Topic > Corporate Governance in Malaysia

Corporate governance has been under scrutiny especially after the closure of big companies like Maxwell, Polly Peck and Enron etc. Many principles and thoughts have emerged, all of these point to corporate performance in some matters such as governance measures and procedures. Although it is not easy to make a connection between companies' performance and their governance measures, there is a widespread belief that good governance practices could lead to greater company performance (Young, 2003). Consequently, several studies have tried to offer some experiential suggestions on this topic through different methods, for example by developing the governance index and linking it to performance (Klapper and Love, 2004), focusing on the study of events (Baliga, Moyer and Rao , 1996, Rosenstein and Wyatt, 1990) as well as investigating the relationship between positive governance practices and corporate performance (Van Ees, Postma and Sterken, 2003), Kiel and Nicholson, 2003), Coles, McWilliams and Sen, (2001), Laing and Weir, (1999), Dalton, Daily, Ellstrand and Johnson, (1998), Barnhart and Rosenstein, (1998), and Agrawal and Knoeber, 1996). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Corporate governance has attracted enormous attention from scholars, observers and general practitioners because of the general belief that corporate governance increases shareholder willingness and security, also improves business economics Coleman, (2006) and Garg, (2007). Furthermore, corporate governance mechanisms are believed to influence corporate performance (Chuanrommanee and Swierczek, 2007) and contribute to the integrity of the financial reporting process in different contexts of organizations (Petra, 2007). This is equally important for private and state-owned listed companies. Therefore, as the primary mechanism of corporate governance, the board has a fiduciary responsibility to monitor management against opportunistic behavior. However, the extent of corporate governance in general and the board of directors in particular to protect shareholders depends on the effectiveness of the mechanisms. In this regard, many corporate governance recommendations and guidelines have been issued to ensure that the board of directors carries out its duties effectively. Malaysia, as an emerging market, issued its own corporate governance code in 2000, which was revised in 2007 and should be followed by all listed companies. Nonetheless, government-linked Malaysian listed companies have been subject to criticism regarding their role and performance in the Malaysian economy and have recently come under government scrutiny (Abdul-Aziz et al., 2007). The reason is that GLCs have suffered from recurring, negative financial performance. Muslim Har et al., (2012). Therefore, the Malaysian government, as the largest shareholder of government-linked listed companies, has initiated a new transformation policy to strengthen the governance system of listed companies it owns. The underlying principles of the policy are national development, focus on performance and good governance, as emphasized by the Putrajaya Governance Committee (PGC). One of the important objectives of the policy is to improve the effectiveness of corporate governance of GLCs through the improvement of certain board mechanisms that are believed to impact the performance of GLCs. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay In the GREEN BOOK of Transformation Policy, the Putrajaya Governance Committee (PGC) has strengthened some features of the.