Abstract
This chapter describes the distinctive context for the work of a chair in Germany, which has a two-tier board system and, for large companies, mandatory employee representation on the supervisory board. Board leaders deal with these and other challenges by being very diligent with regard to the law and corporate governance guidelines, focusing the board’s work on a limited number of issues, maintaining order and discipline in the board room, and making specific efforts to reach out to employees’ representatives on the board.
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Notes
- 1.
The German Federal Statistical Office (2018). Bevölkerung in Deutschland: 82,8 Millionen zum Jahresende 2017. Available from: https://www.destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2018/09/PD18_347_12411.html [Accessed 6 November 2018].
- 2.
The World Bank (2018). World Development Indicators. GDP Ranking. Available from: https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/gdp-ranking [Accessed 10 May 2018].
- 3.
The World Bank (2018). World Development Indicators. GDP per capita, in international dollars. Available from: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?year_high_desc=true [Accessed 13 August 2018].
- 4.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (2018). Doing Business in Germany. Available from: https://www.pwc-wissen.de/pwc/de/shop/publikationen/Doing+business+and+investing+in+Germany+2018/?card=22162 [Accessed 6 November 2018].
- 5.
Ibid.
- 6.
UNDP (2018). Human Development Indices and Indicators. 2018 Statistical Update. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/en/2018-update [Accessed 28 September 2018].
- 7.
Regierungskommission (2017). German Corporate Governance Code. Available from: https://www.dcgk.de/en/code.html [Accessed 30 October 2018].
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
Ibid.
- 11.
Spencer Stuart (2017). UK Board Index 2017. Available from: https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/uk-board-index-2017 [Accessed 10 May 2018].
- 12.
Tüngler, G. (2000). The Anglo-American Board of Directors and the German Supervisory Board – Marionettes in a Puppet Theatre of Corporate Governance or Efficient Controlling Devices. Bond Law Review, 12, pp. 230–271.
- 13.
Schilling, F. (2001). Mitbestimmung und Corporate Governance. Available from: https://www.board-consultants.eu/docs/schilling1-faz-mit-cg.pdf [Accessed 3 December 2018].
- 14.
Bresser, R. K. and Thiele, R. V. (2008). Ehemalige Vorstandsvorsitzende als Aufsichtsratschefs: Evidenz zu ihrer Effektivität im Falle des erzwungenen Führungswechsels. Journal of Business Economics, 78 (2), pp. 175–203.
- 15.
Brendel, M., Schwetzler, B. and Strenger, C. (2017). Ownership Structure, Firm Value and Government Intervention: The Case of the German Tax Reduction Act. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2440706 [Accessed 3 December 2018].
- 16.
Logsdon, J. M. and Van Buren III, H. J. (2008). Justice and Large Corporations: What Do Activist Shareholders Want? Business & Society, 47(4), pp. 523–548.
- 17.
See Chap. 1 for the description of 3E-leadership model.
References
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Denisova-Schmidt, E., Firnhaber, P. (2019). Smooth Operator: The Chair as the Drive Belt of the German Governance System. In: Shekshnia, S., Zagieva, V. (eds) Leading a Board. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3197-8_7
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