The takeover of Royal Mail: lessons for the new owners from past corporate governance and trust failures
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: As the takeover of Royal Mail proceeds, this article looks at the company’s recent history to show how corporate governance and industrial relations ought not to be practised, especially during times of change and transition, such as in Royal Mail, where privatisation, market liberalisation and a takeover have occurred in little more than a decade. The argument presented is that lack of workplace trust, such as has been evident in Royal Mail, threatens a company’s overall performance and prospects. On the other hand, where trust is high, organisations enjoy higher financial performance and labour productivity as well as better product or service quality. Indeed, workplace trust is correlated with lower turnover, higher employee engagement, and customer and employee satisfaction. We argue also that, post-privatisation, corporate governance plays a key role in shaping the corporate culture, either to build or to undermine trust.
Source: Journal of Corporate Law Studies
Authors: Yefan Xu, Charlotte Villiers
Institution: University of Bristol
Language: English
Topic: Labor Movements and Unions
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4416134005
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