This is a compulsory module for BSc Accounting and Management students.  In this module students will consider the nature and development of corporate governance and the role of management as stewards of corporate financial resources. After the financial crisis the issue of corporate governance and how regulations and legislation might limit excessive risk taking have taken centre stage. In this module students will be introduced to the key theories and developments in corporate governance and the extent to which aspects of corporate governance are converging or diverging from the Anglo-American model. Students will be introduced to specific case studies (firms and sectors) to explore the nature and evolution of corporate governance from a  global perspective.

The broad aims of this module are:

a] To understand the theory that underpins corporate governance
b] Evaluate how the nature of corporate governance has evolved and adapted
c] Contrast different systems of corporate governance (principles and rules based)
d] Critically assess developments in corporate governance within specific corporate sectors

This module will develop a students understanding of the evolution of corporate governance and its central focus on the management of risk and agency gap which theoretically and practically explores differences between the demands of investors and behaviour of senior management. This narrow concept of corporate governance for 'investors' will be contrasted with more broadly conceptualised understandings in terms of how to reconcile managerial interests with a wider group of stakeholders. Students will  consider how corporate governance regulation and legislation has evolved and explore the difference between rules and principles based systems of corporate governance.