Is it time to move away from the UK/American pattern of ownership shares in companies?

Résumé du document

United Kingdom and USA have a system where private shareholders have ownership of their companies. Lots of companies in these countries are quoted in stock market. The way they can finance their companies is by opening their capital to private investors. As USA has a great influence in the world, this pattern tends to be applied in lots of countries even at a lower level. We can see that European companies (except UK and Holland) have bigger investors and try to keep a close relationship with them with also the presence of controller shareholder which often comes from the family. They have a power at the board. American companies are composed with lot of individual investors and also big funding. The companies in Europe also have independent directors but the difference is that in the US, they have more stock options. It means that they are more interested in the value of the share than the European directors.

Extraits

[...] It means that they are more interested by the value of the share than are the european directors. The american/ British pattern Power of shareholders Some people argue that the power of shareholders is too low but, in fact, there is a new way of intervention for shareholders: indeed, even if the power of individual shareholders in USA is not so strong, the power of institutional investors (pension funds, hedge funds, investment funds) increases heavily. People tend to give their money to fund in order to increase it and pay back some years later. [...]

[...] The system should help poor countries even if the profits of shareholders are lower but I am afraid that it is not really possible, not for materials reasons but because of people who enjoy of the pattern from USA. Why will they change a system which give them huge profits each year? It does not make sense, they don't care about the situation of poor people or child workers. Moreover, in order to change the system, it could be necessary to change the culture. I mean that for american there is no any problem to live in a society governed by money and individualism. [...]

[...] It seems unbelievable that American think and live like that. Japanese don't work in order to have profits one month later, they work on the long-term, American do not work like that they are focused on the quick profit (International Business management (lecture), Terry Breverton). Of course the Japan pattern is not perfect but it is an example of more social, ethical and ecological pattern. But the question could be, is it possible to change the culture of a society, especially American one? [...]

[...] They do not put the same pressure on the directors of the company. They will of course ask results because they want to make money but they are able to wait for. There won't have any problem instead of USA/UK pattern where the absence of results will be immediately sanctionned by the moving away of investors selling their shares or asking the substitution of directors. In Germany, Japan or even in France and sweden, directors have more time to manage, they can work on the long run and without the immediate pressure of shareholders. [...]

[...] Influence on rest of the world However, thoses countries, Germany and japan at a lower level at time, tend to adopt the American pattern or, at least, try to change their one. Moreover, American and British investors go to Europe, especially in France, Spain, eastern countries, to find good business because their countries are full of investors and there is not enough companies any more to make investment. For example in france, foreigners investors own around of the global capitalistation. [...]