The corporations of Asia are going global and are effectively competing with multinational giants from the west. Due to this globalization, comes the pressure for complying with corporate governance norms being followed in the western countries. This issue focuses on the corporate governance practices in Asian countries both at country level and firm level. In the first paper, "Convergence of Corporate Governance Practices: The Case of China", the author, S Shanmugasundaram, discusses the convergence of corporate governance practices across the world and analyzes whether the corporate governance practices in People's Republic of China are converging towards Anglo-American model. In the process, he traces the history of corporate reforms in China. The author points out that the concept of `Business Corporation' with an objective of making profit is new to China, which did not have anything called `company law' till the early 1990s. The author opines that this lack of legacy provides the freedom for the government of China to design the form of corporate governance based on the western countries, particularly Anglo-American countries. But the functional convergence might take some more time to happen.

The second paper, "Board of Directors, Strategic Control and Corporate Financial Performance of Malaysian Listed Construction and Technology Companies: An Empirical Analysis" by Razali Haron, Khairunisah Ibrahim and Nordin Muhamad, examines the impact of board composition and control on firm performance of the listed Malaysian firms in the construction and technology sectors during the financial year 2000-2001. The authors also explore the differences in board diversity ratio (in terms of ethnicity) and category of auditing firms within each sector and their impact on firm financial performance. The authors use Multivariate Analysis of Variance technique as a tool for the analysis in this regard. The results indicate that board size has a positive influence on the performance and the construction companies had larger boards compared to companies in the technology sector. CEO duality was found to be more prevalent in the technology sector than in the construction sector. The boards of the construction companies dominated by Bumiputras (Malays) are found to have different financial performance compared to companies dominated by non-Bumiputras (Chinese). However, the analysis on technology sector indicates insignificant result in this regard. The study also indicates that there are differences in the categories of auditors with regards to the company's financial performance within the two sectors. On the whole, the findings confirm a priori expectation that there are differences in the business nature and environment between the two sectors.

The third paper, "Values and Indian Organizations: A Case Study on ONGC Ltd.", highlights the importance of value system for Indian companies to ensure survival and sustained growth. The authors, Bani Kochar and G N Pandey, using a public sector firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., explain how the adoption of proper value system can help a company to tide over turbulent times. First, they identify ten predominant values of the company, namely patriotism, courage, commitment, accomplishment, mistake tolerance, confidence, teamwork, individuality, caring and sharing, and creativity. Then, the authors explain few of them in detail to indicate how the company is serious about its value system throughout its history which, in turn, helped the company achieve sustained growth. They conclude that these value systems will help the company to grow in future also if the company continues to stick to them in letter and spirit.

The case study, "Coca-Cola in India: A Responsible Corporate Citizen?", by R Harish and Bharathi S Gopal discusses the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of a multinational firm operating in India. The case study focuses on CSR practices being adopted by Coca-Cola and discusses several controversies surrounding the company in India, evoking a question whether these initiatives are really genuine or a greenwashing effort. The case study also highlights the CSR initiatives of Coca-Cola in India depicting the image of a responsible corporate citizen. Further, the authors explore the contrarian view of detractors who believe that these efforts are merely an attempt to hide the real picture of a global giant embroiled in several controversies ranging from pesticides in soft drink brands of Coca-Cola to groundwater depletion and pollution charges. The allegations of the watchdogs and clarifications from the company are used to showcase the real image of one of the most preferred brands in the world. The authors conclude that even though Coca-Cola is taking several initiatives, doubts persist among various stakeholders whether these CSR initiatives are really genuine.

Finally, this issue provides the summary of a research paper, "Corporate Directors and Social Responsibility: Ethics versus Shareholder Value", authored by Jacob M Rose.

- S Subramanian
Consulting Editor