Corporate Governance (Paperback)

by Robert A. G. Monks (Author), Nell Minow (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Everyone interested in business issues should welcome the publication of a new edition of this first-rate text." -- Professor Brian Cheffins, University of Cambridge --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"The most comprehensive examination and commentary on corporate governance that I have yet seen ... If I had to choose one book among the dozens available to explain and illumin­ate the complexities of corporate governance, this definitive treatise would be it." Hugh Parker <!--end-->

"Corporate Governance is a lucid and comprehensive introduction to a subject that is of critical importance to anyone interested in business. Everyone, from student, to scholar, to corporate employee, officer, director, or shareholder, will find it valuable." Donald Jacobs, Dean, Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern University

"This is what we've needed - a solid text on corporate governance written by two of the real stars in the field." D. Jeanne Patterson, former Associate Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

"A fresh, thoughtful, and timely look at the problem of corporate governance... a little gem." Joseph A. Grundfest, Stanford Law School

"Exactly what's needed for MBA students and management professionals." Gordon Clark, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Monash University

"The MBA student seeking real world examples will be well satisfied with this material ... a major strength of the book is the practitioner perspective that the authors bring to the area." Stuart L. Gillan, The University of Texas at Austin

"... authoritative and informative, with some fascinating case vignettes ... A monumental work." Bob Tricker, Editor, Corporate Governance

"… carefully blends economic and legal aspects of corporate governance. Highly recommended for use in seminars on board practices, MBA programs, and corporate governance forums." Cornelis A. de Kluyver, former Dean, School of Business Administration, George Mason University

"Highly useful ... illuminates the current issues facing managers, boards of directors, and share­holders, as well as explaining their respective roles in the corporation." Ira M. Millstein, Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Lester Crown Visiting Faculty Fellow, Yale School of Management

"Provides a strong theoretical framework for the subject. It gives meaning to the important pub­lic policy issues by numerous examples, case studies, and policy statements." Professor J. Fred Weston, UCLA

(Praise for the first edition.)

"Corporate Governance is truly a remarkable achievement - it combines a global perspective and a finely balanced account of regulatory policy with illuminating case studies of how governance works inside companies. It remains the key point of reference in its field.' Simon Deakin, Judge Institute, University of Cambridge --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 462 pages
• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers; 2nd edition (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631222642
• ISBN-13: 978-0631222644
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,506,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This fascinating governance "encyclopedia" has it all!, February 6, 1998

By	Alexandra R. Lajoux (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Corporate Governance (Paperback)

If you want a single-volume resource on the topic of corporate governance, I urge you to beg, borrow, steal--or better yet, in the spirit of free enterprise, buy with a click from Amazon--Corporate Governance, now heading for another printing due to popular demand. Monks, a former Labor Department official, and Minow, an attorney by training, go beyond the "letter" of corporate governance and into its spirit in this monumental work, a sequel to their Power and Accountability (1991). Whether you are searching for sweeping theories, or simply want a place to look up key phrases from "agency costs" to "zones of ambiguity;" whether you want to travel through General Motors history or revisit Ross Perot's "pet rocks" quip, you will find what you are looking for here. "What is a corporation?" the authors begin. "It is the relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations." Monks and Minow go on to define these participants as the shareholders, management, and board of diretors, devoting a section to each. Then comes an overview of corporate governance in over a dozen countries. One of the best features in the book is the series of Socratic questions that appear in italics throughout. One follows: "How do we create a governance and ownership structure that gives employees the optimal role, from the perspective of fairness (to maximize their contributions) and productivity (to maximize their future contributions?)" How indeed? Read this book to find out.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An academically oriented book., April 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Corporate Governance (Paperback)

Would be an excellent tome for students of business. Also would be applicable for folks who are more interested in the corporate governance from a policy side. It's focus is publicly held companies, so if you're looking for a practitioners guide on how to 'get things done' in a startup world, this book doesn't address any of that. That doesn't make it a bad book, it just has it's focus on public companies.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much stuff, too little structure, March 7, 2006

By	grouchy (exiled into purgatory. for real.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corporate Governance (Paperback)

I do not like this book.

1. It lacks structure. The book flows in all direction at the same time, desperately looking for a purpose.

2. The clutter is overwhelming and the 400+ pages fail to reveal the purpose of the book. I see two alternatives - a review of corporate governance directed to non-academic use or an academic textbook in corporate governance directed to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. No book can accomplish both without failing in one of the two. I believe this book is a poor, but the only, choice as a textbook in US corporate governance. Mallin's corporate governance book is in many ways superior to Monks and Minow. Blair's book explains the same problems as Monks and Minow does in 60 pages.

3. The book does not figure out the main issues in corporate governance and structure the book around them. The three ideas, ownership - monitoring - performance, the book uses are too artificial and overly simplistic and this simplicity is completely lost in the book. Actually, these three ideas are the only clear areas in the book. I would suggest the following "great themes". Ownership, management, control, performance, and stakeholders is probably a better way to look at the main areas in corporate governance that the existant.

5. The ideas of corporate governance are either "best practice" or what is "a failure". You cannot economize explanations, but the book has scores of marginal areas that seem to overwhelm and confuse the readers without belonging to "best practices" or " failures". These marginal cases, references, thoughts, and ideas make it almost impossible to understand what is the purporse of the discussion. Case in point: dealing with greenmail under the board of directors?

6. The book is long.

7. Either add more cases to the book, or offer the cases separately. Make sure that the cases are even. Having a 20 page case on GM is excellent.

8. As a trained lawayer, I have not had any problems following the book. As a finance PhD doing research in corporate governance, I have no problems following the book. But any non-lawyer or layman, is likely to find the material frustrating, overwhelming and muddy. The material is not accessible, barely understandable, and hardly beneficial to the average reader (who is very unlikely a JD with a finance PhD).