Business Financial Post ”Japan discovers ‘good’ governance, U.S. style”

”Not so long ago, back when they were eating the lunch of American corporations, Japan’s Toyotas, Hitachis, Sonys, Canons and Hondas were governed in the worst possible way — at least according to the canons of American governance.

Their boards were made up almost exclusively of corporate insiders, with no independent directors and no diversity. There was no obeisance whatsoever to the diktats of governance gurus and enforcers and no responsiveness to investment funds and financial markets. Of course these were also the days when corporate control resided in “keiretsus” (the network of interconnected firms and banks). Only five per cent of the Japanese companies’ shares were owned by foreign investors in 1990. But the times they are a changing………”

Read full article here.

Source: Business Financial Post

About BDTI

The Board Director Training Institute (BDTI) is a “public interest” nonprofit in Japan dedicated to training about directorship, corporate governance, and related management techniques. It is certified by the Japanese government to conduct these activities as a regulated nonprofit. Read a summary about BDTI here, and see a menu of its services for both corporations and investors here.

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