Er Carrillions kollaps kapitalismens nye krise?
Kommentar i den engelske avis The Guardian om den store europæiske virksomheds spektakulære kollaps: ”It is one of the most spectacular corporate failures of recent years. Carillion’s collapse, with £2bn of debts, threatens to deprive tens of thousands of workers , directly or indirectly, of their livelihood. The company had only £29m of cash left. This broaches new levels of fecklessness and the impact will be felt across Britain. For Carillion was not only a major construction company: it had entered the lucrative public service delivery business. The shockwaves have been felt not only on building sites but in multiple schools, hospitals and even prisons, where tens of thousands of cleaners, porters and maintenance workers have suddenly found their employer has gone bust. The hospital and school workers on TV news, worrying about their next payslip, are a forceful reminder of how deeply privatisation has entered everyday life.”
Aktivistiske aktionærer vil tvinge Apple til at tage mere socialt ansvar i forhold til unges (mis)brug af smartphones
I en gennemgang af sagen hedder det blandt andet, at ”the letter from JANA and CalSTRs to Apple, which focuses on forcing Apple to figure out a way to mitigate the horrible impact on teenagers arising from overuse of smartphones, explains, in less cynical terms than this post, the rationale behind this convergence between the goals of maximizing shareholder value and pursuing social good, and emphasizes that this convergence is especially relevant in the technology sector: “There is a developing consensus around the world including Silicon Valley that the potential long-term consequences of new technologies need to be factored in at the outset, and no company can outsource that responsibility…. “[T]here is also a growing societal unease about whether at least some people are getting too much of a good thing when it comes to technology, which at some point is likely to impact even Apple….”
Evaluering af UK governance anbefalinger efter 25 år: Anbefalinger skal tjene et bredere samfundssyn end i dag
I en jubilæumstale af FRC formand hedder det, at ”we are now consulting on the proposed changes. These quite logically also include some high-level questions on the future direction of the UK Stewardship Code. The proposed changes in the main are aimed at encouraging companies: • First to, provide for greater engagement with wider stakeholders; • Second to, establish a practical way for gathering views of the workforce; • Third to, be more specific about what to do when encountering significant shareholder opposition on any resolution, including those on executive pay policies and awards; and • Fourth, to give remuneration committees broader responsibility for overseeing how remuneration and workforce policies align with strategic objectives and support long-term success, and for the board to consider discretion in their award decisions. If corporate governance is going to serve the needs of wider society it must be supported by a broad church of stakeholders.”
Blackrock CEO skriver i sit årlige nytårsbrev , at han ser behov for en anden model for shareholder engagement, hvor aktionærer og selskaber arbejder sammen om langsigtede mål
“The time has come for a new model of shareholder engagement—one that strengthens and deepens communication between shareholders and the companies that they own. I have written before that companies have been too focused on quarterly results; similarly, shareholder engagement has been too focused on annual meetings and proxy votes. If engagement is to be meaningful and productive—if we collectively are going to focus on benefitting shareholders instead of wasting time and money in proxy fights—then engagement needs to be a year-round conversation about improving long-term value. BlackRock recognizes and embraces our responsibility to help drive this change (…) The statement of long-term strategy is essential to understanding a company’s actions and policies, its preparation for potential challenges, and the context of its shorter-term decisions. Your company’s strategy must articulate a path to achieve financial performance. To sustain that performance, however, you must also understand the societal impact of your business as well as the ways that broad, structural trends—from slow wage growth to rising automation to climate change—affect your potential for growth.”
