It is obvious that directors alone cannot be held accountable because they are part of a wider system, which is seldom acknowledged in corporate governance discussions. Directors are the agents of the owners. They are part of a system of powers that are currently inherently unstable, where owners should agree direction but rarely do. The board must then dispose their wishes as best it can. Yet there is little oversight by or of the owners, and little regular feedback. The working assumption, at least in the private sector, is that if the owners do not like it, they can sell their shares. The
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