ANN CROTTY: Top jobs: where hubris grows
Can corporate governance not counteract this?
It is an absolute waste. Hundreds of billions of rand of investor funds are wiped out and the reputations of many business icons are destroyed. The question is, was the Steinhoff implosion inevitable? And if it was, at what stage did it become so? As each dramatic twist of the story unfolds, you have to wonder: what does corporate governance hope to achieve? Under what circumstances, if any, is it appropriate to allow talented, driven individuals to manage hefty chunks of the savings of millions of investors? The question goes to the essence of the agency theory that lies behind shareholder capitalism. The fact is that a frightening number of top business people, globally, are not only not very pleasant but believe they are accountable to no-one. Even more frightening is the possibility that their success rests on the fact that they are not very pleasant. They are driven by emotions the majority of us have in modest amount. The desire to achieve, to win and to be rich, or at least b...
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