In 2002 Mark Goyder wrote "Lessons from Enron". It was a story about the culture of fear and greed at the top of the company, and how Enron's non-execs, who were there to hold them to account, failed to restrain it.  In this article Mark looks at the similarities between Enron's corporate culture and that of News Corp, in the light of recent events. He asks what lessons can be learned from these failings and spells out the need for a greater measure of stewardship throughout the investment chain.  

Mark Goyder is the Founder Director Tomorrow’s Company, the business-led think and do tank, and co-author of the Family Business Stewardship report. In this article, first printed in the Raconteur supplement of The Times and in association with the Institute for Family Business, Mark discusses the role of stewardship as well as setting out the four major principles that underpin family business stewardship.

The Good Governance Forum supports achieving business success through improving the quality of corporate governance by providing tools, resources and other instruments for chairs, company secretaries and other key people who drive the quality of board performance. It works with regulators and others to help create the best possible environment for good corporate governance.

Corporate leaders are challenged to step up to greater commitments on sustainability, and to ensure they have performance measures for behaviour directly linked to responsibility and trust if they are to succeed. With sustainability driving trust and innovation, companies are making it core to their strategies and activities, so having stand-alone CSR (corporate social responsibility) departments looks like a fast-declining trend. This is according to global reputation auditors Echo Research, in their latest report, "A World in Trust - Leadership and Corporate Responsibility" with the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).

GLOBE-Net (October 16, 2009) What is the role of investors in creating a more sustainable economy? A survey of fund managers just published by the UK’s Fair Pensions campaign provides challenging reading for anyone who believes that a green future will emerge simply through market forces operating in the investment community. The market purist argument is that the system should regulate itself; because if climate change really is a material risk for businesses, it should be built into the way companies are valued. Companies whose factories or plantations could be destroyed by climate change-induced floods or droughts should be less attractive investments than ones making wind turbines or hybrid car engines.