Introduction
In economics and management, corporate governance refers to the principles and general way in which corporate bodies of companies are governed. This covers the leadership and management strategy in which a company’s management is conducted. In our focus of the paper, we are to look at corporate governance of Johnson and Johnson Company which is based in the United States with its headquarters being in New Jersey.
Johnson and Johnson began in the nineteenth century when two brothers started a company to improve on pharmaceuticals but this company has grown more than the proprietors imagined. Starting as a family business, this company grew and in the mid 20th century, it was diversified and dealt with more than five different products. In corporate governance, this company is a good exhibit of what corporate governance (jnj.com/leadership).
- Top management and origin of the board of directors (internal or external)
The company top management team is a board of governors who are both internal and external to the company. In the current board of directors, only two out of the thirteen board members are from the company (internal). The board is charged with the overall running and co-ordination of the company including appointment of the management team and coordination of the different units of the company. Involvement of the outsiders in the board makes this company a perfect organization where corporate governance is in existence (jnj.com/ leadership).
The core values of this company in corporate management include:
- Well designed structure for internal accounting controls.
- Continuous evaluation and review of strategic plans.
- Financial stewardship.
- Contributions of the management towards the business
The top management is the one in charge of resource allocation within the whole company. The management also is in charge of all business units and oversees their operation and co-ordination. It appears to have different contributions in this business entity. This can be attributed to the involvement of outside members who have been allowed to take leadership posts in the company. Of the most significant effects of this has been diversification.
The management also appears to have great contributions towards the success of this company in other fields other than diversification. This can be evidenced by the diversification itself and market expansion from the local people to international recognition of the company. This has led to development of a strategic plan to ensure the success of the company (jnj.com/ strategic plan).
One aspect of this strategic plan has been diversification. This has led to production of many products under the same brand name. This has helped the company to survive in times when sales of one product are low.
Another plan has been decentralization. This has led to acquisition of smaller companies which in terms make the organization much larger. With the increasing number of small units of production, the company will be at an advantage since not all units will have a constrained market outreach. This will eventually increase the market outreach of the company (jnj.com/ strategic plan).
- Key players in contributions of the top management
Looking at the key players in the company l can point out that the coordinating personnel and ordinary members of the company management are very important. This is mainly because the members are regional managers who carry out all the management tasks and implement the strategic plans at their points of operation. The president also does quite a lot in evaluating the implementation tactics together with his/her economic advisors (jnj.com/ top management).
Another category of key players in this company who make great contributions are the economic advisors. They are two in the board and provide vital investment advice to the company management making the company to avoid incurring losses which can be avoided.
Reference
www.jnj.com, Retrieved Oct, 2012
- Management flow
