Call for Book Chapters: Corporate Governance and Responsibility for the 21st Century: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis

“Corporate Governance and Responsibility for the 21st Century: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis”

Call for Book Chapter Proposals


Over the last two decades, the world-wide issues of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility have attracted much public concern. Corporate fraud, corporate failure and collapse, abuse of management power, excess of executive remuneration, and corporate social and environmental irresponsibility have all been heated topics in media reports, public forums, academic debates, and governmental policy and regulatory agendas. Nevertheless, many of these failures in corporate governance and social responsibility would not have been so exacerbated and exposed had it not been for the global financial and economic meltdown in 2008. Most people have believed and, perhaps, argued that the severity and increasingly circular nature of the financial and economic crisis has been deeply connected to weak or over-regulation, the ineffective implementation of corporate governance principles, the failure of corporate boards and internal control, and irresponsible corporate attitudes and behaviours towards shareholders and other stakeholders. A number of large financial institutions and other corporations have been bailed out by governments and partially or wholly nationalised, and these bailouts have triggered a renewed public debate on the systems and functions of modern corporations and corporate governance, and on the long-unsolved issues of market failure or governmental failure in regulating, controlling or running corporations.

To learn what must be learned from the current financial and economic crisis, as well as from those that came before it, and to prevent future institutional, systemic and moral failures of corporate governance and social responsibility, we must rethink the fundamental causes of the current financial and economic crisis and its circularities, and the role of corporate governance and social responsibility in it. Therefore, the Corporate Governance and Sustainability Research Group (CGSRG) at the Faculty of Business and Law, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics and Management, Harbin Engineering University, China, has decided to undertake a research project entitled “Corporate Governance and Responsibility for the 21st Century: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis”.

As one of the outcomes of this research project, a book intended to benefit practitioners, policy makers, regulators, scholars and researchers will be published by a leading publisher in the UK, with a Chinese version of the book to be published by a leading publisher in China in 2010. In order for the book to generate multiple insights from scholars and practitioners and inspire a wide range of readers, we are extending an invitation to talented scholars to contribute to the book.

We ask potential contributors to investigate and rethink the fundamental issues of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in relation to the current financial and economic crisis from different angles, different lenses and different experiences, and to make recommendations that would mitigate and/or prevent future economic crisis and failures in corporate governance. We particularly encourage multiple perspectives, critical and in-depth analyses, international comparisons and the use of different methodologies in studying these key issues.

Interested scholars should send a proposal for a book chapter that clearly states the research topic, aim and objectives, key investigative issues, potential contributions to knowledge, and research approaches and methods. The proposal should be in the range of 500-1000 words and sent by email to X.Sun@leedsmet.ac.uk. The deadline for submitting proposals is 05 August 2009. We will contact the authors of accepted proposals with guidelines for writing the chapters.

We also welcome scholars and researchers who are interested in doing research in the fields of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and sustainability to join our research group and engage in international collaboration. The Corporate Governance and Sustainability Research Group (CGSRG) is a leading research organisation focused on critical studies, multiple and cross-cultural perspectives, and international comparative analysis in these areas. The research group is based at Leeds Metropolitan University in UK and has been joined by scholars and researchers from many countries. If you are interested in joining this group or have any suggestions for international collaborations, please contact Dr. William Sun at the email address: X.Sun@leedsmet.ac.uk.


Dr. William Sun
Director of Corporate Governance and Sustainability Research Group
Faculty of Business and Law
Leeds Metropolitan University
Visiting Professor in Management
Faculty of Economics and Management
Harbin Engineering University