Advertising Campaigns – Meaning and its Process
Advertising campaigns are the groups of advertising messages which are similar in nature. They share same messages and themes placed in different types of medias at some fixed times. The time frames of advertising campaigns are fixed and specifically defined. The very prime thing before making an ad campaign is to know- Why you are […]
International Retail Fashion and Ethics
One of the positive effects of the rapid globalization is the increasing awareness amongst people and society about ethical and moral as well as environmental issues. While political leaders and global organisations as well as scientists are concerned about global warming and loosing energy crises, we see the birth and rapid growth of green earth […]
Social Responsibilities of Managers
Social responsibility is defined as the obligation and commitment of managers to take steps for protecting and improving society’s welfare along with protecting their own interest. The managers must have social responsibility because of the following reasons: Organizational Resources – An organization has a diverse pool of resources in form of men, money, competencies and […]
Blue Ocean Strategy and its Implications for Businesses
Introduction Blue Ocean Strategy is a concept that has been pioneered by INSEAD Professors, W. Chan Kim, and Renee Mauborgne. This strategy, which is based on extensive research of hundreds of companies spanning across decades and including several industries, proclaims that instead of battling competitors, companies can create new markets for themselves. In other words, […]
Customers Expectations and Delight
Introduction In today’s ultra competitive business environment merely meeting customer expectations is not enough. In order to effectively differentiate themselves from the competition, service providers need to focus on exceeding customer expectations to create customer delight and create a pool of loyal customers. Therefore, when deciding on a service delivery design, it is imperative for […]
With the explosion of scandals pertaining to corporates due to mismanagement and fraud in recent years, the regulators all over the world have been implementing a series of policies aimed at improving corporate governance and ensuring that companies follow ethical and normative rules of business. A part of this initiative has been to goad the companies to nominate a certain percentage of their board to persons who are not affiliated to the company. These are the so-called independent directors who sit on the boards of companies in a purely professional manner without having a hand in the day to day running or other activities of the company.
The point about the independent directors is that they are drawn from a pool of professional who have had wide industry experience and are qualified to sit on the boards of the companies. What makes this process appealing to the regulators is that these independent directors can bring the much needed perspective that is objective and balanced since they are not connected to the company nor its management and hence do not have hidden agendas.
In India, SEBI and the Corporate Affairs Ministry have decreed that between 10-15 percent of the composition of the board must be made up of independent directors. This move is aimed to bring in more objectivity to the art of corporate governance and introduce transparency and accountability from the directors who are drawn from the ranks of the management. This rule has been enforced given the spate of corporate scandals like Satyam where the top management itself indulged in fraud and dubious business practices. So, the line of thinking goes that bringing in independent directors would usher in greater oversight over the functioning of these companies. Since the Satyam Scandal was because of the board looking the other way when its founder was indulging in defrauding the company, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is implementing this rule to introduce greater oversight.
In the US, independent directors have been known to bring in a fresh perspective as well as check the runaway business behavior dictated by profits and personal benefit. In many companies in the US, the independent directors are the ones who often thwart the management from taking decisions that are based on personal benefit as opposed to the interests of the shareholders. Further, independent directors are tasked with investigating cases of corporate malfeasance and unethical behavior because of their supposed objectivity. However, there have been instances where the independent directors themselves acquiesced in the wrongdoings of the companies and their boards. The solution to this has been the initiative to make the independent directors responsible for the actions of the board so that they have a stake in ensuring that the board does not tread on the wrong side.
Finally, independent directors also bring in the much needed professional expertise since they are individuals with wide experience in running companies as well as the fact that they sit on the boards of other companies which means that they are abreast of the latest happenings. There has been a move by the regulators in many countries to ensure that independent directors do not have conflicts of interest and these have been codified into rules governing how many companies they can associate themselves with and the sectors and industries that they represent.
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