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Bioethics can be considered as a topic, an academic discipline (or combination of disciplines), a field of study, an enterprise in persuasion. The historical specificity of the forms bioethics takes is significant, and raises questions about some of these approaches. Bioethics can also be considered as a governance practice, with distinctive institutions and structures. The forms this practice takes are also to a degree country specific, as the paper illustrates by drawing on the author's UK experience. However, the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics can provide a starting point for comparisons provided that this does not exclude sensitivity to the socio-political context. Bioethics governance practices are explained by various legitimating narratives. These include response to scandal, the need to restrain irresponsible science, the accommodation of pluralist views, and the resistance to the relativist idea that all opinions count equally in bioethics. Each approach raises interesting questions and shows that bioethics should be studied as a governance practice as a complement to other approaches.

Corporate governance practices in family businesses (FB) remain a research domain with many unsolved questions. Nonetheless, researchers agree that corporate governance practices are important for family–backed companies. Different family ownership structures and different family generations influence the governance structures installed. So far, no research has been conducted on corporate governance characteristics among Flemish family companies. This study explores the relationships between ownership structure, board and management practices to find out where Flemish family businesses differ from non–family businesses (NFB). Additionally, this research investigates to what extent differences can be found within the group of family businesses based on family ownership and family generation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of corporate governance practices on firms' financial performance, as measured by comprehensive income (CI).Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 237 firms from the Standards & Poor (S&P) 500 index during the years 2004-2009, multivariate statistical analyses are conducted to confirm the authors' main hypothesis.FindingsThe results indicate that having high levels of corporate governance culture has a positive impact on a measure of firms' financial performance, namely, CI. Furthermore, they indicate a positive correlation between a higher percentage of external directors and financial performance, and a negative relationship between number of board meetings and financial performance.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this research is that good corporate governance strategies deliver superior financial performance for businesses in terms of CI. This serves as a method of value creation, which is the ultimate goal of a business. In addition to the use of CI as an indicator of financial performance, a unique measure of corporate governance level is tested.

AbstractAn inclusive board seeks information from multiple sources, demonstrates an awareness of the community and constituents that benefit from and contribute to the organization's services, and establishes policies and structures to foster stakeholder contributions. This research investigated the prevalence of inclusive governance practices and its relationship to board composition, diversity attitudes, and recruitment practices. Fifty‐six executive directors and forty‐three board members representing sixty‐two nonprofit organizations returned a mailed survey (29 percent response rate). The study profiled two organizations that represented different styles of inclusive governance. The survey, part of a larger study, contained questions about inclusive practices, board composition, attitudes toward diversity, and recruitment practices. Most organizations indicated that they operate with inclusive governance practices. The organizational profiles provide a picture of boards that used different strategies to accomplish the goal of inclusivity. Boards that use more inclusive practices were not necessarily heterogeneous in board member composition. Inclusive boards were more inclined to be sensitive to diversity issues and used recommended board recruitment practices. The existence of a task force or committee on diversity was also significantly associated with a more inclusive board. Nonprofit organizations must consider their philosophy on stakeholder involvement, recognizing that different strategies lead to different levels of stakeholder involvement.

This book examines the political order and the issues, processes and approaches in applying governance insights to tourist destinations. The book consists of 16 chapters presented in three parts. Part I introduces the reader to the issues and considerations of tourist destination governance. The four chapters in this part address the diversity of questions of relevance around regional destination development, community involvement, responsiveness and future outcomes of governance in the context of tourism. This includes an exploration of a variety of challenges regarding governance in emerging tourist destinations within the Greater Mekong in Asia, the conflicts in governance within a regional community in Scotland which has had a long history of golf tourism, the development of a typology of issues and pressures that affect tourist destination governance and the role of knowledge in good governance for tourist destinations. Part II explores the complexities and considerations of decision making and the significant role it plays in its specific relevance to tourist destination governance and tourism development within regional communities. In acknowledging that tourist destination development may involve contentious, complicated and arduous processes, this part recognizes that decision making has a prominent role to play in achieving effectiveness in governance. The three chapters in this part examine tourist destination decision making during times of crisis in Thailand, stakeholder roles in governance and decision making for a wildlife tour in Tonga, and the utilization of community involvement and empowerment as keys to success in regional tourist destinations. Part III provides further understanding regarding the approaches and solutions of tourist destination governance. This includes aspects of structural change, community engagement, networks and collaborations in the context of destinations. The five chapters in this part include the exploration of a process of governance change within a broader mountain tourist destination in Switzerland, utilizing effective networks as assistance to governance in destinations, community-based tourism governance solutions in a case study in Thailand and insights from complexity, network and stakeholder theories as approaches, including an understanding of a micro-macro context of tourist destination governance at its local/regional and national level. The concluding chapter examines the theory and methodology of governance studies, provide insights for tourist destination managers and researchers, and identify opportunities for further research into destination governance issues. This chapter discusses the application of governance concepts to other countries' governance and issues of conceptual importance, such as the need for ideology in the discussion of governance. This raises the question: does good governance of a tourist destination have to be based on democratic principles? Finally, the chapter looks at the concept of governance effectiveness.