The corporate governance principles particularly focus on board independence and responsibility. The board has the duty of monitoring the management at Xerox to ensure that the outcomes will favor the interests of employees, customers, and other essential parties that depend on the firm. Responsibility allows the committee to acknowledge their personal accountability and accept it for the moral quality of their omissions and choices in the firm. The board should also consist of members who are independent directors from within and outside the company. The independence enables the committee to make honest, fair, and objective decisions. This essay explores the two fundamental corporate governance principles of independence and responsibility at Xerox.
Being responsible and accountable reflects the commitment of the corporate governance committee or board to oversee the effectiveness of decision and policy making at the management and board levels with the aim of maximizing the long-run value of the shareholders. The members of the board are required to remain active in both good and challenging times (Xerox, 2016). They are also responsible for constantly monitoring the enforcement and formulation of procedures that are designed to ensure that the employees and management work in an ethical and legal manner. Responsibility facilitates the ethical principle of accountability of the committee when making good or bad choices (Zadek, Evans & Pruzan, 2013).
The board is also expected to be independent in its operations and decision-making. The aspect entails considering all the essential circumstances and facts in a situation. The committee at Xerox has instituted standards that help in the determination of independence (Xerox, 2016). The independence allows the members of the board to make professional judgments that follow the ethical principles of honesty, reasonableness, and fairness without undue influence or conflicts of interests (Zadek, Evans & Pruzan, 2013). The corporate governance guideline also ensures that the committee is committed to equal treatment, justice, open-mindedness, and diversity.
References
Xerox (2016). Corporate Governance Guidelines (As Amended May 20, 2016). Retrieved July 8, 2016 from http://www.xerox.com/about-xerox/citizenship/corporate- governance/guidelines/enus.html.
Zadek, S., Evans, R., & Pruzan, P. (2013). Building corporate accountability: Emerging practice in social and ethical accounting and auditing. Routledge.
