Governance

Governance is concerned with the guidelines set down for the way organizations operate. Although governance is based in the legal frameworks of agents and owners that underpin agency and stewardship theories, a raft of corporate scandals in the 1990s and 2000s shifted public expectations around corporate behavior and the role of directors and those guiding organizations. To deal with the societal impact of corporate decisions raised by these scandals, the notion of governance has broadened: first, to include moral claims and the concerns of stakeholders; and second, by spreading from corporations to other organizational types. The communication implications of governance surround how organizations engage in dialogue with stakeholders and nonfinancial reporting to foster transparency and accountability around corporate decisions and to legitimate organizational practices.