ABSTRACT
This paper aims to analyze the current state and the evolution of corporate governance principles, concepts and practice in a way to provide a basis for discussion on its future directions and the potential contribution of developing countries. Corporate governance concepts and principles originated mainly from developed countries and expanded to developing countries through the forces of globalization. Although corporate governance models lie in a continuum between shareholder oriented and stakeholder oriented models, the dominant model, which has been expanded to the developing countries, includes most of the principles and mechanisms of the shareholder model. However, the model cannot address the unique problems of developing countries since it does not comply with their underlying institutional context. We propose a convergencein-diversity approach, where convergences on common principles are achieved through cross-fertilization between developed and developing country models and diversity is maintained through unique, context-specific governance mechanisms. Search for models that fit to their unique problems and contextual characteristic, both developed and developing countries, can provide for the diversity, which is necessary for the evolution of the corporate governance system. Furthermore, cross-fertilization between developed and developing country models can facilitate development of models that can address the challenging, global problems and fulfill societal aspirations.
