In the last decades, corporate governance became a popular and increasingly relevant topic. Corporate governance issues — e.g., transparency and efficiency of ownership and group structures, board of directors' composition and effectiveness, and their link with performance — are debated by media, investors, managers, directors, consultants, authorities, politicians, and scholars from different disciplines (e.g., finance, economics, law, management, etc.). Despite this growing interest on the topic, there is not a clear understanding of what the core governance principles are, and how they should be implemented by companies.

The course presents the main corporate governance issues, the two dominant approaches to corporate governance (shareholders' versus stakeholders' views), and the governance mechanisms aimed at addressing these issues. The module helps participants develop: (i) a critical understanding of ownership structures and governance mechanisms in various types of companies; (ii) an ability to correctly design the most appropriate governance mechanisms for different types of ownerships.