Introduction

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James B. Stewart, in a New Yorker article about Patricia Dunn and Hewlett-Packard, describes corporate governance as a term that technically refers to all aspects of running a corporation but in recent years has come to emphasize issues of fairness, transparency, and accountability. This module looks at corporate governance from the macro perspective, (1) examining the management strategies adopted by a firm to ensure compliance and pursue excellence and (2) from the standpoint of government as it seeks to minimize unethical corporate behavior and to maximize the corporation's contribution to social welfare.