CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN FOUNDERS' CONTROLLED COMPANIES

The extensive research on corporate governance, economies transition and strategic management delivers interesting and important insights into the characteristics of companies operating in different countries. Ownership structure with the reference to the comparative studies worldwide, types, forms and patterns identified in companies as well as the logic behind the behavior of different owners constitutes an important theme in management studies. Research reveals the crucial importance of the ownership patterns with the reference to the shareholder identity and concentration of shares for the standards of corporate governance including the aspects to transparency, board independence and composition (professional directors, diversity), board committees, the incentive function of executive compensation. Corporate governance literature indicates that certain shareholder types may have impact on the quality of board work, effectiveness of executive compensation and disclosure. The proposed paper analyzes the corporate governance standards in companies owned and controlled by private entrepreneurs in Poland. The paper is based on a representative sample of 100 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and had collected data as no data base on such characteristics of Polish listed companies is available. More precisely, the paper investigates whether the founder control translates into better or worse quality of corporate governance with the reference to transparency and IR standards, board structure and composition (independence and professional experience of board directors) and the structure of executive compensation as compared to the practice denoted for the overall population of listed companies.