Corporate governance mechanisms and leadership at the USAF and General Motors

Part I - Corporate Governance
There are many types of corporate governance from internal to external governance, each with its own internal and external control mechanisms. External governance mechanisms, for instance, include the separation of ownership from control: an example of this would be a company that sells shares to shareholders; the latter have equity in the company but the managers are separate from shareholders and specialization of tasks is required to maximize efficiency. Internal governance mechanisms would include direct monitoring, executive compensation and bonding.
In the USAF, corporate governance works both internally and externally with oversight committees delegated the responsibility of overviewing the USAF as specialized role players facilitate the achievement of strategic objectives. Meanwhile internal structures also exist to provide direct monitoring and compensation (through promotion) of individuals who are tasked with administrating over lower ranking personnel while answering to their own higher ranking officers.
The governance mechanisms employed by the USAF enhance the organization because they allow for a dynamic interplay of options that gives the USAF the ability to govern itself internally while answering to and showing accountability to the public through Congress and the oversight committees. This coupling of governance mechanisms gives the USAF the best of both worlds in that it can maintain a hierarchical structure within its governance system and can also separate the owners so to speak from the actual management jobs and positions within the USAF’s ranks. Those with specialized knowledge can manage the various divisions while simultaneously reporting within a system that has been developed to ensure transparency, accountability, and order based on principles held by the public.
Part II - Effective Business Leader
Mary T. Barra is the first female CEO of a major international automobile manufacturer (General Motors). Since 2014, she has led the GM and demonstrated effective leadership in a variety of ways. She is dedicated to innovation, serving the customer and putting the customer’s needs first. She has taken control of the company’s financial woes and eliminated operations that were costing the organization too much to justify their continuance. And she has helped to grow the internal culture of the organization so that there is more focus on positivity and respect for the consumers who have made GM a success over the years.
The areas in which this leader could improve are few, but there is still a need for GM to shed the last remaining, lingering reminders of its recent bankruptcy and make good in the eyes of shareholders on its promise to turn itself around and once again be a leader in the automotive industry.