Critically discuss the main theories of corporate governance, focusing Essay

Critically discuss the main theories of corporate governance, focusing in particular on how they apply to different types of co - Essay Example What this means is that corporate governance could be looked at from a perspective of the legal administration of different businesses. In effect, mechanisms and acts that would constitute corporate governance in one firm or business may not constitute corporate governance in another because of differences in the legal organization of the companies involved. Interesting, the demarcations that company law gives to the various forms of companies inform the basis of the existence of various corporate governance theories. With reference to company law, corporate governance could generally be seen as the legal mandate that binds players in various organizations and institutional set ups to ensure that companies meet the interest of all stakeholders, defined to include shareholders, customers, employees and the government3. Contract Theory and Corporate Theory Contract theory and corporate theory remain two of the major forms of theories of corporate governance. As indicated earlier, these two theories are directly related to the allocation and differentiations that exists in the types of business under company law. With reference to corporate theory, its principles could be dated to as far back as the era of â€Å"artificial† entity theory. The artificial entity theory dates back to the dates before the 1800s when governments made special legislations to ensure that the power to operate corporations was vested in the power and authority of public benefit units4. Some of these public benefit entities included schools, churches and the larger community. However, these public benefit units were not the outright owners of the corporations but the government. It is in light of this simulated ownership that the theory became known as the artificial entity theory. In relation to the present study, it would be noted that the corporate theory has a lot of influence on corporate governance in the sense that because the cooperation are supposedly owned by government, th ere are State defined legislations that affect and influence their operations. Though many who belong to the fiction theory school of thought hold that â€Å"corporations are simply legal fictions, created and sustained by an act of the state†5 and that there are weaker internal management principles that defeat the principles of corporate governance, the reality is that in a state where institutions are made to function properly, there is no way managers can expect to go away with lapses in corporate governance. Under contract theory, reference is made to contract-based corporate theory where actors in various companies and organizations are expected to play a collaborative role in ensuring that they use asymmetric information to regularize the construct of contractual arrangements6. In effect, the contract theory expects that managers and administrators would work and function as people who have been assigned to play specific roles within a specific timeframe for a specific reward. Essentially, contract theory greatly affects corporate governance because it is said to be an avenue by which managers and stakeholders in the running of businesses feel fundamentally obliged to work and operate within the premises of the contracts they agreed upon7. In certain quarters, this has been said to

OUTLINE THE MAIN CRITICISM OF THE CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THESIS MADE BY Essay

OUTLINE THE MAIN CRITICISM OF THE CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THESIS MADE BY MEDIA GLOBALISATION THEORISTS. ARE THESE CRITICISM VALID - Essay Example There are two theories that explain media globalization which include media imperialism and modernization. Globalization is the process by which contemporary society and other countries are connected and interrelated by cultural experiences and trade communication. Global sale of films, media products and the internet brings together people in the developing countries and western countries in direct contact2. Cultural imperialism concept is used to refer to the cultural influence of a developed country on the developing nations. Cultural globalization is the emergence of beliefs and values that are shared by the entire world. The critics of the cultural imperialism believed that cultural imperialists do not have empirical explanation and practical evidence. Cultural imperialism involves spreading modernity whereby it leads to cultural loss but not cultural expansion. There has not been any group of conspirators who spread any specific culture. However, global economic and technological advancement decreased the value and importance of national culture3. It would be baseless to attribute global development to any one culture. The idea of cultural imperialism or voluntary cultural conquest is not relevant. Instead, all the countries in the world irrespective of their location are subject to worldwide cultural change. Cultural imperialism is not valid because what the people watch in the mass media can be advantageous to them. Certain programs aired by the western media have a positive influence on the third world countries depending on whether to use them or not for instance, some countries staged a revolution after watching certain programs aired by the western television. That does not mean the audience were compelled to doing so but because they found it necessary because they had the belief that it was the best way. Western cultural imperialism is considered irrelevant because some third