks in the financial sector rather than passively conducting box-ticking compliance. They should also increase supervisory intensity and effectiveness, with sufficient resources and clear mandate. Though the Chinese government holds controlling shares of SOCBs and certain bank loans made are still policy-led, this research argues that a well-established and effective legal and regulatory system on governance mechanism and disclosure system, via the help of auditors and CRAs, could help withstand political influence and enhance a healthy and sustainable development of the financial sector. Without an effective legal and regulatory system, China’s banking system may still be subject to external and internal influence which will affect the progress of gradual transformation to a real market economy. / published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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This thesis argues that the stakeholder paradox (Goodpaster, 1991) has hindered the achievement of meaningful consultation processes because it perpetuates a management-centered discourse of stakeholder engagement aimed at producing stakeholder consent and legitimating organizational action. In order to advance beyond the use of stakeholder consultation as a sophisticated public relations tool, and instrument of organizational power and persuasion, it must be treated as a series of activities (discussion, deliberation and decision making) linked together through the common modality of negotiative communication. / An analysis of practice guidelines, protocols and key informant interviews using a critical organizational communication approach evaluates the extent to which contemporary instances of consultation practice account for the specificity of stakeholder context, address power and capacity gaps between consulting organizations, and enables all stakeholders to engage in a negotiative dialogue that has a direct influence upon the decision-making process of a project. This thesis argues that operationalizing tenets of a critical communication framework within consultation practice has the potential to produce the conditions for conducting a meaningful consultation with community stakeholders.

The researcher recommends that management or leadership in organisations should be proactive by pre-empting and identifying possible informal groups and deal with them by formulating and creating structures and systems to regulate, manage, control, monitor and evaluate personnel, resources and activities. In addition, management should be transparent, involve all members fairly and channel the energies of , informal groups in a positive direction, for continuous capacity building. Management should further on a continuous basis remind members on the latest developments regarding various procedures, code of conduct, the necessity and consequences of non-compliance to organisational policies, principles and procedures. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006.

No abstract available. / Thesis (MBA.)-University of Natal, 2002.

More and more South African companies have taken the route to list their securities in developed economies in addition to the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. As a result of listing on exchanges in developed countries that have adopted stringent corporate governance regimes, together with the fact that those countries’ securities exchanges have listing regulations that are different from those of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, has caused these dual-listed companies to adjust their board structure and composition to comply with these regimes and regulations. South African companies are also operating in an environment that has a strong transformation agenda that seeks to transform corporations by giving historically disadvantaged South Africans corporate ownership and equal representation in all levels of economic activity. Most corporate boards in South Africa do not represent the demographics of society. The transformation of boards due to international listings, global corporate governance developments and local legislative framework has lead to changes in board composition and structure. This study examines the effect of corporate board size on South African dual-listed companies in relation to shareholder value. This study is extended to study the effect of corporate board size to other variables that may affect board size to determine their impact on shareholder value. Data was sourced largely from annual reports and other publicly available documents (e.g. investor presentations). Statistical methods such as correlation and significance tests were utilised to test if a relationship exist between primarily board size and return on equity of dual listed South African companies. The overall period of investigation is over a four-year span (2005-2008). Available data was manipulated to create a one year lag between independent (board size and secondary variables) and dependent (ROE, PM. TAT, EM and Tobin’s Q) variables. Dependent variables were averaged over the 2006-2008 period one year ahead of the independent variables period of 2005-2007. The findings show no evidence of any association between board size and the firm performance as measured by the return on equity. However, interestingly, there is evidence that independent directors are negatively associated with the return on equity. This unexpected finding regarding board size and the negative association of independent board members with shareholder value is explained. The study also provides evidence that a greater proportion of non-executive owner directors are better at maximizing shareholder value than independent directors. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

