Challenges of Corporate Governance in State-Owned Companies – Croatian Perspectives

Pojam korporativnog upravljanja veže se uz problem agencije poznat i kao problem principala i agenta. Odnos između principala i agenta u mikroekonomskoj teoriji povezuje se sa situacijom kada vlasnik poduzeća i menadžer koji vodi poduzeće nisu ista osoba. U navedenom se slučaju javlja razdvajanje vlasništva i upravljanja, a to je povoljna situacija za menadžere koji je mogu iskoristiti u svrhu promoviranja nekih svojih ciljeva koji se ne moraju nužno poklapati s ciljevima poduzeća odnosno vlasnika poduzeća. Pod pojmom korporativnog upravljanja može se shvatiti pitanje načina na koji vlasnici poduzeća uspijevaju motivirtati menadžere poduzeća da djeluju u najboljem interesu vlasnika poduzeća i samim time maksimaliziraju profit poduzeća. U slučaju državnih poduzeća odnosno principa i agenata dvojak je (građani – političari i političari – menadžeri), što pred korporativno upravljanje u državnim poduzećima postavlja posebne izazove. Iz perspektive Republike Hrvatske jasno je da se se iz političkih i ekonomskih razloga ne mogu očekivati skori napreci u procesu privatizacije te je stoga nužno osigurati učinkoviti sustav korporativnog upravljanja u državnim poduzećima kako bi se osigurala zaštita interesa države odnosno građana u državnim poduzećima.The term corporate governance is related to the agency problem, which is also known as the principalagent problem. In the microeconomic theory the relationship between principal and agent refers to the situation when the owner of the business and the manager running the business are not the same person. In such a case ownership and management are separated, which is a good situation for managers, who can use it to promote some of their own goals which do not necessarily have to correspond to the objectives of the business, i.e. owner of the business. The term corporate governance may also include the way in which owners of the business successfully motivate managers to act in the best interest of the owner of the business, thus maximising the company’s profit. The relationship between the principal and the agent in case of state-owned companies is two-fold (citizens – politicians and politicians – managers). Therefore corporate governance in state-owned companies faces specific challenges. From the perspective of the Republic of Croatia it is clear that progress in the privatisation process cannot be expected soon due to political and economic reasons. Therefore it is necessary to ensure an efficient system of corporate governance in state-owned companies to ensure protection of the interests of the state, i.e. the citizens in state-owned companies