Establishing a Multi-Stakeholder Board for Multinational Corporations

Abstract

Several corporate scandals are related to lack of concerning stakeholders’ interest. The voice of enhancing stakeholders’ engagement in corporate governance framework is increasing. The paper is aimed to determine the pragmatic and applicable one-tier and two-tier board models for integrating stakeholders as board directors in multinational corporations. It begins with discussing why multinational corporations need to concern on stakeholders’ interest and analysing different theoretical approaches for linking board composition with financial performance and corporate social performance. It will then review corporate governance frameworks integrating stakeholders’ engagement in various jurisdictions and economic status (i.e. emerging markets and developed markets). Finally, pragmatic multi-stakeholder board models for one-tier and two-tier board structures will be proposed through defining board composition, CEO duality and mechanism to resolve disputes arise from board members.