The existence of informal groups in organisations is a reality. People in organisations compete for scarce resources, positions and influence, and as a result, depend on each other or groups to achieve their objectives. The purpose of each study was to establish the perception organisational members have on informal groups and the influence these groups have on the management of organisations. The problem is whether management or leadership in organisations can effectively perform without being affected and influenced by these informal structures. the main objective s of the study was to investigate and establish whether informal groups or cabals had a particular influence on the performance of management and how that influence impacted on the managing or leadership of organisations. A case study of four organisations, namely Mafikeng and Naledi municipality, the Quality Assurance Directorate in the Department of Education and the ANC Vryburg branch was conducted. members of these organisations were randomly sampled in line with the purposive sampling strategy for the interview purpose. The empirical investigation revealed that informal groups exist in organisations and they serve their own interest. members of the informal groups are well known and influential people who have a tendency to disregard organisational processes and procedures. The study also showed that informal groups are described as destructive and detrimental to the welfare and operations of the organisation, in that they have the capacity to influence, intimidate and affect management and leadership in the performance of duties. The groups can also dominate and dictate terms to others and are a potential for conflict in the organisation. The researcher recommends that management or leadership in organisations should be proactive by pre-emptying and identifying possible informal groups and deal with them by formulating and creating structures and systems to regulate, manage, control, monitor and evaluate personnel, resources and activities. In addition, management should be transparent, involve all members fairly and channel the energies of informal groups in a positive direction, for continuous capacity building. Management should further on a continuous basis remind members on the latest developments regarding various procedures, code of conduct, the necessity and consequences of non-compliance to organisational policies, principles and procedures. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

Nonprofit-Organisationen (NPOs) sehen sich zunehmend der Aufgabe gegenüber, die Effizienz der Ressourcenallokation stärker zu beachten. Die in der Literatur auffindbaren ökonomischen Governance-Modelle fördern zwar die Effizienzorientierung, tendieren aber dazu, die Komplexität der Überschussverteilung in NPOs zu vernachlässigen. Ausgehend von einem neoinstitutionenökonomischen Bezugsrahmen wird in dieser Arbeit ein Modell der NPO-Governance, das Governance-Netzwerk, entwickelt, das sowohl Effizienz- als auch Verteilungsaspekte berücksichtigt. Als Kernaufgabe der Governance wird die Analyse und Regulierung der Machtverteilung innerhalb von NPOs identifiziert, da die Machtverteilung sowohl den Anteil bei den ex-post-Verhandlungen über den Organisationsüberschuss determiniert als auch die Effizienz der Ressourcenallokation beeinflusst. Anhand einer idealtypischen Analyse wird gezeigt, dass die Stakeholder-Gruppen der "Spender" und der "ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeiter" besonders schutzbedürftig sind, da ihre Ansprüche überwiegend implizit formuliert und nicht durch besondere Machtpositionen abgesichert sind. Zur Aufwertung der Machtposition dieser beiden Gruppen werden Governance-Instrumente entwickelt, die den Schutz der Ansprüche gewährleisten können und damit sowohl einen Beitrag zur Effizienzsteigerung leisten als auch neue Einblicke in die organisationalen Wirkungszusammenhänge der NPO-Governance ermöglichen. (Autorenref.)

This study investigates the role played by corporate governance in the firm's decision to disclose forward-looking information in financial reports, as well as the quality of such reports. More effective corporate governance has often been linked to voluntary disclosure within the annual report (Karamanou and Vafeas 2005). Similarly, recent studies document a positive association between reporting quality and the standard of corporate governance (Wright 2001). This study proposes that stronger corporate governance will be associated with increased forward-looking disclosures in financial reports and higher financial reporting quality. The results indicate that audit quality, the presence and quality of board committees and the overall efficacy of corporate governance are positively associated with forward-looking disclosures in 2000. However, corporate governance does not have a positive association with such disclosures in 2002. Regarding the relationship between financial reporting quality and corporate governance, audit quality is the only governance variable that yields a significant result and is only associated with higher reporting quality in 2002.