Corporate governance in Germany: the move to shareholder value

The paper offers an inside view of the German corporate governance model, b ased on interviews with over 100 members of supervisory- (Aufsichtsrat) and executive-boards (Vorstand) of major German corporations. The traditional supervisory board with its large size of 20 members, one half elected by th e employees, reflects the strong consensus orientation of the German corpor ate world. This system worked well in times of long innovation cycles and l argely separate, national capital markets. It is coming under increasing pr essure to adapt to the demands of a fast changing globalised capital market .