Corporate Governance in Germany: the move to shareholder value

The paper offers an inside view of the German corporate governance model, based on interviews with over 100 members of supervisory‐ (Aufsichtsrat) and executive‐boards (Vorstand) of major German corporations. The traditional supervisory board with its large size of 20 members, one half elected by the employees, reflects the strong consensus orientation of the German corporate world. This system worked well in times of long innovation cycles and largely separate, national capital markets. It is coming under increasing pressure to adapt to the demands of a fast changing globalised capital market.