Core Values for 21st Century Business Success

The UK Governance Code and the King Code are each considered minimum standards for entry to the stock markets of their respective countries, the UK and South Africa. They have similar, yet fascinatingly different origins. The UK Code was established in response to massive corporate failures in the UK, which left shareholders’ funds ravaged, with no recourse or accountability. The UK business community itself initiated the Cadbury Committee’s work under the direction of the late Sir Adrian Cadbury. In South Africa, the King Code too was established in response to untenable circumstances, but this time as result of the liberation of a nation from disenfranchisement, oppression, and separatism. The King Committee was established by the late President Nelson Mandela in response to the business community in a now famous phone call to his “favourite Judge” Professor Mervyn King.