The upheaval in Burundi may bear many of the hallmarks of a classic African military coup but, for some analysts, the crisis is indicative of a newfound public hunger for good governance, and a reaction against administrations run by political strongmen who cloak repression in the trappings of democracy.
There are good reasons why the UK code on corporate governance – born as a reaction to ancient boardroom scandals like Polly Peck and Maxwell – states baldly that "a chief executive should not go on to be chairman of the same company".
The real deal in 2008 was Obama, and the renaissance of American liberalism triggered in reaction to the governance failures of the Bush presidency.
Moreover, the real changes in attitude they have brought about locally were kick started in reaction to failures of governance, which are a familiar story across the UK – not least in Westminster itself.
Additionally, managers of firms with strong corporate governance should exhibit more tax avoidance in reaction to increased incentive compensation due to the limited possibility to divert earnings.
Therefore, it was surprising that China decided to impose such overt and material limitation on Hong Kong's governance and then have such a violent reaction to the ensuing protests.
"Knee-jerk reactions do not constitute proper governance".
Second, how can business prevent unexpected, if not outright hostile, reactions from the state towards non-state governance initiatives in sustainable palm oil?
Because a number of things in corporate governance have lent themselves to activists taking advantage, I think the reaction has to be, at least in the short term, that companies have dual-class mechanisms in place.
Finally, turning inward to other senior colleagues or volunteer boards of trustees -- arguably the weakest link in shared governance at colleges and universities -- may produce a range of reactions from inertia to chaos in governance.
