Describes the system of corporate governance - both the business environment and the particular structures of company organization - in five major industrial countries: Germany, Japan, France, the USA, and the UK.

'It is far from a dry and technical cataloguing of the subject. The book explains not only where we have got to in corporate governance, but how we got there.' Alistair Blair, Investors Chronicle Review from previous edition `an important contribution to the current debate on corporate governance' Sir Adrian Cadbury `superb overview of the leading industrialised countries' financial systems' Will Hutton, Guardian `This book will become the definitive study on corporate governance. It should be required reading for directors and senior managers around the world.' Jay W. Lorsch, Harvard Business School `indispensable...not least for its clear and dryly witty writing. It deserves the widest readership' Economic Affairs `this book provides a valuable synopsis of the workings of companies in countries with which we may be less familiar but with which we must increasingly do business in the global village ... thoroughly researched ... Charkham has made a considerable contribution to their knowledge on how corporate governance works in each of the five countries examined and I commend this work to all those trying to win business for their company in foreign lands' RSA Journal `the most comprehensive study to emerge to date. It will become an indispensable reference book for all future authors and report writers, not least for its clear and dryly witty writing ... his book is uniquely well informed ... This masterly book makes a particularly important contribution to the debate about the economic future and hence political influence of Britain and America. It deserves the widest readership.' Economic Affairs `In this detailed study, based on discussion with experts in Germany, Japan, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom on the ways companies are directed and controlled in each country, Charkham discusses features of each society and its formal corporate governance system.' Sloan Management Review `In each of the five studies the author's analysis, insight and historical perspective makes it exceptionally readable ... Helped by the author's lively style, this is an important book on the corporate governance debate.' The European `he gives all students of the subject a dispassionate survey of the defining characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of the five national systems. By providing readers with a comprehensive and well illustrated analysis he largely leaves them to draw their own conclusions ... his book is uniquely well informed ... This masterly book makes a particularly important contribution to the debate about the economic future and hence political influence of Britain and America. It deserves the widest readership.' Economic Affairs `Indispensable in a different way is Jonathan Charkham's comparative study of corporate governance in the US, Japan, Germany, France and Britain. Keeping Good Company: A Study of Corporate Governance in Five Countries is a masterly overview by a former adviser to the governor of the Bank of England. Mr Charkham's book is unlikely to be bettered, either for its description of how management is held to account (or not, as the case may be) in the five countries, or for the judicious assessment of the merits of the respective systems of governance.' Financial Times: `Best books for the Business Reader 1994 `his research is important for a better understanding of one's own system of Corporate Governance' Frans van den Bosch, Holland Management Review `The author ... makes a very valuable contribution to the comparative analysis of corporate governance structures ... Interviews with key informants in each country have enabled Charkham to gather together a wealth of detailed and often very novel information on each system ... much more than a narrow account of how company boards function in different countries, and readers are given an broader picture of the whole business culture of a country ... For practitioners the value of the book lies in having the weak spots of their system highlighted, as well as receiving ideas for remedial action. Scholars in the field of comparative business are offered many new insights about the functioning of corporations which have received scant attention in the more academic literature.' Journal of Far Eastern Business `The most comprehensive international survey of governance issues.' The Observer `It should appeal to both practitioners and academics in the field of comparative business organisation.' Far Eastern Business `superb overview of the leading industrialised countries" financial systems' Will Hutton, Guardian `This book will become the definitive study on corporate governance. It should be required reading for directors and senior managers around the world.' Jay W. Lorsch, Harvard Business School `the most comprehensive study to emerge to date. It will become an indispensable reference book for all future authors and report writers, not least for its clear and dryly witty writing ... his book is uniquely well informed ... This masterly book makes a particularly important contribution to the debate about the economic future and hence political influence of Britain and America. It deserves the widest readership.' Economic Affairs `a highly insightful and entertaining read' MBA Business, Spring 2006 `'indispensable book'' Director

New edition of the best-selling book on Corporate Governance Details the national and international codes and principles laid down since publication of the first edition Surverys recent developments in five major industrial countries: Germany, Japan, France, the USA, and the UK. Examines the business environment and the particular structures of company organization

Jonathan Charkham formerly an Honorary Fellow of the Cass Business School, City University, and a member of the Board of the Corporate Governance Network, and a former advisor to the Governor of the Bank of England. As well as the previous edition of Keeping Good Company (OUP, 1994) he has also co-authored Fair Shares: The Future of Shareholder Power and Responsibility (OUP, 1999) with Anne Simpson. He died in 2006.

New edition of the best-selling book on Corporate Governance Details the national and international codes and principles laid down since publication of the first edition Surverys recent developments in five major industrial countries: Germany, Japan, France, the USA, and the UK. Examines the business environment and the particular structures of company organization