Institutions and Leadership Really Matter: The Interdependency of Public and Corporate Governance in Indonesia

Abstract

Corporate Governance can only thrive in an environment where the rule of law prevails over personal power and relationships. Although one may argue that relationship-based governance plays an important role in an environment where law enforcement is weak, over time with the increase of participants in the industry and with the globalization of the Indonesian economy, one will need to embrace rule-based governance “best” practices embedded within well-functioning institutions. These widely accepted generic principles of transparency, responsibility, fairness and accountability are forming the norms in international business, while relationships will continue to play an indisputable role in ASEAN to allow firms access to scarce resources and ‘political’ connections. There is no one codified solution for all, but even Indonesia will need to implement those universal governance principles to attract investment and to remain competitive in a global context.