Of Insane Forms - From Collectives to Management Controlled Organisations to Shareholder Value Organisation: Building Societies, A Case Study

Warwick School of Law Research Paper No. 2009/04

Journal of Banking Regulation May 2010

32 Pages Posted: 19 Oct 2009 Last revised: 13 May 2010

See all articles by Lorraine E. Talbot

Lorraine E. Talbot

University of York - York Law School; University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School

Date Written: October 19, 2009

Abstract

In this paper I assert that when a number of the larger mutual building societies converted into PLCs they adopted the normative values of the prevailing corporate governance strategies of the time. These normative values were strongly influenced by the American originating “law and economics” approach which, in the context of corporations emphasised the importance of achieving high returns for shareholders, or more pithily, of achieving “shareholder value”. Converted societies therefore became “shareholder value” organisations (SVOs) which propelled them into a business orientation which was very different from that prior to conversion, and to that of building societies which continued to operate as mutual societies. As a result, the converted societies adopted practices which made them more vulnerable to changes in the wider economy, to the extent that they became central casualties of the current economic crisis.

Keywords: Corporate governance, building societies, shareholder value, management control

Suggested Citation

Talbot, Lorraine E., Of Insane Forms - From Collectives to Management Controlled Organisations to Shareholder Value Organisation: Building Societies, A Case Study (October 19, 2009). Warwick School of Law Research Paper No. 2009/04, Journal of Banking Regulation May 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1491060 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1491060

Lorraine E. Talbot (Contact Author)

University of York - York Law School

York YO10
United Kingdom

University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School ( email )

Edgbaston
Birmingham, AL B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
156
Abstract Views
896
Rank
341,599
PlumX Metrics