In the 1992 Cadbury report, we have a code for best practices of companies that are built around the principle of integrity, transparency and accountability.Along with the equity concept these principles became a bench mark for good corporate governance. This was reinforced by a public sector equivalent by the Nolan Company in 1995: Standards in Public Life.

A few of the principles of Corporate Governance are as follows:

Equitable and Rightful treatment towards shareholders: Organizations can effectively communicate to shareholders their rights by passing on all the required information and encouraging shareholder to take part in the general meetings.

Interest of other stake holders: Corporates should recognize that they are legally, contractually, socially and as per the market obligated to non share holders, stakeholders like employees, investors, suppliers, creditors, customers, policy makers and the local community.

Role of the Board: The board of directors needs to have the ability and understanding to review and then challenge if required, the management’s performance. It also needs sufficient members to fulfill its responsibility with a relative independence.

Probity with Ethical Behavior: Probity should be the most important requirement while choosing board members and corporate officers. A code of conduct should be developed by the organization to promote responsible and ethical method of making decisions among executives and directors.

Transparency and disclosure: To provide a level of accountability to stake holders, Organizations should declare the responsibility and roles of the management and the board. They ought to also put into practice a procedure to verify and protect the probity of the financial reporting of the company. Disclosure of matter concerning the corporation should be always done on time, ensuring that all the investors have the correct information accessible.

Using these foundations, other organizations have gone with their own ideas as to what good corporate governance really is. The Organization for Economic and Corporations and Development i.e. the OECD Corporate Governance principles, is now set as an international benchmark.

The 2004 revision of principles takes its learning from previous governance failures. In 2005, UK independent commission for good governance in public services published a Governance Standard. This is a document of core good governance principles along with practical applications.