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Corporate governance in the Asia Pacific region: A selective review of developments in Australia, China, India and Singapore

RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Phillip Lipton

Monash University, Caulfield, Victoria, Australia

Graham O’Neill

RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, oneillg{at}bigpond.net.au

Corporate governance has been a major issue in the Asia Pacific region since the ‘Asian crisis’ of 1997-98 and in Australia following several recent high-profile corporate collapses. Governance issues affect HRM practitioners generally as business people and specifically in their role of developing policies and processes that promote the company’s culture and values. This paper compares the development of corporate law and associated regulatory processes in Australia, China, India and Singapore as examples of governance in this geography. These four countries demonstrate the significant diversity of social and cultural patterns and economic development within the total region and corresponding differences in their respective approaches to corporate governance. A common feature of the Asian jurisdictions reviewed here is the high concentration of ownership by national governments and families operating complex corporate structures. Such concentration has direct implications for the level of share market trading and the protection of minority shareholders. The diversity of regional and local cultures will likely inhibit any short-to medium term convergence to international governance standards, although it is probably inevitable if Asian markets continue to access international finance. In the meantime there is a strong need for HRM practitioners to take the lead in shaping, communicating and representing the firm’s values and behaviours, internally and externally, to reinforce ethical behaviour and business integrity.

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