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The Ethics Of Shareholder Value: Duty, Rights & Football, Donald Nordberg
The Ethics Of Shareholder Value: Duty, Rights & Football, Donald Nordberg
Donald Nordberg
How does a board of directors decide what is right? The contest over this question is frequently framed as a debate between shareholder value and stakeholder rights, between a utilitarian view of the ethics of corporate governance and a deontological one. This paper uses a case study with special circumstances that allow us to examine the conflict between shareholder value and other bases on which a board can act. In the autumn of 2010 the board of Liverpool Football Club sold the company to another investing group against the wishes of the owners. The analysis suggests the board saw more …