Case study The corporate governance framework at Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd abides by the guidelines published by the ASX Corporate Governance Council. The business affair of the company is controlled by the board on behalf of the shareholders. The major principles followed by the Board are as follows –
1.The Board is responsible for devising management principles. There should be transparency in the working of the Board. The process of performance evaluation of the senior executives should be disclosed.
2.The structure of the Board should comprise of independent directors. There should be transparency in the performance of the Board, the directors and the executives.
3.The Board should serve in an ethical manner. They should ensure that the integrity of the company is maintained. The decision made by the Board should meet the expectations of the shareholders.
4.The Board should maintain the integrity of financial reporting. This can be done by creating an audit committee that consists of non-executive directors.
5.The participation of the shareholders at the general meetings of the company should be encouraged.
6.Policies should be devised by the company in order to survive the business risks of the company. The policies should be disclosed among the members of the company. The Board should monitor the effective management of risk by the organization.
7.The Corporate Governance Board should have a separate remuneration committee. There should be clear distinction between the structure of the executive directors and the non executive directors.

There is regular monitoring of the performance of the Board. The performance of the Board is monitored using indicators that are measurable as well as qualitative indicators.
The trading policy of the company is also devised by the Board. According to the trading policy any executive or director cannot trade in any of the securities of the company.
The remuneration policy of the company is fair. Motivating the employees and retention of the employees are the key criteria of the company. Incentives are devised for employees based on performance of the company. The company aims at maintaining a diverse work force. This will be beneficial for the organization. Maintaining a diverse work force will help the company in increasing the value of the share holders. The company can be more innovative and increase its competitive advantage. There is no gender bias in the company. More than 42 % of the employees in the company are women (Harvey Norman Holdings Limited -Annual Report Year ended 30th June 2013, 2013; p-1-60); (harveynormanholdings.com.au, 2014).

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